Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on April 11, 2024

(JTA) Jews and non-Jews in Germany are rallying to the side of the Jewish community in Oldenburg after an attempted arson attack on its synagogue on Friday.

Hundreds of local residents held a solidarity demonstration on Sunday for the Jewish community. The turnout, by some estimates as high as 700, was more than twice as large as the Jewish population in the city of about 170,000 in northwest Germany.

In the incident, which took place midday on Friday, at least one unknown perpetrator threw a Molotov cocktail against the door of the synagogue, which was damaged. There were no injuries. Two caretakers from a neighboring cultural center discovered and extinguished the fire, according to a report in the Jewish weekly, the Juedische Allgemeine.

The State Security Police for Lower Saxony is investigating the incident, which Oldenburg Mayor Jrgen Krogmann called nothing other than attempted murder, terror, according to a report by the Deutsche Welle news agency. Security reportedly has been increased at the site.

Everything points to an antisemitic motivation, Josef Schuster, head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said in a statement.

Schuster said the local support does us good, as did the swift action taken by the security authorities. He added, We will not let this get us down.

In a statement Wednesday, the General Rabbinical Conference in Germany whose members mostly represent non-Orthodox congregations expressed shock at this latest attack on a synagogue and thus on Jewish life in Germany.

They praised the local response and called for solidarity with Oldenburg Rabbi Alina Treiger, who in 2010 became the first woman ordained in Germany since Regina Jonas in 1935.

Hundreds of people take part in a rally on Julius-Mosen-Platz in the city center of Oldenburg, Germany, to show their solidarity with the citys Jewish community after an arson attack on the citys synagogue, April 5, 2024. (Hauke-Christian Dittrich/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Oldenburg Jewish community chair Claire Schaub-Moore told the Berlin newspaper Tageszeitung that they had received a lot of encouragement, a lot of expressions of solidarity, not just the usual empty phrases.

But Michael Frst, president of the State Association of Jewish Communities in Lower Saxony, told Deutsche Welle that people were understandably anxious, saying, Its a short step from throwing a Molotov cocktail at a Jewish institution to shooting Jewish congregants during a religious service.

On Yom Kippur day in October 2019, a right-wing extremist tried to shoot his way into the synagogue in the city of Halle, and failing in that shot and killed two people in the vicinity. The perpetrator was caught, tried, and given a life sentence in 2020. Parole would be possible theoretically after 15 years, but his sentence includes a provision for preventive detention after that period.

Other incidents have been reported at synagogues across Germany in recent years, including a shooting at a synagogue in Essen in 2022 and the throwing of Molotov cocktails in Berlin in October; no one was injured in either incident. German officials concluded that a member of Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps had orchestrated the Essen shooting.

There has been a reported increase in antisemitic incidents since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and following Israels response in Gaza. According to the RIAS, the Antisemitism Research and Information Center based in Berlin, there were 994 incidents recorded in the first month alone. They included physical attacks, threats, graffiti and overheard antisemitic slurs, such as someone overheard saying, There should be 1 million Israeli victims, or a protester shouting at participants in a pro-Israel demonstration, Well slaughter you all! Everyone!

This weekend, a major German newspaper published a list of incidentsup to late March, to paint a picture of what Jews in the country are facing. Perpetrators are seldom caught. At the same time, the country, whose government is staunchly pro-Israel, has been home to substantive demonstrations of opposition to antisemitism, including a major rally in Berlin in December and, in January, a nationwide protest against a far-right political party that held a convening that its critics said echoed a conference held by the Nazis during the Holocaust.

As word spread about the latest incident in Oldenburg, police reported that the parents of a local Jewish student had filed charges only one day earlier, after two young men threatened her on her way to school. The unknown assailants reportedly tried to hold her and shouted antisemitic slurs. According to the police, the student who was able to wrest herself free was wearing a yellow bow in recognition of the Israelis held hostage in Gaza by Hamas.

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Synagogue in Oldenburg, Germany, is targeted with Molotov cocktail; hundreds rally in solidarity with Jewish community - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic...

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Posted By admin on April 11, 2024

At the beginning of this weeks Torah portion, we learn that a woman who has recently given birth to a boy is prohibited from entering the sanctuary for 40 days and that twice that long if she gives birth to a girl.

What did it feel like to be excluded for so many weeks? I dont know. But I have a hunch I know how it may have felt for the excluded woman to feel welcome again.

At the beginning of the pandemic, those of us who are regular synagogue goers learned what it was like to be unwelcome in sacred Jewish spaces. Like the woman who has given birth, we were excluded, no matter if we needed a minyan to say the Mourners Kaddish or if our child had spent months preparing to be called to the Torah as a bar or bat mitzvah. Most of us eventually found alternatives, like outdoor prayer or online worship. We made do because we had to, especially when there was no vaccine and we were terrified about contracting a deadly disease that was still bewildering doctors.

Early on, I was shocked when there were deaths in my community and only the rabbi and maybe the next of kin gathered at the gravesite. Watching these burials broadcast on Zoom felt like watching a science fiction movie about what the world would look like without the comfort of presence.

Initially, I had a hard time getting used to using technology on Shabbat morning to go to services. But its human nature to get used to new things. Soon enough, I was spending Shabbat mornings barefoot on my couch in my yoga clothes, a mug of coffee and my laptop on the table live streaming services. My husband, wearing a blanket over his tallit on cold days, was seated across from me, perched on the rocking chair. It was quite the look.

At first, I stood when the ark was open and the Torah was taken out, but it felt weird to rise facing an image on a screen. When the weather got nice, I left the living room and went outsideto wander in my garden when the rabbi gave us leave to silently recite the Amidah prayer. I confess: If I became mesmerized by stalks of asparagus popping up or distracted by neighbors stopping to photograph our oddly lush redbud tree, I risked forgetting to return to services.

In those early days, I would often switch to a different livestream if a bar or bat mitzvah kid was praying or reading the Torah in a voice that was just too hard to listen to. Likewise if a rabbis sermon didnt catch my attention. And then I found Bnai Jeshurun, one New York synagogue with extraordinary rabbis and a cantor. Soulful prayer and deep thinking; was beautiful. I would plop on the couch and call out to my husband, Were going to shul now! I listened to all the bar and bat mitzvah kids I didnt even know and cried along with the rabbi when she blessed them.

As the pandemic eased, I was no longer sure I would ever leave my couch and go back to my little synagogue. Few who take turns leading services can actually sing. Sermons, given by anyone in the community who signs up to deliver one, tend to go on and on. I preferred my pandemic Shabbat ritual.

Then one day, I found myself back at my local synagogue for a Passover morning service, the one where you say Yizkor, the prayer for remembering loved ones who have died. It was the first time I would be saying Yizkor after my mothers death. Maybe thats what propelled me off my couch and into real synagogue clothes (shoes too). I wore the most powerful doctor-approved mask I could find on Amazon.

I spent much of that service missing the exquisite musical experience of Bnai Jeshurun worship which, without fail, could lift my spirits or take me to a deep contemplative place. There were barely ten worshipers in the small chapel of our synagogue, and we were creaking and croaking our way through the service, as we do. The part of Yizkor when you say the mourners prayer came and went. It felt so heavy. So hard.

Then I felt the warmth and gentle pressure of an arm around my shoulder. My shul friend Emily, who knew my mother, had come to stand next to me. Vanessa, she said, that must have been very hard.

In Leviticus, the re-entry of a woman who has given birth is marked by a ritual: She meets the priest at the Tent of Meeting and brings him two live animals for sacrifice. It is the priest who makes expiation for her. Her return to spiritual purity and to the communitys sacred space comes vicariously.

Emilys non-virtual presence, her touch, her words that, and not a lamb, pigeon or turtle dove barbequed at the Tent of Meeting by a priestly chef was what constituted my ritual of return to Jewish sacred space. Because of Emily, I remembered how much we needed each other to pray.

This article initially appeared in My Jewish Learnings Shabbat newsletter Recharge on April 13, 2024. To sign up to receive Recharge each week in your inbox,click here.

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Rituals of Return - My Jewish Learning

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Posted By admin on April 11, 2024

The Thomas Lamont mansion went up for sale last year for the first time since it was built in 1922. Photo: Sothebys

There arent a lot of townhouses in New York City like 107 East 70th Street. The stone-and-brick Tudor Revival looks more like an Ivy League library than a family home, partly because of its scale six stories high, 55 feet wide and partly because of its leaded-glass windows, wood-paneled library, and an original Gothic fireplace carved with tiny toiling nuns. This all goes to explain why the building was listed at $45 million last year enough to buy four separate townhouses up and down the block.

That listing, in March 2023, was the first time the 23,000-square-foot home has been put up for sale since it broke ground over 100 years ago, and last week, a buyer finally closed. The Altneu, an orthodox synagogue, says its paying $34.5 million for the building; the broker for the seller declined to comment.

The synagogue was founded just three years ago by a young rabbi who split from one of the citys most established and moneyed Modern Orthodox synagogues, the 130-year-old Park East Synagogue a few blocks away. At first, the crowd that followed him met in his apartment; eventually, they began renting out ballrooms up and down the East Side, flitting between the Asia Society, the Pierre Hotel, and the Explorers Club, with stints at the Alliance Franaise and the Harold Pratt House. At one point, the various locations made it appealing, said Gideon Etra, a member from the beginning, who enjoyed the process of discovery in tracking down new addresses. But the logistics were a nightmare that required an event coordinator and endless reminders about where to show up. This is the one shul where you really have to read your emails, joked Rabbi Benjamin Goldschmidt, who said he did not enjoy telling a Jewish mother you dont know where her sons bar mitzvah is going to be in three weeks.

Rabbi Benjamin Goldschmidt and Rebbetzin Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt outside the home. Photo: Daniel Landesman

Now, they do. Goldschmidt says the building came to them by a divine hand but also gave credit for finding the space and fundraising to a board that includes bankers, CEOs, and a Blackstone executive. The goal is to get inside the building by Passover with no drastic renovations. Etra, a real-estate investor and involved community member, says they plan to hold services in a great room on the ground floor, to turn an oak-paneled library into a batei midrash to study Torah, and put more classrooms upstairs. Then theres the walled yard. There will definitely be a sukkah in the garden, said Goldschmidt.

Leaded windows. The home has a side yard, allowing light in on three sides. Photo: Sothebys

The mansion was built in 1922, incidentally for the Presbyterian son of a Methodist pastor, Thomas Lamont. The financier (whose memoir is titled My Boyhood in a Parsonage) is now best known for his work as a statesman working out deals to uphold the economies of Germany, France, and Italy after World War I. He and his wife Florence were renting when they bought three separate townhomes, and their interest in Tudor Revival may have come out of their Presbyterian religion also rooted in 16th-century Britain or their interest in English religious spaces. (They donated half a million dollars to restore Canterbury Cathedral in 1947.) Its almost the last thing youd pick if you were choosing a historic style out of the aether to choose for a synagogue, said Louis Loftus, a Ph.D. candidate at Princeton who has studied the Jewish uses of Tudor Revival buildings. (He was especially interested in 770 Eastern Parkway,the brick Tudor Revival mansion built around a central oriel window that is now the home of the Chabad Lubavitch, but he also cited an example that may be more familiar to Manhattanites: Zabars.)

A mantel in the oak-paneled library is an imported Gothic antique, according to a 1922 article in Architectural Record. The stone is carved with figures of nuns. Photo: Sothebys

When Florence Lamont died in 1954, she donated the house to the Visiting Nurse Service, now known as VNS Health, the oldest nursing organization in the country devoted to public health. The group used it for meetings and office space and renovated in 2009, but its real-estate needs changed during the pandemic, according to a spokesperson. The mansions past as a bright, functional office space for nurses and as a grand home filled with fine details seemed right for a congregation that Rabbi Goldschmidt said is striving to be elegant, but not formal.Aliza Licht, a member and brand strategy consultant, described it as chic. Its this idea of bringing back classic, sophisticated New York, she said, which fit with the groups years of wandering through East Side hotel ballrooms. This particular space is so on-brand for them.

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The Altneu Synagogue Buys the Thomas Lamont Mansion - Curbed

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Posted By admin on April 11, 2024

Learn to make pita on the firepit and well even try our hands at making matzah! Whats the difference between making pita and making matzah? Come by to find out!

Never miss the best stories and events! Get JewishBoston This Week.

We can enjoy our pita with hummus, High Noon and beer. All of the chametz (yeast) must go!

Fact Sheet

When

Sunday, April 14, 2024, 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Where

The Boston Synagogue 55 Martha Rd Boston, MA 02114

CJP provides the above links concerning third-party events for your convenience only. CJP has no control over the content of the linked-to websites or events they describe, and accepts no responsibility for the websites, including any advertising or products or services on or available from such sites, or for any loss or damage that may arise from your attending, or registering to attend, the described events. If you decide to access any of the third-party websites linked to below, you do so entirely at your own risk and subject to the terms and conditions of use for such websites and event attendance. CJP is not responsible or liable to you or any third party for the content or accuracy of any materials provided by any third parties. All statements and/or opinions expressed in the linked-to materials or at the described events, and all commentary, articles and other content provided at the third-party websites or at the events, are solely the opinions and the responsibility of the persons or entities operating the linked-to websites and events. The inclusion of any link on this website does not imply that CJP endorses the described event, or the linked-to website or its operator. MORE

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NexGen Firepit Schmooze, Drinks and Pita/Matzah Making - jewishboston.com

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Posted By admin on April 11, 2024

Story and Photos by Mimi Pollack and Fred Kropveld

SAN DIEGO As someone who is not comfortable with organized religion, I rarely go to a temple or synagogue. However, I am all in when a house of worship opens its doors to artists, so they can display their work.

This past Sunday, Tifereth Israel Synagogue hosted its First Annual Artists Showcase. Many talented artists came out to proudly display their creations which ranged from art, books, music, photography, woodworking, other crafts and Israeli stamp collecting. The event was jointly sponsored by the Tifereth Israel Synagogue Mens Club and Sisterhood.

Inside the synagogues social hall, rows of tables were set up with the artists showing and explaining their work. It was a lovely spring day, and I was happy to see so many people participating. It was artist Roni Breites first exhibit and she set up a beautiful display table and wall behind her. By the end of the afternoon, she had sold eight pieces, and was thrilled. More on this artist in an upcoming article.

Here are some photos that Fred Kropveld and I took at the event and the people we spoke to.

Bill Goldschneider proudly showed his large body of Judaica work which was for display only. His woodworking and paper folding art won Best of Show awards last summer at the San Diego County Fair at Del Mar.

Being able to display Goldschneiders work to fellow congregants at Tifereth Israel and the chance to exhibit the photographs of Leah Horstman, who also took Best of Show awards at the county fair was the impetus for creating the synagogues first annual art show.

Ken Reifman displayed daughter Leah Horstmans award-winning nature photographs, two of which are pictured below him. Horstmans work has been published by National Geographic.

While the majority of the exhibitors were members of Tifereth Israel Synagogue, a Conservative congregation, members of other congregations also participated. For example, Ben Schindler, who is a member of Temple Emanu-El, was there with M. Lee Connolly, author of Two Who Survived, a told to book about Bens late parents, Holocaust survivors Max and Rose Schindler. Max and Rose were beloved members of Tifereth Israel.

Ben Schindlers sister, Roxanne Schindler Katz, a Tifereth Israel congregant, works with her brother to keep the memory of their mother alive. I (Mimi) had the privilege of meeting Rose before she passed, and she was a very dear woman. In this photo. Roxanne at right is with Carleigh Gold, whose resin art frequently incorporates stones.

Musician, author, and film maker, the multi-talented Yale Strom, sold his CD, The Wolf and the Lamb, as well as a book by his wife, Elizabeth Schwartz, The Sweet Fragrance of Life. Strom, an ethnomusicologist, klezmer musician, and artist-in-residence at San Diego State University, had been a speaker for Tifereth Israels Mens Club.

Mens Club President Ben Dishman and his wife, Robin Dishman, were both exhibitors. Robin displayed her intricate Judaica paper cuts.

Ben showed his paintings and photographs and sold copies of his book, I Can Fix That Well Maybe. The book is about his experiences as a psychiatric pharmacist at the Veterans Administration, and what drugs are appropriately prescribed for various mental illnesses.

I (Mimi) am an American citizen by birth who was raised in Mexico City. I was delighted to be able to speak in Spanish with such Latin American-born exhibitors as fine artist Amparo Goldman, a Colombian, who calls her large, colorful, eye-catching, Judaic-themed paintings her spiritual expression.

I also was delighted to speak with Argentine Judy Shear, whose architect husband Hillel Shear, paints bright, shining, portraits of animals.

Oscar Worm, known to many as the now retired co-proprietor with his wife Olga of Bekkers Catering, also is a master woodworker with pots and bowls being among his favorite objects to fashion.

Podiatrist Jeff Korn is an amateur photographer who for the first time sold his photos of animals at the show. He was so happy about that feat.

Lizeth Hernandez exhibited nude silhouette photography as well as her paintings.

Steve Speiser exhibited a range of desk and kitchen objects of his design, while psychologist Shayna Kaufmann sold a book on business leadership by her husband Eric while promoting her own forthcoming book, Embrace The Middle.

There were other artists and artisans exhibiting there as well, and we wish that we could have talked to them all.

Don Harrison, San Diego Jewish Worlds publisher and editor, provided much of the information for this article. He sold and signed some of the nine books he has written about Jewish life and heritage in San Diego County, the most recent of which was the three-volume Schlepping and Schmoozing Along the Interstate 5.

Harrison was part of the six-person committee, equally representing the Mens Club and the Sisterhood, that organized the art show. Other committee members were Roz Allina, Ella Cashuk, and Rochelle Rubinstein for the Sisterhood, and Phil Lorang and Ken Reichman for the Mens Club. There was no charge to either exhibitors or attendees, although some money was raised for the synagogue by raffling off items that were donated by the exhibitors and the sale of food items.

* Mimi Pollack is a freelance writer and Fred Kropveld is a freelance photographer whose works have been appreciatively published in San Diego Jewish World.

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Artists' and Artisans' Show Lures Her to a Synagogue - San Diego Jewish World

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Posted By admin on April 11, 2024

Students from Colby College helped harvest ice from a pond for a new mikvah, or ritual bath, at a synagogue in Waterville.

WHY WERE HERE

Were exploring how America defines itself one place at a time. When a synagogue in Maine needed water for a ceremonial Jewish bath, it drew on a fitting natural source, with the help of some friends.

By Jenna Russell

Photographs by Tristan Spinski

Reporting from Waterville and Strong, Maine

Standing on a frozen pond in western Maine one Sunday morning last month, wearing L.L. Bean boots and a hooded sweatshirt, Rabbi Rachel Isaacs paused to consecrate the ice beneath her feet before she commandeered it for a higher purpose.

Blessed are you, God, who has brought us to this moment! the rabbi belted out. Austin Thorndike, a member of her congregation at Beth Israel Synagogue in Waterville, stood beside her. When the prayer was over, he fired up his chain saw and bent to dip it into the hard surface of the pond, deftly making four quick cuts to free a slick, white, cartoon-perfect block of ice.

The ice was destined for a highly unusual end. As the blocks multiplied, a crew of Colby College student athletes sprang into action, pulling them from the pond, pushing them to shore and swiftly loading them into waiting trucks. Next, the frozen cargo would be driven 40 miles to the synagogue, where the students would carry it to the basement. There, they would wipe each block clean with a cloth, stack it in the congregations brand-new mikvah, and leave it to melt.

The mikvah a traditional Jewish bath used in rites of renewal and purification for thousands of years would elevate this small synagogue in Waterville, a city of 16,000, to a destination for people from across Maine seeking a symbolic fresh start. But its creation, in accordance with ancient Jewish law, was not as simple as turning on a tap. To be kosher, a new mikvah must be initiated with living water, taken straight from nature.

Harvesting ice from a pond was not the easiest approach. (Collecting rainwater is more common.) But the woodsy, wintry plan felt right for Maine, participants said. So did the involvement of Colby students, some of them Jewish and some not.

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A Frozen Pond and a New Way to Experience an Ancient Jewish Ritual in Maine - The New York Times

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Posted By admin on April 11, 2024

(JTA) On Saturday night, I watched an episode of We Were the Lucky Ones,Hulus new Holocaust series. On Sunday morning, I woke up to a traumatic scene in my own community:a red swastika painted on the bannerthat sits on the front lawn of the suburban Philadelphia synagogue where my husband is the rabbi.

Even though it wasnt shattered glass, or broken bones, it was painful to see it there, right there, in our own backyard, on our property, on our beloved banner that advertises our early childhood program and the summer camp my children will attend. It was vandalism, an ugly symbol that has only one meaning for generations: Jews, you are hated. Jews, you are not welcome. Jews, you should be afraid.

My husband and his committee of leaders and professionals from the synagogue, Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El, sprang into action in response. I left on a planned hike with my children, ages 4 and 7, keeping them away from the news vans and police cars that occupied the parking lot of their school and synagogue.

I knew what was unfolding back at the synagogue was notable. On Easter, our police came to investigate, Christian clergy called to support us and spoke at our vigil and prayer service, and politicians all reached out from our state senator to our congressman to Gov. Josh Shapiro. It was a miraculous response when you consider the arc of Jewish history, when Jews have often felt alone in the face of so much persecution, oppression and violence, especially on Christian holidays.

But it wasnt until I answered my childrens questions that I felt comforted.

They asked, Where is Abba? Why has he been gone all day? Heres whatI answered:

Abba is gone because he is taking care of our community and helping everyone feel safe and feel better, because right now they are sad. Someone we dont know who drew a picture on the blue sign and its a picture that represents a way of being mean to Jews and hating Jews and when Jewish people see the picture, it makes them feel sad because it reminds them that there are some people in the world who hate Jews.

They asked: Why do some people in the world hate Jews?

I answered: Jews as a people have been around for thousands of years and as long as there have been people, people have been hating other people for being different. Being with people who are just like us makes us feel safe, and sometimes when we see someone who is different, or go somewhere new, we feel afraid. And we dont like to feel afraid, so we tell ourselves a story about our fear that the other people must be bad. And that reason isnt true, because those people arent all bad: Every person makes good choices and bad choices, but all people are just people making choices every day, just like us.

But some of the things that people dont like about Jews is that we do different things and we like to stay different. Some Jews wear different clothes, some eat their own special food, we like to celebrate our holidays at a specific time and even when some Jews like to share our special traditions, sometimes it takes a lot of work to understand what they mean. So as long as there have been Jews, there has been something called antisemitism, which is a word that specifically means hatred of Jewish people. And the people who perhaps hated Jews the most were called the Nazis, and they lived a long time ago in Germany, where they used the same picture they painted on our banner to inspire other people to hate Jews also.

Today, you are safe. You are not in any danger because you are Jewish. We live here in America, where Jews have never been safer or freer in the whole history of being Jewish.The governor of Pennsylvania himself is a proud, practicing Jewwho sends his children to Jewish day school and celebrates being Jewish and is proud of representing his country through his service to his state. The police take care of us when we are hurt. You can go to school where there are Muslims, and Christians, and people of color who are Jewish and similar to you and different from you, and on most days we all get along. It is rare and it is a big deal that someone draws a hateful picture, and the reason we make a big deal out of it is that we want to teach and show everyone that this picture means something hateful, and you cant draw it anywhere.

But since the war in Israel, more and more people are drawing these pictures, and writing words in graffiti, and protesting Jewish-owned businesses and Israeli embassies because of the war between the Israelis and the Palestinians. And while we dont know this for sure, its likely that the person drew the hateful symbol on our banner because it was talking about Israel. The banner says, Our community stands with Israel. And this is true. Our community stands by the people of Israel, the right of the Jewish people to have a homeland in their ancient home, the right of Jews to live free from persecution and oppression, the right of Jews to feel safe and secure, the right of Jews to protect themselves, the right of all citizens of Israel Jews and Christians, Arab and Druze who fight for a free and democratic Israel.

The symbol that they drew does not say what we also believe: that Palestinians should live freely and safely, that all people deserve a life of liberty and self-determination, that a bloody and horrible war should end with the return of those who were taken hostage, and peace should come to both peoples, neither of whom will go anywhere but deserve to live in peace side by side. This is what the majority of us want and hope for and if the sign were big enough, thats what it should have said.

Abba wrote to our community, A swastika is not a commentary on the policies of the State of Israel, nor is it a sign of solidarity with Palestinians. It is a symbol of hatred and division. We, the leadership of the synagogue, want everyone to know that we will not give in to fear or division.

Abba does not want us to be afraid and he does not want us to be alone. When someone hurts our feelings, we teach them what they can do to repair and make it better. We do not give up on our friends, we believe in them, and we reach out to them, and we work together, so that we can all live peacefully and safely side by side.

And today made us feel sad, I said, but we are not going to stop being proud of being Jewish. Its some of the best parts of who we are.

By that point, I had completely lost my childrens attention; they went back to playing with their friends on the playground. And it was unclear how much of that they understood or how many lingering worries they will have about their safety and their place in this world. But I felt better having said it safer, still sad, but more at peace because I knew, as soon as the words left my mouth, that this is the complicated, real truth of what it means to be Jewish in America right now and for better or worse, being Jewish in America means days like this.

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What I Told My Children When Our Synagogue Was Graffitied With a Swastika - The Jewish News

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Posted By admin on April 11, 2024

David Bocarsly

SACRAMENTO, California The California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) announced on Wednesday $40 million in awards for the California State Nonprofit Security Grant Program (CSNSGP).

[Six Jewish institutions in San Diego County received a total of $1,391,850 in security grants, including $250,000 each for the Chabad Hebrew Academy, Jewish Federation of San Diego County, and the little known San Diego Community Kollel, located on El Cajon Boulevard in the College area. Two grants of $249,000 each were made to Tifereth Israel Synagogue and Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School. Chabad of Pacific Beach will receive $143,850.]

The purpose of the program is to provide funding to strengthen building security and other physical enhancements to nonprofit organizations that are at high risk for violent attacks and hate crimes due to ideology, beliefs, or mission. Recipients of these funds include synagogues and other faith-based institutions, LGBTQ and community centers, and reproductive health facilities.

Security infrastructure has always been a priority for the Jewish community, but the need has increased dramatically since October 7th, said David Bocarsly, JPACs Executive Director. Today, we are relieved to know that synagogues and other institutions impacted by hate will be safer. Were grateful to Governor Newsom for continuing to prioritize this program, and to the Legislative Jewish Caucus for working with us to champion this request.

JPAC led the community-based advocacy efforts for this funding, which was championed by the Legislative Jewish Caucus, co-chaired by Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel and Senator Scott Wiener, and supported by the Black, Latino, AAPI, and LGBTQ Legislative Caucuses.

During the 2023 budget negotiations, amidst a $32 billion budget deficit, Governor Newsom and the legislature put $20 million into the budget for this program. Following October 7th, the Governor unilaterally doubled the existing funding, bringing the total to $40 million. The state is facing an even bigger budget deficit this year and clawing back unspent funds to balance the budget. However, the Governors recent Golden State Plan to Counter Antisemitism (released April 5, 2024) committed to granting all $40 million dedicated for this program. Wednesdays announcement is the actualization of that commitment.

The CSNSGP was oversubscribed again this year, making the application process particularly selective. The state reviewed a record 1,254 applications totaling over $255 million in need in communities across California, nearly double the previous record. Only 193 applicants were awarded funding, representing around 15% of the applicant pool.

This program is critical to the institutions who were awarded funds, but the sheer number of applicants demonstrates that the demand for this program remains much higher, said Bocarsly. We will continue toadvocate for more funding in the upcoming budget cycle to meet the overwhelming need of Californias vulnerable communities.

* Preceding provided by the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California.

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S.D. Jewish Institutions to Receive $1.14 Million in State Grants - San Diego Jewish World

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Posted By admin on April 11, 2024

Join us for a musical crankie, a storytelling adventure with original music by the Magid Ensemble!

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Whats a crankie? Its a long scroll that illustrates a story as it unwinds. Based on a folktale by A.C. Weaver and inspired by traditional Yiddish folklore, follow a young womans quest from the realms of the dead to the gardens of the immortal, all to restore her friends lost voice. The narrative is told through live original klezmer music, and Kiah Raymonds crankie incorporates shadow puppetry inspired by Jewish paper-cut art.

And introducing the Magid Ensemble, a new collaboration featuring award-winning klezmer musicians and composers Mattias Kaufmann, Raffi Boden and Rachel Leader, Yiddishist storyteller A.C. Weaver and visual artist Kiah Raymond. The Magid Ensemble explores the interplay of sound, story, light and shadow to create expressive and immersive storytelling landscapes. This dynamic performance is geared toward audiences of all ages!

A reception with light bites, slivovitz, wine and open top-shelf bar follows the performance.

Fact Sheet

When

Wednesday, April 17, 2024, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Where

The Boston Synagogue 55 Martha Rd Boston, MA 02114

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Shterna and the Lost Voice, a New Yiddish Folktale - jewishboston.com

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Posted By admin on April 11, 2024

The sanctuary inside KI that Shaare Shamayim might now use. (Photo by Jarrad Saffren)

In 1966, Congregation Shaare Shamayim of South Philadelphia merged with the Greater Northeast Jewish Congregation. The unified community later changed its name to Congregation Shaare Shamayim GNJC.

Shaare Shamayim means gates of heaven. And in the late 60s and early 70s, many Philadelphia Jews were walking through those gates. As shaareshamayim.org explains, a sanctuary of 600 was not big enough, prompting a building expansion project.

Today though, that number is down to about 300 families, according to Jacques Lurie, the synagogues executive director. Its down even though Shaare Shamayim has merged with 13 other synagogues since 1989.

Fewer local Jews have been walking through the gates of heaven. And now, those gates will be moving and owned by another synagogue: Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel in Elkins Park.

The Congregations of Shaare Shamayim (the name is now plural) are in the process of selling the Northeast Philadelphia property to the Block Church, according to Lurie. If the sale goes through, Shaare Shamayim will move into a wing of KI with its own entrance, offices, a kosher kitchen and a sanctuary/social hall.

Its the same space that Melrose Bnai Israel Emanu-El has occupied since 2012. Melrose saw its membership decline from 200 to about 140 during COVID, according to synagogue President Shelley Schwartz. Melrose Bnai Israel Emanu-El is unifying with another Old York Road synagogue, Congregation Adath Jeshurun, on July 1.

We have an opportunity to dramatically extend the life of the congregation, Lurie said.

It continues our goal of being a center for Jewish life and learning, KI Executive Director Brian Rissinger added. We had a wonderful 12-year partnership with Melrose, and were excited at the opportunity to build the partnership with Shaare Shamayim.

Shaare Shamayim never planned to move, according to Lurie. Its Verree Road property was not on the market. The congregation got an unexpected offer from the church about six weeks ago.

The offer is $5 million.

I think people understand the fact that theres financial stress, Lurie said.

After that offer, the synagogues executive committee and board of directors approved it unanimously, the director said. They also thought of KI because they knew Melrose would be leaving. The information was reported in the Jewish Exponent in January.

Everything we heard was KI had a wonderful relationship with Melrose as a landlord, so it made sense to go and check it out, Lurie said.

Synagogue leaders did not give members a chance to officially comment during the six weeks following the offer, according to Lurie. But on April 7, the congregation gathered in what might become its new sanctuary at KI. Members voted 152-19 to approve the deal.

Before people can tell you what they think, you want them to understand what the facts are. We wanted them to come to the meeting, give their opinion and then they did as a vote, Lurie said.

But KI is on the eastern side of Montgomery County. Many of Shaare Shamayims members live in Bucks County to the north and Philadelphia to the east. Most of the members are also older.

Lurie said Shaare Shamayim has committed to provide transportation to any of our members who would have a problem getting to KI.

The executive director does not have an official timeline for a move because the real estate deal is not done. But he did say it could happen as early as December. Rissinger confirmed that Shaare Shamayim would likely move after the High Holidays.

Its a brighter future, Lurie said. Its been a bright future. If this occurs, its going to be that much brighter.

The congregations would remain separate, but they would collaborate on certain programs. Lurie and Rissinger said Shaare Shamayims upcoming greenhouse could add to KIs mitzvah garden.

It creates wonderful synergy between the communities of people that are committed to raising food for the needy, Rissinger said.

The extra wing in KI was built as an extension to the building in 1967, according to Rissinger. KIs congregation has dropped from about 1,200 families to around 800 in recent years.

It helps to utilize the assets we have, Rissinger said of the renting partnerships.

KI also houses the Holocaust Awareness Museum and Education Center.

We think that its better for the community as a whole that we can be a hub for assembly, for learning, for worship, Rissinger said.

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Congregations of Shaare Shamayim Planning to Move from Northeast Philadelphia to Old York Road - Jewish Exponent

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