Category Archives: Talmud

This op-ed was first published on eJewishPhilanthropy.com.

Last week, a 26-year-old Jewish educator named Jessie Sander filed a lawsuit against her former employer, a flagship Reform synagogue, claiming she was fired because of her anti-Zionist beliefs, in violation of New York State law.

While I cannot speak to the legal claim, I have been thinking about the value of inclusivity which many Jewish organizations espouse. Lately, one would be hard pressed to find a synagogue, JCC or federation whose mission statement does not include words like welcoming, inclusive, everyone. Westchester Reform Temple itself, the synagogue that dismissed Sander, expresses on its website its intent to create a warm and welcoming community.

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I believe our institutions are sincere in wanting to create a community where diverse kinds of people feel included. Many of our communal organizations welcome with open arms a full spectrum of people with various racial or gender identities, sexual orientations, religious practices or beliefs. Many of these organizations proport but one acceptable form of ostracism, and that is toward those who express anti-Zionist viewpoints.

The number of Jews who think like Sander is not insignificant. A June 2021 poll by the Jewish Electoral Institute found that 34% of American Jews agreed that Israels treatment of Palestinians is similar to racism in the United States, 25% agreed that Israel is an apartheid state and 22% agreed that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians. The percentages are even higher when you isolate adults under age 30.

The above data should give us pause. Across our communal landscape, donor bases of legacy institutions are shrinking. Synagogue membership is dwindling. Is it wise to shun Jews like Sander, at a time when Jewish affiliation and literacy are at an all-time low?

To be sure, opposition to Israel can sometimes overlap with antisemitism. But the profile of anti-Zionist Jews is not uniform, and some participate actively in Jewish life. They can be found devoting significant hours to Talmud study (at yeshivot like SVARA), to social justice learning (at organizations like Repair the World), and to training for the rabbinate (at several seminaries). They can also be found in some Haredi communities. Jessie Sander appears to be passionate about Judaism. She is pursuing a masters degree in Jewish professional studies. She is a co-founder of the startup Making Mensches, whose goal is to create Jewish communities that explore Jewish values within the context of our daily lives. Jews like Sander find inspiration from Jewish heritage and teachings. In fact, they approach the ethical questions of Israel/Palestine through the lens of the very Jewish values they were taught at our schools, camps and JCCs .

Of course, our synagogues and organizations are fully entitled to hold Zionism and support for Israel as core values. Millions of Jewish philanthropic dollars go to support The Jewish Agency for Israel, along with a variety of social service programs within the state. Jewish educational institutions from day schools to youth groups to camps highlight Zionism in their curricula. We cannot expect our institutions to abandon their core principles. But neither should we keep all anti-Zionist Jews outside the tent, while at the same time claiming to be inclusive and welcoming.

In the Talmud we learn that Jews who have been excommunicated cannot cut their hair or launder their clothes. Nor can their relatives perform acts of mourning after they die. But excommunicated Jews are allowed to teach Torah (Moed Katan 15b). Even though they are shunned in several ways for their wrongdoing, they are nevertheless permitted to teach Torah to others, and we are permitted to learn from them.

Our institutions have to wrestle with the reality that increasing numbers of passionate Jews do not support the State of Israel. Is it in our best long-term interest to be welcoming to everyone but them? I propose that we spend less time labeling all anti-Zionist Jews as antisemitic, and more time figuring out how to be truly inclusive. PJC

Amy Bardack is a rabbi in Pittsburgh. The views expressed here are her own, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

The rest is here:

How inclusive are we willing to be? | The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle - thejewishchronicle.net

A new exhibit at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe takes a page from Jewish graphic novels and comics. Showcasing 12 projects that recount biblical tales, rabbinic writings and personal biographies, the exhibit pairs image and text to spark conversation.

When Ben Schachter and Andrew Julo began work on People of the Book & the Storyboard nearly two years ago, neither of the Saint Vincent staffers considered their efforts particularly prescient. Yet, in recent weeks, Jewish graphic novels have gained national attention. Just before Jan. 27 International Holocaust Remembrance Day a 10-person school board in McMinn County, Tennessee, voted unanimously to remove Art Spiegelmans Maus from its curriculum, saying the work contained language and imagery unsuitable for students.

Along with depicting Jews as mice and Nazis as cats, Maus, a Pulitzer Prize-winning nonfiction book written in the graphic style, describes the authors relationship with his father, a Holocaust survivor.

As news of the school boards decision traveled nationwide, the conversation and debate around Maus grew. During an on-air discussion about the books banning during The View, co-host Whoopi Goldberg ignited new controversy by claiming the Holocaust was not about race. Goldberg later apologized but received a two-week suspension from ABC. Meanwhile, the uproar spurred by the Tennessee school boards decision generated new interest in Maus and sales of the book exploded. The Complete Maus, which contains volumes 1 and 2 of Spiegelmans work, has remained the third-most-sold book on Amazon Charts since the controversy began.

Schachter, an art professor at Saint Vincent, said he never imagined Jewish graphic novels would feature so prominently in national discourse.

Ben Schachter. Photo courtesy of Ben Schachter

It was Schachters contribution to the genre that originally prompted the push for an exhibit about Jewish graphic novels, Julo said.

In 2020, Schachter completed Akhnai Pizza, a graphic novel that reimagines a Talmudic dispute regarding the ritual purity of an oven. But as opposed to offering readers a black-and-white page of Aramaic language in which rabbis debate Jewish law, Schachter departed from the traditional Talmudic style and set his story in Pittsburgh, with illustrated characters arguing, in English, about which pizza is the citys best.

With Akhnai Pizza, Schachter tapped into a growing trend, according to Julo, director and curator of the Verostko Center for the Arts at Saint Vincent. During the past several decades, authors and illustrators have created a really interesting subset within graphic arts, he said. And the new exhibit offers recent examples of sophisticated ways of telling stories to lots of audiences, regardless of age group.

Among the 12 items within the exhibit is an illustrated Haggadah, a graphic novel of Pirkei Avot and a visual adaptation of Anne Franks diary.

Part of the exhibits uniqueness, Schachter said, is that it provides visitors three distinct ways to experience the materials. Attendees can see images displayed in a traditional gallery style, but theres also space set up like a living room, where people can take any of the 12 works and sit down and enjoy the books in a casual, natural way. People can also experience the exhibit virtually by watching and listening to several upcoming lectures on Zoom.

Page 24 and 25 from Passover Haggadah Graphic Novel by Jordan B. Gorfinkel, illustrations by Erez Zadok. Published by Koren Publishers, Jerusalem: 2019. Images courtesy of Jordan B. Gorfinkel

On Feb. 10, at 6:30 p.m., Samantha Baskind, a professor of art history at Cleveland State University and author of several books on Jewish American art and culture, and comic artist JT Waldman will discuss the impact of Jewish illustrators, authors and publishers on 20th-century American sequential art. On Feb. 23, at 3 p.m. Nina Caputo, an associate professor of history at the University of Florida, will discuss her visually-narrated book Debating Truth: The Barcelona Disputation of 1263, A Graphic History and the historic exchange between Rabbi Moses ben Nahman and Catholic priest Pablo Christiani.

Rabbi James Gibson, a Saint Vincent professor and rabbi emeritus at Temple Sinai, participated in a Jan. 27 lecture to open the exhibit. Following the talk, Gibson told the Chronicle that he encourages Allegheny County residents to trek eastward to Westmoreland County to see People of the Book & the Storyboard and that those who live in highly-populated Jewish areas should appreciate the exhibits regional significance.

I think the fact that the exhibit is in rural western Pennsylvania, in a Catholic institution, underscores the attempt of Saint Vincent to bring the Jewish experience to people who may have never met Jews, and we should support that effort by our presence and attendance at that exhibit, Gibson said.

Pages 14 and 15 from Opening the Windows: A Readers Guide to The Prophetic Quest The Stained Glass Windows of Jacob Landau by JT Waldman. Published by Temple Judea Museum Congregation Keneseth Israel, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania: 2015. Image courtesy of JT Waldman

Julo agreed, saying that he hoped the exhibit would serve as a bridge-builder between communities and that the exhibit and recent Maus-related controversies highlight the role of graphic novels as critical educational tools, especially when it comes to the Holocaust.

Theres revisionist history going on right now, and a widening of narratives about World War II, but we need to keep [clear] that this was an attack on Jews first and foremost,Julo said. And as a Catholic school, it is important for us to say that this was an attack on Jews and that an attack on any faith group is unacceptable.

Although several items within the exhibit including the Holocaust Center of Pittsburghs Chutz-Pow! focus on World War II and the Holocaust, the exhibit functions as a commentary and conversation starter on events and periods apart from those occurring last century, Schacter said.

The comic book page and graphic novel, he said, is a way to engage those difficult topics in a way that is approachable.

People of the Book & the Storyboard, at the Verostko Center for the Arts at Saint Vincent College, runs through March 11. The center is open Wednesdays 1-4 p.m., Thursdays 1-7 p.m., and Fridays 1-4 p.m. Those looking to visit the center outside its normal hours can make an appointment by emailing verostkocenter@stvincent.edu. The exhibit and its programs are free and open to all. Masks are required for in-person events. PJC

Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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'People of the Book': The Jewish graphic novel on exhibit at Saint Vincent College - thejewishchronicle.net

Andy Doctoroff| Detroit Free Press

Seniority entitled him to move his chambers to the seventh or eighth floor of the Theodore Levin United States Courthouse with its marbled hallways, mahogany paneled walls, and ceilings rich with relief. But U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn stayed put, decade after decade, opting to remain in Room 219, his tired, less grandiose chambers on the second floor.

That Judge Cohn had no need for judicial opulence was easily discerned from the hundreds of books lining his office and the quirky bric-a-brac testifying to his myriad passions, like passenger trains and Jewish history.

Obituaries often read like curriculum vitae; so, I expect that notices of Judge Cohns passing Friday evening, at the age of 97, will be chockablock with references to decisions rendered, offices held, and awards garnered. But these impressive litanies miss the essence of the man we just lost.

Judge Cohn enjoyed wealth and power, but they were not the forces that animated him.

More: Iconic federal Judge Avern Cohn dies at 97: 'He was a unique figure'

More: District court will close Monday for funeral of Judge Avern Cohn

Charles Francis Adams rebuffed protestations by his father, John Quincy Adams, that he lacked worthy ambitions by say[ing] with the poet, My mind a kingdom is.

Judge Cohns mind was his kingdom, a vast realm he continued to explore until his final days, a blast furnace of erudition, conviction, and curiosity.

Out-of-state co-counsel with whom I tried a patent infringement case before Judge Cohn were nonplussed by the childlike wonder that compelled him to descend the bench, squint his eyes, and tinker with the subject matter of the lawsuit, a refrigerator shelf.

I last lunched with Judge Cohn at his Birmingham home in the fall. His legs had long since failed him. He received visitors less frequently, and his physical world had grown almost infinitely small, like a star collapsing into a black hole. But, as always, he continued to plow intellectual fields.

Just before our interview ended, Judge Cohn handedme a copy of the Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society, suggesting I read the article about Talmudic perspective on rent regulation in 16th CenturyRome.

Dont forget to return it, he admonished, handing me the volume.I want it back.

Perhaps Judge Cohn lived as long as he did, as richly as he did notwithstanding physical infirmities, because of the intellectual fires that burned within him, the same fires that drove him to become the rare jurist who, in Richard Hofstadters words, relishe[d] the play of the mind for its own sake, and f[ound] in it one of the major values in life.

The two years I spent as Judge Cohns elbow clerk (his term) ended in 1992.But he has beena singular presence in my life ever since, someone who has influenced me more positively than any person outside my nuclear family.I will soon enter my own seventh decade, but recent memories of his affectionately calling me kid cause my eyes to fill.

An easy mark for those soliciting charitable gifts, Judge Cohn was no saint.His enthusiasms could alienate colleagues, and resulted in lapses in decorum.He had no need for office intercoms; his vocal cords served perfectly well, thank you.He suffered neither fools nor unprepared attorneys appearing before him.

But his capacity for self-growth was unbounded and endeared him to his staff.Age and self-reflection tempered his excesses, a process facilitated by notes, written in his own hand and taped to his courtroom desk,enjoining him to be courteous: "Keep cool!!! Always remember the lawyers have as much rig[h]t to be in the courtroom as the judge!!!

I myself suffered Judge Cohns tetchiness (Youre the law clerk, Im the judge, goddamnit!).But such was the happy cost of a beautiful, fertile mind that has yielded rafts of scholarly, precedent-setting opinions and letters-to-the-editor,and uplifted our justice system in ways small and large but too numerous to count.

Coming so close on the heels of the death of his cousin, Sen. Carl Levin, the loss of Judge Cohns life presages the sad end of an era populated by ambitious but menschy public servants who were born and raised in Detroit during the 1920s and 1930s and obeyed a demanding code of ethics that now too often seems to have lapsed.

A world without Judge Cohn is more than personal misfortune for his family, friends, and members of the legal community.It raises a disconcerting question:Who among us willcarry on his timeless legacy?

Andy Doctoroff, a Huntington Woods attorney, served as law clerk to the Hon. Avern Cohn from 1990 to 1992.

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Opinion: 'A blast furnace of curiosity and conviction': Remembering Avern Cohn - Detroit Free Press

In one of many oddball stories in the Talmud, the commentary on the Hebrew Bible, were told about an ancient diss: one rabbi tells another rabbi that his voice is so bad that if the Holy Temple were still standing, he wouldnt be allowed to sing in it.

As Miriam Anzovin puts it in her first TikTok, Shimon is pitchy but Chiyyah is bitchy.

Shes not obviously your typical teacher of Talmud.

Following the same schedule as Daf Yomi, the page-a-day Talmud study cycle whose participants number in the tens of thousands worldwide, Anzovin hair-tosses, speed-talks and eyebrow-pops through her homemade recaps, distilling the daily dose to its sauciest moments.

In Anzovins very online breakdowns of the Talmud, everyone is relatable: Rabbi Hanina Ben Dosas wifes neighbor, thwarted by divine intervention more than 2,000 years ago, is a Karen; Rabbi Yochanan, whose radiant beauty is a matter of Talmudic discussion, is a legendary hottie; and Rav and Rav Huna are besties beholden to a bro code.

Some of it is extremely boring, Anzovin says of her source material. And some it is extremely not safe for work.

DAF REACTIONS Megillah 3! One quick tip to find out if that random guy u met is a ##demon or not! PLUS the Divine Voice has SOMETHING to SAY! ##dafyomi

A non-Orthodox woman with bleach-blonde hair, Anzovin might not look like what most people conjure when asked to think of someone who studies Talmud, which has historically been the domain of Orthodox men. But she may be the quintessential participant in Daf Yomi, whose very mission is to make the long, dense and often arcane Oral Torah more accessible and inclusive.

Her approach is pretty simple make it funny and her process fully digital.

She begins her mornings listening to Rabbanit Michelle Farbers Daf Yomi podcast while she puts on her makeup. Then shell read a summary of the same material on MyJewishLearning.com. From there, shell skim the text itself on Sefaria.org and riff about it with her chavruta over Google Chat. All along, shes waiting for inspiration to strike.

Sometimes its right there at the surface, the modern connection, or the kind of language I would use to describe the scenario in a millennial sense, she says. And sometimes you gotta dig a little harder to find it.

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Anzovin, 36, a content producer for JewishBoston.com, first became interested in Daf Yomi after hearing Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, the late chief rabbi of the United Kingdom, speak highly of the movement. But it was the middle of the seven-and-a-half-year cycle, putting her enthusiasm on hold. Later, the Hanukkah stabbing in Monsey in December 2019 several were injured and one was killed got her fully committed.

One week later, on Jan. 5, 2020, a new cycle began with Anzovin on board.

Every single day that I do the daf is my response to that, is my response to antisemitism, to Jew hatred, she said.

Courtesy of Miriam Anzovin

Anzovin, a content producer for JewishBoston.com, makes her Daf Reactions videos in her free time.

Her videos defy norms in other ways: her coquettish affect (and occasional profanity) make them evoke the juicy conspiracy theories and brilliant life-hacks popular on TikTok more than the dialectic of staid first-century rabbis. For the most part, Anzovin leaves what others might consider the true substance of the Talmud arguments about Jewish law on the cutting room floor.

The videos have, perhaps inevitably, drawn a few unhappy comments which failed to deter her. She noted a bewildering detour the Talmud takes to consider a scenario in which a snake has entered a womans vagina.

Nothing that I say could ever be worse than the things that are in the Gemara, she said. And I say that with love.

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On TikTok, she offers a spicy daily take on Talmud - Forward

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2022 /CNW/ - The Congressional Caucus For the Advancement of Torah Values was recently inaugurated in Washington, DC by a bi-partisan group of Democrats and Republican congressmen and congresswomen.

Caucus Co-chairs are Congressman Don Bacon (R -Nebraska District 2) and Congressman Henry Cuellar (D - Texas District 28).

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:

"The rise of anti-Israel bigotry that has led to an increase of antisemitism incidents on college campuses and elsewhere;

The rise of hate crimes against Jews in New York city and elsewhere, where Jews easily identifiable by their garb are targeted;

The uneven-handed lockdown of Synagogues and Yeshivas in New York that was and inconsistent with city and state policy."

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."

Story continues

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 Eisenstadttcgprdeisenstadt@tcgpr.com(C) 1-416-561-5751

Celebrating the recent inauguration of the Congressional Caucus for Torah Values in Washington, DC (L-R) Congresswoman Kat Cammack (R- Florida Dist. 3); Caucus Co-Chair Don Bacon (R-Nebraska, Dist. 2); Rabbi Dovid Hofstedter, Dirshu Founder; Caucus Co-Chair Henry Cuellar (D-Texas, Dist.28); Congressman Dan Meuser (R-Pennsylvania, Dist. 9); Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pennsylvania, Dist.1) Photo Credit: Sruly Saftlas (CNW Group/Dirshu)

Dirshu Logo (CNW Group/Dirshu)

Cision

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SOURCE Dirshu

Cision

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

Soon, homes near the synagogue were evacuated as city, state and federal officials descended on the scene, the chief said. Mr. Akram was in contact with law enforcement officials throughout the ordeal, according to Mr. DeSarno.

The negotiation team had a high frequency and duration of contact with him, Mr. DeSarno said. There were times when the communication ceased, he said. The relationship between Mr. Akram and the negotiators, according to Mr. DeSarno, ebbed and flowed a little bit and sometimes got intense.

Experts on hostage situations say that maintaining dialogue is crucial.

Crusaders, criminals and crazies are the people that hold hostages, and youre not always sure which one it is at first, said Robert J. Louden, a professor emeritus of criminal justice and homeland security at Georgian Court University in New Jersey. The information you can develop about the situation allows you to best determine which kind of situation you have.

The synagogues service was being livestreamed on Facebook, and for a while after he arrived, the audio remained live, letting anyone listen in real time as Mr. Akram angrily made his demands.

At one point, apparently referring to the hostages while speaking to a negotiator, Mr. Akram said, Their children are being traumatized right now because you guys dont want to work with me.

After asking the hostages, one by one, how many children each of them had, he appeared to address the negotiator, saying Why are you going to leave seven children orphaned?

At about 5 p.m., one male hostage was released, unharmed, while the other three continued to be held, the authorities said.

Originally posted here:

11 Hours of Fear, Negotiation and Finally, Relief - The New York Times

Rabbi Carnie Shalom RoseJanuary 14, 2022

And Moses took with him the bones of Joseph, who had previously exacted an oath from the children of Israel, saying, God will be sure to take notice of you and when this comes to be, you pledge to carry up my bones from here with you to the Holy Land. Sefer Shemot 13:19

Each and every time I return to the study of Parashat Beshalach, I am struck by the image of a hassled, harried somewhat stressed-out Moshe Rabbeinu making final preparations for the Exodus of the entire Israelite Nation after hundreds of years of Egyptian servitude and bondage. And despite being deeply engaged in what surely must have been a monumental and herculean task, with a long list of last minute responsibilities, Moshe himself engages in the securing of the remains of the patriarch Yosef.

The obvious question is why? Why was it essential for Moses to pause from the important work of preparing the Bnai Yisrael at this critical and liminal moment in Jewish History to locate, secure and arrange for the transport of the mummified remains of a long deceased ancestor?

One possible explanation is alluded to in the Babylonian Talmud, Sotah 13a-13b: All those years that the Israelites were in the desert, those two chests one of the dead (the bones of Josef) and the other of the Shechinah (the Ark of the Covenant) proceeded side by side, and passersby would ask: What is the nature of those two chests? They received the following reply: One is of the dead (Joseph) and the other of the handiwork of the Divine Presence (the Tables of the Ten Commandments). But is it then, the way of the dead to proceed with the revelation of the Divine? They were told, This one (Joseph) fulfilled all that was recorded in the other (the Commandments) [and thus, it makes perfect sense for them to sojourn side-by-side].

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This Talmudic passage underscores a deep truth that we all know well. The most profound lessons that we learn in our lifetimes are those that are at once profoundly transcendent as well as demonstrably attainable. The Ten Commandments were given to the world amidst thunder and lightning in a miraculously supernatural manner. In sharp contrast, Joseph lived a Godly existence in base settings that were remarkably challenging; first as a lowly slave and then as a revered Viceroy of the Egyptian aristocracy. Moshe, our greatest of teachers, understood that the nascent Nation of Israel (and all of humanity!) was in need of both models in the right proportion to ensure that the way of life that the Almighty had intended could be actuated and effectuated.

May we who hear of these two remarkable chests, be inspired this week anew to quest for this balance in our own lives so that we, too, can live lives of transcendent holiness and earthly sanctity, Amen!

Rabbi Carnie Shalom Rose, D.Div., is the Rabbi Bernard Lipnick Senior Rabbinic Chair at Congregation Bnai Amoona and a member of the St. Louis Rabbinical and Cantorial Association, which coordinates the dvar Torah for the Jewish Light.

Link:

Torah portion inspires search for balance in life - St. Louis Jewish Light

I found out that Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker and three others had been taken hostage at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Tex. when many other observant Jews did: after the end of Shabbat.

There was a knock on our door. It was someone from the 10.27 Healing Partnership, a grant-funded organization that provides resources and support to those impacted by the Tree of Life attack.

My spouse, Rabbi Jonathan Perlman, is a leader of New Light Congregation, one of three congregations that shared the Tree of Life space. He was able to hide others and then escape the building himself on Oct. 27, 2018, when our congregants and friends were massacred during Shabbat services. I was fortunate that Jon walked home that day, safe, to inform my daughter and I what had happened to him.

When someone comes to the rabbis house on Shabbat to deliver news directly, it is usually not good news. This week, I was shocked to hear about the then still-unfolding situation in Texas, but appreciative that a kind and professionally- trained person had come to help me process the news. Whenever another antisemitic attack in a synagogue occurs, feelings of trauma, shock, distress, fear and anxiety all flood back quite readily.

Because I had been warned about the images I might see, I did not look at the news until after the hostages had escaped their captors, when Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, who had the presence of mind and bravery to make sure the other two worshippers still inside the temple were ready to run, threw a chair at the captor and escaped. Rabbi Cytron-Walkers unsurpassable courage saved his fellow hostages lives as well as his own.

Rabbi Cytron-Walker told a Forward reporter that security workshops had instilled in him the ability to do whatever you have to do to get out. I also believe that part of Cytron-Walkers composure derives from his experience as a rabbi and his knowledge of Jewish wisdom.

In a parable described in the Talmud in Berachot 51a, the Rabbis instruct anyone who encounters the angel of death to flee, whether that requires jumping over a river, taking a different path, or hiding behind a wall. The message is to do anything necessary to elude the angel of deaths evil machinations.

Rabbi Cytron-Walker clearly absorbed the message of this passage and his own teaching for that particular Shabbat morning service must have steeled him as well.

Years of being a rabbis spouse led me to guess, correctly, that Rabbi Cytron-Walker had prepared a source sheet on Sefaria.org with notes for that days service. The source sheet the rabbi had uploaded but did not get to use detailed his concerns over hate crimes in this country, and the need for individuals to take action and fight back.

This need for a lifesaving impulse is not new for Jews. Today, as at the time of the events of the Exodus, being a Jew is being vulnerable.

My husband left last night, as he does each evening since his mothers death, to say kaddish for her. The Orthodox synagogue where he prays during the week is always locked; it opens with a combination whose code is made known only to members. The times of services are never posted publicly and are only available through emailed newsletters.

All the synagogues in Squirrel Hill have locks or guards, and all the Jewish institutions have had security evaluations. After the attack, we recommended that other communities do so as well.

Despite the trauma of the Pittsburgh synagogue attack, none of us in our family have had hesitations about attending any synagogue recently, so long as there is appropriate security, and currently, both mask and vaccine requirements. We havent gone back to the building where the attack happened, but the plans for its rehabilitation as a worship space are in place. At our new synagogue home, there are professional security guards, an updated security system and synagogue member greeters alongside guards.

Even so, we are always alert to any unexpected noises and startle when we hear an ambulance or police siren. And yet, all of the survivors of the attack on New Light, as well as family members of the victims, attend regularly.

It is not that I have total faith in the security that keeps me returning week after week, but that we as a family believe attending synagogue is the best embodiment of joining with a community of shared values to pray and study Torah.

It will not be easy for Rabbi Cytron-Walker and his community to recover from the trauma he and the other hostages have experienced. They will need help and support.

After the Tree of Life shooting, four men who had survived a shooting in their mosque in Quebec City drove 12 hours to Pittsburgh each way to speak with those of us from the three Tree of Life congregations. This was only the first of many acts of solidarity we have experienced since the shooting.

To sit in a room with people have the same concerns after an act of violence in their worship space and have them explain to us how they helped their children and community cope with the fear that came from going back to the mosque, when I was also worried about how to help my daughters and community, was powerful and meaningful. The human connection that was made with strangers who cared enough to make a huge effort to travel so far in order to render assistance was immensely healing and therapeutic. I am pleased to see the powerful interfaith solidarity shown for the Colleyville Jewish community after this terrifying antisemitic attack. I hope there will be some form of agency set up in Colleyville to enable those both directly and indirectly impacted by the trauma of this event to heal, and that no one will feel ashamed to ask for help.

Having experienced firsthand this particular type of trauma, I know that healing is possible. The Torah portion not read in Colleyville last Shabbat contains the verse, for I the Lord will heal you (Exodus 15:26). I am hopeful that Rabbi Cytron-Walker will continue to teach many messages of Torah, including this one, over the long years ahead.

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The views and opinions expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Forward.

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This week we marked Raoul Wallenberg Commemorative Day in remembrance of, and in tribute to, Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg Canadas first Honourary Citizen and an Honourary Citizen of Israel who demonstrated that one person with the compassion to care, and the courage to act, can confront evil, prevail, and transform history. Accordingly, Canadas Country Pledges at the recent Malm International Forum on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism called for learning about and acting upon Wallenbergs heroic legacy, a call reaffirmed by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Raoul Wallenberg Commemorative Day.

Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat, was a beacon of light during the darkest days of the Holocaust, and his heroism warrants remembrance and reminder today. This is particularly resonant amidst the international drumbeat of evil mass atrocities targeting the Uyghers, the Rohingya, Afghans, Ethiopians, and others let alone the imprisonment of human rights defenders amidst a culture of impunity and the accompanying indifference and inaction.

From mid-May to the beginning of July 1944, some 440,000 Hungarian Jews were deported to the death camp Auschwitz the fastest, cruelest and most efficient killing field in the Holocaust. Wallenberg arrived as a member of the Swedish Legation in Budapest, Hungary in mid-July 1944 and in a remarkable demonstration of ingenuity and inspiration rescued some 100,000 Jews in the last six months of 1944 alone more than any other single government or organization let alone the continuing indifference of the international bystander community.

As we mark also the 80th anniversary of the Wannsee Conference on January 20th, where the Final Solution was foreordained, we recall that what makes the Holocaust so unspeakable are not only horrors too terrible to be believed but not too terrible to have happened, but that these horrors were preventable. Nobody could say we did not know. We knew but did not act.

I first learned of Wallenbergs heroism from the testimony of Holocaust survivors saved by him, when acting in the 1970s as pro-bono Counsel for the Association of Survivors of Nazi Oppression; from US congressman Tom Lantos, himself saved by Wallenberg, who inspired the conferral of Honorary US Citizenship on Wallenberg in 1981; from Raoul Wallenbergs family whom I have been serving as counsel for close to 45 years; and from Swedish diplomat Per Anger, who worked with Wallenberg in the rescue of Jews in Hungary in 1944 and later became Swedens ambassador to Canada.

I also had occasion as a Canadian parliamentarian to address the Swedish parliament during the celebration of the Centennial of Wallenbergs birth in 2012, where I witnessed an international exhibit titled, in Wallenbergs own immortal words, to me there was no other choice. This phrase reflected his singular courage and commitment heroism that embodies the Talmudic principle that if you save a single life, it is as if you have saved an entire universe.

In transforming history and saving human universes, Wallenberg may be said to have presaged todays foundational principles of international human rights and humanitarian law.

In distributing schutzpasses, diplomatic passports conferring protective immunity, and establishing safe houses conferring diplomatic sanctuary, Wallenberg is credited with saving 50,000 Jews by these means alone. His heroic deeds affirmed and validated the principle of diplomatic immunity, the remedy of diplomatic protection, a foundational principle of international law and are a model of the diplomatic capacity to save lives. Simply put, consular or diplomatic assistance should not be seen as a matter of discretion, but a matter of legal obligation

In his protection and rescue of civilians amid the horrors of the Holocaust, including from death marches, and death camp transports on the way to Auschwitz, he manifested the best of what we today call international humanitarian law.

In his organization of hospitals, soup kitchens and orphanages, the staples of international humanitarian assistance that provided women, children, the sick and the elderly with a semblance of dignity in the face of the worst of all horrors and evils, Wallenberg embodied the best of what we today call international humanitarian intervention.

In saving Jews from certain deportation, death, and atrocity, he symbolized what we today call the Responsibility to Protect doctrine.

Finally, Wallenbergs last rescue was perhaps his most memorable. As the Nazis advanced on Budapest and threatened to blow up the citys ghetto and liquidate the remaining Jews, he put the Nazi generals on notice that they would be held accountable and brought to justice, if not executed, for their war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Nazi generals desisted. Some 70,000 more Jews were saved, thanks to the indomitable courage of one person prepared to confront radical evil. In warning the Nazi generals that they would be held responsible for their war crimes, Wallenberg was a forerunner of the Nuremberg principles and what today we call international criminal law.

To the desk murderer Adolf Eichmann, who was organizing the transports to Auschwitz, Wallenberg was the Judenhund Wallenberg, the Jewish Dog. To the Jews, as those saved by Wallenberg would tell me, Wallenberg was the Guardian Angel.

Yet, while Wallenberg saved so many, he was not himself saved by so many who could. Rather than greet Wallenberg as the liberator he was, the Soviets who entered Hungary as liberators themselves on January 17, 1945 imprisoned him, where he disappeared into the gulag. The Soviets first claimed that he died of a heart attack in July 1947, before changing their story to claim that he was murdered, also in July 1947.

These contradictory Soviet claims have been refuted by several inquiries, including the 1990 International Commission on the Fate and Whereabouts of Raoul Wallenberg, which I chaired, along with Wallenbergs brother Guy Von Dardel, US Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel, Russian scholar Mikhail Chlenov and former Israeli Attorney General Gideon Hausner.

Indeed, in 1985, as our Commission report cited, a US federal court found the evidence incontrovertible that Wallenberg was alive in 1947, compelling that he was alive in the 1960s and credible that he remained alive into the 80s a position held by Soviet Nobel Peace Laureate Andrei Sakharov, who conveyed this information personally to Mikhail Chlenov and me in a meeting we had in Moscow in November 1989. I returned to Canada but arranged to meet with Dr. Sakharov for dinner on a return visit to Moscow scheduled for December 14th. While flying to Moscow, I learned that the meeting was not to be, as Dr. Sakharov had died of a heart attack that morning. I ended up speaking at his funeral and delivering the Sakharov-Wallenberg lectureship at the founding meeting of the Russian Jewish Congress in Moscow, dedicated to the heroism of both Wallenberg and Sakharov.

It is imperative that the international community finally secure for Wallenberg and his family the long-denied truth and justice owed to them. The countries of Wallenbergs honorary citizenship, including Israel, should lead an international consortium calling upon Russia to open its archives and reveal the long-sought, and suppressed truth about this disappeared hero of humanity, whom the UN called the greatest humanitarian of the twentieth century. For us, in Wallenbergs own immutable words, there should be no other choice.

May our commemoration of Raoul Wallenberg Day be not only an act of remembrance but a remembrance to act on behalf of our common humanity.

Irwin Colter is International Chair of the Canadian-based Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights; Emeritus Professor of Law at McGill University and the first Isaacman Distinguished Visiting Professor in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Gratz College; former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and longtime parliamentarian; and international counsel to political prisoners.

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Raoul Wallenberg rescued 100,000 Jews. He deserves better. | Irwin Cotler | The Blogs - The Times of Israel

Rabbi Dr. Berman, Rabbi Dr. Soloveichik, Dr. Trapedo and the Shakespeare and the Talmud students

By Dr. Shaina TrapedoStraus Center Resident ScholarandSam GelmanStraus Center Communications and Program Officer

On Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman, president of Yeshiva University, gave a guest lecture in Stern College for Womens Shakespeare and the Talmud course, which was offered in collaboration with the Zahava and Moshael Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought in fall 2021. The class was co-taught by Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik, Straus Center director, and Dr. Shaina Trapedo, Straus Center resident scholar .

After getting to know each student by name, hometown, and favorite Shakespeare character, Dr. Berman addressed the unique opportunity and value of studying Shakespeare at Yeshiva University.

Fascinating similarities and differences emerge when the same concerns and complexities of the human experience that Shakespeare addresses in his works are studied in conversation with biblical narratives and Torah tradition. What relationships matter? How should we prioritize personal and communal interests and obligations? Who deserves authority and leadership?

Among the breadth and depth of Shakespeares canon, Dr. Berman shared that Hamlet is his favorite play, in part, because of its focus on the relationship between elocution and action, and the pleasure and purpose that comes with the ability to unpack [the] heart with words.

Dr. Berman invited students to bring the page to life with an enlivened reading of an understudied and often-trimmed scene in modern productions. In Act 4, Scene 4, as Hamlet departs for England by the kings commission, he sees Fortinbras of Norway leading his army (over the stage) through Denmark on their way to attack Poland. In questioning the captain, Hamlet learns that thousands of men are marching into battle to gain a little patch of ground that hath in it no profit but the name. Fortinbras, driven by honor code and courage, spurs Hamlet to reflect on his own failure to avenge his fathers murder and finally resolves that from this time forth, my thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth.

Guiding the class through a careful close-reading of this scene and the plays dramatic conclusion, Dr. Berman noted that Hamlet and Fortinbras have been understood as foils for centuriesthe former a man of words and the later a man of actionand while Fortinbras emerges as the ostensible hero who gains property and power by the end of the play, it is Hamlets story that we are obliged to tell, forcing us to re-evaluate which stories endure and why.

Turning to Tanakh, Dr. Berman invited the students to consider another case of contrasts. Using classical commentaries and Midrash, Dr. Berman demonstrated that the Patriarchs were either shepherds (like Abraham and Jacob, who spent time engaged in reflective isolation) or farmers (like Isaac, who favored his son, Esau, also a man of the field).

Yet in Joseph, we find a remarkable synthesis. While Shakespeare presents and preserves a dialectic between Hamlet and Fortinbrasnoble intellect in pursuit of truth against steadfast worldly engagementJoseph, driven by faith and service to God, directs his wisdom and skills toward the well-being of society, offering a powerful paradigm for Jewish leadership today. The story of the Jewish people, Dr. Berman emphasized, is still being written, and Yeshiva University students have an active role to play in the collective betterment of humanity and moving history forward.

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