Daily Archives: August 29, 2022

Editors note: Dean Jacobs is a Fremont man, world traveler, photographer and author, who is writing a series of columns about his trip to Ecuador. There is a good reason I was not born a tree, even though my roots run deep in Nebraska. Staying in one place for an extended period is not what I was designed for, so the last couple of years of COVID have been a unique challenge. Traveling is one of the activities where I am at my best. It offers the opportunities to discover something new about the world and, at the same time, learn something new about myself. Venturing into something new livens us. It sparks the mental wires tired and dusty from repetition and engages us with life once again with a sense of wonder. It widens perspectives and helps us see new possibilities and expressions of life beyond the familiar. Traveling is often a topic of high importance and priority with my life coaching clients because the payoff is enormous. Its a dream many people have, but need some support to pursue. The last couple of years has covered us with a blanket of fear, which has taken a mental toll on our capacity and willingness to act and engage. Traveling can be a medicine for this condition and provide space to breathe deep, physically and mentally. With 58 countries under my belt, totaling eight years of independent travel abroad, I know what leaving the familiar behind offers. Traveling offers a chance to reboot, refresh and restart life in a healthy, intentional way. To allow undiscovered qualities to be revealed and experienced. To reboot the passion that comes with seeing something beautiful. To refresh in the pristine waterfalls deep in the Amazon Rainforest and have it wash away all the negative vibes navigated over the last few years. To restart and see with new eyes, from a new perspective and possibilities. So, instead of arguing for the walls that are supposed to keep me safe but playing small, I chose to travel again and lead a group of students from the University of Nebraska on a life-changing journey. Going abroad alone is one thing, but leading a group of 17 university students is a much higher responsibility. Since 2015, I have led journeys abroad, a natural growth from the school presentations for the last 20 years. Two years of COVID put much of this on pause. But if we are to break off the chains of fear that have hampered our connection to the world, we must take bold actions beyond what is comfortable. We must make a choice that living a life filled with wonder is worth the risks it requires. Ecuador is calling. Home to some of the sacred headwaters of the Amazon River, and the endless green horizon of the Amazon Rainforest, its call is irresistible to ignore. Packed into an area about the size of the state of Colorado are Andean Mountains, active volcanoes, rainforests, waterfalls, beaches, and indigenous communities still practicing the wisdom passed down through the ages. Travel creates fertile ground; it supports the space in the mind that allows us to grow. Therefore, I overlay the trip with life coaching conversations with the students; as we push back the noise and distractions, they can hear with their minds and hearts. They turn off their cell phones and turn on their dreamers. If we are going to move forward with intention and hope, we need to keep turning on our dreamers, especially the young members of our communities, for within them the future lives. Few things do this as powerfully then travel. So, with 17 Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity members at the University of Nebraska, we set off for two weeks to South America. To explore how the world has changed and how we have changed. I want to know how the indigenous communities deep in the Amazon Rainforest survived COVID using their traditional medicines. I want to laugh again with the Indigenous communities living in the Andean Mountains. I want to see again the place they call the land of everlasting spring. To stoke the internal fires of life again, to turn back on our dreamers. Ecuador is calling.

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Editors note: Dean Jacobs is a Fremont man, world traveler, photographer and author, who is writing a series of columns about his trip to Ecuador.

There is a good reason I was not born a tree, even though my roots run deep in Nebraska.

Staying in one place for an extended period is not what I was designed for, so the last couple of years of COVID have been a unique challenge.

Traveling is one of the activities where I am at my best. It offers the opportunities to discover something new about the world and, at the same time, learn something new about myself.

Venturing into something new livens us. It sparks the mental wires tired and dusty from repetition and engages us with life once again with a sense of wonder.

It widens perspectives and helps us see new possibilities and expressions of life beyond the familiar.

Traveling is often a topic of high importance and priority with my life coaching clients because the payoff is enormous. Its a dream many people have, but need some support to pursue.

The last couple of years has covered us with a blanket of fear, which has taken a mental toll on our capacity and willingness to act and engage. Traveling can be a medicine for this condition and provide space to breathe deep, physically and mentally.

With 58 countries under my belt, totaling eight years of independent travel abroad, I know what leaving the familiar behind offers.

Traveling offers a chance to reboot, refresh and restart life in a healthy, intentional way. To allow undiscovered qualities to be revealed and experienced. To reboot the passion that comes with seeing something beautiful. To refresh in the pristine waterfalls deep in the Amazon Rainforest and have it wash away all the negative vibes navigated over the last few years.

To restart and see with new eyes, from a new perspective and possibilities.

So, instead of arguing for the walls that are supposed to keep me safe but playing small, I chose to travel again and lead a group of students from the University of Nebraska on a life-changing journey.

Going abroad alone is one thing, but leading a group of 17 university students is a much higher responsibility.

Since 2015, I have led journeys abroad, a natural growth from the school presentations for the last 20 years. Two years of COVID put much of this on pause. But if we are to break off the chains of fear that have hampered our connection to the world, we must take bold actions beyond what is comfortable. We must make a choice that living a life filled with wonder is worth the risks it requires.

Home to some of the sacred headwaters of the Amazon River, and the endless green horizon of the Amazon Rainforest, its call is irresistible to ignore.

Packed into an area about the size of the state of Colorado are Andean Mountains, active volcanoes, rainforests, waterfalls, beaches, and indigenous communities still practicing the wisdom passed down through the ages.

Travel creates fertile ground; it supports the space in the mind that allows us to grow. Therefore, I overlay the trip with life coaching conversations with the students; as we push back the noise and distractions, they can hear with their minds and hearts.

They turn off their cell phones and turn on their dreamers.

If we are going to move forward with intention and hope, we need to keep turning on our dreamers, especially the young members of our communities, for within them the future lives.

Few things do this as powerfully then travel.

So, with 17 Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity members at the University of Nebraska, we set off for two weeks to South America. To explore how the world has changed and how we have changed. I want to know how the indigenous communities deep in the Amazon Rainforest survived COVID using their traditional medicines. I want to laugh again with the Indigenous communities living in the Andean Mountains. I want to see again the place they call the land of everlasting spring.

To stoke the internal fires of life again, to turn back on our dreamers.

Dean Jacobs is a world traveler and a Fremont Tribune correspondent.

Dean Jacobs is a world traveler and a Fremont Tribune correspondent.

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Traveling from the perspective of a wonderer | Columnists | fremonttribune.com - Fremont Tribune

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By Dr. Laura McGuire

Judaism and Unitarian Universalism have deep intertwining roots. Their inherent commonalities have laid a strong foundation, past and present. For those of us who identify as Jewish UUs, these commonality currents take on more meaningful importance.

So why have UU spaces long been a spiritual haven for progressive-minded Jews and how this relationship can continue to evolve into the future?

Going back to the dawn of the Unitarian movement in Eastern Europe, Jews have been able to find fellowship with Unitarians, who faced persecution and hostility from trinitarian Christian groups that sought to divide themselves from Jesus Jewishness. Understanding the history of the UU communitys ties to Judaism allows us to forge a path forward for the future. As more and more rabbis become UU faith leaders and additional resources for Jewish interfaith families expand, we see just how important it is to strengthen these connections for the good of both the UU and Judaism.

On a personal note, I formulated my roots in the Unitarian Universalism because of my journey back to my ancestral home in the tribe of Israel. In the fall of 2021, I began my journey as a seminarian, quite certain that I would serve as an interfaith Christian in the Quaker community. A few months later, as I explored scapegoat atonement theory and ancestor veneration, I started to feel my already loose grip on Christianity letting go.

As I released this idea that Jesus was some form of a God or a savior of humanity, I came to have a more profound longing to answer the questions that kept popping up about my mothers ancestral line. I soon gathered information that would fully affirm that her ancestors were Jews who lived in the Mediterranean during the Inquisition. Long-held traditions, recipes, and superstitions- that we had not previously been able to explain- now made sense as the realization of their crypto-Jewish culture came into the light. I knew that the fact that I had decided to go to seminary while working at a Jewish school was no coincidence, but evidence of the divine intervention of my ancestors led me to this moment.

This new information led me to the rationale that I needed to walk through this door of personal transformation, despite my fears and hesitations about making such a significant life change.

As I continue on my journey in earning my Master of Divinity and looking into rabbinical schools afterward, I continue to find unbounded peace in being a UU faith leader in the near future. When I begin working in community ministry, I need to make sure that I am in a space that embraces people like myself. As DNA testing increases, more and more people realize that they are part of the Bnei Anusim or the descendants of forced Jewish converts. It has led to a tidal wave of returns/conversions, which is wonderful news. I sincerely believe that people returning to their Jewish heritage is part of the vital work that is decolonizing religion. I feel strongly that this process is integral to healing epigenetic ancestral wounds. For this to occur, there needs to be more discussion around creating spaces where people can come up with challenging questions and complex identities and be included in these nuances.

The Unitarian community, founded in the 16th century in Eastern Europe, was initially a space of intentional bridge-building between the new Christian communities and their Jewish and Muslim neighbors. Unitarians rejected the idea that Christ was God or that there was a way to have multiple gods in one. This provided them with the ability to hold space for their Abrahamic siblings and discuss what it meant to worship the same God in such a similar way. Where other Christian communities were building walls, primarily founded on their perspective that there was only one way to enter eternity with the God of Abraham, Unitarians could sit in a place of spiritual humility that was an open the door to their Jewish neighbors.

When the Trinitarian doctrine was commented as mainline belief, first by creating the first Christian creed at the Council of Nicaea and then officially named as three distinct persons at The Council of Constantinople, this formed a desire for the further distinction of Christianity from its extended religious family. After the Council of Nicaea, Emperor Constantine, whose prerogative was likely a mix of religious fervor and empire-building ideologies, officially severed ties with Jesus religion by no longer allowing Christians to follow the Jewish calendar and encouraging followers to no longer have any relationship to the detestable company of Jews (Percival pg. 54).

The shadows of these councils still cast a harmful image on the face of global Christianity today. These sentiments have sewn seeds of hatred for generations to come. For a Jewish rabbis legacy to become one of antisemitism is a sin that has yet to be fully addressed, much less atone for, by the Christian majority. We cannot separate our Christian roots from how Jews the world over have been targeted by hatred and genocideunderstanding where this cruelty manifested is the first step in addressing it holistically.

Islam mindfully made Jewish traditions and Christianitys Prophet interwoven into their emerging faith. In the Islamic state of Medina, the Prophet Muhammed (peace and blessings be upon him) instructed his citizens to be at one with one another (Ritchie pg. 3). The Quran has a book explicitly dedicated to Jesuss mother, Mary, and tells many stories, not in the gospels, about Jesus life. Yet these emerging Christian communities chose not to return the favor to acknowledge Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) as anything but a problem and cut any lingering connections to their Jewish forebearers.

Resources from this time also reflect the beauty of the connection shared between the monotheistic communities. We see evidence of Unitarian, Jewish, and Muslim theologians having intellectual discussions around their commonalities more than their differences in the Ottoman empire. Theologian and traveler, Paleologos wrote of a time and places where this Abrahamic family broke bread together in fellowship instead of division. This reality would be fleeting and not often reproduced (Ritchie, pg. 18 &19).

Continuing in Europe, theologian innovators such as Michael Servetus and Erasmus sought to carve out spaces that would benefit reform Jews, Unitarians inspired by the life of Christ, and those, like the Bnei Anusim, who existed in the margins. Erasmus and Servetus were instrumental in decolonizing the Torah from the New Testament (Ritchie pg. 40 & 41). Through extensive research and documentation, they proved that much of what was said to be a foreshadowing of Jesus messianic prophecy was based on additions to holy texts that came centuries after they were initially written. Servetus was particularly keen at deciphering what was rooted in anti-Jewish antisemitic beliefs and what was scripturally founded. Because of this work, he became a Unitarian, vehemently denying the ability to embrace a Trinity as a purportedly monotheistic religion.

Universalism began with the enlightenment, primarily its foundation in North America. In a similar vein, Reform Judaism began to emerge from the enlightenment in Germany. The German enlightenment embraced theism and religious integration with rational thought and scientific paradigms. German enlightenment philosophers, such as Christian Thomasius, believed that scientific revelation should revitalize religion, not be its demise (Anhert). Universalisms ability to embrace all faith paths, including humanism which does not include deity frameworks, made it an additional safe haven for those seeking a new way of communing with religion and/or God.

In this time and place, Jewish scholars began to reimagine their own faith. Rabbi Sonnenschein was one of the instrumental bridge builders between the Unitarian Church in The United States and Reform Judaism (Hart-Landsberg & Keller pg. 38). In the 1860s, he pointed out the essential parallels between reform Judaism and Unitarianism- that each was founded on a desire to ring tolerance, freedom, and the religion of humanity to the larger world. Like many Jewish UUs today, he found several obstacles in pursuing this path; debates between founding figures, holy days, and Zionism continued to plague his efforts. Universalist faith leader, but for reasons undisclosed was denied (Hart-Landsberg pg. 41).

When the Universalist and Unitarian communities came together, they both had already set a foundation for Jewish inclusion in their spaces. As Jews sought to continue to rethink the way that they connected with Hashem, many additional parts or forged to combine these different communities. Reform Judaism, founded by Moses Mendelssohn, sought to reimagine how Jews connected to their history and their loss-making the Jewish experience more personal and willing to evolve with scientific innovation.

The reform Judaism website echoes the history of universalism in liberal Jewish movements, The universalist tendency stressed the common values and behaviors they shared with their non-Jewish neighbors (Englander).

Today, many Jewish UUs continue to embrace the historical fellowship between these Semites and UUs and find ever-evolving reasons to remain in these borderlands. Jewish Voices in Unitarian Universalism (2014) is a collection of essays that provide insight into the common desires and difficulties experienced by those who identify as Jewish and UUs. Typical desires, or experiences, that cause people who identify as Jewish to come into the Unitarian Universalist fold are centralized on an experience to defy limiting boundaries. Faith should be liberatory; it should allow us to break free from other societal constraints. Yet, far too often, religion only feeds into human limiting beliefs and adds layers of gatekeeping that inhibit our ability to express our authentic selves.

Those who grew up in interfaith families or had internal interface leanings are told that this is not acceptable. To be a good Jew is to choose a singular path, worship among only those who follow the Torah, and practice the mitzvot.

As one Jewish Universalist states in the book Jewish Voices in Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalists are the only people I know who will let me be the Jew I am (pg. 13). For children and families, this is particularly painful. To ask them to choose one faith tradition exclusively is to choose one parent, one family, in their mosaic of familial connection. The Unitarian Universalist Church is a space where they can finally exhale. No one asked them what they believed and required to turn off all is around that. Instead, walls are broken down, and new pathways for intersecting beliefs are forged.

Common obstacles faced by Jewish UUs are a feeling of not being able to voice their Jewishness in its fullness within the Unitarian Universalist community. For example, wanting to worship on Shabbat might not be an easy option in Unitarian Universalist spaces with predominantly Christian attendees. Kosher food options are often not available at Unitarian Universalist events. And Christianese, or vernacular based on Christian normatively, is far too familiar. Simply calling a Unitarian Universalist faith community a church can be problematic if not painful in and of itself. The challenge here is to think expensively. To offer more options based on awareness of what Jewish attendees need. And to reimagine the language that we use around the space that we hold on to the beliefs that we share.

One community I have not seen discussed in the UU resources I encountered is the Bnei Anusim, descendants of crypto-Jews/Marranos/Conversos. Current books on the Bnei Anusim experience are positioned from an Orthodox Jewish lens (Leon). Authors such as Rabbi Stephen Leon operate from an Ashkenazi lens and see the Bnei Anusim as vital to fulfilling the prophecy that Abrahams descendants would be scattered and as numerous as the stars (Leon, pg. 49-51). Yet, in the same breath, they deny that these crypto-Jews should be welcomed into the tribe easily, requiring them to do extensive research on their genealogy and go through numerous requirements to be entirely accepted. But as Rabbi David Kunin explains, this is hurtful to the Jewish people as a whole and does not include Sephardic perspectives on halacha (Jewish law) around returning Jews (Kunin).

He states, Due to the unique history of the Anusim who have maintained their Jewish identity, beliefs, and practices secretly and often to their peril, and since in the words of R. Solomon Duran, the Anusim for all time are part of the Jewish people, no conversion ceremony is necessary, nor is it necessary to investigate the genealogy of the returning Anusim to demonstrate a clear matrilineal line of descent. It is advisable, however, to provide and encourage ongoing adult education as we do for all Jews, so that the returning Anusim can play a full and fulfilling role in synagogue life. It may also be useful to develop a ritual of return within the congregation as a form of celebration and formalization of the return.

Others are personal narratives, such as Rabbi Elisheva Diazs bookWrestling for my Jewish Identity, but which do not have Halachic guidelines for how to return to Judaism. Neither explains how to merge ones former faith identity, mainly in Christianity, with the new Jewish mindset. Interestingly, in Rabbi Diazs personal narrative, the author, who professes to have proudly left Christianity far behind her, also mentions that she still feels there is power in the name of Jesus. There is no further context for this, but I am sure others feel similar kinds of internal theological conflict.

Other Bnei Anusim who have returned to Judaism but still love much of what they gleaned from Christianity has been denied Aliyah (the law of return to Israel) and told the Israeli government that they are not Jewish enough to be welcomed home.

We, the Bnei Anusim, are complicated Jews, no matter how passionately we embrace Judaism and deny Jesus of Nazareth as a divine being. He is still a pivotal figure in many of our lives and a visual representation of love-made flesh. Trying to connect to a deity with no visual representation is profoundly challenging. We may also miss other relics of our Christian upbringing, such as the Saints or Blessed Mother. Singing songs in English with modern tempos and meaning can also feel a significant loss. If we express these feelings, we are told not to return to Judaism, that being a Jew is too much for us if we have these internal conflicts.

We are also often isolated in this journey from our family and community. Many who learn of their Jewish ancestry do not wish to return and may feel fearful of family members denying Jesus as Christ. The emotional tug of war between familial genetics and a desire to avoid hellfire can create fissures in kinship dynamics. This additional emotional upheaval means that reverts to Judaism need support more than most Jews and other kinds of converts. As more and more Bnei Anusim find their Jewish roots through genealogy, particularly in South and Central America, the need for space to explore these inherent misgivings is paramount to spiritual wellness and Jewish identity.

For this reason, I wish to call on the Unitarian Universalist community to make new inroads for these reverts. Only in a UU faith community can Bnei Anusim make peace with holding space for what would otherwise be seen as dichotomous theologies. No one will tell you that specific thoughts or longings for familiar traditions make you less of a Jew, nor will they pressure you to have your family come along on the same spiritual journey. As the only returning Bnei Anusim in my family, I say this from a place of painful personal experience. In a synagogue, I must remind family members not to wear a cross or bring up their beliefs in the trinity.

When I try to visit my family members churches, I can no longer sing the familiar songs that focus on Jesus as God-head or substitutionary atonement. In a UU space, we can all take a deep exhale. In all our complexities, we can be ourselves together as one. My children will never be asked to choose or given odd looks for celebrating multiple holidays or wearing both a Kippah and a crucifix.

The ability to show up, individually and together, as our whole selves, unapologetically, is sacred. If we are all reflections of the divine and if every faith tradition is a facet of the face of G-d, then communities that embrace this truthfully are holy grounds. Let us take off our sandals, borders, and biases and break bread togetherunited in the universality of how the metaphysical is known to each of us.

Citations

Anhert, T. (2006). Religion and the Origins of the German Enlightenment. University of Rochester Press

Diaz, E. (2017). Wrestling for my Jewish Identity. Friesen Press

Endglander, L. (n.d. ) History of Reform Judaism and a Look Ahead. Taken on 4/26/22 from https://reformjudaism.org/beliefs-practices/what-reform-judaism/history-reform-judaism-and-look-ahead-search-belonging

Hart-Landberg L. & Keller, M (2014). Jewish Voices in Unitarian Universalism. Skinner House Books

Leon, S. (2017). The Third Commandment and the Return of the Anusim. Gaon Books

Ritchie, S. (2014). Children of the Same God; the historical relationship between Unitarianism, Judaism, and Islam. Skinner House Books

Dr. Laura McGuireis a survivor, sexologist, and seminarian. They currently work as an adjunct professor at Widener University and are the CEO of the National Center for Equity and Agency where they develop certifications in trauma-informed care, prevention education, and restorative justice. They are the author of Creating Cultures of Consent and are publishing an additional guidebook on preventing sexual misconduct for universities in 2022. They are the descendant of the Anusim- or those forced to covert under the inquisition. Raised as a Christian they now identify as a Jewish Universalist, the perspectives of which they now bring to their Masters of Divinity studies at Earlham School of Religion.

See the article here:

Unitarian Universalism and the B'nei Anusim Jews - Patheos

Amazon is ending its employee health service Amazon Care. While it may seem that shuttering the service marks a setback for the company in its healthcare pursuits, analysts argue the opposite.

One of the main benefits of Amazon's involvement in the healthcare industry more than traditional healthcare facilities is its ability to pause and reassess challenges and what could be done better, said Natalie Schibell, research director at Forrester Research. When a project isn't optimal, the project gets shut down and the company regroups. That's what Amazon is doing, she said.

Amazon is seizing a "huge opportunity" and has demonstrated its interest in moving away from employee healthcare and going direct to consumer care through its recently announced decision to acquire One Medical, a national primary care organization, as well as its bid on healthcare platform Signify Health.

"They're setting up for much bigger things," Schibell said. "Employee health is small potatoes for them; now they're going to provide primary care to the consumer."

Amazon launched Amazon Care for its Seattle-based employees in 2019, offering virtual healthcare services, prescription delivery and in-person visits for select areas.

According to an internal memo reported by GeekWire Wednesday, Amazon Health Services lead Neil Lindsay said Amazon is ending the service Dec. 31 because it is "not a complete enough offering for the large enterprise customers we have been targeting, and wasn't going to work long-term."

Employee health is small potatoes for them; now they're going to provide primary care to the consumer. Natalie SchibellResearch director, Forrester Research

Indeed, Amazon Care's ability to attract corporate clients became one of its most significant challenges, said R "Ray" Wang, founder and principal analyst of Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research. However, Wang said it served as a learning experience for Amazon.

"The technology used for Amazon Care helped pilot a number of innovations they will use and reuse," Wang said. "They also learned what types of patients preferred what types of services and where the limits of telemedicine end and where you need to physically visit a physician."

By ending Amazon Care, the company is sending the message that it's learning what does and doesn't work, something expected for a "perennial innovator," Gartner healthcare analyst and senior director Kate McCarthy said.

"They don't linger in spaces that aren't working for long; they make them better," she said.

McCarthy said there's no evidence Amazon is looking to back away from healthcare. Instead, its recent moves for One Medical and Signify Health demonstrate a seriousness about the "legitimate business of healthcare" and being "much more intentional about their investments," she said.

By acquiring One Medical and bidding for Signify Health, Amazon is positioning itself to provide in-person care, Gartner's McCarthy said.

"As they move forward with One Medical, they're adding a breadth and depth of services to their portfolio that brings them into communities, gives them physical presence, gives them clinics, gives them physicians," she said.

By entering the primary care space, Forrester's Schibell said she expects to see Amazon chart a new path through an industry troubled by issues such as rising costs and staffing shortages.

"This is disrupting the model as we know it," she said.

Healthcare today isn't as effective as it could be, which has given rise to retail giants like Amazon, CVS, Walmart, and others with an "edge for innovation" to find the right offering for consumers and enterprise customers, McCarthy said.

"It's less about that larger healthcare ecosystem disruption and more about how big does that segment [of retail businesses] decide to go with healthcare," McCarthy said. "I think we're seeing real promise for the primary care of medicine for sure."

Signify Health is a healthcare platform helping consumers stay healthy and age at home. It's focused on care in the home versus at a clinic.

Amazon can pair Signify Health with its AWS backbone to gather data from its services, such as prescription delivery and devices like Amazon Halo, to get a bigger picture of a patient's overall health, Schibell said.

"If you really want to get into primary care you have to have that holistic view," Schibell said. "So, if they don't acquire something like Signify Health, they're going to go after another company. And there's lots of them that are doing it well."

Makenzie Holland is a news writer covering big tech and federal regulation. Prior to joining TechTarget, she was a general reporter for the Wilmington StarNews and a crime and education reporter at the Wabash Plain Dealer.

Original post:

Amazon evolves healthcare approach, ends Amazon Care - TechTarget