Monthly Archives: May 2021

Parashat Beha’alotcha: The Grand March Toward the Good – My Jewish Learning

Posted: May 27, 2021 at 8:18 am

Winston Churchill is said to have said: A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity. An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

Parshat Behaalotcha is a Torah portion of both difficulty and opportunity. Heres the sequence of events in this portion.

1. The Levites prepare for service in the Tabernacle.

2. The commandment to offer the Passover sacrifice is given.

3. The cloud and fire that accompanied the Israelites during their sojourn in the desert is described.

4. God commands the blowing of trumpets in the Israelite camp.

5. The structure of the camp is described.

6. Moses invites his father-in-law to join the Israelites on their travels.

7. The Israelites complain about the lack of meat to eat, leading God to send an excessive amount of quail into the camp as retribution.

Each of these moments represented either a challenge or an opportunity for the Israelites as they began the second year wandering in the desert following the Exodus. And yet, they dont really seem to form a cohesive literary unit. What does the Passover sacrifice have to do with trumpets? And why is the description of the Israelite encampment positioned next to the invitation from Moses to his father in law to accompany them on their travels?

In a public lecture in the 1970s, Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik suggested a unified theory of Parshat Behaalotcha. He posited that in the year following the Exodus, the Israelites were beginning a grand march and that each of these elements was part of their preparation for entering the land of Israel. First, the spiritual leadership of the people prepares for its work. Then the Passover sacrifice, the reminder of the Exodus, is introduced. Then the march begins: The trumpets stand ready, the camp is set up to go, and Moses symbolically invites the nations of the world to join. To a large extent, the redemption was upon them.

But then disaster strikes. The people complain, and God exacts punishment. Rather than seeing the opportunity that lay before them, the Israelites were too concerned about their immediate (and largely individual) needs. They simply werent cognizant of the historical moment they were facing. The redemptive moment passes the individuals who were meant to actualize it. This is the great tragedy of Jewish history: opportunity knocks, but the Jews dont recognize its significance.

The missed opportunity in Parashat Behaalotcha becomes even more striking when looking closely at the language in the text. The complaint of the Israelites is described with an adjective in Numbers 11:1: The people took to complaining bitterly [ra]. This bitterness (or even evil, another possible translation of the Hebrew word ra) stands in direct contrast to the vision that Moses articulates to his father-in-law upon inviting him to join the Israelites: Please join us, Moses says, for the good [hatov] that God will give us will be good for you as well. In fact, variations on the Hebrew word tov appear throughout Moses invitation.

For Moses, the grand march is an opportunity for the realization of all things good. The land of Israel is a place that sanctifies life and is a place of the ultimate goodness. Moses sees this as something that all should have access to.

But the Israelites see only the bad. And from the moment they miss the opportunity, everything turns bad. Later in the book of Numbers, when the spies return from scouting out the land of Israel, only two Joshua and Caleb describe the land as good. The others describe the land as bad. In short, once the Israelites put their individual needs before the needs of the nation, their entire experience is colored everything looks bad.

We live in a remarkable era of opportunity. While we dont always know the best way to capitalize on this wondrous moment in Jewish history, it behooves us to recognize all the good that our era has enabled us to achieve, and not let small moments of bitterness take away from our march toward a better future.

Read this Torah portion,Numbers 8:1 12:16on Sefaria

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About the Author: Rabbi Seth Farber is the founder of ITIM : The Jewish Life Advocacy Center and the rabbi of Kehilat Netivot. He lives in Raanana, Israel, with his wife Michelle and their five children.

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How Jewish rituals can ease us back into the world J. – The Jewish News of Northern – The Jewish News of Northern California

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After 15 months of pandemic and social distancing, California is reopening. So, too, synagogues and Jewish community organizations, which have been operating primarily online for more than a year, are resuming in-person gatherings.

As we reopen our buildings and prepare for in-person services and events, there are many questions to address.

Covid response teams and reopening committees are asking: How many people can attend an indoor event? Can we require proof of vaccination? Is communal singing safe if people are masked?

Jewish organizational leaders grapple daily with the exhausting work of adapting our operations to the continually evolving public-health protocols.

Beyond these kinds of safety protocol questions, there are also the spiritual and emotional questions: How do we celebrate reopening while also making space for the pain and losses over the past year? How do we return to the previous formats knowing how much this past year has changed us? Does Jewish tradition guide us in coming back together, with all of the mixed emotions we bring to this next phase of the pandemic?

Indeed, the ancient rabbis offered the structure of ritual to support people coming back together. The Mishnah describes a choreography for pilgrims going to the Temple for festivals. All would enter the Temple and circle from the right, but these people would circle to the left: a mourner, an excommunicated person, one who has an ill person in their house and one who lost something.

The rabbis understood that some people those who had experienced suffering or loss, those who had been shunned and caregivers to the sick needed some emotional support.

Those circling to the right would ask, Why do you circle to the left? and those circling to the left would answer, Because I am a mourner or Because I have a loved one who is ill. And those circling to the right would then respond, May the One who dwells in this house comfort you or May the One who dwells in this house have compassion on your loved one. (Mishnah Middot 2:2 and Masechet Semachot 6:11)

In coming back together after a time apart, our tradition offers this ritual to show compassion and care to those whove suffered.

How might we apply this idea to this time? How might we create similar ways to give and receive compassion and support and to acknowledge the grief, the losses and the mental health crises experienced by so many this past year?

At the same time, there is much to celebrate in this time of reopening, and the rabbis offer other ways to express gratitude for this moment.

How might we collectively offer thanks for making it across the metaphoric sea?

In the Talmud (Berachot 58b), Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said, [O]ne who sees a friend for the first time after 30 days recites the Shehechiyanu blessing. After 12 months, one recites Blessed is the One who revives the dead (mechiyei hameitim). The sentiment behind this blessing resonates today.

After surviving a year of pandemic, we need expressions of joy and gratitude for seeing each other alive again and for feeling our own aliveness in reconnecting to one another.

In addition, the Talmud instructs that a blessing of thanksgiving is offered by those who made it across the sea, those who made it across the desert, those who recovered from illness and those who were freed from prison. (Berachot 54b)

In later centuries, the halachic codes expanded this such that anyone who survived danger should bless what we now call Birkat HaGomel, thanking God for bestowing goodness upon us.

How might we collectively offer thanks for making it across the metaphoric sea?

At Congregation Netivot Shalom in Berkeley, where I serve as rabbi, I explored these questions with a creative team of congregants, and together we designed a series of events tabbed Rituals for Reflection, Reconnection, and Returning.

As our synagogue building reopens and our members come back together in person after this year of online community, we are gathering, online and in person, to mourn our losses, celebrate our joys and reflect on this complex time of returning. One event was a communal Birkat HaGomel, in which we remembered those in our community who died this year, welcomed and kvelled over the new babies who were born this year, honored our frontline health care workers, heard from those in our community who lost loved ones to Covid and heard from those who survived it.

It was an adaptation of the rabbis circling to the left ritual so that we could bear witness to each others experiences and offer support to each other.

Another event, upcoming on June 6, is a Hanukkat HaBayit, a (re)dedication of our synagogue home. Well be marking the return to our building with ritual, music, prayer, and community art and tzedakah projects.

I hope that these rituals will allow us to reflect on this year, to support each other in all that weve been through, and to make room for the grief, the joy and all of the emotions of this complex time.

I hope that these rituals of reopening will create sacred spaces to express the emotion of Psalm 30, the song for the (re)dedication of the House: You turned my mourning into dance, You undid my sackcloth and girded me with joy, that I might sing of Your Presence and not be silent. I thank You always.

Rituals of Reopening, a 50-minute session led by Rabbi Levy in the JCC East Bay Tikkun for Shavuot, can be viewed here with passcode c%%8WSCF. Her source sheet for the session can read here.

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How Jewish rituals can ease us back into the world J. - The Jewish News of Northern - The Jewish News of Northern California

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Are You Able to Buck the Tide? – Anash.org – Good News

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Watch: Society creates lots of arbitrary rules that we are compelled to follow: An empty ideal is portrayed, and the whole world has to run after it. Everyone faces social pressures, but who can overcome them?

Money can buy happiness.There is an ideal family size.Attracting is attractive.

Society creates lots of arbitrary rules that we are compelled to follow: An empty ideal is portrayed, and the whole world has to run after it. Everyone faces social pressures, but who can overcome them?

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Moshe Rabbeinu was given a glimpse of all future generations spanning across time. He was shown the great Sages of the Mishna, the Babylonian rabbis of the Talmud and Jewish leaders in the Diaspora. He was shown the self-sacrifice, and the persecution that his nation would endure for centuries. Among all these giants, one generation stood out to Moshe Rabbeinu.

When Moshe envisioned the final generation before the coming of Moshiach, the greatest Jewish leader was humbled. What was it that Moshe saw in our simple, struggling generation?

Our generation does not have the deepest understanding of spirituality. No, we may not reach the highest heights of Divine service.

Yet, the tremendous influences of modernity seeking to redefine everything we hold sacred, are unparalleled in our history. And despite these immense distractions, we withstand the pressure and forge on in our fulfillment of the Torah.

The level of effort invested is what counts. Our deeds are precious and powerful. With our small, yet significant choices that buck the tide, we will be the ones to reach the finish line.

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An exploration of Bob Dylan at 80 – Jewish Insider

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Bob Dylan has never made it easy for the legions of fans, critics, scholars and journalists who analyze his music with almost Talmudic fervor. Famously unforthcoming in interviews, which are rare, the protean singer-songwriter and Nobel Prize winner has succeeded in keeping listeners guessing over the course of his nearly six-decade recording career.

Dylan, who turns 80 today, remains a mystifying figure in American popular culture, even as many of the songs from his 39 studio albums the most recent of which, Rough and Rowdy Ways, came out last year feel as relevant today as they did when they were first produced, including Masters of War, The Times They Are A-Changin, and Hurricane, among countless other hits.

Bob Dylan displayed the wit and wisdom of an 80-year-old man from the very first time we heard him at age 21 in 1962, Seth Rogovoy, the author of Bob Dylan: Prophet, Mystic, Poet, told Jewish Insider in a recent email exchange. The point is not so much age as it is timelessness.

Even obscure works from Dylans lesser-known albums manage, on occasion, to speak to the moment long after they have been released. Neighborhood Bully, from Dylans 1983 record Infidels, was released a year after the First Lebanon War and two years after an airstrike in which Israel destroyed an Iraqi nuclear reactor outside Baghdad. But its themes have clear parallels with the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas. The song, a hard-driving rock number, never explicitly mentions Israel, yet it is widely interpreted as something of a Zionist anthem in the form of a biting satire lambasting those who would fault the Jewish state for defending itself in a hostile region.

The neighborhood bully just lives to survive

Hes criticized and condemned for being alive

Hes not supposed to fight back, hes supposed to have thick skin

Hes supposed to lay down and die when his door is kicked in

Hes the neighborhood bully

Its so right for this moment, with the whole discussion of Israel being totally hypocritical, argued Barry Shrage, a professor in the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program at Brandeis University and the former president of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston.

For Barry Faulk, a professor of English at Florida State University who specializes in 20th century popular music, Neighborhood Bully speaks more broadly to what he regards as an aspect of Dylans political temperament that in some ways cuts against his reputation as a countercultural icon. It reminds me that Dylan has long worked outside, even against, the secular liberalism that was the core value of his early audience, Faulk told JI, describing the song as one of his favorites in Dylans extensive oeuvre.

True to form, however, Dylan has kept his distance from Neighborhood Bully, a controversial song that has garnered its fair share of criticism over the past few decades and is, somewhat mysteriously, unavailable on YouTube despite that other songs from Infidels can be accessed on the site.

Dylan has never performed the song live, according to Terry Ganss 2020 book Surviving in a Ruthless World: Bob Dylans Voyage to Infidels. The singer only seems to have discussed it once, in a 1984 interview with Rolling Stone in which he denied that the song was a Zionist political statement.

Youd have to point that out to me, you know, what line is in it that spells that out, Dylan told the journalist Kurt Loder, adding: Neighborhood Bully, to me, is not a political song, because if it were, it would fall into a certain political party. If youre talkin about it as an Israeli political song even if it is an Israeli political song in Israel alone, theres maybe 20 political parties. I dont know where that would fall, what party.

But when Loder asked if it would be fair to call that song a heartfelt statement of belief, Dylan seems to have let his guard down ever so slightly.

Maybe it is, yeah, he replied. But just because somebody feels a certain way, you cant come around and stick some political-party slogan on it. If you listen closely, it really could be about other things. Its simple and easy to define it, so you got it pegged, and you can deal with it in that certain kinda way. However, I wouldnt do that, cause I dont know what the politics of Israel is. I just dont know.

Despite his self-proclaimed ignorance of Israeli politics, Dylan has nevertheless maintained a connection with the Jewish state throughout his career. He has visited Israel a number of times and played a handful of shows there, most recently in 2011. In 1983, the year he put out Neighborhood Bully released in Hebrew by Ariel Zilber in 2012 Dylan celebrated his sons bar mitzvah at the Western Wall.

Still, on a personal as well as an artistic level, Dylan also seems to have demonstrated something of an ambivalent relationship with his own Judaism. Born Robert Zimmerman, Minnesotas Jewish son briefly flirted with born-again Christianity in the late 1970s and early 80s during which time he produced a trio of evangelical albums, the first of which Slow Train Coming, is regarded as a classic of the form.

He put poetry on the jukebox put the Bible on the jukebox! said Liz Thomson, a London-based author and Dylan expert.

But while Dylans music has always retained something of a Biblical subtext, he has rarely alluded to his Jewish roots, with the exception of some songs such as Highway 61 Revisited, All Along the Watchtower, With God on Our Side and the little-known novelty Talkin Hava Nagilah Blues.

For the most part he is not explicit about these themes, said Elliot Wolfson, a professor of Jewish Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who contributed an essay on Dylans Jewish gnosis to a new collection, The World of Bob Dylan.

In many ways, that approach is in keeping with Dylans persistent effort to evade any kind of label, according to the music historian and critic Ted Gioia. For me, Dylan will always be the musician who didnt care about having a personal logo, or attaching his name to a running shoe, or launching a high-priced fashion line, he told JI. If you believe his songs, he expected us to have higher aspirations than that. Even now, Id like to think thats what he wants his legacy to be after hes gone.

Gayle Wald, a professor of English at The George Washington University, echoed that sentiment. From a certain perspective, she said of Dylan, hes not very satisfying because hes not intelligible, always, as a Jew.

One gets the sense, though, that Dylan wouldnt want it any other way.

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PHOTOS: Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh rock all black athleisure as they returns back to city – PINKVILLA

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Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone is finally back to the city. The couple was spotted at the airport today in the evening.

The most loved and powerful couple of Bollywood Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh has finally returned to the city. They had jetted off to Bangalore after the Maharashtra government announced Janta Curfew for 15 days. The couple was staying in Bangalore for quite some time. Amid this time, reports also came in that the actress along with her family had tested positive for COVID 19. But there was no official announcement from the family. She was under home quarantine as reported by the media houses.

The couple was spotted in all-black athleisure with their masks also in black. They wore masks adhering to the safety protocols of COVID 19. The actor was seen holding his wifes hand all the time and the actress was also not in the mood to be clicked. Both did not stop for the shutterbugs but were seen making a way out of the airport in hurry. To note, the actresss father Prakash Padukone was hospitalised. The actress has also not shared any updates over this.

To note, the lockdown situation is still going on in Maharashtra. The state government has extended till June 1.

Take a look at their pictures here:

On the work front, she will next be seen in Kabir Khans 83, in Shakun Batras untitled next, and in the Hindi remake of Amit Sharms The Intern with Amitabh Bachchan. She also has Siddharth Anands Pathan with Shah Rukh Khan and John Abraham and also Anands Fighter too.

Also Read:EXCLUSIVE: After her family, Deepika Padukone too tests positive for Covid 19?

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Katy Perry Says She’ll Give Daughter Daisy ‘Carte Blanche’ to Rewear Her Iconic Outfits – WFAA.com

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Katy Perry Says She'll Give Daughter Daisy 'Carte Blanche' to Rewear Her Iconic Outfits

Daisy Dove Bloom has inherited a killer wardrobe! Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom's 9-month-old daughter might be a ways away from borrowing her mom's iconic looks, but that doesn't mean they're not waiting for her.

The 36-year-old pop star and American Idol judge shared that she's got some of her best ensembles ready and waiting for her daughter.

Perry told Popsugar that she is giving Daisy "carte blanche" to rock all of her past looks.

"I think about it all the time," Perry said of passing on her fashions. "I do a lot of cleanups, but I do have some stuff always that I'm thinking about."

She added that she's been saving her looks ever since she found out her first child would be a baby girl.

"I need them to go somewhere," Perry said of her old styles. "I want them to be worn again."

But Perry is also fully prepared for Daisy not wanting her mom's hand-me-downs.

"[Daisy will] probably just be goth, and like, 'No, Mom. Thanks,'"she joked.

A source recently opened up to ET about how Perry and Bloom are handling their rigorous work schedules while also looking after a newborn.

"Katy and Orlando have been doing well," said the source. "Katy loves being a mom, but also loves being a boss. She feels like a powerhouse right now and really on top of the world in terms of her career and motherhood. She's so thrilled and excited about her Vegas residency.

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Ohio Sports Betting Bill Continues to Tread Water After Latest Hearing – The Action Network

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Ohio lawmakers took no action on a much-discussed sports betting bill Wednesday after more gaming entities and sports organizations testified during another gaming committee hearing.

Sports betting proponents hope the latest Senate Select Committee on Gaming hearing the 12th this year will continue shaping the bill, but license eligibility and other key issues continue to divide would-be stakeholders.

These key decisions, particularly around licensure, will help determine when or if legal Ohio sports betting can begin.

The latest bill would allow up to 20 online sports betting mobile licenses with the states 11 casinos, and hybrid race track racinos are each expected to earn one skin apiece. Adjustments to the bill last week clarified each casino could also earn licensure to open a retail sportsbook at their facilities as well.

MGM (BetMGM), Penn National (Barstool), Churchill Downs (TwinSpires), Caesars and Hard Rock all have ownership stakes or partnerships with Ohio casinos and will likely launch their respective sportsbooks if legal wagering is approved. Other national industry leaders, including DraftKings and FanDuel, will likely pursue sportsbooks in Ohio, the nations seventh-most populated state.

The Ohio Casino Control Commission would regulate and select licensees. Lawmakers said any businesses, gaming or otherwise, could apply for a license if it has a substantial presence in the state. State Sen. Nathan Manning, one of the bills co-sponsors, cited Ford Motor Company as an example.

Casino stakeholders have pushed lawmakers to limit licenses to existing gaming interests. Testifying before a legislative committee Wednesday, Penn Nationals Senior Vice President Eric Schippers said established operators credibility, regulatory standards and ties to other U.S. markets ensure consumer protections.

If we lose a license in one jurisdiction, or are even penalized by regulators for a misstep, it has consequences in all the other jurisdictions in which were licensed, Schippers testified Wednesday. As public companies, our licenses are our most precious commodities.

Assuming all casinos earn licenses, that leaves only nine online sportsbook opportunities left for all other state business interests. That would include the states professional major sports teams and organizations, which have lobbied for licenses and asked lawmakers to amend the bill to specifically limit certain sportsbook operator eligibility to sports entities.

Representatives from the Womens Tennis Association submitted written testimony at a gaming committee hearing for the first time Wednesday, arguing that they should be included alongside the states other professional sports franchises and organizations such as the Cincinnati Reds and PGA Tour, both of which provided testimony at a committee hearing last week.

The WTA will host its inaugural Tennis in the Land tournament in Cleveland this summer. It would be the first womens sports league, organization, event or venue to earn a U.S. sports betting license.

The bill would also create a second licensure class for up to 20 retail sportsbooks, 11 of which would most likely go to the brick-and-mortar casinos. Additionally, the state lottery could also offer $20 betting pools under the bill.

Lawmakers are getting closer to a formal vote that could advance the bill out of the gaming committee following months of hearings. Both the House and Senate would have to pass identical versions of the same bill, which may not come until later this summer.

Lawmakers Wednesday again reiterated a June 30 approval target, but significant work remains.

Elected officials will have to work through the online and retail licensing caps and requirements discussed Wednesday. The states established gaming facilities want 20 (or fewer) total licenses, but Ohios sports interests are pushing for more or at least their own specific authorization to do so.

Thats alongside the myriad other interested stakeholders, including the bar, restaurant and hospitality industry, that have pushed for as many licenses as possible.

Licensure eligibility is in addition to many other key tax, regulatory and other policy decisions. Notably, Ohios current bill would also not allow sportsbooks to deduct promo credit from their taxes, a move opposed by many current operators.

In the meantime, Ohio sports bettors and the regulated sports betting industry overall continue waiting for lawmakers moves on one of the nations most-watched legal wagering bills.

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Little Rock’s Hayden Arnold Tabbed Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year – THV11.com KTHV

Posted: at 8:17 am

Arnold was also a first team All-Sun Belt selection while teammate Aaron Barkley was named a second team all-league honoree.

Little Rock senior Hayden Arnold has been named the Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year, announced today for the league office. Arnold was also a first team All-Sun Belt selection while teammate Aaron Barkley was named a second team all-league honoree.

Arnold was a force throughout the season in Sun Belt games, boasting a league-best 1.54 ERA in conference games while pitching 52.2 innings, the most of any pitcher in the league. Arnold ranked third in conference games in strikeouts (54) and wins (five) and fifth in opposing batting average (.191). He allowed just nine earned runs in eight starts, walking nine to give him a 6:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a 9.23 strikeout-per-nine tally.

The Rison, Arkansas native has been solid all season for the Trojans, going 7-3 on the year with a 2.85 ERA over 82.0 innings pitched with 80 strikeouts. Among the overall Sun Belt leaders, he is tied for second in wins, third in innings pitched, fourth in ERA, tied for seventh in strikeouts and 10th in opposing batting average (.226).

In his 13 starts in 2021, Arnold has logged a quality start in eight of them, allowing three or less runs on 12 occasions. He has continued to move up the Little Rock all-time career leaders, ranking third in winning percentage (.609), tied for sixth in career wins (14), seventh in both strikeouts (225) and innings pitched (216.0), eighth in strikeouts per nine (9.38), ninth in career ERA (3.46) and 10th in appearances (60).

Barkley has been a key addition to the Trojan bullpen in 2021, coming in in a variety of situations and providing the spark Little Rock has need. In Sun Belt games, the graduate student is first in appearances (14), tied for first in games finished (11), tied for second in saves (six), third in earned runs allowed (seven), fourth in ERA (1.97) and sixth in opponent batting average (.207).

The El Cajon, California native has been among the league leaders throughout the season, ranking second among all Sun Belt pitchers in overall ERA at 2.03 while sitting fourth in opponent batting average (.203), fifth in saves (seven) and appearances (23) and third in games finished (17). Barkley ranks 19th nationally in ERA (2.03), 20th in WHIP (0.92) and 49th in saves (seven), holding a 4.25 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a 7.96 strikeout per nine mark.

Hayden Arnold becomes the first Trojan in program history to be named the Sun Belts Pitcher of the Year and the sixth to earn a major conference award, the first since Ryan Scott was tabbed the Sun Belts Player of the Year in 2016. Arnold and Barkley become the 41st and 42nd players in program history to earn All-Sun Belt honors with 22 first team honorees.

Arnold, Barkley and the rest of the Trojans are in Montgomery, Alabama, preparing for the 2021 Sun Belt Tournament, set to get underway Tuesday morning. The Trojans are the number four seed in the West Division and were slotted in Pool A, opening up the tournament with a 9 a.m. first pitch Tuesday morning against Coastal Carolina, the number six seed in the East. Little Rock will then face East Division champion South Alabama at 11 a.m. Thursday, May 27, with the pool winner advancing to bracket play on Saturday, May 29.

2021 All-Sun Belt Conference Teams

SP Conner Cooke, Louisiana

SP Hayden Arnold, Little Rock

SP Carlos Tavera, UT Arlington

RP Nick Jones, Georgia Southern

C Drake Osborn, Louisiana

1B Robbie Young, App State

2B Luke Drumheller, App State

SS Drew Frederic, Troy

3B Ben Klutts, Arkansas State

OF Mason McWhorter, Georgia Southern

OF Ethan Wilson, South Alabama

UT Cameron Jones, Georgia Southern

DH Ben Fitzgerald, Louisiana

SP JoJo Booker, South Alabama

SP Tyler Tuthill, App State

SP Jeremy Lee, South Alabama

RP Aaron Barkley, Little Rock

C BT Riopelle, Coastal Carolina

1B Dylan Paul, UT Arlington

2B Travis Washburn, ULM

SS Eric Brown, Coastal Carolina

OF Tyler Duncan, Arkansas State

OF Parker Chavers, Coastal Carolina

OF Josh Smith, Georgia State

UT Andrew Miller, UT Arlington

DH Noah Ledford, Georgia Southern

Player of the Year: Mason McWhorter, Georgia Southern

Pitcher of the Year: Hayden Arnold, Little Rock

Freshman of the Year:Garrett Gainous, Troy

Newcomer of the Year:Drake Osborn, Louisiana

Coach of the Year:Mark Calvi, South Alabama

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Abolition Curriculum | Mennonite Church USA

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Abolition Curriculum | Mennonite Church USA As members of Mennonite Church USA, We are called to extend Gods holistic peace, proclaiming Christs redemption for the world with our lives. Through Christ, God frees the world from sin and offers reconciliation. We bear witness to this gift ofpeace by rejecting violence and resisting injustice in all forms, and in all places. We heed this call even when the state sanctions violence and injustice. Police abolition is a process that requires communities to create alternatives to policing. We hope this curriculum will educate, inform, and transform our thinking concerning justice, mass incarceration and how we live in harmony as a society. This process involves the deconstruction of preconceived understandings of policing. As Anabaptists, we have long looked for a third way. We have studied the impact of war, stood against the military-industrial complex and searched for alternatives to military service. As our police force adopts the tools and tactics of our military, we as peacemakers need to think deeply about the intersection of our theology and our view of community policing.We invite peace and justice-minded congregations and faith-based organizations to use the curriculum. Please credit Mennonite Church USA as part of any promotional materials. Please include this link to our website to consider supporting our work: https://www.mennoniteusa.org/give/Glen Guyton, Mennonite Church USA Executive Director

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Abolition Curriculum | Mennonite Church USA

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The Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery …

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The Gilder Lehrman Center Legacy Fund

Twenty-one years ago, the Gilder Lehrman Center for theStudy of Slavery, Resistance, andAbolition at the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies was founded at Yale University. TheGilder Lehrman Center was the first institutionin the world wholly devoted toscholarship, public education, and outreach about the globalproblem of slaveryacross all borders and all time. In a world that needs this work now morethanever, we invite you to join us in sustaining our mission to foster an improvedacademicand public understanding of the role of slavery, its destruction, andits legacies in thefunctioning of the modern world.

To support the annual programming, outreach, andother key activities of the Gilder Lehrman Center, pleasecontribute to theGilder Lehrman Center Legacy Fund.

On April 22, the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition sponsored a panel discussion titled Repair for Historical Harms: Global Models for...

Event description:In the past half century, a dozen or more nations, as well as numerous international organizations, companies, and universities, have considered or...

Thursday, April 8, 2021Alice Baumgartner, in conversation with David Blight about her book, South to Freedom: Runaway Slaves to Mexicoand the Road to Civil War(Basic Books...

In October 2020, Yale President Peter Salovey announced the start of a research project charged with investigating Yales historic entanglements and associations with slavery...

February is Black History Month and the first day of the month is National Freedom Day, a national holiday that commemorates the day in 1865 when President Abraham Lincoln...

Ambassador (Ret.) Luis C. deBaca, Senior Fellow in Modern Slavery at the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at the MacMillan Center,...

The Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition (GLC), part of the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University,...

New Haven, Conn. Yale Universitys Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition announces the winner of the 22nd annual Frederick Douglass Book...

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The Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery ...

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