(Each Saturday, a faith leader offers a personal perspective in this space. To become part of this series, email religion@recorder.com)

Jewish, Christian and Muslin holidays and Earth Day coincided this year. The Passover, recalling the liberation of the Jewish people from servitude in Egypt, began on Aprils full moon. Western Christian Easter fell on the first day of Passover. Eastern Orthodoxy observes Easter this year on April 24. The Muslim month of Ramadan is observed all through this month that is, lunar month. Ramadan was half over on the first day of Passover. Even Earth Day fell on April 22, mid-way through the week of Passover.

Easter and Passover commemorate renewed hope after the dread of centuries of slavery (Passover) and renewed hope after the dread of death (Easter). Ramadan is a holy month of daily fasting and enhanced generosity towards the destitute. And Earth Day, the newcomer on the calendar, is a time of dread and hope as well. There is dread over the looming threat of environmental catastrophe and hope for empowerment to create a safe, sustainable future.

All these observances call on us to make conscious sacrifices. The fasting of Ramadan and the dietary restrictions of Passover teach us to moderate our consumption in favor of empathy and generosity towards those lacking autonomy and sustenance. Easter is wholly a story of self-sacrifice, even to the point losing ones life, for the sake of service and obedience. In Easter, Jesus dies in order to find new life and offer the gift to others.

And Earth Day is a time, too, to consider our appetites, our relationship with wealth and consumerism. There will be conscious sacrifices on the way to a sustainable future.

Our environmental problems have a root in overconsumption. All religions speak of tithing and warn against overconsumption and waste. The Talmud teaches that wide income disparities is a source of violence. Islam teaches that investing in business with others should replace the practice of loans.

Overconsumption is the offspring of greed, corruption and waste. Creator, Earth, God however we name God is good and generous. If we live in the image of God, we appreciate the blessings and joys of life, and we are generous and not greedy; modest and not flashy; appreciative and not entitled.

Our faith traditions, and the environmental imperative of the hour, ask us to give something up for our spiritual and common good.

Rabbi Andrea Cohen-Kiener serves at Temple Israel Greenfield and is vice-president of the Interfaith Council of Franklin County. Temple Israel is the cultural, religious and spiritual center of the Jewish community in Franklin, serving 125 household members. Rabbi Andrea and the Temple Israel community are active in ameliorating hunger, environmental decay and social repair together with colleagues and friends in Franklin County.

Visit link:

Faith Matters: April's holidays ask us to give something up for the common good - The Recorder

The Anatomy of Jewish Law: A Fresh Dissection of the Relationship Between Medicine, Medical History & Rabbinic Literature, jointly published by Koren Publishers Jerusalem under the Maggid Books imprint, Yeshiva University Press, and OU Press, is a novel and innovative work in which Rabbi Dr. Edward Reichman traces the medical understanding of anatomy, physiology, and therapeutics across time and genres of rabbinic literature.

The accumulated literature of centuries of Jewish legal discourse on medical topics serves as the foundation for contemporary Jewish bioethics. As these writings span the chronological gamut of scientific and medical discovery, it is essential to view each source in its proper historical context. Marshaling a vast array of sources from multiple disciplines, Rabbi Dr. Reichman demonstrates the importance of the historical dimension for medical halachic [Jewish law] research and helps readers better understand the unique relationship between Judaism and medicine throughout the centuries.

Rabbi Dr. Reichman embodies Yeshiva Universitys core Torah values, and we are thrilled to share his brilliant medical and religious scholarship with the wider community, said Rabbi Dr. Stu Halpern, senior advisor to the provost and deputy director of the Zahava and Moshael Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought.

There are dozens, if not hundreds of books on medical ethics available, and many are quoted or referenced in this volume.The Anatomy of Jewish Law, however, seeks to illustrate how halacha has responded to contemporary understandings of the human body, illness, and disease and how, through the rabbinic literature, it has adaptedor why it may seem to fail to do soas science has advanced. The volume includes chapters on topics ranging from ancient and rabbinic understandings of conception and halachic considerations for conjoined twins as they move through life to biblical and Talmudic medicine and the COVID-19 pandemic.

[The Anatomy of Jewish Law] will prove invaluable to rabbis, physicians, and medical historians, as well as anyone wishing to gain an appreciation of the continuing achievements in the synthesis of halacha and modern medicine, said Dr. Fred Rosner, professor of medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, director of the Department of Medicine at Queens Hospital Center and chairman of the Medical Ethics Committee of the State of New York.

Rabbi Dr. Edward Reichman is a professor of emergency medicine and of bioethics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Rabbi Isaac and Bella Tendler Chair in Medical Ethics at Yeshiva College as well as an attending physician in emergency medicine at Montefiore Medical Center. Rabbi Dr. Reichman received his rabbinic ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and is an internationally renowned writer and lecturer.

The Anatomy of Jewish Law: A Fresh Dissection of the Relationship Between Medicine, Medical History & Rabbinic Literature is available on Koren, Amazon or wherever Jewish books are sold.

Read the original here:

The Anatomy of Jewish Law Dissects the Relationship Between Medicine and Halacha - Yu News

Ban Foster plays the role of Harry Haft in 'The Survivor.' Photo by HBO

By Curt SchleierApril 26, 2022

Ben Foster was tearing up.

I was on a Zoom call with the actor, the second conversation I had with him over the last couple of months. The first time, we spoke about his work in the new HBO film, The Survivor. The next time we talked about his grandmother.

The Survivor is based on the life of Harry Haft, who made it through multiple concentration camps and built a semblance of a life for himself. While in Auschwitz, however, an SS guard taught him to box and forced him to participate in death matches with fellow prisoners: losers were shot. He eventually escaped, made it to the U.S., married, and had children. But he remained haunted by survivors guilt and lashed out at everyone before ultimately finding a measure of peace.

The films director, Barry Levinson, told me Foster was his first choice for the role. Years ago, Levinson gave the then-young actor one of his first significant jobs in Liberty Heights, and was convinced he would bring the necessary intensity to this role.

I spoke with Foster about one particularly emotional scene at the films end when a group of survivors gather at a wedding to sing Gott Bench Amerika, reaffirming their faith in their new homeland.

It reminded me of my Nana, Foster told me. Whenever she saw a picture of he Statue of Liberty, shed say, Thats my lady.

She came over from Romania in 1924 when she was eight years old to escape the pogroms, he said. She smuggled her baby brother in in a basket.

Apparently, the baby had been born after family travel had been arranged, and was too late to be added to the paperwork.

The story was if the baby was discovered or if one of them was turned away the whole family would return to Romania, Foster said.

But Celia Segal Foster (born Tsipora Tzigel) got through immigration, and made a beautiful life with Frank Foster, my grandfather, whose family is from the Ukraine, said Foster. We would spend Holidays together. And they were there at my bar mitzvah. They are the immigrant story. My children would not be here if their parents hadnt had the courage to escape the ugliness of antisemitism.

She is a profound presence in my life to this day, Foster said. We were with her when she left and miss her. Its really wonderful to explore this material with her in my heart.

To be accurate to the story and to his grandmothers memory, Foster studied with a voice coach to get the proper dialect of the Polish shtetl where Haft grew up. And he says he insisted on losing weight for the role instead of relying on digital effects to make him look skinnier during concentration camp scenes.

Intuitively, not as a chest beat, I blurted out, if you want to go digital with my body for the weights, youve got the wrong actor. Foster told me. Youve seen the pictures. You cant fake that. You can do digital, but it doesnt have the same texture.

I asked Foster whether how his Jewish upbringing influenced his approach to the role.

The faith of Judaism, at least as I understand it, is asking the big W question, why, he said. Its the Talmudic exploration of our place on earth and our relationship to each other. So I believe that informed and continues to inform my life.

The Survivor debuts in HBO April 27.

View original post here:

How Ben Foster's faith and family helped to make him a 'survivor' - Forward

A flax crop on a grain farm near Osler, Saskatchewan, Canada, in July 2021. Photo by Kayle Neis/Bloomberg via Getty Images

By Devorah BrousApril 21, 2022

Wildflowers, herb flowers, and fruit blossoms are blooming throughout Los Angeles this time of year, but to me the most distinct of them all is a potent, beautiful blue flower, Linum perenne, or perennial flax.

Rabbis have a lot to say about flax. The plant makes many strange and intriguing appearances in the Torah and Mishnah. There are all kinds of prohibitions and conditions around planting and using flax.

Consider this idea from the Mishnah: One who receives a field from another to cultivate for a few years, i.e., fewer than seven, may not plant flax in it, as flax greatly weakens the soil.

This is curious for two reasons: Flax doesnt require ideal growing conditions, is quite easy to establish, not water-intense or invasive, and doesnt require intense nitrogen-fixing after it has been harvested. And: Where did we source linen from if it was not permissible to plant the flax seed?

Flaxseed, or linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.), is derived from the flax plant, a perennial in Southern California, though in other parts of the country its an annual.

Linseed has so many uses tablecloths, wood varnish, oil painting canvas and get this: there is one-quarter pound of linen in each pound of dollar bills. Flax is one of the most utilitarian and waste-free plants.

Did you know that linen is derived from the same kind of flax fibers our ancestors used to light the Shabbat candles? Flax plant fiber is spun and woven into a high-quality, sustainably-produced, affordable fabric, and when not dyed, it makes for fully biodegradable organic clothing, panties, bedding, and bandages, which is also antibacterial.

Whats more, flax is both food and medicine for the body and for the planet: It helps lower cholesterol and it keeps the digestive tract moving along. Flax and its oil are both rich in alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), an omega-3 fatty acid that may be helpful in combating heart disease, inflammatory bowel disease, arthritis, menopause, and other health issues.

Not only that, studies show that flax is high in magnesium, and recognized for alleviating the frequency and intensity of hot flashes for people experiencing menopause (what I call meant-to-pause).

Back to the rabbis: While most of us know about keeping kosher by separating milk and meat, there is also a prohibition on mixing wool (an animal product) with linen (flax: a plant by-product). One theory is that because the ancient Egyptians used linen to mummify bodies and used flax fiber as currency, the rabbis had a fraught relationship with flax.

According to Mishah, flax was good for wicks as it doesnt smoke or stink. But the ancient rabbis argued about its uses. To some, flax is the holiest source to light candles with on Shabbat, to others, it is forbidden and the actual cause of impurity. In any case, in 2019, a rare linen wick, traced back to Byzantine times, was unearthed in Shivta in Israels Negev. But archaeologists know that flax wasnt grown in the Negev. So it seems that flax, which divided the rabbis, helped bridge the peoples of the ancient Middle East.

For most of us, the easiest and best use of flax is to get more fiber into our diets. Harvest the seeds, and for easier digestion, pound with mortar and pestle and store in a mason jar or airtight container. Grinding the flaxseeds in a coffee grinder, or buying ground flaxseed meal, makes it easier to uptake the nutrients. Substitute ground flaxseed for regular flour, or just add 1-2 tablespoons each day to your favorite foods. Or try my favorite flax remedy: savory seed crackers.

Get the recipe for these flaxseed crackers here.

See the original post:

The many reasons you should be eating more flax - Forward

(RNS) I met Alexa (not her real name) last week at the Jewish Community Centre of Krakow, Poland, during the Hineini Trip, the mission of 30 Reform Jewish clergy to help Ukrainian refugees and to bear witness to the greatest humanitarian crisis in Europe since 1945.

Alexa is a young woman, perhaps in her 30s, vivacious and charismatic. She is one of thousands of Ukrainian refugees who have walked through the doors of the JCC Krakow since the end of February.

This is her story her haggadah, if you will.

She told us that at the beginning of February, she and her family were vacationing in Cancun, Mexico. They were an ordinary middle class family from Ukraine, enjoying their holiday together.

Three weeks later, they had gone into exile as refugees with her husband staying behind to be part of the struggle for their nation.

Alexa told us she has Armenian roots on her mothers side. This is my familys third genocide in a little more than a hundred years Armenian, Jewish and Ukrainian.

It did not take long for her to open up to us, and what she had to say was jarring.

You will know why I call this blog Martini Judaism.

Because this statement will probably shake you and perhaps stir you.

I hate the Russians. I can no longer stand to hear the Russian language. When you think of what they are doing the atrocities; the crimes against humanity; raping women and children. This is not just Putin! These are the soldiers! No one told them to go out and commit war crimes. I hate the Russians.

We teach our children, and rightly so, not to hate. In particular, we teach them that it is forbidden to hate people because of their race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disabilities, etc. We teach them that it is forbidden to hate people because they are different. That is the x word in the list of Yom Kippur sins: the sin of xenophobia.

But, what about hating people not because of who they are, but because of what they do? Is that permissible?

You do not need to go very far to find Jews who hate people who have done evil. Within a 15 minute radius of where I live in Palm Beach County, Florida, I could introduce you to any number of Holocaust survivors who would never dare to utter the name Hitler. For him, they reserve the very Haman-like epithet: Yemach shmo, may his name be blotted out.

All of which brings me back to Pesach, and to the Exodus from Egypt.

The Book of Deuteronomy is very clear about how we are supposed to feel about the Egyptians.

You shall not abhor an Egyptian, for you were a stranger in that land. (Deut. 23:8)

On which RASHI comments:

You shall not abhor an Egyptian, although they cast your male children into the river. And what is the reason that you should not abhor him utterly? Because they were your hosts in time of need (during Josephs reign when the neighboring countries suffered from famine); therefore although they sinned against you do not utterly abhor him.

Memory is always selective. We choose exactly what we want to put at the front of memory, and what we choose to let recede.

That passage from Deuteronomy is a later reflection on the Israelite experience in Egypt, and on Egyptians.

For the author of this passage, what was important? The initial hospitality the Egyptians showed to the Israelites.

What could stay on the cutting-room floor? Slavery.

But it took several generations to get to that emotional place. It took several generations to figure out the lesson of the Exodus was to not oppress strangers, to not create a society that would resemble Egypt, to reject civilizations that idolize power.

So, too, that oft-quoted legend, in which God rebukes the angels for singing as the Egyptian soldiers are drowning in the Red Sea: My children are drowning, and you are uttering praises to Me?!? (Talmud, Megillah 10b)

Yes, of course. But that interpretation happened almost a thousand years after the Exodus from Egypt. It took generations to work through those memories.

Or, the quaint and messy custom at the Passover Seder spilling a drop of wine with the recitation of each plague, in order to lessen our joy at the suffering of others. That interpretation goes back at least as far as Don Isaac Abravanel, himself a refugee from the expulsion from Spain in 1492.

And yet, earlier interpretations of that practice state that the spilled drops of wine represent the suffering we were spared and that we hope will befall those who hate us. At a certain point, someone said: We have to revise the reason for spilling the wine.

The Torah tells us how the average Egyptian felt about the Israelites. Apparently, they liked them enough to give them farewell gifts of gold and silver and clothing.

But nowhere does the Torah say anything about how our ancestors felt about the Egyptians, and about Egypt, and about Pharaoh.

I suggest the answer to that question has disappeared from the text and might not be pretty.

Which makes me wonder: Is it at all possible that when we slaughtered the paschal lamb on the eve of Pesach that it was not only a sacrifice to God, a sacrifice of gratitude?

Perhaps when we slaughtered the paschal lamb remembering the lamb was one of the Egyptian gods that we were externalizing our anger against Egypt itself?

Last Friday evening, at the JCC in Krakow, I attended a Seder for Ukrainian refugees. There were about 50 of them there of all ages. Alexa was there. She served as the translator.

I looked deeply into the faces of those refugees.

I saw exhaustion.

But I did not see fear. I did not see anger. I just saw hope.

At the Seder, we taste two ritual dishes the bitter maror, and the sweet charoset. Consider the paradox: The charoset represents the mortar that our ancestors used during slavery.

When you combine the two on the matzah, which do you have in the greater quantity? The bitter maror, or the sweet charoset?

Because, this is a choice. You get to choose bitterness or sweetness.

I understand the bitterness and the anger.

And yet, blessed is the One who redeems us from anger and points us on the journey toward hope.

Go here to read the rest:

'I hate the Russians' - Religion News Service

What are the key turning points in history? What are the events that changed the world beyond recognition and whose impact was felt by everyone, everywhere? You could talk about the invention of the electric light bulb or Gutenbergs printing press. You could mention the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, which set off World War I and led to World War II, or the French and American Revolutions, or the fall of the Berlin Wall. More recent examples could be 9/11 or the 2008 recession or the invention of the internet.

But, in this weeks parshah, Yitro, we encounter historys single biggest turning point, a moment that changed everything, for everyone, forever: the giving of the Torah by God to Moses and the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. From this moment onward, nothing would be the same. The Torah had entered the world.

But, what is the Torah really? And why is its impact so powerful and far-reaching? We know that the Torah comprises 613 distinct commandments the mitzvot but what is their meaning and purpose?

The starting point is to understand that the Torahs total focus is the human being. This is expressed most vividly in the Talmud (Shabbat 88b), which records how, when Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Torah from God, the angels vehemently protested, asking how God could consider giving away His most treasured possession the Torah to a creature of flesh and blood. God told Moses to answer the angels, and Moses proceeded to list the Ten Commandments: I am the Lord your God, Who took you out of Egypt; Honor your father and your mother; Dont murder; Dont steal; Dont commit adultery.

Do you have a father and mother? Moses asked the angels. Have you been enslaved in Egypt? Have you passion or jealousy or greed, or any evil inclination? In so doing, Moses clearly demonstrated that the Torah was intended for human beings. Or, put another way, human beings are created in order to fulfil the mitzvot of the Torah.

But, how do the mitzvot work?

The Torah calls the first human being Adam, which comes from the Hebrew word adama, meaning earth or ground. What is the connection between the two? The Maharal explains that humans are similar to the ground in one essential respect: They are both pure potential.

Whether or not a piece of land will produce fruit depends on what is done with it. Even the most fertile piece of land will not produce fruit if it is left to lie fallow; it needs to be ploughed, fertilized and cultivated. So, too, the human being is pure potential, and to live a fruitful, productive life requires great and continuous efforts.

We arrive in this world as pure potential and, through the process of life, we actualize that potential. And its up to us. We have been given free choice to turn that potential into personal growth and spiritual greatness, into becoming refined, elevated, moral and holy but we can also choose to squander it and simply let it lie dormant.

The Maharal (Tiferet Yisrael, chapters 6-8) says the 613 mitzvot are a blueprint for us to create ourselves to access and actualize our Godly potential. The mitzvot have been specifically designed by our Creator to catalyze our latent spiritual energy. At its heart, this process of self-actualization of converting potential into actuality through performing the mitzvot is an act of sublime creativity.

What are the mechanics here? How exactly do the mitzvot unleash our Divine potential? The Maharal explains that the mitzvot have been formulated by the Creator of everything, and therefore have the spiritual energy to develop the full potential of the human being.

There is a natural bridge between Torah and the soul. With every new mitzvah we perform, we create a corresponding extra dimension within our soul. In essence, by living in tune with Torah, we live in tune with our soul; by living a true Torah life, we nurture and expand our spiritual selves.

Living in harmony with the soul brings with it a deep sense of spiritual connection and tranquility of spirit. Indeed, the Midrash says the union between body and soul is fraught with tension. These two constituent parts of the human being come from different worlds and have different needs.

The Midrash illustrates this with the analogy of a marriage between a farmer and a princess; the farmer brings the princess all the produce from the field that is so precious to him, but which is meaningless to her. So, too, the body brings the soul all the physical pleasures of this world, but the soul remains empty and unsatisfied. The soul originates from the palace of God and requires the goods of the spiritual world to feel satisfied and fulfilled. It requires a life of meaning and good deeds, and a connection to God, which the Torah provides. This is what gives us satisfaction and pleasure at a deep level.

There are many ways to demonstrate this. For example, weve all experienced the warm glow of satisfaction that comes from giving to others. A recent research project conducted by Michael Norton of Harvard Business School found that, regardless of income level, those people who spent money on others reported greater happiness, while those who spent more on themselves did not.

On the other end of the spectrum, there is the feeling of guilt the deep sense of spiritual unease we experience when we do things that are not in harmony with the soul.

Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, known as the Ramban, explores another way the mitzvot are catalysts to unleash the full potential of a person. He emphasizes that the mitzvot are not for Gods benefit, even though He commanded us to perform them. He says God gave us the mitzvot for our own sakes to mold us into better people.

According to the Ramban, each mitzvah refines us in a particular way. He gives the example of the mitzvah to send away the mother bird before taking the chicks or the eggs from the nest, and how this helps us cultivate the quality of compassion.

He also refers to the mitzvot of commemorating the great miracles of Jewish history. These are not, he says, for glorifying God, but rather for our own sake, so we should understand and appreciate these formative moments of our people, and so we can reinforce our faith and clarify our worldview.

According to this, the mitzvot are a comprehensive program of thought and action designed by God to help us become wise, compassionate, refined, loving, idealistic, giving, courageous, spiritual, ethical and holy. To help us become better people in every conceivable way.

So, from the moment in history when we received the Torah, life would never be the same. From that moment on, we had a blueprint for how to live life, how to love life and how to fulfill our awesome potential.

Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein, who has a PhD. in Human Rights Law, is the chief rabbi of South Africa. This article first appeared on aish.com.

Read the original here:

A Word of Torah: Why the Giving of the Torah is a Turning Point in History Detroit Jewish News - The Jewish News

By Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb

When I was young, I was an avid reader of novels. As Ive grown older, I have found myself more interested in good biographies, especially of great men, and I try to focus on what exactly made them great. Particularly, I try to discover the roles played by father and mother in the formation of these personalities.

Until relatively recently, Jewish tradition did not have many biographies of our heroes and heroines. Bible and Talmud contain much material about the lives of prophets, kings, and sages, but only occasionally give us a glimpse of the role that parental influences played in making them great.

I recently came across a passage in a book by a man I admire, Rabbi Yitzchak Yaakov Reines (1839-1915). He was the head of a very innovativeyeshivain Lida, Lithuania, and was one of the founders of the Mizrachi Religious Zionist movement. He was a prolific writer, and one of his works is entitledNod Shel Demaot (A Flask of Tears).

In this book, Rav Reines writes about the important role that mothers play in the development of their children. He emphasizes the role of the mother in the development of the Torah scholar. He argues that the mothers feminine intuition and maternal compassion, together with the fathers teaching, motivates and informs the budding Jewish leader.

The sources of his thesis include a verse from this weeks Torah portion, Yitro(Exodus18:1-20:23), in which we read that the L-rd called to Moses from the mountain and said, Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob and declare to the children of Israel. You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. (ibid19:3-6).

The Midrash explains that the house of Jacob refers to women and the children of Israel to men. Both men and women must be involved if we are to become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

Why the women? asks the Midrash, and answers, Because they are the ones who can inspire their children to walk in the ways of Torah.

Rav Reines adduces another biblical verse to make his point. He refers to the words in the very first chapter of theBook ofProverbs, in which King Solomon offers this good counsel: My son, heed the discipline (mussar) of your father, and do not forsake the instruction (Torah) of your mother (Proverbs1:8).

From this verse, it seems that the mothers message may be even more important for the childs guidance than that of his father. After all, father merely admonishes the child with words of discipline, whereas mother imparts nothing less than the instruction of the Torah itself.

Then comes thetour de forceof Rav Reines essay, the biographical analysis of a great Talmudic sage, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya. The student ofPirkei Avot will recognize his name from a passage in Chapter Two of that work where we read of the five disciples of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai.

They are enumerated, and the praises of each of them are recounted. Of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya, we learn, Ashrei yoladeto (happy is she who gave birth to him). Of all the outstanding disciples, only Rabbi Yehoshuas mother is brought into the picture. What special role did she play in his life that earned her honorable mention?

Rav Reines responds by relating an important story of which most of us are sadly ignorant. Recorded inBereshit Rabba 64:10, it tells of a time, not long after the destruction of the Second Temple, when the Roman rulers decided to allow the Jewish people to rebuild the Temple. Preliminary preparations were already under way for that glorious opportunity when theKutim, usually identified with the Samaritan sect, confounded those plans. They maligned the Jews to the Romans and accused them of disloyalty. The permission to rebuild was revoked.

Having come so close to realizing this impossible dream, the Jews gathered in the valley of Beit Rimon with violent rebellion in their hearts. They clamored to march forth and rebuild the Temple in defiance of the Romans decree.

However, the more responsible leaders knew that such a provocation would meet with disastrous consequences. They sought for a respected figure, sufficiently wise and sufficiently persuasive, to calm the tempers of the masses and to quell the mutiny. They chose Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya for the task.

The Midrash quotes Rabbi Yehoshuas address in full detail. He used a fable as the basis of his argument:

A lion had just devoured its prey, but a bone of his victim was stuck in his throat. The lion offered a reward to anyone who would volunteer to insert his hand into his mouth to remove the bone. The stork volunteered, and thrust its long neck into the lions mouth and extracted the bone.

When the stork demanded his reward, the lion retorted, Your reward is that you can forevermore boast that you had thrust your head into a lions mouth and lived to tell the tale. Your survival is sufficient reward. So, too, argued Rabbi Yehoshua, our survival is our reward. We must surrender the hope of rebuilding our Temple in the interests of our national continuity. There are times when grandiose dreams must be foresworn so that survival can be assured.

Rav Reines argues that this combination of cleverness and insight into the minds of men was the result of his mothers upbringing. The ability to calm explosive tempers and sooth raging emotions is something that Rabbi Yehoshua learned from his mother.

He was chosen for this vital role in Jewish history because the other leaders knew of his talents, and perhaps even knew that their source was to be traced back to his mother, of whom none other than Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai had exclaimed, Happy is she who gave birth to him.

This wonderful insight of Rav Reines is important for all of us to remember, particularly those of us who are raising children. Psychologists have long stressed the vital roles that mothers play in child development. In our religion, we put much stress on the fathers role in teaching Torah to his children. But we often underestimate, and indeed sometimes even forget, the role of the mother.

Our tradition urges us to embrace the role of the mother not just in the childs physical and emotional development, but in his or her spiritual and religious growth as well.

We would do well to remember that Rav Reines is simply expanding upon G-ds own edict to Moses at the very inception of our history: Speak to the house of Jacob! Speak to the women as well as to the men.

Mothers, at least as much as fathers, are essential if we are to create a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

Read the rest here:

In Judaism, it's often mother who knows best - The Jewish Star

This week, we averted one tragedy, but we experienced another. Thank God, that Colleyville did not end like Pittsburgh. We averted tragedy in that none of the hostages from Congregation Beth Israel of Colleyville were killed and all managed to escape from their eleven-hour nightmare in the synagogue this past Shabbat. At the same time, this latest antisemitic attack in a Jewish house of worship has only reinforced the fact that when we come to a synagogue to pray, whether on Shabbat or not, we are placing ourselves at a certain risk of harm. Some of us may have been lulled with the passage of time to think that we neednt be so cautious anymore when coming to shul. Colleyville was a wake-up call to the ongoing need for security precautions, and we recognize how fortunate we were that this instance of terror did not cost the life of a single worshipper.

However, the tragedy of Colleyville is that it also forces synagogues to revisit a core mission, that of chesed, acts of kindness. Mr. Akram, the terrorist, was allowed into the synagogue as an act of kindness. Rabbi Cytron-Walker, the Rabbi of the synagogue, said that he had let the stranger in before Shabbat services that morning. It was an unusually cold day in North Texas, and the rabbi thought that he was just coming in to get warm. The tragedy of Colleyville is that we may not be able to do that anymore.

I remember that when I was studying in Yeshiva in Israel thirty years ago and I wanted to travel with a friend to France on the way back to the United States, we found a book that contained the names and contact information of families all over the world who were happy to host orthodox Jewish young adults like us for Shabbat. There were no security precautions to get invited for Shabbat. We simply wrote a letter to a family in France and we received a favorable response a few weeks later and we stayed with this family for Shabbat. After all, that is the beauty of the Torah community throughout the world. We all extend ourselves to help the stranger, because he or she is not really a stranger. We all are related to each other. We all are one large family. We all are connected to each other even if we live on opposite corners of the world and even if we have never met.

The Talmud Yerushalmi in Masechet Nedarim develops this idea in explaining how we can fulfill the challenging command of vahavta lreiacha kamocha, of loving our friend like ourselves. Because in fact, doesnt that seem like too high a standard to achieve? The Yerushalmi explains this requirement with the following parable. If someone is holding a knife with his right hand and accidentally cuts his left hand with the knife, will the left hand now pick up a knife and in an act of revenge, cut the right hand? Obviously not. They are part of the same person. That is the basis for the mitzvah of loving our friend. Why should we love our friend? Because kamocha, because he or she is really connected to us. We both are connected to the same entity, which is Am Yisrael, the nation of Israel. As an extension of this concept, we all come from a common ancestor. We care about every individual, imitating the description of God as being rachamav al kol maasav, merciful upon all of His works. The Gemara in Yevamot states that one of the distinguishing marks of the Jew is that he is merciful and another distinguishing mark is that he performs acts of kindness. This is who we are. Kindness is a value that lies right at our core.

But then what do we do if we are too scared to be ourselves anymore and to engage in certain acts of kindness anymore? What if security considerations do not permit us to simply open our doors to a stranger who needs a place to eat, to escape from the cold, or just to find a friendly face. I teach a Mitzvot bein adam lachavero course to high school students and when we studied the topic of the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim, of inviting guests, I provided my students with three scenarios and asked what they would do under the circumstances. The first situation is that someone called you in the middle of the week and wanted to spend Shabbat in your community. What would you do? I think in that scenario we easily can ask the person to send references, like the Rabbi of the community where the person davens, if thats possible, so that we can verify that it is safe to host the person. But what if someone calls you on Friday evening right before Shabbat begins and says that she is stuck on the road and your town is the nearest town because she cant make it home for Shabbat. She wants to spend Shabbat in your community and there is no time to get references. What would you do then? We discussed that maybe we cannot host her because we cant verify her credentials but we can direct her to a nearby hotel where she can stay without violating Shabbat and, if need be, provide funding for the hotel if the person cant afford it. But what if someone shows up on Friday night in your community and theres no hotel nearby. Do we offer the person a place to stay? How do we balance the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim with security considerations?

In 2014, Rabbi Akiva Males, then the Rabbi of Harrisburg, Pennsylvanias orthodox shul, wrote an opinion piece in the OUs Jewish Action magazine, when he reflected on this tension. He cited a discussion in the Talmud that resonated with him in this context. The Mishnah in Yoma teaches us that prior to Yom Kippur, the elder Kohanim compelled the Kohen Gadol who would perform the Yom Kippur service to take an oath of allegiance, that he would not deviate from the traditional method of performing the service. The Mishna concludes that after the oath, both the elder Kohanim and the Kohen Gadol would weep. The Talmud explains that the Kohen Gadol would weep for having been suspected of possibly deviating from the Yom Kippur service and the elder Kohanim would weep for having suspected that a potentially innocent person would deviate from the Yom Kippur service.

This is the tension that Rabbi Males faced and this is the tension that we increasingly face in this world where there is a need for heightened security. If a needy individual comes to our synagogue asking for help, must we now ask for references every time before letting the person in? If so, we must cry for suspecting the individual and the needy individual must cry for being suspected. How somber we must be when we realize that practical and legitimate fears for our safety obstruct our ability to actualize our true nature as kind and giving people. Unfortunately, the near tragedy of this past Shabbat will further force us not just to re-evaluate our security for how to protect ourselves, but it will also force us to re-evaluate how we engage in a core value of our mission, which is a mission of chesed. And that is a real tragedy.

Jonathan Muskat is the Rabbi of the Young Israel of Oceanside.

Read the original here:

Tragedy of Colleyville: Remaining a people of kindness in a world that often isn't - The Times of Israel

My work fell somewhere between the archaeology of glueing together broken vessels and the building of a complex model ship, Tokarczuk has said of her writing. Indeed, the glue that binds these dug-up fragments together is squeezed through Tokarczuks sprawling imagination and its here her writing appears freer, less constrained by historical fidelity. Take this spine-tingling opening to one chapter: Every now and then, God wearies of his own luminous silence, and infinity starts to make him a little bit sick. Elsewhere, waves make their way across the golden fields of crops that stretch out past the horizon, and it looks as though the whole earth, soft and gold, were sighing. This is Tokarczuk at her most lyrical and beguiling, reminiscent of her 2019 novel Drive your Plow over the Bones of the Dead and 2018 Booker Prize-winning work, Flights.

With frequent digressions and tangents, plot marches forward to the beat of Frank and his heretical sects peregrinations across Europe. As he traverses the Ottoman and Habsburg empires and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth facing persecution, imprisonment, and plague his notoriety swells with hearsay and village gossip: one account tells of how Frank triggered a lightning storm simply by shouting into the sky while another recalls that, upon his arrival, cows gave birth to twins with strange colourations and chickens laid eggs with multiple yolks. To many Rabbis, his religious beliefs which mix Judaism, Christianity and Islam, denounce the Talmud and promote sexual promiscuity are outrageous. To others, his outlandish antics are proof he is the reincarnation of the 17th-century Kabbalist Sabbatai Tzvi and has come to lead the people out of misery. Poverty-stricken in Europes hinterlands, the masses want miracles, signs, shooting stars. They dont really understand Franks feverish diatribes, but because he is tall, handsome, and dressed like a Turk, he seems exceptional. In this sense, Frank resembles a modern-day populist leader skilled in the art of deception, a polarising figure whose stock is simultaneously up and down depending on who is asked.

Set across five decades, The Books of Jacob covers a lot of ground. Philosophically, Tokarzcuk interweaves arguments on Kabbalah, eschatology, antisemitism, ethics, and mysticism to name a few, expressing the simmering energy of the Enlightment period across Europe. This is embodied most directly by Father Chmielowski, vicar forane of Rohatyn, a real-life figure who created Polands first encyclopaedia, entitled New Athens. Just imagine, he says, everything at hand, in every library, noblemans and peasants. All of mankinds knowledge collected in one place. That The Books of Jacob opens with Father Chmielowskis quest for totality, is perhaps a wry nod to the books own Herculean intentions.

See the article here:

The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk ambitious, daring, encyclopaedic - The Calvert Journal

Championed by Rabbi Dovid Hofstedter, Founder of Dirshu, the largest Torah organization in the world, Members of the US House of Representatives met to support the Caucus launch, and discuss ongoing issues of concern to Jews in the United States, Canada and around the world.

In his address to the Congressmen/Congresswomen, Rabbi Hofstedter who is based in Toronto, Canada, outlined the issues on which the Caucus will focus:

Dirshu, is an Orthodox Jewish International organization founded in 1997 in Toronto by Rabbi Dovid Hofstedter, the son of Holocaust survivors.It includes 200,000+ supporters dedicated to the study of Jewish texts, sponsoring Torah lectures and offering financial incentives to individuals and groups to learn and master Talmud, Halakha and Mussar texts. Dirshu operates in 26 countries on five continents with its US headquarters in New Jersey.

Congressman and Co-Chair Bacon said, "The purpose of this Caucus is to pledge our friendship to our Jewish friends, our brothers and sisters. We are 100% standing with you against antisemitism in any form. I don't care where it comes from left or right."

Congressman and Co-Chair Cuellar said, "This Caucus is going to be so important in a bipartisan way. We have to be able to have the strength so we know what's good, what's bad, what's moral and what's not moral."

Speaking in Washington to the Members in attendance, Rabbi Hofstedter said, "Torah values have been under attack for many years basic values such as the deep respect for religion, for human dignity, honesty, integrity, self-sacrifice, charity, compassion and empathy. These values are the foundation of the USA. As Members of Congress, your attendance and participation here demonstrates your personal commitment to supporting Jewish values and to promoting unity. I feel a deep sense of encouragement about what lies ahead and I intend on conveying your messages of encouragement to all members of our organization in your respective districts. We at Dirshu look forward to working together in the months and years to come, to ensure that freedom of religion is never abridged, and that never again, in fact, remains just that Never Again."

The attending Members of Congress were asked "to continue to be more clear and forceful in their condemnation of antisemitic acts especially in light of the increased number of hate crimes against Jews." Congressional districts represented included Florida, Nebraska, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Texas and Wisconsin.

Rabbi Hofstedter added, "We appreciate and continue to rely on the support of the United States and the benevolence of its government to protect Jewish people when we have been the subject of persecution and under attack. Let us celebrate the inauguration of this Caucus as we embrace its principles and strive energetically and bravely to ensure freedom of religion and religious education, even in the most challenging of times. Let us battle, together, against antisemitism. Let us fight to restore human dignity and advanced Torah values in America and throughout the world. Doing so, we should always be mindful of the Torah values as embodied in the Declaration of Independence with the firm reliance of the protection of divine providence."

NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:

David Eisenstadttcgpr[emailprotected](C) 1-416-561-5751

SOURCE Dirshu

See the original post here:

DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS INAUGURATE THE CONGRESSIONAL CAUCUS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF TORAH VALUES - PRNewswire

(Dr Muhammad Mohiuddins interview on University of Marylands website).

Earlier this month, a team of surgeons from the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) in Baltimore made history by transplanting a genetically modified pig heart into David Bennett, a 57-year-old patient with a bad heart. This led to a lot of enthusiasm medical community and gives hope to millions of people around the world who wait for organ transplants for years, often dying without getting one.

This has also resulted in religious outcry by many, especially among the Jews and Muslims, who consider pigs as unclean, and are prohibited from consuming pork products. For Muslims, the thought of even touching a pig is often met with contempt. Often times Muslims would engage in many prohibited acts such as premarital sex and drinking alcohol but pork is always a no-no even for the non-observing Muslims.

Dr. Muhammad Mohiuddin, a graduate of Dow Medical College at Karachi, Pakistan is a Professor of Surgery and Director of the Cardiac Xenotransplantation Program, and his team at UMSOM made history by doing the first ever pig-to-human heart transplantation. He was also part of the surgery team that has worked for decades on researching the genetic manipulation of the pig organs to avoid human rejection. He and his team also developed an immune-suppressing drug procedure to help ensure the host body did not reject the pig hearts. Dr. Bartley Griffith, director of the Cardiac and Lung Transplant Programs at that institution was one of the main surgeons who performed the transplant surgery.

David Bennett, who had irregular heart beat, was not a viable candidate for the heart transplant. The pig heart he received had 10 genetic modifications, including the removal of four pig genes and the addition of six human genes to ensure the organ does not get rejected.

So far it is reported to be working fine without any rejection attempts by his body. This has far reaching implication in the field of organ transplantation and is welcome news for millions of people who are waiting for a heart, liver, kidney, pancreas or other organs.

But is getting a pigs heart not forbidden for Muslims and Jews?

The prohibition to eat pork is clear and unambiguous in the Quran and the Old Testament.

He has only forbidden you what dies of itself, and blood, and flesh of swine, and that over which any other (name) than (that of) Allah has been invoked; but whoever is driven to necessity, not desiring, nor exceeding the limit, no sin shall be upon him; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. The Quran 2:173

Leviticus chapter 11 details what types of animals are allowed and what types are forbidden.

Of all the land animals, these are the ones you may use for food. You may eat any animal that has completely split hooves and chews the cud. Leviticus 3-4

It goes on to name many animals that cannot be consumed for food, including the pigs.

The pig has evenly split hooves but does not chew the cud, so it is unclean. You may not eat the meat of these animals or even touch their carcasses. They are ceremonially unclean for you. Leviticus 8-9

Therefore, the pig heart, even if genetically modified would be considered non-halal and non-kosher, right? Wrong.

Let me start by a disclaimer: I am not an Islamic jurist or an expert on Islamic law or Fiqh. But a review of the verses from the Quran makes it rather clear, as far as I am concerned. Why is getting a pigs heart halal and kosher? Lets dig a little deeper. I would hate to speak for my Jewish cousins but the same rules and exceptions also seem to apply for them, as noted below.

Even though eating the flesh of swine is prohibited, there are exceptions, like in so many of the religious rulings.

Say: I do not find in that which has been revealed to me anything forbidden for an eater to eat of except that it be what has died of itself, or blood poured forth, or flesh of swine for that surely is unclean or that which is a transgression, other than (the name of) Allah having been invoked on it; but whoever is driven to necessity, not desiring nor exceeding the limit, then surely your Lord is Forgiving, Merciful. The Quran 6:145

Forbidden to you is that which dies of itself, and blood, and flesh of swine, and that on which any other name than that of Allah has been invoked, and the strangled (animal) and that beaten to death, and that killed by a fall and that killed by being smitten with the horn, and that which wild beasts have eaten, except what you slaughter, and what is sacrificed on stones set up (for idols) and that you divide by the arrows; that is a transgression. This day have those who disbelieve despaired of your religion, so fear them not, and fear Me. This day have I perfected for you your religion and completed My favor on you and chosen for you Islam as a religion; but whoever is compelled by hunger, not inclining willfully to sin, then surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. The Quran 5:3

First of all, getting a pigs heart transplanted in your body is not the same as eating pork. Secondly, as the verses above show, even eating the pork is allowed when you are compelled and have no other choice to survive. Life is considered precious and sacred and one must do everything in his/her power to protect it.

And then the following verse really makes the point even more clear, though not in direct relation to eating pork.

For this reason did We prescribe to the children of Israel that whoever slays a soul, unless it be for manslaughter or for mischief in the land, it is as though he slew all humanity; and whoever saves a life it is as though he saved all humanity; and certainly Our messengers came to them with clear arguments, but even after that many of them certainly act extravagantly in the land. The Quran 5:32

The command to the Israelites mentioned above can be found in Talmud.

Therefore the man was created singly, to teach that he who destroys one soul of a human being, the Scripture considers him as if he should destroy a whole world, and him who saves one soul ofIsrael, the Scripture considers him as if he should save a whole World. (Babylonian Talmud- Mishnah, Sanhedrin 4:5)

In other words, if you are using pig to save a life, you are saving all of humanity! You put the Qurans verses quoted above giving an exemption in case of hardship, and verse 5:32 (and the corresponding passage from Mishnah) together and you will get the answer yourself. But to be clear, I am not suggesting or recommending that it is OK for Muslims (or Jews) to eat pork or use pig products under normal, non life threatening situations or other conditions without the hardship, when other alternatives are available. As a a matter of full disclosure, I do not eat or consume pork products myself.

But in Davids case, it was necessary to get the heart, albeit from a pig, to save a life.And there are/will be many situations where there is no good alternative to save a life.

So kudos to Dr Muhammad Mohiuddin and Dr Griffith for their groundbreaking work.

Read the original post:

Is Pig Heart Transplantation Halal and Kosher? | Ejaz Naqvi MD - Patheos

Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, spoke of love and gratitude at a Jan. 17 healing service showing a familiar quality to Ohio rabbis who knew him in his youth, as a rabbinical student and today.

In Texas, Rabbi Daniel Utley told the Cleveland Jewish News Jan. 17 that he and Dallas-area clergy hope to reach out to Cytron-Walker, whom he said is well-respected and has helped build Congregation Beth Israel.

It was really special to see how Rabbi Cytron-Walkers efforts saved lives and defused the situation as best as possible, said Utley, the associate rabbi of Temple Emanu-El in Dallas, and who grew up in Beachwood. Weve all been very proud to see that. We know what a wonderful man he is and what a wonderful rabbi he is. ... I can imagine his ability as a pastoral caregiver were put to work and his training was put to work throughout the day.

On Jan. 15, Cytron-Walker allowed a man into Congregation Beth Israel prior to the beginning of Shabbat services because it had been a particularly cold day in North Texas and he served him a cup of tea, according to media reports. Services were being livestreamed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The man, Malik Faisal Akram, ended up holding the rabbi and three congregants hostage for more than 10 hours.

One hostage was freed in late afternoon and the others escaped after the hostage-taker told the men to kneel, according to The New York Times. Thats when Cytron-Walker threw a chair at him and the three remaining hostages ran outside to safety.

Cytron-Walker received his rabbinical ordination in 2006 and a masters in Hebrew letters in 2005 from Hebrew Union CollegeJewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati. As a student, he served congregations in Ishpeming, Mich., Fort Walton Beach, Fla., and Cincinnati. During his time at HUC-JIR, he received multiple awards for his service to the community, along with an award for leadership from QESHET: A Network of LGBT Reform rabbis, according to his bio on his synagogues website.

On Jan. 17, Cytron-Walker spoke at the healing service at Whites Chapel United Methodist Church in Southlake, Texas.

There, he thanked all who had reached out to him and to the congregation since the ordeal.

Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker speaks of love and gratitude at a healing service Jan. 17 at Whites Chapel United Methodist Church in Southlake, Texas. There were 32,000 views on Facebook as of Jan. 18.

I have led or helped to lead too many of these services; I have mourned at too many vigils for Jews, for Muslims, for Christians and more, so many more, people, he said. And I am so grateful, so unbelievably grateful, that we are tonight unlike every other service like this that I have done tonight we will not be saying our traditional prayer for mourning, that no one will be saying Kaddish Yatom for me or for any of us, the Mourners Kaddish, this evening.

Thank G-d. Thank G-d. It could have been so much worse and I am overflowing, truly overflowing, with gratitude, he said.

Cytron-Walker thanked those in the sanctuary, a sanctuary far larger than the one at his synagogue, he said, and he thanked those who watched online, which numbered 32,000 as of the following day.

Cytron-Walker grew up in Lansing, Mich. Rabbi Robert N. Nosanchuk at Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple in Beachwood met Cytron-Walker when Cytron-Walker was a fifth grader. Nosanchuk was his youth group adviser while in college in East Lansing, Mich., and knows Cytron-Walker and his mother, Nosanchuk told his congregation in a Jan. 15 email, in which he expressed prayers for the safety of the hostages. Cytron-Walker graduated from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

At the healing service, Cytron-Walker quoted the Talmud that a person who saves one life, saves a world.

When terrible things happen to me and you feel it, thats empathy, he said. Thats compassion. And thats what enables us to see each other in spite of all our differences. It enables us to see each other as human beings, as infinitely valuable because every person, every world is infinitely valuable.

He also spoke of the importance of reaching across divides to make friends.

Because heres the thing, if we live that value we might have a lot more friends that we disagree with, a lot more friends that we dont see eye to eye with, but well have a lot fewer enemies.

Quoting Martin Luther King Jr. on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, he said, Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.

He also said viewing each person as of infinite value, Thats on each and every one of us to work on.

Hazan Jeffrey S. Weber leads Olam Chesed Yebaneh at a healing service Jan. 17.

Rabbi Rick Kellner, spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Tikvah in Worthington, a Columbus suburb, said he met Cytron-Walker when both were first-year rabbinical students at HUC-JIRs Jerusalem campus. Kellner then attended the Los Angeles campus and Cytron-Walker headed to the Cincinnati campus.

Kellner told the CJN Jan. 18 that Cytron-Walker is loving, kind and calm. He said he has seen Cytron-Walker at Central Conference of American Rabbis conventions and that he looks forward to his conversations with him.

He leads with his heart, Kellner said. He leads with his soul.

Kellner said Cytron-Walker is giving and heartfelt and deeply intuitive about the world around us.

At the healing service, Cytron-Walker spoke to his congregation.

To my CBI (Congregation Beth Israel) family, I wish I had a magic wand, he said. I wish I could take away all of our pain and struggle. I know that this violation of our spiritual home was traumatic for each and every one of us, and not just us. And the road ahead, this is going to be a process.

However, he said, Like any journey, we will take the next step.

We will comfort each other, and we will lean on each other, and we will understand that each of us will respond in our own way and we will have patience with each other even when we get on each others nerves I can hope, he said. It will take time, but we will heal together. Together, all of us, we will heal together.

The healing service included readings by past presidents of Congregation Beth Israel and songs led by cantors. It closed with the song, Olam Chesed Yibaneh, written by Rabbi Menachem Creditor. It includes the lyrics, If we build this world from love, then G-d will build this world from love.

Rabbi Josh Brown of Temple Israel in Bath Township, who attended HUC-JIR, said he met Cytron-Walker in Cincinnati because Cytron-Walker had been assigned to help lead orientation for incoming rabbinical students.

I have always known Charlie to be deeply committed to learning, to justice and to smiling a lot, Brown wrote his congregants in a Jan. 16 email. He is best described as a pure mensch. Thank G-d the world will continue to benefit from his shining light and the lives of the other hostages who survived yesterdays attack.

Brown told the CJN Jan. 18, I remember him, I think, much like he presented himself at the vigil last night. ... I remember him as being a very smart, justice-oriented, happy, menschy guy.

He said Cytron-Walker presented himself authentically.

I think what we saw from the leadership at the pulpit these last few days and on the interviews has been very much what I remember of him, Brown said.

Utley said his congregation has a healing service Jan. 21 and that prayers for Congregation Beth Israel and Cytron-Walker will be included in that previously scheduled service.

Were trying to encourage people that the response to these situations is to be prepared, make sure our physical security is upright and ... ready to respond, but also that our spiritual path is strong, he said. If we step out and step forward in the Jewish community and continue building vibrant Jewish lives together, thats our best response to antisemitism, to hatred of all kinds.

Cytron-Walkers first post on Facebook following the situation was one of gratitude: I am thankful and filled with appreciation for / All of the vigils and prayers and love and support, / All of the law enforcement and first responders who cared for us, / All of the security training that helped save us. / I am grateful for my family. / I am grateful for the CBI Community, the Jewish Community, the Human Community. / I am grateful that we made it out. / I am grateful to be alive.

More here:

Rabbi Cytron-Walker described as 'menschy guy' by area rabbis - Cleveland Jewish News

In South Park: Post-Covid, a special episode of the irreverent TV cartoon that aired onThanksgiving, Eric Cartman has converted to Judaism. He is a tallit-wearing Orthodox rabbi who studied Talmud, married a woman named Yentel, and named his children Moishe, Menorah, and Hakham.

Will Cartman take the next step and apply to make aliyah to Israel? The Law of Return, the law which established who has the right to claim citizenship in Israel, states, Every Jew has the right to come to this country as an oleh. For the purposes of this law, Jew is defined as a person who was born of a Jewish mother or has converted to Judaism and who is not a member of another religion. So Cartman should be approved for aliyah, right? Not so fast.

For the moment, let us assume that Cartman can produce a document indicating he has no serious criminal record. Let us also assume he went through the conversion process with rabbis who were affiliated with one of the major streams of Judaism and has a certificate of conversion. Now what?

Cartman may apply through a representative of the Jewish Agency (a shaliach aliyah). He will be asked to present letters from the converting rabbi describing the preparation and study that led up to his conversion. In addition, he will be asked to provide a letter stating that he has continued to be affiliated with a synagogue. Cartman will then have to undergo an interview with a representative of the Jewish Agencys Aliyah Department.

But Cartman should not pack up for his big move quite so quickly. The Jewish Agency may not act as quickly as he would hope. They may ask, in the name of Israels Interior Ministry, for additional documents. They may then go back and again ask for yet additional documents that had not initially been requested.

If Cartman converted through an Orthodox Beit Din, he may have a problem obtaining approval. There are surprisingly few Orthodox rabbis in North America who are acceptable to the Interior Ministry. This owes to an agreement made over a decade ago between Israels Chief Rabbinate and the RCA (Rabbinical Council of America), the mainstream Modern Orthodox rabbinic association.

When a candidate for aliyah has undergone conversion through the Conservative/Masorti movement, the Masorti Rabbinical Assembly in Israel is asked if we stand behind the conversion. This occurs when there may be a question in the mind of the shaliach. The same applies to those who convert through the Reform movement. The Reform movement will be asked if they stand behind the conversion.

With regard to an Orthodox convert wishing to make aliyah, even if the process had been sincere, and the converting rabbis are respected, approval of the converting Beit Din must come from the official Chief Rabbinate. Many, perhaps most, Orthodox rabbis in North America are not acceptable to the Chief Rabbinate.

Should it be that Cartman had been converted by rabbis who were not affiliated with any of the major rabbinic organizations and who daven (pray) at a synagogue that is not affiliated with a major association of synagogues, his right to make aliyah will likely be challenged. This can take months and even years.

Should Cartman seek to understand the cause of the delay in processing his aliyah application, chances are that he would contact his shaliach or officials at the Jewish Agency. If that shaliach bothers to reply, Cartman is likely to be told that there is nothing to be done as his file is under consideration in the Interior Ministry.

He may be told that there are issues that are being investigated. Which issues? That information is often not supplied to the applicant. At other times, the information provided by the authorities is just inaccurate. The sincerity of the conversion may even be questioned by bureaucrats within the Interior Ministry.

It certainly should be the role of the Aliyah Department (which has some very devoted and hardworking people) to advocate on behalf of Diaspora Jews who have applied for aliyah and who have seemingly met all of the demands spelled out in the Interior Ministrys criteria for aliyah. But sadly, in far too many cases this does not happen. Rather than pressure the Interior Ministry to act in keeping with the criteria for aliyah by a convert to Judaism (which, oddly, have never officially been published), the Jewish Agency, and/or the Interior Ministry, will allow the applicant to twist in the wind without providing full information as to what issues may be causing the delay. Or they may simply say that the matter is out of their hands.

Efforts to make the system a bit more user-friendly have gone nowhere. The Interior Ministry, obligated under their own criteria to provide an answer to the applicant within sixty days, rarely does so. Efficiency improvements promised by high-ranking Jewish Agency officials have gone nowhere.

Cartman has one advantage: he is a Caucasian from North America. Converts from less affluent countries, in particular applicants of color, will often find the aliyah application process nothing short of hellish. Too often the only way to obtain a just result requires turning to the courts. But this process is costly and lengthy.

It seems that officials at the Jewish Agency are reluctant to challenge the Interior Ministrys actions. They appear uninterested in rocking the boat. Perhaps they fear losing their aliyah mandate to Nefesh BNefesh, which years ago largely supplanted the Jewish Agencys role in encouraging and assisting North American aliyah. Perhaps they are stuck in a way of thinking created by the decades of ministry control by the Haredi Shas political party.

Cartman is just a TV caricature, but given the severe deficiencies at both the Interior Ministry and the Jewish Agency, the aliyah process can all too often be just as cartoonish.

Rabbi Andrew Sacks is the director of the Rabbinical Assembly of Israel and the Religious Affairs Bureau.

Continue reading here:

South Park's Cartman converted to Judaism, but can he move to Israel? - The Times of Israel

Curb Your Enthusiasm has always been a Jewy show, but this season it is downright Jewish.

On the HBO sitcom, now in its 11th season, Larry David has never been shy about surfacing, and lampooning, Judaism and Jewishness. He has contemplated the dilemmas of Holocaust survival, waded into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (via a local chicken restaurant) andgotten stranded on a ski lift with an Orthodox Jew on Shabbat.

This season, its not just the occasional matzoh ball joke, orthe Yiddish lesson he gave Jon Hamm in the season premiere. David is plunging into questions of Jewish pride and belief, and if he isnt exactly Abraham Joshua Heschel, he could provide a Jewish educator with a semester of lively classroom debate.

In the latest episode, for example, a Jew for Jesus joins the cast of the show that Larrys character is developing for Hulu. Although neither Larry nor his Jewish friends are remotely religious, they seem genuinely upset by the actors apostasy, and Larry gives him a rather sober warning that he shouldnt proselytize on set.

A week earlier, a member of his golf club (played by Rob Morrow) asks Larry to pray for his ailing father. Larry declines, saying prayer is useless. He also wonders why God would need, or heed, the prayer of a random atheist like himself instead of the distressed son who wants his father to live.

For anyone who has gone to Hebrew school, its a familiar challenge, usually aired by the wiseacre in the back row who the teacher suspects is perhaps the most engaged student in the classroom. And it is not just atheists posing the question, Why pray? The Israeli philosopher Yeshayahu Leibowitz, a devout Orthodox Jew,believed thatworship of God must be totally devoid of instrumental considerations.

In addition to a Jewish funeral, the episode has a bonus theological theme: Middah kneged Middah, or as Morrows character puts it, what goes around comes around. Morrow warns Larry that his actions will have consequences, which actually gives Larry pause. If anything, the entire Curb enterprise is an exercise in Jewish karma. Larry is constantly being punished in ways large and small for his actions, inactions, meddling and slights. As the old theater expression has it, if Larry opens a donut shop to drive a rival out of business in act one, his own shop will burn to the ground in act three.

To dismiss him as self-hating is to miss out on the unmistakably Jewish conversation at the heart of the show.

A prior episode was even more self-consciously Jewish: Larry attends High Holiday services only because he lost a golf bet to the rabbi, and he literally bumps into a Klansman coming out of a coffee shop. The latter sets off a string of plot twists, as he and the KKK guy trade a series of favors and obligations that will have disastrous consequences for both. Larrys salvation comes at the end, when he blares a shofar from his balcony, literally raising the alarm on antisemitism and waking his neighbors to the threat of white supremacy.

The episode suggests the failure of good intentions. Larry spills coffee on the Klansmans robe and offers to have it dry-cleaned. Good liberal Jew that he is, Larry appears genuine in his belief that empathy is a better response to hate than confrontation, and that if he turns the other cheek it might lower the temperature in a post-Trump America. Of course, it doesnt work out that way, and the last word goes to his friend Susie Green, who performs a pointed act of Jewish sabotage that gets the Klansman pummeled by his fellow racists. Give David credit for embedding within a preposterous half-hour of television a debate about vengeance and resistance that engaged the followers of Jews as different as Jesus and Jabotinsky.

Make no mistake: The Larry David character is sacrilegious and heretical, and Curb is no friend of the religious mindset. But to dismiss him as self-hating is to miss out on the unmistakably Jewish conversation at the heart of the show. Davids character is a deeply principled person: Most of the nonsense he gets himself into is the result of his enforcing unspoken social rules that others appear to be flouting, whether it is taking too many samples at the ice cream counter or dominating the conversation (poorly) at the dinner table. Larry is rude and inconsiderate, but he is seldom wrong. He is what Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchikmight have called a Halachic Man an actualizer of the ideals of justice and righteousness, evenwhen the rest of the world resents it.

If you think I am overdoing it, remember thatthere is an actual discussion in Talmud about the right and wrong way of putting on a pair of shoes.

And just as in the Talmud, there are no easy answers in Davids moral universe: If a friend lends you his favorite, one-of-a-kind shirt, and you ruin it, what are your obligations to him? (See:Bava Metzia 96b)If a thief breaks into your house and then drowns in your swimming pool, which wasnt protected by the required fence, who is owed damages and how much? (See:Ibn Ezra on Exodus 22:1-2)

In last weeks episode, Larry even touched on consciously or not a classic debate in the Talmud: If you and a friend are stranded in the desert, and your canteen has only enough water for one of you to survive, must you share it or save your own life?

Yes, Larry was talking about sharing a phone charger, but if the Sages had cell phones, what do you think theyd be talking about?

Continued here:

Larry David has never been more Jewish than in this season's 'Curb' J. - The Jewish News of Northern California

By Andrew Silow-Carroll

Curb Your Enthusiasm has always been a Jewy show, but this season it is downright Jewish.

On the HBO sitcom, now in its 11th season, Larry David has never been shy about surfacing, and lampooning, Judaism and Jewishness. He has contemplated the dilemmas of Holocaust survival, waded into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (via a local chicken restaurant) and gotten stranded on a ski lift with an Orthodox Jew on Shabbat.

This season, its not just the occasional matzoh ball joke, or the Yiddish lesson he gave Jon Hamm in the season premiere. David is plunging into questions of Jewish pride and belief, and if he isnt exactly Abraham Joshua Heschel, he could provide a Jewish educator with a semester of lively classroom debate.

In the latest episode, for example, a Jew for Jesus joins the cast of the show that Larrys character is developing for Hulu. Although neither Larry nor his Jewish friends are remotely religious, they seem genuinely upset by the actors apostasy, and Larry gives him a rather sober warning that he shouldnt proselytize on set.

A week earlier, a member of his golf club (played by Rob Morrow) asks Larry to pray for his ailing father. Larry declines, saying prayer is useless. He also wonders why God would need, or heed, the prayer of a random atheist like himself instead of the distressed son who wants his father to live.

For anyone who has gone to Hebrew school, its a familiar challenge, usually aired by the wiseacre in the back row who the teacher suspects is perhaps the most engaged student in the classroom. And it is not just atheists posing the question, Why pray? The Israeli philosopher Yeshayahu Leibowitz, a devout Orthodox Jew, believed that worship of God must be totally devoid of instrumental considerations.

In addition to a Jewish funeral, the episode has a bonus theological theme: Middah kneged Middah, or as Morrows character puts it, what goes around comes around. Morrow warns Larry that his actions will have consequences, which actually gives Larry pause. If anything, the entire Curb enterprise is an exercise in Jewish karma. Larry is constantly being punished in ways large and small for his actions, inactions, meddling and slights. As the old theater expression has it, if Larry opens a donut shop to drive a rival out of business in act one, his own shop will burn to the ground in act three.

A prior episode was even more self-consciously Jewish: Larry attends High Holiday services only because he lost a golf bet to the rabbi, and he literally bumps into a Klansman coming out of a coffee shop. The latter sets off a string of plot twists, as he and the KKK guy trade a series of favors and obligations that will have disastrous consequences for both. Larrys salvation comes at the end, when he blares a shofar from his balcony, literally raising the alarm on antisemitism and waking his neighbors to the threat of white supremacy.

The episode suggests the failure of good intentions. Larry spills coffee on the Klansmans robe and offers to have it dry-cleaned. Good liberal Jew that he is, Larry appears genuine in his belief that empathy is a better response to hate than confrontation, and that if he turns the other cheek it might lower the temperature in a post-Trump America. Of course, it doesnt work out that way, and the last word goes to his friend Susie Green, who performs a pointed act of Jewish sabotage that gets the Klansman pummeled by his fellow racists. Give David credit for embedding within a preposterous half-hour of television a debate about vengeance and resistance that engaged the followers of Jews as different as Jesus and Jabotinsky.

Make no mistake: The Larry David character is sacrilegious and heretical, and Curb is no friend of the religious mindset. But to dismiss him as self-hating is to miss out on the unmistakably Jewish conversation at the heart of the show. Davids character is a deeply principled person: Most of the nonsense he gets himself into is the result of his enforcing unspoken social rules that others appear to be flouting, whether it is taking too many samples at the ice cream counter or dominating the conversation (poorly) at the dinner table. Larry is rude and inconsiderate, but he is seldom wrong. He is what Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik might have called a Halachic Man an actualizer of the ideals of justice and righteousness, even when the rest of the world resents it.

If you think I am overdoing it, remember that there is an actual discussion in Talmud about the right and wrong way of putting on a pair of shoes.

And just as in the Talmud, there are no easy answers in Davids moral universe: If a friend lends you his favorite, one-of-a-kind shirt, and you ruin it, what are your obligations to him? (See: Bava Metzia 96b) If a thief breaks into your house and then drowns in your swimming pool, which wasnt protected by the required fence, who is owed damages and how much? (See: Ibn Ezra on Exodus 22:1-2)

In last weeks episode, Larry even touched on consciously or not a classic debate in the Talmud: If you and a friend are stranded in the desert, and your canteen has only enough water for one of you to survive, must you share it or save your own life?Yes, Larry was talking about sharing a phone charger, but if the Sages had cell phones, what do you think theyd be talking about?

Andrew Silow-Carroll is the editor-in-chief of The New York Jewish Week and senior editor of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

See the article here:

Larry David Has Never Been More Jewish Than in This Season's 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' - Jewish Exponent

Leviticus 13:40 contains my favourite verse: If a man loses the hair of his head and becomes bald, he is pure. My photograph shows that I am extremely pure. This strange verse comes in a part of the Torah that seems to link skin disease with divine punishment.

As a hospital chaplain, I was called to the bedside of a Chasid with an infected arm. He said: Tell me what sin I have committed that is makingGod punish me. We became friends, but I could not comprehend a cruel God who would use disease as punishment. He could not understanda Jew who didnt see diseaseas punishment.

On festivals, we chant the Torah verse: God merciful and compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in kindness. The verse end, which tells how the sins of parents are visited upon children, is omitted because we seek out the compassionate side of God. Ours is nota God who punishes with disease.

Get The Jewish News Daily Edition by email and never miss our top storiesFree Sign Up

However, does Leviticus suggest that my Chasidic friends view of a punitive God is correct? My bald verse occurs in a section interpreting a leprous condition called tzaraat. Clothes could suffer from tzaraat (mildew?), as could houses (rising damp?). Tzaraat was evidence that a person or an object had been touched by ritual impurity. The Israelites felt that sometimes God used skin ailments as punishment, just as God sometimes used frogs, locusts, darkness and hailstones. But we cannot extrapolate from this that illness must be understood as punishment. Sometimes a frog is just a frog.

The Talmud interprets tzaraat as punishment for slander. Claiming disease as punishment from God is to slander the ill. Rather we should treat the ill like God, with compassionate and abounding kindness.

Read more:

The Bible Says What? 'Only the bald are pure' - Jewish News

The situation in Ethiopia is that the afflictions besetting the Jewish communities are multiple and biblical in nature: war, plague (COVID), famine, and locusts. In addition, the community has been affected by internal unrest in Gondar. The Jewish community, unlike other Gondar residents, has no place to go if Gondar is invaded or cut off, since their relatives are no longer in the villages, having made aliyah to Israel.Food costs have escalated dramatically. Grain which cost 35 birr one year ago now costs 64 birr. There is no reason on the horizon to expect mitigation of the situation in the near future. Funds from Israeli relatives have dried up as there is no way for them to be transferred to Ethiopia by messenger. The daily laborer jobs have all but completely disappeared, due to the economic dislocations caused by COVID. And it is impossible to predict the fortunes of war.

Given the dire predicament, knowing what is real and what is not is just that critical.

There are many more falsehoods prevalent about the community. What is clear is that if Israel does not take immediate steps to evacuate all 14,100 Jews, it will bear at least partial responsibility for any deaths that occur. And national JFNA, if it does not respond to emails sent weeks ago begging for help in the light of the emergency situation, will be replicating the sins of the American Jewish community in the far, far darker years before World War II, when it placidly allowed the Saint Louis to sail back to Europe.

Joseph Feit, an attorney, is currently chairman of SSEJ and a past president of NACOEJ. He is a past president of the North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry and has been active on issues relating to Ethiopian Jewry for three decades. Feit has received awards from the Knesset, the Jewish Agency and the Jewish communities of Addis Ababa and Gondar for his work on behalf of the Ethiopian Jewish community.

Read more from the original source:

7 false statements about the Jews remaining in Ethiopia - The Times of Israel

I had my first abortion when I was 16, the result of immaturity and a lack of comprehensive sex education at my suburban Detroit high school in the 1970s. I had another abortion in my early 40s, after my amniocentesis revealed troubling chromosomal abnormalities. It was a pregnancy that my husband and I had very much wanted. And yet, I do not regret either abortion, and I do not feel shame. On the contrary, I view them as medical procedures akin to any other legal, accessible, science-driven form of medical care.

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court seems more likely than ever to take away our legal right to the medical care of a safe abortion. If the court overturns Roe v. Wade the 1973 case that affirmed our constitutional right to abortion 26 states are certain or highly likely to ban abortion outright. These statewide bans would disproportionately impact vulnerable people who do not have the economic means to travel to other states to access abortion care.

But banning access to abortion care doesnt impact only low-income people. It is a direct attack on our religious freedom as Jews. Restrictive abortion laws are rooted in a Christian understanding that life begins at conception. This tenet is antithetical to Jewish faith. The Talmud teaches that life begins at the first breath not at conception. Moreover, Jewish sources explicitly state that abortion is not only permitted but required if the pregnancy endangers the pregnant persons physical or psychological health. Indeed, Judaism affirms that the pregnant persons health and well-being always come before that of the fetus. Moreover, adhering to a Christian understanding of when life begins goes against the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees that no single religion should be enshrined into law or dictate public policy on any issue, including abortion.

The case before the Supreme Court was a carefully orchestrated effort by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), an organization with a $50 million annual budget to drive the Christian right agenda. The ADF is a religious army that writes model bills in concert with mission-aligned state lawmakers and funds any resulting legal cases. The ADF wrote the Mississippi law that is now before the Supreme Court, and it is the same organization driving a tsunami of anti-LGBT bills in states across the country. The ADF and its partner organizations, including the Family Research Council and the Heritage Foundation, believe the United States was ordained by God as a White Christian nation. Banning abortion care and limiting the rights of LGBT people are just the start of their ultimate goal of creating a White Christian nation in all forms.

To be sure, the Jewish community is not consonant. Jews who are anti-choice and those who dont align with the LGBT movement may legitimately feel that these issues are out of sync with their values.

But this isnt simply about abortion rights. That a medical procedure is up for political debate at the Supreme Court points to the underlying corrosive nature of the discussion. Its hard to identify many other examples in which the government is allowed to restrict access to something that is demonstrably medically safe, and in many cases required to protect a persons physical and/or emotional health.

Whats at stake isnt just a right to choose, but all of our rights to determine for ourselves how to engage in our own faiths and to lead our best lives.

Visit link:

Banning abortion would attack our religious freedom as Jews J. - The Jewish News of Northern California

Danae King|The Columbus Dispatch

In a time punctuated by death, Rabbi Areyah Kaltmann wants people to learn how to appreciate life.

Kaltmann, executive director of the Lori Schottenstein Chabad Center in New Albany, is encouraging people to take a virtual course titled Journey of the Soul.

The course, offered by the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Rohr Jewish Learning Institute, will explore beliefs about death, the soul and the afterlife. The Chabad Center is offering the six-session course over Zoom for $80 starting Wednesday. Feb. 3. It will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, and those interested can register at http://www.chabadcolumbus.com.

Death is both mysterious and inevitable,Kaltmann, who is also one of the course instructors, saidin a statement. Understanding death as a continuation of life reveals the holiness of life while putting everything in a dramatically new context. The soul is on one long journey that is greater than each particular chapter.

The course, for Jewish and non-Jewish people, will begin by discussing Jewish beliefs on life and death.

Judaism emphasizes the importance of life on Earth over all else,though Jews do believe in heaven, said Chris Johnson, clinical professor of sociology at Texas State University. Johnson wrote a book on different religions views on the afterlife and death titled How Different Religions View Death & Afterlife.

Remembering the dead: New Albany synagogue installs memorial board for honoring loved ones in time for Yom Kippur

The Talmud says live each day like its your last day and that will be a very meaningful day, Kaltmann told The Dispatch.

The Talmud, the book of Jewish law, is one of the most challenging religious texts in the world to read.

You can't live a meaningful life unless you understand what life is all about, Kaltmann said of the course, which counts as continuing education for some medical and mental health professionals. What this is about is how to live a life. When you understand death, then that causes you to understand life.

Holidayin a pandemic: Coronavirus and Passover: New Albany synagogue distributes Seder kits to help families stuck at home

Kaltmann, who has worked in Columbus for 29 years, did four funerals in two weeks for the first time in December because of the number of people dying from the coronavirus.

He said that understanding death will cause people to live life with more meaning, especially because its important in Judaism to live for your loved ones who have died as their ambassador in this world.

Unlike some Christian denominations, Jewish people dont really focus on the afterlife, Johnson said.

Theyre more concerned about making this life better and this world (better), he said.

And Jews focus on thegrieving loved ones left behind after a person's deathand their care, Johnson said.

Jan Leibovitz Alloy, 68, of the East Side, said she knows there is a concept of heaven in Judaism but that shes not really familiar with what heaven actuallyis because it isnot emphasized.

Health of Holocaust survivors: New partnership brings health-care services to Holocaust survivors

Alloy, who plans to take the course, has not lost any close family members during the pandemicbut remembers when her grandparents died and the Jewish rituals that comforted her during her time of grief.

The Jewish tradition of throwing a handful of dirt into a person's grave, for example, seemedlike a final goodbye, she said.

And shiva, a seven-day periodof mourning during which close relatives sit after a persons funeral, also helpedher grieve.

The shiva rituals, I think, are very comforting, Alloy said. To have people take care of you for seven days and talk to you and tell stories about your loved ones. And the persons name is mentioned over and over and over. I think thats very comforting.

Alloy, who is Jewish, thinks a lot about death when it comes to her parents, who are still alive but well into their 90s.

"I wonder,geez, what comes next?" she said. "It's not that I will grieve any less when my parents die, but I will at least have a better understanding of what to do and what others have done before me."

High Holy Days: OUs Hillel virtually connects students for Jewish High Holy Days

Alloyis hoping to learn more about what other faiths believe about death, grieving and the afterlife through the course.

Johnson believes that comparing different belief systems is important.

"Being able to independently investigate truth is absolutely essential for one's soul and one's outcome in life," he said, adding that classes like "Journey of the Soul" can be important learning opportunities for people investigating different faith approaches.

The reason Jews don't emphasize the afterlife is because, while they believe it's great, it's not the same because there is no free choice in heaven as there is on Earth,Kaltmann said.

Holidays during COVID-19: Holiday-ending horn blast called a 'catharsis' for Jewish people

"When you choose to do good, that's powerful, that's the ultimate," he said.

Jews live life and do good deeds for their loved ones who have died, after they go through the mourning process, Kaltmann said.

He hopes the course gives people hope.

"By understanding we are our loved ones' ambassadors, then we can be more impactful in our daily lives," he said. "So by understandingdeath, we can live life."

dking@dispatch.com

@DanaeKing

See the article here:

Chabad course explores life, death and the afterlife in the age of COVID-19 - The Columbus Dispatch

(JTA) Former President Trumps impeachment defense team intends to argue that his infamous Jan. 6 speech, in which he exhorted his followers to fight like hell and march to the Capitol,was permitted by his First Amendment rights to free speech. Political opponents are already calling reference to the well-known Supreme Court decision (Schenck v. United States, 1919) that limits free speech to exclude harmful expressions such as, most famously, falsely yelling fire! in a crowded theater.

The phrase is not theoretical: It was drawn from a tragedy that occurred on a cold night in January 1887 at the Hebrew Dramatic Club of London and took the lives of 17 people.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, a Supreme Court justice and noted theater fan who frequently traveled to London for the season (sometimes even publishing his impressions in The New York Times), precisely recorded the events of that night in his memorable phrase. To be sure, other fatal stampedes had occurred closer to home, including at a church in 1902 and a Christmas party in 1913. But it was the Hebrew Dramatic Club incident that found expression in Holmes decision and subsequently in popular American discourse.

The legal basis for the performance was somewhat sketchy: Theatrical performances in London required a permit, hence the official designation of the Yiddish theater as a club. (Two years later, the owner would be fined 36 pounds, plus an additional 3 for court costs, for failing to procure one, and also for selling spirituous liquors on the premises.) According to contemporary reports, some 500 people paid a shilling and packed the theater, which apparently had a capacity of 300, to see Jacob Adler, the famous Odessa-born heartthrob, perform in Der Spanisher Tsigayner (The Spanish Gypsy).

The circumstances of the accident are not clear. In his memoirs, Adler asserts that the shout of fire! came from an audience member who confused a stage fire with a real threat. A major investigative report in Lloyds Weekly Newspaper suggests that someone in the theater accidentally broke a gas line. Although the flow of combustible material was quickly stanched with a handkerchief, the distinct smell filled the crowded chamber, prompting a stagehand to quickly shut off the gas line, engulfing the chamber in darkness. It was at this point that someone falsely shouted fire, perhaps fearing an explosion.

The resulting stampede for the exits would ultimately result in the 17 deaths primarily women in their teens and 20s who had come to see Adler in person. The oldest victim was a 70-year old tailor named Isaac Levy along his wife, Gertrude; the youngest was 9-year-old Eva Marks of Spital Street. Lurid line drawings of the dead and the dying were featured in the weekend edition of The Illustrated Police Newswith titles like The Fatal Spot and Laying out the Dead.

Students of Talmud may remember another distant tragedy of a similar nature. A group of Jews, hiding in a cave somewhere in the Judean Desert, were startled by the sudden fear that the Romans were upon them. In the chaos that ensued as they struggled to escape, they killed one another in greater numbers than their enemies had killed among them (Shabbat 60a), later discovering that they were alone: There was no reason for anyone to cry Romans! in the crowded cavern.

The circumstances of Schenck v. United States were far from a crowded Yiddish theater the case revolved around the distribution of flyers that encouraged young men to resist conscription. Yet Holmes saw the common element the use of communication in such a manner that one might reasonably expect a clear and present danger and a subsequent evil to result. In such cases, Holmes wrote in the majority opinion, the most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic.

The question before the U.S. Senate is essentially the same. Will the senators reach a similar conclusion?

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.

Go here to read the rest:

This deadly tragedy at a Yiddish performance is the reason it's illegal to yell 'fire!' in a crowded theater - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency