Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By simmons on August 24, 2017

On September 5, 1972, at the Olympic Village in Munich, Germany, eight Palestinian terrorists breached lax perimeter security and broke into two apartments being used by the Israeli Olympic team. They captured, held hostage, and eventually killed 11 athletes and coaches in what came to be known as the Black September attack, after the faction of the Palestinian Liberation Organization that carried out the act. The news was met with horror around the world.

The As were in Chicago in advance of a series against the White Sox when the news reached them. With a rare night off, the teams two Jewish players, Ken Holtzman and Mike Epstein, found themselves independently pacing their rooms at the Ambassador Hotel, unable to sit still. The information filled the space around them, drawing the walls in close. Neither man had been to Israel, but both felt a visceral connection to the events. Beyond even the religious connection, Epstein had participated in the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, when baseball was a demonstration sport, and couldnt stop thinking about how proud he had been as The Star-Spangled Banner was played at Meiji Jingu Stadium. For such terror to happen to people representing their country, as he had, who had been bursting with pride, as he had been, was beyond his ability to reconcile. Unable to stand his solitude, Epstein went to the lobby seeking... something. There he found Holtzman, who had descended from his room for the very same reason.

When Holtzman joined the team at the beginning of the season, he had approached his Jewishness as something that hardly merited undue public attention. Teammates nicknamed him and Epstein Jew and Super Jew, respectively, a lighthearted homage to their heritage and respective bulk. (Rollie Fingers, Holtzmans roommate and close friend, took to calling him Regular Jew to lend some heft to the nickname.) Holtzmans wife Michelle was all too happy to play it up. When the Oakland Tribune contacted her for a profile of her husband shortly after he was acquired, she cut right to the chase.

Is Ken a big eater? she said. Well, no more so than any other Jewish boy. Do you want me to go through the whole ethnic bit? You know, the chicken soup, the matzo balls and the rest? Yes. He loves chicken soup. Yes, I cook it all the time for him. No, it doesnt help him win games. When I married him, Ken was tall and rangy. But after feeding him for the past nine months, hes now short and fat.

Things hadnt been so different for Epstein, who upon reaching the big leagues was labeled a kosher Lou Gehrig by one writer and Mickey Mantle bred on blintzes and gefilte fish by another.

This, though, was different. Holtzman never sought to play up the differences between his own heritage and those of his teammates, but at that moment he wanted nothing more than the companionship of somebody who understood who he was. When he saw Epstein enter the lobby, neither of them had to say a thing; within moments they were out the front door, walking the streets of Chicago.

We just wanted to be with each other and bond, said Epstein. We tried to understand what it was all about. What did those athletes do? What is it they did that was wrong?

The ballplayers paced off block after block, hour after hour, hands dug deep into jacket pockets in the September chill. They werent just Jews but Jewish athletes, going about their professional lives in a strange city, as the Israelis had been doing a day earlier. They were down, and they wanted explanations they knew would never come. In that moment each was all the other had.

It was one thing to be quietly Jewish inside a major league clubhouse, but some moments called for more. Something like the decision by Detroit Tigers Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg not to play in a tight pennant race in 1934 on the most important day on the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur. Like Sandy Koufax doing the same thing 31 years later, only this time in the World Series. It was easy to avoid identifying as Jewish within the context of baseball... right up until it wasnt.

This is who I am, said Epstein. I put on tefillin at different shuls in different cities. I was Bar Mitzvahed. I can read Hebrew. Im a Jew.

The walk helped, but it wasnt enough. Both men wanted to make a deeper statementto themselves, to each other, and, as athletes, to the world. Much of it was personal, but part of it wasnt; at the time there was no way to be sure that the atrocity in Munich was even an isolated incident.

Believe it or not, some people thought that the ramifications were that other Jewish athletes could be at risk, said Holtzman. Whos to say it wont happen to Jewish athletes in the United States, or that me or Mike wouldnt become targets? We just didnt know.

The players wanted a physical manifestation of their feelings. As they walked they hit upon the idea of armbands, black armbands, to wear in remembrance of the deceased and to acknowledge the terror. Upon returning to the hotel, they tracked down clubhouse manager Frank Ciensczyk to see if anything could be done. He said hed get right on it.

At the ballpark the following day Epstein and Holtzman arrived to find black strips of fabric already attached to their uniform jerseys. They also learned that they had a partner in their endeavor. Reggie Jackson had heard about the plan and asked Ciensczyk to make him one too. The action precipitated deeply held and wildly divergent feelings from the Jewish duo about the teams most mercurial player.

Reggie had no business putting it on, said Epstein, whose issues with Jackson had culminated with Reggies no Jews in Texas comment that led to their fistfight in May. It had nothing to do with him. It called attention. He wanted to be known, he wanted to be seen. Kenny and I had a bond, and he was not part of that. But would we expect anything else?

Holtzman disagreed. Everybody recognized that for me and Mike it was kind of a special situation, he said, looking back. And Reggie just chose to... its funny about Reggie.

With that, the pitcher launched into a story about Jacksons father, Martinez, a tailor from the predominantly Jewish township of Wyncotte, Pennsylvania. Holtzmans own father, Henrywho, like his father before him, dealt in industrial machinerysat next to Martinez Jackson while watching several of their sons games, and the two became friendly.

Mr. Jackson knew some Hebrew and Yiddish words because he had a largely Jewish clientele, so Reggie must have been exposed to that, said Holtzman. He had contact with Jewish people growing up and was not entirely unaware of Jewish cultural characteristics. So when I saw Reggie with that armband, I felt that he was understanding what me and Mike were going through. He didnt have anything to do with being Jewish, but felt it appropriate to show solidarity not only with his own teammates, but with the fact that athletes were getting killed. Reggie is often accused by other players of grandstanding, of showboating, of trying to be the center of attention. Call it whatever you want, but Reggies a lot deeper than that, okay? A lot deeper than that.

The press immediately latched on, racing to each man for comment. Beyond statements of solidarity with the Israelis, none of them took a firm stance. This was not a political statement, they said, but a personal one.

It was sorrowful, said Holtzman. Thats what it was.

Four days after the tragedy, Epstein was faced with a choice similar to those encountered by Koufax and Greenberg generations earlier. Jewish holidays begin and end at sundown, and that Friday night was the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, second only to Yom Kippur in terms of importance. Holtzman, not scheduled to pitch, was excused from the ballpark. Epstein, however, opted to play and went 4-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs. With Saturdays game scheduled at night, both men could attend synagogue in the morning, Epstein returning to the ballpark in time for the game. The armbands stayed on their uniforms all week... and through the next... and right on into the playoffs. They came off for the World Series, but by then the statement had been made. It was an emotional period, said Epstein, looking back. Were Jews. Im just glad we did something.

This month marks the 45th anniversary of the Black September Olympic massacre in Munich, Germany. The excerpt from Dynastic, Bombastic, Fantastic was re-published with permission from Jason Turbow. The book is available now. On Twitter, @DynasticBook offers day-by-day accounts of the As championship seasons.

Read the rest here:

Black September - San Diego Jewish Journal

Category: Jewish Heritage Month | Comments Off on Black September – San Diego Jewish Journal
Tags:

Posted By richards on August 24, 2017

FIRST PERSON

Six months ago, a few days before I left New Jersey for a sabbatical in Israel, I said goodbye to a beloved teacher and friend of mine, who is Orthodox. Having lived in Israel for an extended period, he had many helpful suggestions and one plea. Whatever you do, just promise me that you wont go to the Kotel on Rosh Chodesh with Women of the Wall. I was shocked. Why in the world not? I asked. Because its provocative, he explained. No it isnt, I protested. Its davening. Throwing chairs is provocative.

We didnt have time before my departure to get past these talking points. However, we know and respect one another well enough that we could disagree vehemently and still part lovingly. After all, we study rabbinic texts together, so debate and discussions are always to be continued.

As I write this, newly back in New Jersey and looking forward to seeing my friend, there has never been more controversy about Women of the Wall.

Various commitments prevented me from joining Women of the Wall on Rosh Chodesh during my sabbatical. Before I knew it, the month of Sivan had begun, and there were no more new moons left in my stay. I was disappointed, but I looked forward to telling my friend how things had worked out. I could just imagine his smile and, likely, a crack about divine providence and human inefficiency. The best-laid plans of mice and women or mahn tracht un gut lacht (human plans meet with divine humor).

On my penultimate Shabbat in Jerusalem, I went to Yedidya, a proto-egalitarian modern Orthodox synagogue. The role of women is similar to what it was 40 to 60 years ago in the Conservative movement: women carry the Torah, deliver sermons, read from the Torah, and lead some of the prayers, but are not counted in the minyan or allowed to have aliyot. (One notable difference is that women rarely sat separately from men in Conservative congregations, but they still do so in virtually all modern Orthodox synagogues.)

In the crowd at Yedidya, I recognized my roommate of almost 30 years ago at the Jewish Theological Seminary, Cheryl Birkner Mack. We had lost touch, and I didnt even know that she had made aliyah. After services we reconnected, and she invited me to daven with her and a group of women at the Wall.

It was a second chance, and I would not miss it! The davening was planned for a Wednesday morning not Rosh Chodesh and not a Torah-reading day. This womens davening group was called Original Women of the Wall. Cheryl promised me more information on it, and she filled me in, as promised.

The original charter of Women of the Wall was just six Hebrew words, which translate as: to advance womens prayer in the womens section at the Kotel. The group was relatively small; about 20 women turned out each month. All movements and nations of origin were represented, with modern Orthodoxy and the United States predominating. The women would daven as a group. To hear them, you would have to be standing right next to them. Yet they were noticeable, because of the rare sight of group prayer on the womens side, and because many of them wore tallit and tefillin.

Passersby at the Wall would make comments, often nasty ones. The women wearing prayer garb would be stared at, at best; insulted, most typically; or assaulted, at worst.

Women of the Wall primarily has grown in response to attacks. When fellow Jews spat or threw chairs at the women, or when the police arrested them, sabras and Jews visiting from the diaspora began to show up, in solidarity and in protest.

A watershed moment occurred on Rosh Chodesh Kislev 2009. The small group of women who attended Rosh Chodesh services month in and month out had an inspiring and peaceful experience. Their souls were directed on high, their sense of community was strong, the weather was beautiful, and everyone seemed to treat them like the benign presence they intended to be. At that time, women did not read Torah at the Wall. An Israeli-born medical student was about to lead the women out of Western Wall area to conduct the Torah service at Robinsons Arch, the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount area, where egalitarian services are held. Instead, she suggested on the spur of the moment: Why dont we read the Torah right here? It had been such a wonderful morning, and she wanted to remain together in that special place. Everyone who attended Women of the Wall services regularly, including my friend Cheryl, had been appointed as a board member. After a two-minute board meeting, they decided unanimously to read the holiest Jewish book at the holiest Jewish site.

Almost immediately after they opened the Torah scroll, three men approached and questioned them. When it became clear that these men were contacting the police, the women, wanting to avoid further confrontation, rolled up the scroll and began to leave the Kotel. The medical student carrying the scroll was apprehended by the police on her way out, however. They detained her, together with the scroll she carried, for three hours of interrogation.

As a result, Women of the Wall garnered more press and support than ever before. The following month, a crowd of about 300 attended. From that point on, diaspora Jews traveling to Israel have come in large numbers to show their support. Over the years, at least five rabbis have been arrested, as well as many lay leaders. In some cases, they were arrested for wearing a prayer shawl (or, believe it or not, a too brightly colored prayer shawl). In other cases, they were arrested for carrying a Torah into the Kotel plaza or for reading from the Torah.

Likewise, many Israeli women who dont usually daven at the Kotel or daven with a womens group or, in some cases, daven with a minyan of any kind have given of their time and risked detention. They do so not only because they find meaning in this prayer group and location, but because they fervently support the value that everyone should be welcome to gather in prayer at the Wall.

To my mind, it is a shanda (a public shame and embarrassment) that women who wish to read the Torah at the Western Wall have no more right to do so today than they did when this holy Jewish site was controlled by the Kingdom of Jordan.

For many years, the Women of the Wall refused any compromise that would trade away their right to pray in community at the main Western Wall site. The suggestion long had been floated to move the womens prayer group to Robinsons Arch, the southwestern corner mentioned above, which already was home to minyanim that the ultra-Orthodox do not approve. Women of the Wall argued that Robinsons Arch never had the crowds or cachet of the Western Wall. In the first century, stores were erected there, conveying a lesser degree of holiness. Foreign dignitaries have not been brought there. Pilgrims did not seek it out. The Women of the Wall characterized offers to pray there as akin to an invitation to ride in the back of the bus.

In October 2013, the Women of the Wall nevertheless decided to accept a compromise in which they would have a representative on the board of the Robinsons Arch area and hold all their prayer services there. In exchange for leaving the Kotel plaza area, they could be assured of an end to harassment. Natan Sharansky, who helped broker the deal, also lobbied for Robinsons Arch to be available for prayer and pilgrimage 24/7, as the Kotel is.

The liberal movements, which conduct egalitarian services at Robinsons Arch already, were pleased. Many people including me pointed to the significant archaeological and spiritual significance of Robinsons Arch. It is no also ran. The rocks gathered askew here, archaeologists tell us, are exactly where they fell from the arch during when the Temple was destroyed 1,947 years ago. At Robinsons Arch, you can find a directional sign to the Shofar Blowers area, from which all of Jerusalem was summoned to prayer.

Its true that there were stores there; probably many travelers bought animals there to offer in sacrifice as part of the Temple rites. The massive arch, one of the largest of the ancient world, served a massive number of pilgrims.

For many of the founders of Women of the Wall, this compromise was unacceptable. Several modern Orthodox women, original members who had shown up to the WOW Rosh Chodesh Services for decades, no longer would be able to pray with the group, because there is no mechizah at Robinsons Arch. Some of the women who are comfortable with open seating objected to the compromise, both because they didnt want to exclude their Orthodox sisters and because they continue to regard the Plaza area as the true Kotel. They believe that the Wall belongs equally to all Jews and should be available for prayer and gatherings that reflect that full range of contemporary Jewish piety.

So that is how I found myself at a Wednesday morning service sponsored by Original Women of the Wall, who have filed their own law suit with the Israeli Supreme Court. They assert that the directive issued by the rabbinic administrator of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation forbidding anyone from bringing a Torah scroll into the plaza in fact is discriminatory to women, since men have access to dozens of Torah scrolls stored on their side, and women have access to none. Many Original WOW members attend WOW services, as well as egalitarian services at Robinsons Arch. At the same time, they have chosen to meet in the womens area of the main Kotel plaza at a time that does not conflict with the Rosh Chodesh services of Women of the Wall. They assert that no one has the standing to trade away their right to pray at the Kotel plaza.

I like this group and not just because I like and missed my old roommate. I appreciate that Original Women of the Wall are pursuing meetings and conversations with Conservative, Reform, and Orthodox leaders, as well as with the board of Women of the Wall. I like the fact that they are neither discounting nor competing against the way anyone else prays. They simply show up and daven together as a group at the Kotel, as many of them have been doing for decades.

On the morning I prayed with them, one man interrupted his own davening to lean over the mechizah and film us praying. One woman made some nasty comments. Several women gave us curious looks. In other words, it was a normal, relatively uneventful morning. We gathered a dozen chairs together in a semicircle toward the rear of the plaza, a good distance away from the Kotel, and sang together in soft voices. Dr. Shulamit Magnus, who led the prayers, brought meaning and beauty to the morning service. The stones, in my hearing, at least, said Amen. Afterwards, we went out to breakfast, where I learned some of this history.

At breakfast, several of the women spoke passionately about inclusion, and regretfully about the Orthodox women who arent able to pray in a womens group that meets at Robinsons Arch. Its a serious dilemma, I agreed. But your davening isnt inclusive, either. One womans eyes widened in surprise, and she asked me what I meant. At a prayer service on the womens side of the Kotel, men are obviously excluded, as are women who are uncomfortable praying with a mechizah. The women around the table had been aware of this, of course, but some had not considered the restrictions and exclusions that stem from their mode of prayer.

Women of the Wall no longer works for women who must, in good conscience, pray with a mechizah. Original Women of the Wall does not work for women who must, in good conscience, pray without one.

Its not easy to unite the Jews, but it is, nevertheless, our sacred task.

One way of inching toward unity would be for liberal Jews to provide dividers or ropes at Robinsons Arch and thus accommodate womens davening groups that want to pray with a mechizah at Robinsons Arch. Mens davening groups pray with dividers at the Western Wall and at almost every synagogue in Israel so their need is met. If liberal Jews can stretch our spiritual eruv and comfort zone to include people who daven differently than we do, it would be a wonderful stride toward peace and unity in our community and a great example for the Orthodox and charedi communities to follow.

We also have to address the role of the Ministry of Religion in religious life in Israel.

If the Western Wall were under control of the National Parks Department instead of the Office of the Rabbinate, it would, like the synagogue at Masada, be open to everyone. What does it say that the involvement of rabbinic officials increases the likelihood of exclusion, conflict, and even violence?

When I went off to the Kotel that Wednesday morning, I told my husband, I should be back by 10, but if I get arrested, it will be later. He answered, You go, girl! affirming once again my excellent choice in a life partner. But it is wrong that possible assault or arrest by fellow Jews (or anyone) should be a consideration in praying at the Kotel.

We can do better. And sometimes we actually do.

My grandparents traveled to Israel in 1968, almost exactly one year after the Kotel came into Jewish hands. They stood at the Wall together and prayed. There was no mechitzah. The Wall, at that time, united Jews and inspired only gratitude, not controversy.

I have been to the Kotel on half a dozen Friday nights when young women from Birthright groups sang the Friday night prayers in full voice, and Shabbat peace prevailed. Calls and responses and hora dances among the women occasionally have eclipsed the excitement on the mens side. And no one minded. In fact, its beautiful to see soldiers in their uniforms, mixing with tourists and civilian locals in all kinds of garbs, representing the glorious variety of Jewish communities and practices.

Daily, a variety of mens minyanim overlap and adjust their voices and locations to make sure that those praying together can hear one another. On the womens side, which is about one third as large as the mens, women often stand in line to touch and pray at the wall. It may be the only line in all of Israel where no one is hurried or jostled.

Cheryl told me about one Rosh Chodesh when Women of the Wall were praying at the Kotel, as usual. As usual, too, the mechitzah at the Western Wall was imperfectly honored, with many husbands and wives talking over the partition, and some women standing on chairs, leaning over to witness the goings-on on the mens side. Before the womens service started, Cheryl noticed one woman who was peering over the mechitzah to see what appeared to be her sons bar mitzvah service. It was clear from the mothers repeated glances back at Woman of the Wall that she was anxious about hearing her sons reading. Cheryl talked to the mother and asked her to signal the women when the boy began his aliyah to the Torah. At her signal, Women of the Wall lowered their voices to a whisper. Shortly afterward, the mother exited, together with the rest of her female family and friends, and she thanked the Women of the Wall profusely.

It may not be possible to achieve full inclusion or perfect pluralism, but we can all do better. Lets imitate God, who retracted the Self to make room for the Other. Lets imitate Cheryl Birkner Mack and the Women of the Wall, who did the same on that Rosh Chodesh/bar mitzvah morning.

First, we have to be willing to see that there is another: another Jew who wants to daven in another way, which has its own claims to and in Torah.

Speaking of which, I shared this essay with my Orthodox friend before going to print. He pointed out that individual prayer by women is approved at any time at the Kotel. He felt that true tzimtzum (holy retraction) would require women to abstain from praying in groups there altogether. He also offered a challenge to the liberal Jewish community: come pray at Robinsons Arch in large numbers. Develop a commitment to regular prayer on a par with that of the Orthodox community.

I look forward to continuing the conversation.

Continue reading here:

Another perspective on the Wall - The Jewish Standard

Category: Jewish Heritage Month | Comments Off on Another perspective on the Wall – The Jewish Standard
Tags:

Posted By admin on August 24, 2017

Menashe is a heartfelt Yiddish-language drama about a widowed Hasidic father trying to regain custody of his son. Director and co-writer Joshua Weinstein gives us an intriguing glimpse inside New Yorks Hasidic community, although it is not always an affectionate one. Still, this is an excellent little film that offers realism and a touching story.

Menashe (Menashe Lustig) is a gentle, chubby, rather-disheveled man in his mid-30s who has been struggling emotionally and financially since the death of his wife. His rabbi (Meyer Schwartz) has decreed that the widowers 10-year-old son Rieven (Ruben Niborski) must live with Menashes married and more prosperous brother-in-law Eizik (Yoel Weisshaus) until Menashe remarries.

Menashe is determined to prove that he is capable of taking care of his son.

Reason exists for the rabbi to be concerned about Menashes ability to care for his son. Menashe barely makes enough money to survive with his job at a small grocery. Yet he is often late and doesnt seem to take his work seriously. His cramped apartment is disorganized. He seems barely able to take care of himself, much less a child. So it is not surprising that the rabbi would place the boy with his late mothers more successful brother.

Menashe resents Eizik taking over his parental role. The situation is made worse by Eiziks disapproving attitude towards his sisters underachieving husband. Although Menashe has allowed the matchmaker to arrange a few meetings for him, he seems in no hurry to remarry and is determined to get his son back regardless.

The plot is loosely based on Lustigs life and was filmed in the insular Orthodox community where it is set. Weinstein, a documentary filmmaker making a foray into fictional film, is Jewish but not Orthodox and does not speak Yiddish. However, he went within the Hasidim to cast Yiddish speakers who are not actors for his low-key, thoughtful film.

Weinsteins experience in documentaries helps Menashe achieve a remarkable degree of authenticity and naturalness. His background also probably helped him to get moving and equally natural performances from his cast.

A lot is good, even excellent, in this film, which has a relaxed naturalism and is remarkably free of the exaggeration and stereotyping that often surround portrayals of the Hasidim in film.

On the other hand, Weinstein does inject some criticism of Hasidic views, which some audience members may find off-putting, less for his opinions on attitudes toward women and marriage than for the rather ham-handed manner in which they are presented.

Lustig is excellent as Menashe, a likable fellow whose struggles touch our hearts even when we see he is sometimes his own worst enemy. He shows a real gift for conveying his characters inner thoughts and feelings, whether it is his frustrations and resentment toward his brother-in-law or his intense love of his son.

In many ways, the plot is structured like any custody battle, with the controlling brother-in-law setting limits on Menashes contact with his son. The story is specific to its setting among the Hasidim, but the emotions in this family drama are universal.

The cinematography contributes much to the dramatic power of this moving, insightful drama. Weinstein opens and closes the film with shots of Menashe on the crowded streets of Brooklyns Hasidic community in Borough Park, where the film was shot, often in secret.Most of the film, however, is shot in a closely framed style, creating a feeling of confinement that reflects Menashes feelings. Only when he spends time with his son does the cameras view open up.

Menashe is an involving, realistic, warm family drama that offers a rare peek inside a little seen world. It is a film well worth your time.

Read more:

Hasidic family drama 'Menashe' hits universal notes - St. Louis ... - St. Louis Jewish Light

Category: Hasidic | Comments Off on Hasidic family drama ‘Menashe’ hits universal notes – St. Louis … – St. Louis Jewish Light
Tags:

Posted By admin on August 24, 2017

Patch.com

After Drowning, Rockland Fights Over Hasidic Ambulance Company Protocols Patch.com After Drowning, Rockland Fights Over Hasidic Ambulance Company Protocols. When 7-year-old Miriam Zidele was pulled out of a pool in Pomona, no one called 911. Instead, they called a private ambulance company. It rushed her to the hospital but didn't ...

Go here to read the rest:

After Drowning, Rockland Fights Over Hasidic Ambulance Company Protocols - Patch.com

Category: Hasidic | Comments Off on After Drowning, Rockland Fights Over Hasidic Ambulance Company Protocols – Patch.com
Tags:

Posted By richards on August 24, 2017

On Wednesday, a new month began in the lunar calendars of Jews and Muslims. And it couldnt have come soon enough.

In this past month, white-supremacist, neo-nazis marched in Charlottesville, Va. One of the counter-protesters was killed in an act of terrorism. And rather than hearing a fierce and immediate condemnation from the White House, we instead witnessed a flailing president offering moral equivalencies between the two sides, condoning the neo-nazis, and effectively excusing hate. This is the hate of the immigrant, the hate of the Hispanic, the hate of the African American, and inevitably, the hate of the Muslim and the Jew. Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism are but two sides of the same coin of hatred.

In the Muslim calendar, the new lunar month is the season of Hajj, during which Muslims perform their duty of pilgrimage to Mecca, to the house that father Abraham built with his son Ishmael. Immediately following the Hajj, the Muslim holiday of Eid ul-Adha celebrates Abraham and his sons submission to Allah defining Islam, as an act of surrender to Gods will. Today, Muslims continue to emulate Abraham by serving something greater, a beneficent and loving God.

In the Jewish calendar, the new moon ushers in the month of Elul. It is a month of reflection and penitence, in preparation for Gods judgment on the New Year (Rosh HaShanah) and the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). It is a time to ask forgiveness and to make sure that one is right with ones fellow humans, as well as with God. On Rosh HaShanah, in synagogues all over the world, Jews read the story of Abraham and his sons act of submission to God what Jews call the binding of Isaac.

What does this new month that is sacred to Muslims and Jews teach Americans? It teaches us to repent of our misdeeds, to apologize for our failings and admit we were wrong, and to have humility before God. It teaches that Jews and Muslims share a heritage that is precious and we learn that these two minority communities, both children of Abraham, must be responsible to one another.

Now is the time for the Jewish and Muslim communities to have each others backs. To stand shoulder to shoulder in the face of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.

As minority religions, we have been natural allies. Back in 2008-09, Muslims from the Islamic Cultural Center (96th Street Mosque) joined monthly with students and staff from the Jewish Theological Seminary to prepare food for New Yorks hungry at the local Presbyterian soup kitchen.

In 2014, Jewish and Muslim physicians joined forces to give low-income Texans free health screenings.

Just last year, the NYC Muslim-Jewish Solidarity Committee joined with the Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees to make up relief packages for the displaced and, in recent months, the Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council lobbied Congress for hate crimes legislation.

These are but a few examples of Muslim and Jewish cooperation to repair the world. But we need to do more. We can open our Mosques and Synagogues to each other, as well as to the surrounding, largely Christian, community. As the season of holidays comes upon us, it is time for Jews to visit the Mosque, and for Muslims to join the Jewish community, perhaps for lunch in the Sukkah. Open your homes to one another, open your hearts. That is how we can help America to remember the loving and welcoming nation she was always meant to be.

This is not a season for hate or xenophobia. It is a time to welcome all of Gods children with love. The Holy Quran teaches, we are made different tribes and peoples that you might know one another. The Torah commands us, Know the heart of the stranger for you were once strangers in the land of Egypt. And we are taught, Love the stranger.

We live in a country where we need not be strangers, but fellow citizens. We share common hopes and precious freedoms. We stand together in love to protect those freedoms and speak out against hatred. For hate will pass, but love will always abide. We pray that in this new month, God bless the United States of America.

Daisy Khan is founder and executive director of the Women's Islamic Initiative for Spirituality & Equality (WISE), a non-profit addressing the challenges that face the global Muslim community, particularly gender-based inequality, and editor of a forthcoming book, WISE UP Knowledge ends extremism.

Rabbi Burton Visotzky is Appleman Professor of Midrash at the Jewish Theological Seminary where he directs the Milstein Center for Interreligious Dialogue, a center focusing particularly on fostering Jewish-Christian and Jewish-Muslim understanding and partnership

The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.

Original post:
Jews and Muslims are natural allies against religious discrimination - The Hill (blog)

Category: Jewish American Heritage Month | Comments Off on Jews and Muslims are natural allies against religious discrimination – The Hill (blog)
Tags:

Posted By simmons on August 24, 2017

Email a copy of "After Charlottesville, And With High Holidays Ahead, ADL Reaches Out To Jewish Institutions Over Security" to a friend

Demonstrators carry Nazi and Confederate flags in Charlottesville, Va., Aug. 12. Photo: Anthony Crider via Wikimedia Commons.

With many American Jews fearing for their safety following the white supremacist-instigated violence in Charlottesville, Virginia earlier this month, and with SeptembersHigh Holidays fast approaching, the Anti-Defamation League provided a security briefingthis week to hundreds of community leaders and security officials at Jewish institutions across the country.

For the Jewish community, security is always a concern, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said. Theres no reason for alarm in the aftermath of Charlottesville, but we felt it was important for ADL to bring law enforcement and Jewish community institutions together to ensure communities across the country are prepared and safe.

Speakers on the call included representatives from the ADLs Center on Extremism, two FBI executives and the ADLs communal security expert.

Additional briefings will be heldin the lead-up to the Jewish High Holidays, which begin on the evening of September 20, the ADL said. Furthermore, the ADL will be organizing meetings with local law enforcement and community officials throughout the US to assess the post-Charlottesville security situation.

As previouslyreported byThe Algemeiner,questions have been raised over whether police adequately protected Congregation Beth Israel Charlottesvilles only synagogue during the Aug. 12 unrest.

Originally posted here:
After Charlottesville, And With High Holidays Ahead, ADL Reaches Out To Jewish Institutions Over Security - Algemeiner

Category: Anti-Defamation League | Comments Off on After Charlottesville, And With High Holidays Ahead, ADL Reaches Out To Jewish Institutions Over Security – Algemeiner
Tags:

Posted By admin on August 24, 2017

[T]he destiny of the modern Jew is tragic beyond expression and comprehensionso tragic that they laugh at you when you speak of it, and this is the greatest tragedy at all. Isaac Deutscher, The Non-Jewish Jew

When neo-Nazis and white nationalists marched through Charlottesville, Virginia, last week, they chanted anti-Semitic slogans like, Jews will not replace us. Even before the march, Nazi websites had posted calls to marchers to burn down a synagogue there. As The Atlantic observed, they are obsessed with Jews. This comes as no surprise to Jews and should not be a surprise to anyone with even a passing familiarity with the history of anti-Semitism, white nationalism, or Nazism. When the Ku Klux Klan was re-founded in 1915, for example, one of its key precepts was anti-Semitism, alongside anti-Black racism and xenophobia. That is why when, last week, white nationalists marched, it was an attack on Jews and Jewish institutions, as well as on people of color: when white nationalists gain power and influence, they use it to terrorize us.

It has therefore come as a shock to me to discover the growing popularity, among some on the left, of the notion that Zionism actually is white nationalism a position as anti-Semitic as it is intellectually disingenuous. The most offensive aspect of this ideas growing popularity is that it has come primarily since the march in Charlottesville, but the significance of the timing goes beyond mere insensitivity. In the aftermath of the march, many Jews on the left insisted upon, at long last, recognition by our allies on the left that white nationalism is a threat to Jews. The growing power of white nationalists represents, as it always has, a direct challenge to the ability of Jews to feel at home or safe.

Yair Rosenberg, for example, suggested that the left set aside the longstanding debate over whether Jews are white or not an important debate because, he explained, implicitly at stake ... is whether efforts to combat racism should prioritize prejudice against Jews or whether other groups should take precedence. In practice, however, the question has been settled by the growing power of white nationalists, who uniformly contend that Jews are not white, and have no place in their vision for America. Though with some notable exceptions, the general response to this call was deafening silence.

Soon after, and ostensibly out of nowhere, some anti-Zionists began to suggest that Zionism is a form of white nationalism. This represents a direct rebuke of Rosenbergs, and others, pleas. In fact, the exclusive effect of this line of argument there are innumerable other ways to criticize Israel was, and is, to distract from and undermine the insistence of Jewish leftists that the threats to us and our communities be taken seriously. If Zionism is simply one form of white nationalism, and Jews are not threatened by Zionism, then how much could Jews really be threatened by white nationalism? Even without the dangerous underlying logic, the effect would be the same to reorient the conversation about white nationalism to be about Zionism instead of anti-Semitism. And, as with so many discussions pertaining to Israel on the left, leftist Jews again find ourselves having to first disclaim any support for Israel before our concerns about anti-Semitism will be heard, let alone taken seriously.

Unspoken in the position is the erasure of any difference between Jews and non-Jewish whites (for the sake of simplicity, lets ignore the fact that the vast majority of Israeli Jews would not be seen as white in nearly any part of the world). After all, for Zionism to be considered white nationalism, it must involve support for a white nation. This distinction between whites and Jews, is of importance not because of any inherent difference between us but rather because centuries of oppression have created that difference. Regardless of whether Jews are counted as white, we remain a small minority, frequently discriminated against on the basis of being Jews. When the left-Twitterati pretends this not to be the case, it tacitly suggests that there is no history of Jewish oppression or, at least, that such history is irrelevant.

Obscuring the history of and invidiousness of Jewish persecution is both vital to and inherent in this theory. At its core, white nationalism is ideological dishonesty in pursuit of greater power for the already powerful. White nationalists claim they seek the creation of a nation exclusively for them on the basis that white people are an oppressed minority whose coherent culture requires protection. This, obviously, has no basis in reality: white nationalism is not aimed at the vindication of any oppressed group but rather the further empowerment of those who have occupied positions of privilege for most of the worlds history, and continue to do so now. (Also, the notion that there is a single, white culture is laughable.)

By contrast, Jews clearly are a coherent cultural group; we actually have been oppressed, in fact by the majority in every nation we have inhabited; our shared culture, and even our people, has often teetered on the brink of extinction. The existence of Israel does not undo that history or the fact that half the worlds Jews continue to live as precarious minorities. To suggest otherwise is to appeal to the age-old anti-Semitic canard that Jews are a powerful global cabal, under which the power of some of us anywhere enhances the power of all us, everywhere.

The left has too often allowed our critique of Israel to obscure the demands of our better angels. If we embrace the notion that Zionism is a form of or indistinguishable from white nationalism, we will commit that error yet again, endorsing by implication the idea that Jews wield as much as, or more power than, non-Jewish whites a neo-Nazi talking point. Instead, we must directly confront the ugly problem of anti-Semitism which has again reared its head in the form of white nationalism.

We can, and must, do better.

The Morning Email

Wake up to the day's most important news.

See original here:
Casting Zionism As 'White Nationalism' Is Anti-Semitism ...

Category: Zionism | Comments Off on Casting Zionism As ‘White Nationalism’ Is Anti-Semitism …
Tags:

Posted By richards on August 24, 2017

Rescue workers assist people who were injured when a car drove through a group of counter protestors at the "Unite the Right" rally Charlottesville, Virginia, US, August 12, 2017.. (photo credit:JOSHUA ROBERTS / REUTERS)

In response to the racist and antisemitic events that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia recently, the media has done a great deal of virtue signaling, sometimes even accompanied by thoughtful reporting and discussion.

One well-known media outlet, however, made a terribly irresponsible choice, and its one we need to talk about.

Possibly in a move to demonstrate their prescience, perhaps to squeeze one more article out of a topic that has received intense scrutiny from all corners, Newsweek decided to pull out a 1981 piece from its archives and explicitly link it with the Charlottesville rally. The article announced, Newsweek published this story under the headline of Again, Anti-Semitism on February 16, 1981. In light of the recent neo-Nazi, white power and alt-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Newsweek is republishing the story.

The original 1981 article documents the rise of antisemitic incidents in 1980 and some of the efforts to address it within and outside of the Jewish community.

The choice to reprint this article, with the implicit suggestion that nothing much has changed in Christian and particularly Evangelical Christian relations with Jews and Judaism since 1981, is simply ignorant. In fact, Evangelicalisms major developments in engaging productively with Jews and Judaism have taken place since that time, specifically parallel to American Evangelical Christianitys move toward greater participation in the political arena.

Christian Zionism is undoubtedly a controversial topic. But one thing is for certain: Christian Zionism has brought millions of Evangelical Christians into an unprecedented positive relationship with Jews and Judaism. Through their core issue of support for Israel, American Evangelical Christians are now far more interested in and sensitive to the Jewish roots of Christianity, the practices and beliefs of Judaism, and the centrality of Israel to our people. Overwhelmingly, Christian Zionism has grown among the American Evangelical public in the time since the original article was written, and contemporary Christian Zionisms major organizations and ministries date from 1980 and later.

That Evangelical Christian Zionist interest in and love for Jews and Judaism is not uncomplicated. Its by no means a simple issue. But it cannot be denied that the model of engagement with Jews and Judaism that is communicated to Evangelical Christians through these movements is far more positive than we find in earlier articulations of Evangelicalism/ fundamentalism.

Much more disturbing than simple ignorance of content, however, is the shocking new headline. This headline is remarkably different than the 1981 version. Had the original title Again, Anti-Semitism been retained, no one would really have an argument. But Newsweek chose an inflammatory new title Why Do Nazis Hate Jews? How Christian Politics Fuels Anti-Semitism in the United States.

The article has 10 paragraphs. Only one of them even mentions Christianity.

Yet this headline suggesting that something Christian fuels antisemitism in the United States by the editors at Newsweek is now all over the Internet, spreading its own lie and bigotry.

Christianity has a long and sorry history of both anti-Judaism and antisemitism. But since the Holocaust, Western Christian denominations have seriously and carefully examined the role that Christian teaching might have played in normalizing anti-Jewish attitudes and continue to engage deeply in the challenge of representing, preaching and teaching about Jews and Judaism in responsible and truthful ways. Jewish-Christian relations are at a remarkably different stage of development than they were in the past. And Evangelical Christianity is very much a part of this extraordinary progress.

There is still much work to be done. Part of it is for Christians to call out and condemn racism and antisemitism when it rears its ugly head, as it did at Charlottesville. And part of it is for us as Jews to boldly name and condemn anti-Christian bias when it arises. And this week we saw it on full display in Newsweek.

The writer is the director for the Israel Center for Jewish-Christian Relations and an Associate Fellow at the Philos Project. She can be contacted at [emailprotected] jewishchristianrelations.com.

Share on facebook

Here is the original post:
Christian Zionism and a positive relationship with Jews and Judaism - The Jerusalem Post mobile website

Category: Zionism | Comments Off on Christian Zionism and a positive relationship with Jews and Judaism – The Jerusalem Post mobile website
Tags:

Posted By admin on August 24, 2017

Philip Butler recalled on Wednesday that he was home watching television on the night 20 years ago when a flaming cross was staked outside his front door.

"This was the last day of the movie Roots," Butler recounted to the press about the evening he was spending inside his newly purchased house in College Park, Maryland back in January 1977. "I always remember that."

The finale, based on Alex Haley's novel, culminated a momentous television miniseries event that piped into American living rooms the tribulations of an African teen forced into bondage as an American slave.

Butler, who said during a press conference today that hes a Vietnam veteran, and his wife Barbara -- both African-American -- only discovered they were the target of the horrifying statement left kindling on their yard when a concerned neighbor telephoned them.

"I came out," Butler recounted to reporters during a press conference at his attorney's office in Washington D.C. on Wednesday. "[The cross] was about 6-7-foot... I knew that, hey, someone is against us."

Then he became introspective "What did we do to get a cross put in our yard?" he asked.

Now, 40 years later, William Aitcheson, the man guilty of the act, has come forward. He says hes now found Jesus Christ and serves God as a Catholic priest in Arlington, Virginia.

On Sunday, he published a mea culpa, without naming his victims, in the parish's newspaper.

In the piece, titled "Moving from hate to love with God's grace" Aitcheson, 62, essentially outed himself to his parish as a former white knight.

"I was a member of the Ku Klux Klan," he wrote. "My actions were despicable. When I think back on burning crosses, a threatening letter, and so on, I feel as though I am speaking of somebody else.

"It's hard to believe that was me," he adds.

The priest then wrote after four decades, "I must say this: I'm sorry. To anyone who has been subjected to racism or bigotry, I am sorry. I have no excuse, but I hope you will forgive me."

The incident 40 years ago at the Butlers was one of six burning crosses that then 23-year-old reputed KKK cyclops was convicted for a year later. He was also found guilty of sending Coretta King, widow of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., a menacing letter, according to multiple articles from 1977 and 1978.

Aitcheson was sentenced to 60 days in jail and four years probation following a guilty plea, ordered to pay at least $20,000 restitution, and gift two Jewish organizations in Maryland, according to the Washington Post. The organizations were B'nai B'rith Hillel at the University of Maryland and Beth Torah Congregation in Hyattsville.

It was unclear if Aitcheson made good on paying to the two groups. The Butlers say they received a small payment, but not the full amount. Phone calls and emails placed by ABC News in an attempt to reach both Fr. Aitcheson and the Dioscese of Arlington were not immediately returned.

"We're going to research not only the judgment that has been handed down, but we're going to also seek and see what, if any interest, would have accrued with that judgment," Philip and Barbara Butler's attorney Ted Williams said.

The money is one thing, but for 40 years and counting, the Butlers say they were hurt from the priest's silence.

Now they aren't certain whether they would even consider speaking with the man who suggested he's been "humbled" by God and advocates for "peace and mercy" for any white supremacists who were like him and held "vile beliefs."

"We would have to think about it," Philip said.

His wife doesn't think an apology can heal their wounds.

"What's he going to say, besides he's sorry?" Barbara Butler asked.

Their attorney won't even broach a meeting until Aitcheson reveals who else aided him in the cross burnings.

"For there to be any kind of accord, [Father Aitcheson] needs to give up other Klansmen or Klanswomen who was involved in putting that cross on the Butlers' property," Williams said.

Since publishing the repentant article, Aitcheson, according to a footnote, "voluntarily asked to temporarily step away from public ministry, for the well being of the Church and parish community, and the request was approved."

A subsequent statement by the Diocese of Arlington claimed they are working with Fr. Aitcheson to "seek reconciliation and restitution" and attempting to broker a chance to have a meeting with the Butlers "in a pastoral, private setting" in order "to bring them healing."

The Butlers' plight was given new life back in 1982 when President Ronald Reagan, who called the cross burning "reprehensible," personally showed up at the Butler's home in a show of solidarity.

Back then, according to the Associated Press, Butler described his terror of living in a mostly white-dominated neighborhood.

"It's hard to leave every morning and come back and wonder if your home is still there," he said, and told the president "You give us hope."

ABC News has reached out to the following for comment: Aitcheson, Butler attorney Ted Williams, the Arlington Archiocese, Bnai Brith Hillel at the University of Maryland and Beth Torah Congregation in Hyattsville.

View post:
Catholic priest who burned cross on couple's yard in 1977 comes forward - ABC News

Category: B'nai B'rith | Comments Off on Catholic priest who burned cross on couple’s yard in 1977 comes forward – ABC News
Tags:

Posted By admin on August 24, 2017

Ric Urrutia

Araceli Velasquez and her family

A Denver, Colorado synagogue and church are joining forces to help an immigrant from El Salvador who fears her life will be in danger if deported back to her homeland.

Temple Micah and the Park Hill United Methodist Church are holding a joint interfaith prayer service Wednesday welcoming Araceli Velasquez and her family to take sanctuary in the church. Velasquez came to the United States in 2010 seeking asylum because of the violence she encountered in El Salvador. Her request was eventually denied.

While in Denver, she married and had three children, all are American citizens. If deported, Velasquez will be forced to separate from her children and could face threats to her life in El Salvador.

As Jews we are obligated to create a world that is just, compassionate and peaceful, said Rabbi Adam Morris of Temple Micah in a press release issued by American Friends of Service Committee which helped organize the sanctuary. Our current historical moment in which people like Araceli have their families, safety and well-being devalued or endangered compels us to act.

Contact Nathan Guttman at guttman@forward.com or on Twitter @nathanguttman

Read the original post:

Synagogue And Church Unite To Offer Sanctuary To Immigrant Mom - Forward

Category: Synagogue | Comments Off on Synagogue And Church Unite To Offer Sanctuary To Immigrant Mom – Forward
Tags: