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Film | Leo Frank Film

Posted By on September 1, 2015

WATCH THE FILM ONLINE

In 1913 Atlanta, a child worker is found dead in the basement of the National Pencil Company. The police soon focus on Mary Phagans boss, a Jewish engineer recently arrived from New York Leo Frank. Franks murder trial becomes a free-for-all of racial stereotypes and contradictions. He is found guilty largely on the say of the states star witness, Jim Conley, a black factory sweeper.

Leo Frank is sentenced to death, but his story is far from over.

Franks lawyers appeal the conviction 13 times, all the way to the US Supreme Court. Meanwhile, The New York Times leads a crusade to exonerate Frank. At the eleventh hour, Georgia Governor John Slaton concludes that Frank had not received a fair trial and commutes his sentence from death to life in prison.

Slatons decision ignites a backlash.

On a hot August afternoon, 25 men in seven cars drive more than 100 miles to the state penitentiary, walk in and -without any resistance- abduct Frank. They drive him to an oak grove near Mary Phagans childhood home. A noose is put around his neck and the small table on which he has been hoisted is kicked out from under him.

THE PEOPLE v LEO FRANK weaves first-rate drama with recollections, commentary, and a rich trove of archival images. Will Janowitz (The Sopranos) is Leo Frank and Seth Gilliam (The Wire) plays Jim Conley with a script drawn directly from the historical record.

DOWNLOAD THE TEACHERS GUIDE To obtain a free Teachers Guide developed by the Anti-Defamation League, please visit http://www.adl.org/leofrank. To view a sample of the the fully customized clips that accompany the Teachers Guide and are available on the educational version of the DVD, please click here.

Originally posted here:
Film | Leo Frank Film

The Dead Sea is dying – Al Jazeera English

Posted By on September 1, 2015

Israel, Jordan, and the occupied West Bank all border the Dead Sea and have taken steps to deal with its disappearance [Getty Images]

Correction Aug. 28, 2015: This article originally stated that Gidon Bromberg, director of EcoPeace Middle East (EPME), entirely supported the water-sharing deal. Bromberg only supports the water exchange, not the pumping of desalinated water to the Dead Sea.

The Dead Sea, occupied West Bank - On the Dead Sea's coast in the occupied West Bank, Israeli settlers, Palestinians and tourists make the downhill trek from the former waterline to its new resting place.

The Dead Sea, a unique body of water marked by mineral-rich, unusually salty water - nearly 10 times saltier than the world's oceans - is dying. Its water level is dropping by roughly one metre each year.

"We think that the current situation is an ecological disaster," said Gidon Bromberg, director ofEcoPeace Middle East(EPME), an organisation that brings together Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian environmentalists to protect their shared environmental heritage.

"It's unacceptable: The unique ecosystem is in severe danger, threatening biodiversity, and you seedramatic sinkholes opening up along the shore," Bromberg said, referring to the large, unpredictable cavities that have appeared recently. Some are so cavernous that they swallow entire structures.

RELATED:Gulf states try to tackle water woes

According to Bromberg, the two main reasons for the dropping water level are mineral extraction by Israeli and Jordanian companies in the artificially shallow southern basin, and the fact that 95 percent of the Jordan River - the Dead Sea's main source of replenishing water - is being diverted. The river used to provide 1,350 million cubic metres of water each year (mcm), but that flow has dwindled to just 20 mcm.

Israel, Jordan, and the occupied West Bank all border the Dead Sea, and have taken steps to deal with its disappearance. The first concrete plan was signed in 2005, whenall three partiessigned a letterto the World Bank that allowed the international financial institution to investigate the feasibility of a $10bn project to pump 850 mcm of water from Jordan's section of the Red Sea to a desalination plant at the southern end of the Dead Sea.

The 2,000 mcm of ultra-saline brine that results from the desalination process would then be pumped to the Dead Sea over the course of 40 years. Bromberg said EPME was unable to support this project, because the "environmental impact was unknowable".

A main concern for environmental groups has been the effect that introducing such high volumes of foreign brine water would have on the Dead Sea's unique ecosystem, whichfeatures unique bacterial and fungal life forms.

After years of consultations involving government officials and civil society groups, including EPME, the original project was put on hold. However, the parties continued negotiations, and in February, a final agreement emerged: a $950m "pilot programme" water-sharing arrangement, in which Jordan will construct a desalination plant near Aqaba, on the coast of the Red Sea.

The scheme will produce about 85 mcm of fresh water a year. Up to 50 mcm will be sold to the southern Israeli resort city of Eilat, leaving about 35 mcm for use in Aqaba city. As part of the agreement, Israel will sell another 50 mcm of freshwater to Amman from the Sea of Galilee.

EPME supports the new water change agreement between Israel and Jordan. Bromberg told Al Jazeera that this much smaller project "will have manageable environmental impacts that make a lot more sense". However, EPME does not support the deals proposed pipeline that will pump desalinated water to the Dead Sea from Aqaba, saying the projected cost of $400m is not realistic and would only halt the drop in the Dead Sea's water level by about 10 percent, without addressing related environmental concerns.

Jordan, as one of the world's mostwater-scarce countries, stands to gain from the agreement. But the Palestinian Authority (PA), the governing body of the occupied West Bank, was left out. Israel and Jordan are approaching the new arrangement bilaterally.

The PA is awaiting negotiations with Israel on a separate agreement, in which Israel would sellanother 20-30 mcm a year to the West Bank.

Clemens Messerschmid, a German hydrogeologist who has been working on water projects in the Gaza Strip and West Bank since 1997, told Al Jazeera that these agreements were nothing more than an attempt by Israel to cement the current status quo, in which it controls water extraction from the occupied territories and the Jordan River basin then sells this water back to Palestinians.

"Palestinians, by default, are the real loser of these agreements, whether the 'pilot programmes' or the $10bn World Bank scheme," Messerschmidsaid.

OPINION:Israel's water miracle that wasn't

Israel became a water-surplus country in 2013. Often,programmes encouraging conservation and recycling of waste water are cited as the reason for Israel's water surplus, but Messerschmid said the overwhelming majority of the surplus comes from the five desalination plants constructed along Israel's Mediterranean coast.

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics says that roughly 100 mcm of water are extractedfor use in the occupied territories from their own resources, namely aquifers in the West Bank, every year. The West Bank's yearly water need is 400-450 mcm, leaving a gap that must be filled by purchasing water from Israel.

"Under international law, Palestinians in the West Bank have the right to access the water of the Jordan River, but they haven't seen a drop since 1967," Messerschmid stated. "Furthermore, Israel doesn't allow them access to more than microscopic amounts from the local mountain aquifer sources."

TheEastern Mountain Aquifer sits almost entirely within the West Bank, and has no inflows or outflows to or from Israel. However, according to Ayman Rabi, director of thePalestinian Hydrology Group(PHG), this aquifer has been pumped nearly dry by Israeli settlers living in the West Bank, and has "no more potential" for water extraction.

"I would say that the situation in the West Bank is worse than ever before, with water access and availability at dire levels," Rabi told Al Jazeera.

Both Rabi and Bromberg were hopeful about one aspect of the new water reality in the region: Israel's water surplus should make negotiations on Palestinian water rights easier.

"Five years ago, had you wanted to share the water more fairly, Israeli farmers would have blocked every road. With this surplus, natural water can be shared more fairly," Bromberg said.

As for the Dead Sea, Bromberg predicted that it will "never completely dry up". Surrounding springs will continue to replenish some of the water, but the current water level of417 metres below sea level could fall to more than 700 metres below sea level in the coming years. The reduced water level could even more seriously endanger biodiversity.

Messerschmid, meanwhile, believes that the uproar over the Dead Sea's water needs pales in comparison to the water needs of the Palestinians. "These are real people, with real concerns regarding access to water; 4.6 million Palestinians [have been] held hostage to Israel's hydro-apartheid for half a century," he said.

"Their rights should be held above that of the bacteria at the bottom of the Dead Sea."

Follow Creede Newton on Twitter at:@CreedeNewton

Source:Al Jazeera

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The Dead Sea is dying - Al Jazeera English

History of the Jews in New York City – Wikipedia, the free …

Posted By on September 1, 2015

The first Jewish settlement in what became the United States was in Dutch New Amsterdam, which is now known as New York City.[1] Since then, Jews have settled in New York City in large numbers.

The first significant group of Jews to come to New York, then the colony New Amsterdam, came in September 1654 as refugees from Recife, Brazil. Portugal had just re-conquered what is now known of the Brazilian State of Pernambuco from the Netherlands, and the Sephardi Jews there promptly fled. Most went to Amsterdam, but 23 headed for New Amsterdam instead. They were greeted by some Ashkenazim who had preceded them by just a few weeks. Governor Peter Stuyvesant was at first unwilling to accept them but succumbed to pressure from the Dutch West India Companyitself pressed by Jewish stockholdersto let them remain. Nevertheless, he imposed numerous restrictions and taxes on his Jewish subjects. Eventually, many of these Jews left.[1]

When the British took the colony from the Dutch in 1664, the only Jewish name on the requisite oath of loyalty given to residents was Asser Levy. This is the only record of a Jewish presence at the time, until 1680 when some of Levy's relatives arrived from Amsterdam shortly before he died.[1]

The first synagogue, the Sephardi Congregation Shearith Israel, was established in 1682, but it did not get its own building until 1730. Over time, the synagogue became dominant in Jewish life, organizing social services and mandating affiliation for all New York Jews.[1] Even though by 1720 Ashkenazim outnumbered Sephardim,[2] the Sephardi customs were retained.[1]

An influx of German and Polish Jews followed the Napoleonic Wars in Europe. The increasing number of Ashkenazim led to the founding of the city's second synagogue, B'nai Jeshurun, in 1825. Several others followed in rapid succession, including the first Polish one, Congregation Shaare Zedek, in 1839. In 1845, the first Reform temple, Congregation Emanu-El of New York opened.[3]

By this time numerous communal aid societies were formed. These were usually quite small, and a single synagogue might be associated with more than a few such organizations. Two of the most important of these merged in 1859 to form the Hebrew Benevolent and Orphan Asylum Society[3] (Jewish orphanages were constructed on 77th Street near 3rd Avenue and another in Brooklyn). In 1852 the "Jews' Hospital" (renamed in 1871 Mount Sinai Hospital), which would one day be considered one of the best in the country,[4] was established.[3]

The thirty five years beginning 1881 experienced the largest wave of immigration to the United States ever. Following the assassination of Alexander II of Russia, for which many blamed "the Jews",[5] there was a vast increase in anti-Jewish pogroms there possibly with the support of the government and numerous anti-Jewish laws were passed. The result was that over two million Jews emigrated to America,[6]:3645 more than a million of them to New York.[7]:1076

These immigrants tended to be young and relatively irreligious, and were generally skilled especially in the clothing industry,[8]:2534 which would soon dominate New York's economy,.[9] By the end of the nineteenth century, Jews "dominated related fields such as the fur trade."[8]:254

The German Jews, who were often wealthy by this time, did not much appreciate the eastern European arrivals, and moved to uptown Manhattan en masse, away from the Lower East Side where most of the immigrants settled.[6]:3702 Still, many of these immigrants worked in factories owned by the first class of Jews.[2]

About 1,637,185 New Yorkers (meaning residents of the state of New York) are Jewish. That is about 8% of the residents of the state.

The Census Bureau estimated the total NYC population at 8,336,697 in 2012; thus, if the figures in the table above are correct, Jews were 18.4% of the City's population in 2012. Other sources, like the source that estimated that there were just 972,000 Ashkenazim in New York City in 2002 (as is stated below), apparently believe the number is much lower.

There are approximately 1.97 million Jews (as of 2001) in the New York metropolitan area, making it the second largest Jewish community in the world, after the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area in Israel. However, Tel Aviv proper has a smaller population of Jews than New York City proper, making New York City the largest community of Jews in the world. The number of Jews in New York City soared throughout the beginning of the 20th century and reached a peak of 2 million in the 1950s, when Jews constituted one-quarter of the city's population. New York City's Jewish population then began to decline because of low fertility rates and migration to suburbs and other states, particularly California and Florida. A new wave of Ashkenazi and Bukharian Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union began arriving in the 1980s and 1990s. Sephardic Jews, including Syrian Jews and other Jews of non-European origin, have also lived in New York City since the late 19th century. Many Jews, including the newer immigrants, have settled in Queens, south Brooklyn, and the Bronx, where at present most live in middle-class neighborhoods such as Riverdale. In 2015 an Orthodox neighborhood in Brooklyn had New York Citys highest birth rate. Borough Park, known for its large Orthodox Jewish population, had 27.9 births per 1,000 residents, making it easily the citys baby capital.[12]

In 2002, an estimated 972,000 Ashkenazic Jews lived in New York City and constituted about 12% of the city's population. New York City is also home to the world headquarters of the Chabad, Bobover, and Satmar branches of Hasidism, and other traditional orthodox branches of Judaism. While three-quarters of New York Jews do not consider themselves religiously observant, the Orthodox community is rapidly growing due to the high birthrates of Hasidic Jews, while the numbers of Conservative and Reform Jews are declining.

Organizations such as The Agudath Israel of America, The Orthodox Union, Chabad and The Rohr Jewish Learning Institute have their headquarters in New York.

Continued here:
History of the Jews in New York City - Wikipedia, the free ...

Jewish – New York City Walking Tours

Posted By on September 1, 2015

Tours - Jewish New York

Abe Cahan's Yiddish New York Discover where Abe Cahan gave his first speech on labor and trade unions in America, his newspaper the Daily Forward was published, and see where he lived. Discover where his contemporaries Emma Goldman, Edward G. Robinson, Molly Picon, Lee J. Cobb, and Meyer Lansky lived and labored.

Meeting Place: TBA

This tour is offered as a public and private tour.

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350th Anniversary of the American Jewish Experience: The Boris Thomashefsky Yiddish Theatrical Memorial Tour This tour concentrates on Yiddish theaters, former Yiddish theaters, and sites associated with the Yiddish theater.

Meeting Place: TBA

This tour is offered as a public and private tour.

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Crossing Delancey: Jewish Lower East Side below Delancey Street Then we will cross Delancey Street to view Guss' Pickles, the Forward Building, the Tenement Museum, America's oldest municipal Park, the Henry Street Settlement, and a mikveh. the good places to eat as well as the oldest synagogue building in New York City, and other sites that mark the birthplace of Jewish civilization in America.

Meeting Place: In front of the Daily Forward Building at 175 East Broadway

Call to discuss booking your private tour.

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Jewish Lower East Side Talk and Walk View the sites that mark the birthplace of Jewish civilization in America ranging from synagogues to Yiddish newspaper row.

Meeting Place: Outside the Economy Candy Store, 108 Rivington Street, one north of Delancey Street between Essex and Ludlow Streets, opposite the Hotel on Rivington.

This tour is offered as a public and private tour.

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Emma Lazarus Country: The Jewish Heritage of Washington Square and Greenwich Village View the former home of Emma Lazarus, remember the original Triangle Shirt Waist factory victims site, visit where the Jewish sheriff of New York County used to hang criminals, and the third cemetery of the Spanish-Portuguese synagogue, and where former Mayor Koch lives.

Meeting Place: TBA

Call to discuss booking your private tour.

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Early Jewish New York Discover the Jewish presence on Manhattan Island from the Peter Stuyvesant to George Washington and from Trinity Church Graveyard to the original location of Columbia College, and other sites that mark the birthplace of Jewish civilization in America.

Meeting Place: In front of Starbucks at 38 Park Row between Spruce and Beekman Streets across from City Hall Park in Manhattan.

Call to discuss booking your private tour.

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German-Jewish Lower East Side Talk and Walk Outside the Economy Candy Store, 108 Rivington Street, one north of Delancey Street between Essex and Ludlow Streets, opposite the Hotel on Rivington.

Meeting Place: Outside the Economy Candy Store, 108 Rivington Street, one north of Delancey Street between Essex and Ludlow Streets, opposite the Hotel on Rivington.

This tour is offered as a public and private tour.

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Hidden Jewish Treasures of Chinatown Discover how this neighborhood is more than just a great place to eat! See where Al Jolson and Irving Berlin were singing waiters, second Spanish-Portuguese Jewish Cemetery, visit a former Yiddish theater and other Jewish marvels.

Meeting Place: TBA

Call to discuss booking your private tour.

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Jewish America: Birthplace of American Jewish life in downtown New York We will visit the sites of many Jewish firsts in America. Shearith Israel Synagogue was the first synagogue on the North American mainland. It had the first Jewish cemetery. Five of the 24 founders of the New York Stock Exchange were Jewish. The Bill of Rights granting total religious freedom to all was created on the site of Federal Hall. These and other sites will be on our itinerary. The Founding Fathers and their relationship with the Jewish people will be discussed.

Meeting Place: In front of the Immigrant Statue in front of Castle Clinton in Battery Park

Call to discuss booking your private tour.

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350th Anniversary of the American Jewish Experience: Jewish Food Adventures of the Jewish Lower East Side We will sample Jewish cuisine (all kosher) -- pickles, bagels, rugelach, candy, and other good things pioneered by the Jews of the Lower East Side.

Meeting Place: In front of Katz's Deli, 205 East Houston Street.

Fee: $30.00

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The Jewish Gangster Talk and Walk The Jews and the Gangs of New York We will view the sites associated with such infamous gangsters as Arnold Rothstein, "Kid" Dropper, "Bugsy" Siegel and Mayer Lansky.

Meeting Place: Outside the Economy Candy Store, 108 Rivington Street, one north of Delancey Street between Essex and Ludlow Streets, opposite the Hotel on Rivington.

This tour is offered as a public and private tour.

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Jewish Lower East Side Talk and Walk Visit a great appetizing emporium, and other good places to eat as well as the oldest synagogue building in New York City, and other sites that mark the birthplace of Jewish civilization in America. We also see the "Carnegie Hall of Synagogues" where Richard Tucker and Jan Peerce got their start. This is the only tour that gives out posters of the Lower East Side.

Meeting Place: Outside the Economy Candy Store, 108 Rivington Street, one north of Delancey Street between Essex and Ludlow Streets, opposite the Hotel on Rivington.

This tour is offered as a public and private tour.

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The Molly Picon Yiddish Theatrical Memorial Tour We will see some of the sites associated with the Yiddish theater greats including Molly Picon, of course, Sarah Adler, and Boris Tomashevsky. Learn about the Jewish heritage of this part of Lower East Side where Abe Cahan, Leon Trotsky, Emma Goldman, Edward G. Robinson and Lee J. Cobb lived and worked. Discover where Marlon Brando studied theater.

Meeting Place: TBA

This tour is offered as a public and private tour.

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Wine, Matzoh and Chocolate Menorahs -- A Child's View of the Jewish Lower East Side Explore a kosher winery, a matzoh factory, and a candy store, and discover a haunted school house.

Meeting Place: Outside the Economy Candy Store, 108 Rivington Street, one north of Delancey Street between Essex and Ludlow Streets, opposite the Hotel on Rivington.

Fee: $10.00

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When Harlem was Yiddish Take a tour of what was once the greatest Jewish community after the Lower East Side at the beginning of the twentieth century. See the synagogues, shops and homes of the Jewish immigrants and their children.

Meeting Place: In front of Bill Clinton's Office, 55 W. 125th St., the cross street is 5th Ave.

This tour is offered as a public and private tour.

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350th Anniversary of the American Jewish Experience: Four Chinatowns tour. Discover the Irish, Italian, Jewish and Chinese heritage of Chinatown. Meeting Place: Northwest Carne of Canal Street and Bowery at the Petrella News Stand. The cross street is Canal Street.

Meeting Place: In front of the Mahayana Buddhist Temple at 133 Canal Street near the Manhattan Bridge. The cross street is Bowery.

Call to discuss booking your private tour.

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The Four Worlds of Williamsburg: Artistic, Jewish, Latino and Polish Discover how the Jews, the Bohemians, Latinos, and the Poles get along in their separate worlds.

Meeting Place: In front of Pierogi, 167 North 9th St. between Bedford & Driggs Aves Getting there: Take L Train to North 7th St. Station.

Call to discuss booking your private tour.

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The rest is here:
Jewish - New York City Walking Tours

Why do some Jewish men where those curls and long beard?what …

Posted By on August 31, 2015

Also, Hasidic Jews are a relatively small group, but are widely known because of the destinctive dress and hair style worn.

Many people in fact don't realize that Orthodox Judaism and Hasidic Judaism are two distinct branches of Judaism.

Hasidic Jusaism both place great emphasis on the Torah and Talmud.

Hasidism is a religious movement which gave rise to a pattern of communal life and leadership as well as a particular social outlook.

The curls are called payos and they begin when a boy first reaches the age of 3.

The haircut are authentically Jewish and based on the Torah. The payos (sidecurls) and beard are worn in obedience to this commandment in the Torah (Bible): You shall not round the corners of your heads, nor mar the edges of your beards. (Leviticus 19:27) The "corners of the head" are the area above the ears. "Not rounding" them means not shaving the hair there, or cutting it very short.

Together, both the curls and the untrimmed beard are a symbol of obedience to the laws of God. Many Hasidic men also cut the rest of the hair very short.

This is not really required, but is more comfortable under a hat. Also, some Hasidim see the entire haircut -- very short hair with beard and payos -- as part of the "uniform" of their group.

The minimum length for payos (pronounced PAY-us) is long enough that you can grab a hair and bend it towards its own root -- which comes out to be just about to the middle of the ear.

But there are other opinions also, and many Hasidim wear them longer. Some men curl them carefully and let them hang conspicuously in front of the ears, while others tuck them behind the ears or up under their yarmulke (skullcap.) Again, this is a matter of style and, in some cases, personal preference.

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Why do some Jewish men where those curls and long beard?what ...

Hasidic Mother: Sneaking Out to See My Lesbian Lover

Posted By on August 31, 2015

The following is excerpted from Uncovered: How I Left Hasidic Life and Finally Came Home, available August 2015 from She Writes Press.

Another day, another midnight, I edge open the back door and try to make sure it doesn't creak. I put the car into neutral and slide down the drive with the driver's side door ajar. Once in the street, I ease the door closed and start the motor so that I could be anyone, a passing car that stalled, a Hasidic mother escaping to her lesbian lover.

Hands on the wheel, foot on the pedal, I have no thought, no sense of moral outrage, no nausea about my subterfuge or about any of the other fruitless duplicities that will come. I won't let myself imagine the betrayal that will linger in my children's eyes for years. Soon, I will tell myself that I do this as a matter of survival, pikuach nefesh, that like Levi scrubbing his hands even on the Sabbath when he had cancer, the Law stipulates that survival supersedes the Law. I will soothe myself with this justification even though I have had little regard for the Law outside of our home for some time. That's how I will feel, when I can finally think, that I go to Jane to survive.

But right now, as I roll through the sleeping Hasidic neighborhood, there's only a reptilian kind of instinct propelling me forward, a body scream. I hide the car in Jane's garage and let myself in her back door with her key, into the house where she now lives alone. Inside the door, I pull off the scarf, shake out my hair. Through the kitchen, the dark still den, down the hall, fingertips along a stippled wall. I peel off all my clothes, let them fall on the carpet in a pile, slide into her warm sheets and pull her sleeping body against my form. She wakes and turns to me, takes me in her arms.

There in her arms, I cry. For Levi (which she doesn't appreciate). For lost years. For thinking I could live without knowing the simple peace of . . . this: Warm bodies that echo one another. Steady breath on my hair in the night. Silent, constant warmth roused to electric in the morning, then back to tandem being before I slip out for home just after sunrise.

For now, this is all that matters. I imagine that won't be true for long.

Jane has a collection of polished stones, smooth and brilliant, in a shallow copper bowl on her vanity, among them royal-blue sodalite, green malachite, deep-red carnelian. One morning, I find her holding a handful to the early light. She stands, quiet, tilting her open palm this way and that, marking the way light shifts and dances on the polished surfaces. "Look," she says. "Look!" Her face is full of keen observation and wonder. Colors leap. It's a simple moment of stillness. Earth, stones, color. Being. The sensory world out there so long spurned, rises into three glorious dimensions.

But, day-to-day, I don't live in a three-dimensional world. I live in a world of words. Holy pronouncements. Sarah is preparing to leave for yeshiva. I don't want to send her into the life I've lived all these years, but Hasidic life is who she is, and I can't imagine cruelly shaking her identity just as it's forming into adulthood. Look at her, I think -- taller than me, shining brunette hair in an elegant wave. She just graduated from the Hasidic school, where she stepped up to the podium as valedictorian and addressed the community with maturity and polish far beyond her 14 years. I could almost hear the crowd draw in their collective breath.She's been formed here.

So has my mothering. My job has been to steep her in the Law, inspire her to faith, and none of that has anything to do with my own opinions, which before the huge old stream of history seem meek and newly formed. I don't understand yet that I could gently redirect my daughter, that it's not all or nothing, don't understand that my presence at her side coupled with her own young vision and the excitement of new freedom could turn into a tandem adventure. I don't even understand that instinct can be a mother's greatest guide. We rise, we rise, the group still says, above our natures. Only God's Word within us has validity.

"You'll be leaving soon," I say to Sarah the afternoon before her departure. I sit down next to her on her bed.

She grins and nods.

"Listen," I say. "There's something I want you to remember."

"What?"

"Our life, Hasidic life, even when you're away at school -- it's a gilded cage. You'll make friends and have fun there, and they'll keep telling you every day that it's a perfect life. But it's only good if you never need out, if you never need more. You might need more someday. If you ever do, that will be okay. I'll help you."

"What do you mean?" Sarah says. She looks uncomfortable, puzzled. I take her hand.

But at that moment, Levi comes in. Together, her loving parents present her with a necklace of curved links in three colors of gold. Sarah stands, and Levi blesses her with a life in Torah and gives her an awkward hug. "Wear this and remember what I told you," I say as I close the clasp at the back of her neck.

How deeply I want to believe in this moment that my young daughter will remember what I said through all her coming years away from home, that as she matures she will come to understand my warning, that over time the cage of the Law around her will come into focus. But Sarah is looking to Levi, her face suffused with ineffable love.

I will live with this: that I sealed my daughter into Hasidic life at this turning point so that she will think this life her purpose, into the joyful, exhausting, endless mothering and workload and silence and lack of choices she will bear. She was born, and all I did was make the bed and spread the sheets, and she's gone.

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Hasidic Mother: Sneaking Out to See My Lesbian Lover

The modesty wars: women and the Hasidim in Brooklyn …

Posted By on August 31, 2015

PM Netanyahu’s Likud party wins Israel general elections …

Posted By on August 30, 2015

TEL AVIV (REUTERS, AFP) -With nearly all the votes counted on Wednesday in Israels rollercoaster election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looked set for a triumphant return that will likely deepen tensions with the Palestinians and the West, as his rival conceded defeat.

His Likud party was on course for 29 seats in the 120-member Parliament with 96 per cent of ballots tallied, while his nearest rival the centre-left Zionist Union trailed with 24, public radio said.The Central Elections Committee website said Likud had garnered just over 23 per cent of the vote and the Zionist Union almost 19 per cent.

Opposition leader Isaac Herzog said on Wednesday he had spoken with Mr Netanyahu to congratulate him on his election victory. A few minutes ago I spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and congratulated him on his achievement and wished him luck, Mr Herzog told reporters.He said his leftist Zionist Union party would continue to be an alternative to Netanyahus right-wing Likud.

Likud activists at a temporary headquarters set up in a Tel Aviv convention hall danced in celebration at the late surge.

On the basis of the exit polls alone, which indicated the hard-fought race had ended in a dead heat, Mr Netanyahu swiftly claimed victory late on Tuesday.

By morning, with results in from 99 per cent of polling stations, Likud had powered past the Zionist Union and Mr Netanyahu seemed set to get the nod from Israels president to try to put together a coalition

Against all odds we achieved a great victory for the Likud. We achieved a great victory for the national camp under the leadership of the Likud. We achieved a great victory for our people of Israel! Mr Netanyahu told cheering supporters at campaign headquarters in Tel Aviv.

Now we have to build a strong and stable government, he added.

He said he had spoken to leaders of other right-wing parties and urged them to form a strong and stable government with him without delay.

Hes a magician, hes a magician, the crowd chanted.

Mr Netanyahu had put security at the forefront of his campaign, arguing he is the only one capable of protectingIsrael from an Iranian nuclear threat and vowing never to allow the Palestinians to establish a capital in east Jerusalem.

But the Palestinians vowed to step up their diplomatic campaign for statehood. It is clear that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will form the next government, so we say clearly that we will go to the International Criminal Court in the Hague and we will speed up, pursue and intensify all diplomatic efforts, chief negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP.

Citing the Israeli leaders rejection of a Palestinian state, Mr Erekat said: Mr Netanyahu has done nothing in his political life but to destroy the two-state solution.

In a late appeal to the far-right ahead of the polls, Mr Netanyahu ruled out the establishment of a Palestinian state if reelected, effectively reneging on his 2009 endorsement of a two-state solution.Mr Herzog has repeatedly called for the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.Mr Netanyahu made a last-minute call on his supporters to go to the polls to counter a high turnout among Arab Israelis.The rule of the rightwing is in danger. Arab voters are going to the polls in droves! he said in a video on Facebook. Go to the polling stations! Vote Likud!

According to exit polls, the main Arab parties took third place with 13 seats after joining forces to challenge the Premier.

A fourth term for Mr Netanyahu would make him Israels longest serving leader. He can tap far-right and religious parties his traditional allies for support but will also need to enlist centrists who have been non-committal.Mr Netanyahu pulled off the feat with a pitch for ultranationalist votes in the final days of the hard-fought campaign, using tactics that could deepen a feud with the White House.Seeking to persuade supporters of smaller right-wing parties to come home to Likud, Mr Netanyahu promised more building of Jewish settlements. Cautioning that yielding territory would open the way for attacks against Israel by Islamist militants, Mr Netanyahu said the Palestinians would not get their own state if he were re-elected.Those sweeping promises, if carried out, would further isolate Israel from the United States and the European Union, which believe a peace deal must accommodate Palestinian demands for a state in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.Mr Netanyahu has focused on Irans nuclear programme and militant Islam. But many Israelis had said they were tiring of the message, and the centre-left campaigned on social and economic issues, surging in polls before election day.The Obama administration has been angry with Mr Netanyahu since he addressed the United States Congress two weeks ago at the invitation of Republican lawmakers, to oppose US nuclear negotiations with Iran.

Opinion polls in the run-up to the ballot had shown Zionist Union with a three- to four-seat advantage over Likud, suggesting the public had warmed to Mr Herzog, who won over voters with flashes of wit after enduring being lampooned for his short stature and reedy voice.A new centrist party, Kulanu, led by former communications minister Moshe Kahlon could be a major player in coalition talks. After the balloting ended, Mr Kahlon said he did not rule out a partnership with either Likud or Zionist Union.Turnout was around 72 percent, higher than the last election in 2013.After consultation with all parties, it will be up to President Reuven Rivlin to name the candidate he deems best placed to try to form a coalition. The nominee will have up to 42 days to do so.Mr Rivlin has called for national unity, signalling he favours a government that would pair both Likud and Zionist Union a partnership Netanyahu rejected during the campaign.Mr Naftali Bennett, leader of the ultranationalist Jewish Home party, said he had spoken with Mr Netanyahu and agreed to open accelerated coalition talks with him.

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A Year Ago, a Cease-Fire Was Announced in Gaza. But This Boy …

Posted By on August 30, 2015

Thaeer Juda's mother, sisters and brothers passed away a year ago. That day a cease-fire was announced in Gaza. After 50 days of fighting some 1,800 children had become orphans, according to Euro-Mid Observers for Human Rights. Below is an excerpt from my book, "Shell-Shocked: On the Ground Under Israel's Gaza Assault" based on my experience reporting from Gaza on this day.

* * *

JABALYA Refugee Camp, Northern Gaza -- As shouts of celebration about the cease-fire ring out across Gaza, 10-year-old Thaeer Juda lies in Gaza's Shifa hospital ICU unit.

He's badly injured and has had his right leg and some of his right fingers amputated. His left side is only marginally better off. His hands have been shattered, while his face and chest have been pocked by shrapnel that ripped through his little body after an Israeli strike.

Thaeer will survive, but will have to do so without many of the loved ones he expected to know for the rest of his life. He doesn't know what happened to his mother, Rawia, or his two sisters, Tasnim and Taghreed, nor his brothers Osama and Mohammed. But they are all gone -- killed in one foul swoop by the same Israeli strike that landed Thaeer in hospital and will keep him there, long after the "victory" cries outside have died down.

Disaster struck this family just before sunset, on a very hot August night.

Rawia Juda, 40, was sitting on her doorstep in the fresh night air, telling stories to her children to distract them from the horror of Israeli missiles and bombs. Just for a few moments, the family expected things to stay quiet.

When she finished, she went into the house to check on her husband, Essam, 45, who had decided to give her a break from the domestic routine and was busy cooking the evening meal.

Taghreed, 12, and her Tasnim, 13, were playing with a doll. One had asked the other to fetch a comb to style the hair of toy bride, in preparation for its wedding.

Mohammed, 9, and Osama, 8, were also nearby playing with a balloon. Each time a missile struck, they would run over to their mother's arms and hide until the smoke disappeared and things were quiet enough to play again.

Rahaf, 11, was visiting a friend next door and playing, blissfully unaware that she would never see her family alive and together again.

Before long, however, the brief lull was shattered.

Out of the sunset, two Israeli drone missiles hit Rawia and her children, shattering their bodies into pieces. The explosions shook the whole neighborhood and people ran to the site hoping to help but instead they were greeted by dead bodies of friends and family they could no longer recognize.

Essam Juda, the father, quickly ran outside screaming for help "help me, neighbors, help me." When his daughter Rahaf ran over from next door all she could do was look at her mother's dead body and scream.

The family insist they don't know why they were hit and swear there could not have been any military target nearby.

A cousin Mohammed, who came to help with the rescue, said that the children were merely playing "the house was filled with our laughter only. Does that upset Israel?"

He explained that Osama, 8, was excited about starting his first school year and already had his drawing book and paints inside his school bag, although he never got the chance to use them.

When the family's bodies were brought to the hospital, a trail of neighbours and distant relatives, young and old, rushed behind the ambulance whizzing to Kamal Adwan hospital. Most of them were bring pieces of shattered, burnt bodies to be put them back together for burial.

An old man wearing a Palestinian Keffiyeh, wrapped the body parts together in a white shroud so that the family could be promptly laid to rest.

"The world cries for dead Jewish child in Israel, but will they cry for this good Palestinian mother and her four dead children?" he said as the small bodies were carried, two on each orange ambulance stretcher.

Usually a mother gets the last look at her deceased children, but this time she was also gone. Her remaining children were either left ravaged by the shrapnel and fighting for their lives, or were broken on the inside by the loss, facing a gaping hole as they realised that they would forever remain separated from their loved ones.

At Shifa hospital, next to the broken body of Thaeer, many friends gathered to offer their blood for transfusion. Mohammed Alhessi was one of those who donated his blood.

"This was a family not a military target," he said. "No-one in the family is associated with the resistance and they live far from where any resistance rockets are fired," he added referring to Tal al-Zatar, one of the most crowded areas in Gaza Strip.

The rockets have now stopped falling but tonight may not be any easier for many in Gaza. After 50 days of fighting some 1,800 children have become orphans in Gaza, according to Euro-Mid Observers for Human Rights.

A total of 536 children were also killed in Gaza, comprising almost a quarter of the total Palestinian dead, according to the Al-Mezan Centre for Human Rights which has been monitoring the death toll.

Israel is also believed to have carried 145 strikes on families which have killed or gravely injured many members of the same family.

In total, the 50-day conflict has killed more than 2,145 Palestinians -- mostly civilians -- and 70 Israelis, of whom 66 have been soldiers.

Children that are left behind are usually taken on by extended family members, but the scars prove hard to heal. The trauma of losing a limb, or a loved one, is likely to endure long after the smell of explosives and decomposing bodies begins to fade.

Close

Palestinian children play in the rubble of houses in the village of Khuzaa, Gaza, on July 7, 2015.

Palestinians enjoy a summer day on the beach of Gaza City on June 16, 2015.

A Palestinian woman walks amid the rubble in Khuzaa, Gaza, on June 1, 2015.

Mohammed al-Selek shows the site where he was injured in an Israeli mortar strike in Gaza City, Gaza.

A Palestinian child sits in front of the rubble in Khuzaa, Gaza, on June 15, 2015.

A Palestinian man dressed as a clown rests in front of destroyed houses in Gaza City, Gaza, on July 8, 2015.

A Palestinian girl stands on the side while her father paints the door of his house in the old Gaza City on June 21, 2015 photo.

A Palestinian boy rides his bike next to his family's temporary housing in Khuzaa, Gaza, on July 7, 2015.

Palestinian children play at the rubble of buildings.

Palestinian trucks unload near the Rafah crossing in the southern Gaza Strip on June 23, 2015.

A Palestinian girl displays her hair in Gaza City, Gaza, on July 7, 2015.

A Palestinian boy plays in the rubble in Khuzaa, Gaza, on July 7, 2015.

Palestinian boys sit atop the rubble in Khuzaa, Gaza, on July 7, 2015.

Palestinian women protest against the 50-day war amidst the rubble in Khuzaa, Gaza, on July 7, 2015.

Palestinian boys play by their temporary housing in Khuzaa, Gaza, on July 7, 2015.

A Palestinian boy rides his bicycle amidst the rubble in Khuzaa, Gaza, on June 15, 2015.

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A Year Ago, a Cease-Fire Was Announced in Gaza. But This Boy ...

Jewish Heritage

Posted By on August 30, 2015

A synagogue, also spelled synagog (from Greek , transliterated synagog, meaning assembly; Hebrew: beth knesset, meaning house of assembly; beth tfila, meaning house of prayer; shul; esnoga; kahal), is a Jewish house of prayer.

Synagogues have a large hall for prayer (the main sanctuary), and may also have smaller rooms for study and sometimes a social hall and offices. Some have a separate room for Torah study, called the beth midrash (Sefaradi) beis midrash (Ashkenazi) (House of Study).

Synagogues are consecrated spaces that can be used only for the purpose of prayer; however a synagogue is not necessary for worship. Communal Jewish worship can be carried out wherever ten Jews (a minyan) assemble. Worship can also be carried out alone or with fewer than ten people assembled together. However there are certain prayers that are communal prayers and therefore can be recited only by a minyan. The synagogue does not replace the long-since destroyed Temple in Jerusalem.

Israelis use the Hebrew term beyt knesset (house of assembly). Jews of Ashkenazi descent have traditionally used the Yiddish term shul(cognate with the German Schule, school) in everyday speech. Sephardi Jews and Romaniote Jews generally use the term kal (from the Hebrew kahal, meaning community). Spanish Jews call the synagoge a sinagoga and Portuguese Jews call it an esnoga. Persian Jews and Karaite Jews use the term kenesa, which is derived from Aramaic, and some Arabic-speaking Jews use knis. Reform and some Conservative Jews use the word temple. The Greek word synagogue is a good all-around term, used in English (and German and French), to cover the preceding possibilities.[1]

Although synagogues existed a long time before the destruction of the 2nd Temple in 70 CE, communal worship in the time while the Temple still stood centered around the korbanot (sacrificial offerings) brought by the kohanim (priests) in the Holy Temple. The all-day Yom Kippur service, in fact, was an event in which the congregation both observed the movements of the kohen gadol (the high priest) as he offered the days sacrifices and prayed for his success.

During the Babylonian captivity (586537BCE) the Men of the Great Assembly formalized and standardized the language of the Jewish prayers. Prior to that people prayed as they saw fit, with each individual praying in his or her own way, and there were no standard prayers that were recited. Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai, one of the leaders at the end of the Second Temple era, promulgated the idea of creating individual houses of worship in whatever locale Jews found themselves. This contributed to the continuity of the Jewish people by maintaining a unique identity and a portable way of worship despite the destruction of the Temple, according to many historians.

Synagogues in the sense of purpose-built spaces for worship, or rooms originally constructed for some other purpose but reserved for formal, communal prayer, however, existed long before the destruction of the Second Temple.[2] The earliest archaeological evidence for the existence of very early synagogues comes from Egypt, where stone synagogue dedication inscriptions dating from the 3rd century BCE prove that synagogues existed by that date.[3] A synagogue dating from between 75 and 50BCE has been uncovered at a Hasmonean-era winter palace near Jericho.[4][5] More than a dozen Second Temple era synagogues have been identified by archaeologists.[2]

Any Jew or group of Jews can build a synagogue. Synagogues have been constructed by ancient Jewish kings, by wealthy patrons, as part of a wide range of human institutions including secular educational institutions, governments, and hotels, by the entire community of Jews living in a particular place, or by sub-groups of Jews arrayed according to occupation, ethnicity (i.e. the Sephardic, Polish or Persian Jews of a town), style of religious observance (i.e., a Reform or an Orthodox synagogue), or by the followers of a particular rabbi.

There is no set blueprint for synagogues and the architectural shapes and interior designs of synagogues vary greatly. In fact, the influence from other local religious buildings can often be seen in synagogue arches, domes and towers.

Historically, synagogues were built in the prevailing architectural style of their time and place. Thus, the synagogue in Kaifeng, China looked very like Chinese temples of that region and era, with its outer wall and open garden in which several buildings were arranged. The styles of the earliest synagogues resembled the temples of other sects of the eastern Roman Empire. The surviving synagogues of medieval Spain are embellished with mudjar plasterwork. The surviving medieval synagogues in Budapest and Prague are typical Gothic structures.

The emancipation of Jews in European countries not only enabled Jews to enter fields of enterprise from which they were formerly barred, but gave them the right to build synagogues without needing special permissions, synagogue architecture blossomed. Large Jewish communities wished to show not only their wealth but also their newly acquired status as citizens by constructing magnificent synagogues. These were built across Europe and in the United States in all of the historicist or revival styles then in fashion. Thus there were Neoclassical, Neo-Byzantine, Romanesque Revival, Moorish Revival, Gothic Revival, and Greek Revival. There are Egyptian Revival synagogues and even one Mayan Revival synagogue. In the 19th century and early 20th century heyday of historicist architecture, however, most historicist synagogues, even the most magnificent ones, did not attempt a pure style, or even any particular style, and are best described as eclectic.

In the post-war era, synagogue architecture abandoned historicist styles for modernism.

All synagogues contain a bimah, a table from which the Torah is read, and a desk for the prayer leader.

The Torah Ark, (Hebrew: Aron Kodesh ) (called the heikhal [temple] by Sephardim) is a cabinet in which the Torah scrolls are kept.

The ark in a synagogue is almost always positioned in such a way such that those who face it are facing towards Jerusalem. Thus, sanctuary seating plans in the Western world generally face east, while those east of Israel face west. Sanctuaries in Israel face towards Jerusalem. Occasionally synagogues face other directions for structural reasons; in such cases, some individuals might turn to face Jerusalem when standing for prayers, but the congregation as a whole does not.

The Ark is reminiscent of the Ark of the Covenant which held the tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments. This is the holiest spot in a synagogue, equivalent to the Holy of Holies. The Ark is often closed with an ornate curtain, the parochet , which hangs outside or inside the ark doors.

A large, raised, readers platform called the bimah () by Ashkenazim and tebah by Sephardim, where the Torah scroll is placed to be read is a feature of all synagogues. In Sephardi synagogues it is also used as the prayer leaders reading desk.

Other traditional features include a continually lit lamp or lantern, usually electric in contemporary synagogues, called the ner tamid ( ), the Eternal Light, used as a reminder of the western lamp of the menorah of the Temple in Jerusalem, which remained miraculously lit perpetually. Many have an elaborate chair named for the prophet Elijah which is only sat upon during the ceremony of Brit milah. Many synagogues have a large seven-branched candelabrum commemorating the full Menorah. Most contemporary synagogues also feature a lectern for the rabbi.

A synagogue may be decorated with artwork, but in the Rabbinic and Orthodox tradition, three-dimensional sculptures and depictions of the human body are not allowed as these are considered akin to idolatry.

Until the 19th century, an Ashkenazi synagogue, all seats most often faced the Torah Ark. In a Sephardi synagogue, seats were usually arranged around the perimeter of the sanctuary, but when the worshipers stood up to pray, everyone faced the Ark. In Ashkenazi synagogues The Torah was read on a readers table located in the center of the room, while the leader of the prayer service, the Hazzan, stood at his own lectern or table, facing the Ark. In Sephardic synagogues, the table for reading the Torah was commonly placed at the opposite side of the room from the Torah Ark, leaving the center of the floor empty for the use of a ceremonial procession carrying the Torah between the Ark and the reading table.

Orthodox synagogues feature a partition (mechitzah) dividing the mens and womens seating areas, or a separate womens section located on a balcony.

The German Reform movement which arose in the early 19th century made many changes to the traditional look of the synagogue, keeping with its desire to simultaneously stay Jewish yet be accepted by the host culture.

The first Reform synagogue, which opened in Hamburg in 1811, introduced changes that made the synagogue look more like a church. These included: the installation of an organ to accompany the prayers (even on Shabbat, when musical instruments are proscribed by halakha), a choir to accompany the Hazzan, and vestments for the synagogue rabbi to wear.[6]

In following decades, the central readers table, the Bimah, was moved to the front of the Reform sanctuarypreviously unheard-of[citation needed] in Orthodox synagogues. The rabbi now delivered his sermon from the front, much as the Christian ministers delivered their sermons in a church. The synagogue was renamed a temple, to emphasize that the movement no longer looked forward to the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem.[citation needed]

Synagogues often take on a broader role in modern Jewish communities and may include additional facilities such as a catering hall, kosher kitchen, religious school, library, day care center and a smaller chapel for daily services.

Since Orthodox Jews prefer to collect a minyan (a quorum of ten) rather than pray alone, they commonly assemble at pre-arranged times in offices, living rooms, or other spaces when these are more convenient than formal synagogue buildings. A room or building that is used this way can become a dedicated small synagogue or prayer room. Among Ashkenazi Jews they are traditionally called shtiebel (, pl. shtiebelekh or shtiebels, Yiddish for little house), and are found in Orthodox communities worldwide.

Another type of communal prayer group, favored by some contemporary Jews, is the Chavurah (, pl. chavurot, ), or prayer fellowship. These groups meet at a regular place and time, usually in a private home. In antiquity, the Pharisees lived near each other in chavurot and dined together to ensure that none of the food was unfit for consumption.[7]

During the 19th and early 20th century, it was fairly common for Jewish communities, particularly in Europe, to construct very large, showpiece synagogues. These edifices were intended not simply to accommodate worshipers, but to serve as emblems of Jewish participation in modern society. For this purpose, they were built to be not merely large, but architecturally impressive. Even small cities had elaborate synagogues of this type, albeit smaller than the synagogues of Vienna and New York. They are often designated as The Great Synagogue of, or, in Russia, The Choral Synagogue. These notable synagogues include:

The dome of the Hurva Synagogue dominated the skyline of the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem for more than 80 years, from 1864 when it was built until 1948 when it was bombed.

The remains of the Hurva Synagogue as they appeared from 1977 to 2003. The synagogue has recently been reconstructed.

Szkesfehrvr synagogue, Hungary (c. 1930s) The synagogue no longer exists, however, the memorial plaques were moved to a building at the citys Jewish cemetery.

The Ohev Sholom Talmud Torah, the National Synagogue, is a wondrous example of mid-century modern architecture employing expressionist overtones, located in Upper 16th Street, Washington, D.C.

Read the original here: Synagogue Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Dohny Street Synagogue (Hungarian: Dohny utcai zsinagga/nagy zsinagga, Hebrew: bet hakneset hagadol el budapet), also known as The Great Synagogue or Tabakgasse Synagogue, is a historical building in Erzsbetvros, the 7th district of Budapest, Hungary. It is the largest synagogue in Europe[1] and one of the largest in the world. It seats 3,000 people and is a centre of Neolog Judaism.

The synagogue was built between 1854 and 1859 in the Moorish Revival style, with the decoration based chiefly on Islamic models from North Africa and medieval Spain (the Alhambra). The synagogues Viennese architect, Ludwig Frster, believed that no distinctively Jewish architecture could be identified, and thus chose architectural forms that have been used by oriental ethnic groups that are related to the Israelite people, and in particular the Arabs.[2] The interior design is partly by Frigyes Feszl.

The Dohny Street Synagogue complex consists of the Great Synagogue, the Heroes Temple, the graveyard, the Memorial and the Jewish Museum, which was built on the site on which Theodore Herzls house of birth stood. Dohny Street itself, a leafy street in the city center, carries strong Holocaust connotations as it constituted the border of the Budapest Ghetto.[3]

Built in a residential area between 1854-1859 by the Jewish community of Pest according to the plans of Ludwig Frster, the monumental synagogue has a capacity of 2,964 seats (1,492 for men and 1,472 in the womens galleries) making it the largest in Europe and one of the largest working synagogues in the world (after the Beit Midrash of Ger in Jerusalem, the Belz Great Synagogue and Temple Emanu-el in New York City)[citation needed]. The consecration of the synagogue took place on 6 September 1859.

The synagogue was bombed by the Hungarian pro-Nazi Arrow Cross Party on 3 February 1939.[4] Used as a base for German Radio and also as a stable during World War II, the building suffered some severe damage from aerial raids during the Nazi Occupation but especially during the Siege of Budapest. During the Communist era the damaged structure became again a prayer house for the much-diminished Jewish community. Its restoration started in 1991 and ended in 1998. The restoration was financed by the state and by private donations.

The building is 75 metres (246ft) long and 27 metres (89ft) wide.[5] The style of the Dohny Street Synagogue is Moorish but its design also features a mixture of Byzantine, Romantic and Gothic elements. Two onion-shaped domes sit on the twin octagonal towers at 43 metres (141ft) height. A rose stained-glass window sits over the main entrance.

Similarly to basilicas, the building consists of three spacious richly decorated aisles, two balconies and, unusually, an organ. Its ark contains various torah scrolls taken from other synagogues destroyed during the Holocaust[citation needed].

The Central Synagogue in Manhattan, New York City is a near-exact copy of the Dohny Street Synagogue.[6]

The torah-ark and the internal frescoes made of colored and golden geometric shapes are the works of the famous Hungarian romantic architect Frigyes Feszl. A single-span cast iron supports the 12-metre-wide (39ft) nave. The seats on the ground-floor are for men, while the upper gallery, supported by steel ornamented poles, has seats for women.

Franz Liszt and Camille Saint-Sans played the original 5,000 pipe organ built in 1859.[7] A new mechanical organ with 63 voices and 4 manuals was built in 1996 by the German firm Jehmlich Orgelbau Dresden GmbH.[8] One of the important concerts in the Synagogues history was in 2002, played by the organ virtuoso Xaver Varnus. Four hours[citation needed] before the concert even standing places could hardly be found in the Synagogue, and 7,200[citation needed] people were sitting and standing to listen to the improvisors virtuosity.[9]

It was only in the 1990s, following the return to democracy in Hungary, that renovations could begin. The three-year program of reconstruction was largely funded by a US$5 million donation from Hungarian Jewish American Este Lauder and was completed in 1996.[10][11]

The Jewish Museum was constructed on the plot where Theodor Herzls two-story Classicist style house used to stand, adjoining the Dohny synagogue.[12] The Jewish Museum was built in 1930 in accordance with the synagogues architectural style and attached in 1931 to the main building. It holds the Jewish Religious and Historical Collection, a collection of religious relics of the Pest Hevrah Kaddishah (Jewish Burial Society), ritual objects of Shabbat and the High Holidays and a Holocaust room.

The arcade and the Heroes Temple, which seats 250 people and is used for religious services on weekdays and during the winter time, was added the Dohny Street Synagogue complex in 1931. The Heroes Temple was designed by Lzlo Vg and Ferenc Farag and serves as a memorial to Hungarian Jews who gave their lives during World War I.

In 1944, the Dohny Street Synagogue was part of the Jewish Ghetto for the city Jews and served as shelter for a lot of people. Over two thousand of those who died in the ghetto from hunger and cold during the winter 1944-1945 are buried in the courtyard of the synagogue.

It is not customary to have a cemetery next to a synagogue, the establishment of the 3000 m2 cemetery was the result of historical circumstances. In 1944, as a part of the Eichmann-plan, 70.000 Jews were relocated to the Ghetto of Pest. Until January 18, 1945, when the Russians liberated the ghetto, around 8-10.000 people had died, although, one part of the deceased were transferred to the Kozma Street Cemetery, but 2.000 people were buried in the makeshift cemetery. In memory of those who had died, there is a memorial by the sculptor, Imre Varga, depicting a weeping willow with the names and tattoo numbers of the dead and disappeared just behind the Synagogue, in the Raoul Wallenberg Holocaust Memorial Park.[13]

The Raoul Wallenberg Emlkpark (memory park) in the rear courtyard holds the Memorial of the Hungarian Jewish Martyrs at least 400,000 Hungarian Jews were murdered by the Nazis.[14] Made by Imre Varga, it resembles a weeping willow whose leaves bear inscriptions with the names of victims. There is also a memorial to Wallenberg and other Righteous Among the Nations, among them: Swiss Vice-consul Carl Lutz; Giorgio Perlasca, an Italian man who, with a strategic escamotage, declared himself the Spanish consul, releasing documents of protection and current passports to Jews in Budapest without distinction (he saved five thousand); Mons. Angelo Rotta, an Italian Prelate Bishop and Apostolic Nuncio of the State of Vatican City in Budapest, which issued protective sheets, misrepresentations of baptism (to save them from forced labor) and Vatican passports to Jews, without distinction of any kind present in Budapest (saving fifteen thousand), who saved, with his secretary Mons. Gennaro Verolino tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews during World War II. Carlos de Liz-Texeira Branquinho a Portuguese diplomat, serving as Portugals Charg dAffaires in Budapest in 1944, issued protective Passports to hundreds of Jewish families, altogether about 1,000 lives were saved due to his actions.[15]Carlos Sampaio Garrido the Portuguese Ambassador who resisted the Hungarian political police when the police raided his home arresting his guests. The Ambassador physically resisted the police and was also arrested but managed to have his guests released by invoking the extraterritorial legal rights of diplomatic legations; five of the guests were members from the famous Gabor family.

Dohny means tobacco in Hungarian, a loan word from Ottoman Turkish (duhn), itself borrowed from Arabic (dun). A similar Turkish loanword for tobacco is used throughout the Balkans (e.g. duhan in Bosnian).

Theodor Herzl in his speeches[16] and the Jewish Encyclopedia referred to the Dohny Street Synagogue as the Tabakgasse Synagogue. The Dohny Street Synagogue is also known under the name of the Tabak-Shul, the Yiddish translation of Dohny Synagogue.

On October 23, 2012, an Israeli flag was burned in front of a Budapest synagogue, reportedly by members of Jobbik, an ultranationalist Hungarian political party.[17][18]

Link: Dohny Street Synagogue Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

synagogue (sn`gg) [Gr.,=assembly], in Judaism, a place of assembly for worship, education, and communal affairs. The origins of the institution are unclear. One tradition dates it to the Babylonian exile of the 6th cent. B.C. The returnees may have brought back with them the basic structure that was to be developed by the 1st cent. A.D. into a well-defined institution around which Jewish religious, intellectual, and communal life was to be centered from this earliest period into the present. Other scholars believe the synagogue arose after the Hasmonean revolt (167164 B.C.) as a Pharisaic alternative to the Temple cult. The destruction of the Temple (A.D. 70) and the Diaspora over the following centuries increased the synagogues importance. Services in the synagogue were conducted in a simpler manner than in the Temple. There was no officially appointed priest, the services being conducted by a chazan (reader). The role the synagogue played in preserving Judaism intact through the centuries cannot be overestimated, nor can its influence as an intellectual and cultural force. In the modern period, the reform movement restricted its scope to almost purely religious purposes, although among the Orthodox Jews its purview did not diminish. In more recent times the synagogue has again taken on its former functions as a social and communal center. The architectural appearance of the synagogue has usually not differed from that of local non-Jewish forms. The interior includes an ark in which the Torah scrolls are held and a platform from which they are read. In modern times, a pulpit from which to preach has also become common, and in many synagogues the three are combined on one platform. In the United States, the national synagogue associations, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations, the United Synagogue of America (Conservative), and the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (Reform) are organized in the Synagogue Council of America. Bibliography

See U. Kaploun, ed., The Synagogue (1973); A. Eisenberg, The Synagogue through the Ages (1974); C. H. Krinsky, Synagogues of Europe (1987).

a.a building for Jewish religious services and usually also for religious instruction

b.(as modifier): synagogue services

2.a congregation of Jews who assemble for worship or religious study

3.the religion of Judaism as organized in such congregations

A place of assembly for Jewish worship.

A place of assembly, or a building for Jewish worship and religious instruction.

in Judaism, a community of believers and a house of worship. Synagogues originated in Palestine in the fourth century B.C. and in Egypt in the third century B.C. After the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70 and the expansion of the Diaspora, synagogues were established wherever Jews lived. The first synagogues were instrumental in the growth of monotheism.

Religious services take place in the synagogue, and the Bible and Talmud are read and discussed. In the Middle Ages, deviation from the dogmas of Judaism resulted in excommunication from the synagogue. Both Uriel Acosta and Spinoza were excommunicated.

The architecture of synagogues varies greatly. The common features are a rectangular shape, three or five aisles, an ark of the law at the eastern wall in which the scrolls of the Torah are kept and, in front of the ark, a raised platform for the reading of sacred texts.

Originally posted here: Synagogue | Article about Synagogue by The Free Dictionary

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Roa, B. B. et al. (1996). Ashkenazi Jewish population frequencies for common mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2. Nat Genet 14(2): 185-7.

Struewing, J. P., et al. (1995). The carrier frequency of the BRCA1 185delAG mutation is approximately 1 percent in Ashkenazi Jewish individuals [published erratum appears in Nat Genet 1996 Jan;12(1):110]. Nat Genet 11(2): 198-200.

Struewing, J. P. et al. (1997). The risk of cancer associated with specific mutations of BRCA1 and BRCA2 among Ashkenazi Jews. N Engl J Med 336(20): 1401-8.

Szabo, C. I. and M. C. King (1997). Population genetics of BRCA1 and BRCA2. Am J Hum Genet 60(5): 1013-20.

Thorlacius, S. et al. (1998). Population-based study of risk of breast cancer in carriers of BRCA2 mutation. Lancet 352(9137): 1337-9.

Tonin, P. w. b. o. et al. (1996). Frequency of recurrent BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in Ashkenazi Jewish breast Cancer Families. Nature Medicine 2: 1179-1183.

Original post: Breast and Ovarian Cancer in the Ashkenazi Jewish Population

What Was the Holocaust?

The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. Holocaust is a word of Greek origin meaning sacrifice by fire. The Nazis, who came to power in Germany in January 1933, believed that Germans were racially superior and that the Jews, deemed inferior, were an alien threat to the so-called German racial community.

Browse a timeline of major events of the Holocaust and World War II. Covers events from before 1933, 19331938, 19391941, 19421945, and after 1945.

The Path to Nazi Genocide, a 38-minute film, examines the Nazis rise to and consolidation of power in Germany.

Why do we as a nation commemorate the Holocaust through the annual Days of Remembrance?

Continued here: Introduction to the Holocaust United States Holocaust

Capernaum ( k-PUR-nee-m; Hebrew: , Kfar Nahum, Nahums village) was a fishing village in the time of the Hasmoneans, located on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee.[1] It had a population of about 1,500.[2] Archaeological excavations have revealed two ancient synagogues built one over the other. A church near Capernaum is said to be the home of Saint Peter.

Kfar Nahum, the original name of the small town, means Nahums village in Hebrew, but apparently there is no connection with the prophet named Nahum. In the writings of Josephus, the name is rendered in Greek as K (Kapharnaum) and in the New Testament as K (Kapharnaum) in some manuscripts and as K (Kapernaum) in others. In Arabic, it is called Talhum, and it is assumed that this refers to the ruin (Tell) of Hum (perhaps an abbreviated form of Nahum) (Tzaferis, 1989).

The town is cited in all four gospels (Matthew 4:13,8:5,11:23,17:24, Mark 1:21,2:1,9:33, Luke 4:23,31,7:1,10:15, John 2:12,4:46,6:17,24,59) where it was reported to have been near the hometown of the apostles Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John, as well as the tax collector Matthew. One Sabbath, Jesus taught in the synagogue in Capernaum and healed a man who had the spirit of an unclean devil.[3] [This story is notable for being the only one common between the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Luke but not contained in the Gospel of Matthew. See Synoptic Gospels for more literary comparison between the Gospels.] Afterwards, he healed a fever in Simon Peters mother-in-law.[4] According to Luke 7:110, it is also the place where a Roman Centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant. Capernaum is also mentioned in the Gospel of Mark (2:1), it is the location of the famous healing of the paralytic lowered through the roof to reach Jesus. According to the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus selected this town as the center of his public ministry in the Galilee after he left the small mountainous hamlet of Nazareth (Matthew 4:1217). He also formally cursed the city, saying You shall be brought down to Hell, (Matthew 11:23) because of their lack of response to his mighty works.

Archaeological evidence demonstrates that the town was established in the 2nd century BC during the Hasmonean period. The site had no defensive wall and extended along the shore of the nearby lake (from east to west). The cemetery zone is found 200 meters north of the synagogue, which places it beyond the inhabited area of the town. It extended 3 kilometers to Tabgha, an area which appears to have been used for agricultural purposes, judging by the many oil and grain mills which were discovered in the excavation. Fishing was also a source of income; the remains of another harbor were found to the west of that built by the Franciscans.

No sources have been found for the belief that Capernaum was involved in the bloody Jewish revolts against the Romans, the First Jewish-Roman War (AD 6673) or Bar Kokhbas revolt (132135), although there is reason to believe that Josephus, one of the Jewish generals during the earlier revolt, was taken to Capernaum (which he called Kapharnakos) after a fall from his horse in nearby Bethsaida (Josephus, Vita, 72).

Josephus referred to Capernaum as a fertile spring. He stayed the night there after spraining his ankle. During the first Jewish revolt of 6670 Capernaum was spared as it was never occupied by the Romans.

In 1838, American explorer Edward Robinson discovered the ruins of ancient Capernaum. In 1866, British Captain Charles William Wilson identified the remains of the synagogue, and in 1894, Franciscan Friar Giuseppe Baldi of Naples, the Custodian of the Holy Land, was able to recover a good part of the ruins from the Bedouins. The Franciscans raised a fence to protect the ruins from frequent vandalism, and planted palms and eucalyptus trees brought from Australia to create a small oasis for pilgrims. They also built a small harbor. These labors were directed by Franciscan Virgilio Corbo.

The most important excavations began in 1905 under the direction of Germans Heinrich Kohl and Carl Watzinger. They were continued by Franciscans Fathers Vendelin von Benden (19051915) and Gaudenzio Orfali (19211926). The excavations resulted in the discovery of two public buildings, the synagogue (which was partially restored by Fr Orfali), and an octagonal church. Later, in 1968, excavation of the western portion of the sitethe portion owned by the Franciscanswas restarted by Corbo and Stanislao Loffreda, with the financial assistance of the Italian government. During this phase, the major discovery was of a house which is claimed to be St. Peters house, in a neighborhood of the town from the 1st century AD. These excavations have been ongoing, with some publication on the Internet as recently as 2003.[5]

The excavations revealed that the site was established at the beginning of the Hasmonean Dynasty, roughly in the 2nd century BC, and abandoned in the 11th century.

The eastern half of the site, where the Church of the Seven Apostles stands and owned by an Orthodox monastery, was surveyed and partially excavated under the direction of Vasilios Tzaferis. This section has uncovered the village from the Byzantine and Arab periods. Features include a pool apparently used for the processing of fish, and a hoard of gold coins. (Tzaferis, 1989).

The layout of the town was quite regular. On both sides of an ample north-south main street arose small districts bordered by small cross-sectional streets and no-exit side-streets. The walls were constructed with coarse basalt blocks and reinforced with stone and mud, but the stones (except for the thresholds) were not dressed and mortar was not used.

The most extensive part of the typical house was the courtyard, where there was a circular furnace made of refractory earth, as well as grain mills and a set of stone stairs that led to the roof. The floors of the houses were cobbled. Around the open courtyard, modest cells were arranged which received light through a series of openings or low windows (Loffreda, 1984).

Given the coarse construction of the walls, there was no second story to a typical home, and the roof would have been constructed of light wooden beams and thatch mixed with mud. This, along with the discovery of the stairs to the roof, recalls the biblical story of the Healing of the Paralytic: And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. (Mark 2:4) With the type of construction seen in Capernaum, it would not have been difficult to raise the ceiling by the courtyard stairs and to remove a part to allow the bed to be brought down to where Jesus stood.

A study of the district located between the synagogue and the octagonal church showed that several families lived together in the patriarchal style, communally using the same courtyards and doorless internal passages. The houses had no hygienic facilities or drainage; the rooms were narrow. Most objects found were made of clay: pots, plates, amphoras, and lamps. Fish hooks, weights for fish nets, striker pins, weaving bobbins, and basalt mills for milling grain and pressing olives were also found (Loffreda, 1974).

As of the 4th century, the houses were constructed with good quality mortar and fine ceramics. This was about the time that the synagogue now visible was built. Differences in social class were not noticeable. Buildings constructed at the founding of the town continued to be in use until the time of the abandonment of the town.

One block of homes, called by the Franciscan excavators the sacra insula or holy insula (insula refers to a block of homes around a courtyard) was found to have a complex history. Located between the synagogue and the lakeshore, it was found near the front of a labyrinth of houses from many different periods. Three principal layers have been identified:

The excavators concluded that one house in the village was venerated as the house of Peter the fisherman as early as the mid-1st century, with two churches having been constructed over it (Loffreda, 1984).

See the original post here:
Jewish Heritage


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