Former President Donald Trump, fervent Israel supporter and defender of our Constitution, will speak, next week, at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), to be held, for the first time out of D.C., and in Orlando Florida. CPAC is the largest and most influential gathering of conservatives in the world. This yearly event brings together hundreds of conservative organizations, thousands of activists and untold millions of viewers to see, mingle with and hear the brightest leaders of the world expound on issues that impact all of us, liberals, progressives and conservatives. In addition to the move of the venue to Florida, obviously, as a thumb in the eye to the radical leadership of D.C. and its environs, Matt Schlapp, the group’s president told us it was in support of the Sunshine State’s Governor Ron DeSantis for his “commonsense leadership. Florida has kept its economy, schools and houses of worship open while balancing the health and safety of Floridians. CPAC believes that Florida is the right state to host CPAC 2021!” Our own fellow New Yorkers must look with envy at the moral and civic leadership of DeSantis compared to the ineptitude of our own governor.
Trump, who lives just a few hours drive south of Orlando, will surely discuss the future of his own Republican Party which sadly is now in a bit of internal disarray. It’s also a good bet that he’ll focus on President Biden’s horrid, dangerous amnesty and border policy. Our nation, that is, those of us with some solid matter between our ears, are preparing for the worst news out of puppet-Biden’s mouth relating to his recent pleadings with Iran to come back to the “bargaining table” to make demands that we will surely fulfill. Such as removing all of Trump’s economic, diplomatic and military sanctions and the immediate thumbs-up for that terrorist-supporting state to complete its nuclear ambitions. Biden’s staff of former Obama honchos, now controlling the White House are preparing the much feared “kiss Iran’s butt” script for Biden to blindly follow. And he will mindlessly do as directed. And don’t forget the tidal wave of hatred directed against all White people by radical blacks and mimicked by their robot-like progressive, dumb-as-dirt liberal, Democrat White lemmings. We want to hear Trump’s ideas and plans of action to counter and educate us regarding these dangerous moves and currents.
Most assuredly, the Progressive politicos and their first line of defense, the mainstream media, will predictably bleat that a former president should disappear into retirement, not get involved with issues relating to his successor and should keep his mouth shut. Of course, the string pullings, non-stop, by ex-President Obama are routinely omitted from their commentary. Trump, who has not appeared at any major event since January 20h till speak on the last day of the event, on Sunday, February 28th. Tune in. Listen. Be motivated and keep the faith. We wish him and his beautiful family the best. Our publisher will be at the event and will report back to us from Orlando.
In its latest show, NBC’s Saturday Night Live exploited a vicious stereotype about Jews just to get a laugh.
Its “news anchor” stated that Israel has already vaccinated half of its population. The anchor then snidely remarked, “I’m going to guess it’s the Jewish half.”
Had Lorne Michaels, founder and producer of Saturday Night Live checked, he would have found that Israel has already vaccinated 70% of its Arab population over 60 years old, directly resulting in a delay for many of its Jewish citizens within Israel. In addition, had Mr. Michaels checked, he would have found that Israel offered the vaccine to Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Arab Authority, who refused the vaccine, placing his hatred of Israel above concern for his own Muslim constituents.
The producers of Saturday Night Live decided they would sacrifice the truth and demonize the Jewish State for the sake of a cheap laugh or, worse, enable an age old blood libel accusing Jews of manufacturing and spreading plagues while being indifferent to others. Surely Mr. Michaels knows of the heroic efforts Israel has made in creating vaccines, medicines, and state-of-the art medical equipment to alleviate not only the coronavirus but also every type of disease found across the globe.
The Saturday Night Live crew would do best to educate themselves on how Israel, matched only by the United States, has sent its transportable medical units immediately to every part of the globe facing a meteorological or medical catastrophe.
The Saturday Night Live crew would never be this callous, nor stereotype a Muslim or LTGBQ group. They know that in today’s culture, such demonization would get them cancelled and removed from media outlets.
The demands for perfection made by left-leaning media outlets are directed mostly against the United States and Israel. Why are there never demands that Muslim countries and organizations step up to the plate and help others, as is continually demanded of Israel, the United States, Jews and Christians?”
Sincerely Rabbi Aryeh Spero
Rabbi Spero is president of Conference of Jewish Affairs author of Push Back: The Battle to Save Our American Judeo-Christian Heritage, and an advisor to public office holder
LI Town Thanks HealthCare Workers
Dear Editor:
Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino and members of the Town Board invite residents to help recognize Healthcare Heroes by writing Thank You letters that will be distributed during National Public Health Week, which runs from April 5th to April 11th. During National Public Health Week, thousands of Thank You letters will be distributed from residents to frontline healthcare workers who, over the past year, have bravely battled the COVID-19 pandemic at hospitals, healthcare centers, and nursing homes.
“This past year has been one of the toughest ones as the war against the global coronavirus pandemic continues to rage on. No one group has seen the devastating effects of COVID-19 more than our frontline Healthcare Heroes, who have bravely battled day in and day out at our hospitals, healthcare centers, and nursing homes, in an effort to help as many people as possible,” Supervisor Saladino said. “Together, we will let our courageous doctors, nurses, and healthcare heroes know that they and their sacrifices have not been forgotten – in the midst of the most challenging public health crisis of our lifetime. I invite all residents to participate in this program, and help let our healthcare heroes know what an incredible difference they are making in so many lives.”
To participate in this rewarding experience, residents are asked to either create Thank You cards or use the form found on www.oysterbaytown.com/healthcarehero. Letters should be returned by Friday, March 19th, to ensure their proper distribution. Letters may be mailed directly to Town Hall North, located at 54 Audrey Avenue, Oyster Bay, NY 11771 or dropped off weekdays from 9:00am to 4:45pm at the following locations:
Town Hall North, 54 Audrey Avenue, Oyster Bay
Town Hall South, 977 Hicksville Road, Massapequa
Ice Skating Center, 1001 Stewart Avenue, Bethpage
Hicksville Athletic Center, 167 S. Broadway, Hicksville
Department of Public Works, 150 Miller Place, Syosset
For more information and additional details, please contact Esther Alter at (516) 624-6380 or [email protected].
Sincerely Marta Kane
The Road to Prosperity Begins
Dear Editor:
Three years after the hunger strike, work began Sunday in Judea and Samaria on a road to bypass the town of Hawara.
The effort was led by Samaria Regional Council Chief Yossi Dagan, along with then-heads Avi Naim and Malachi Levinger and several bereaved families.
This is one of the most expensive and strategic projects in Judea and Samaria and its cost is estimated at ILS 260 million. The road is intended to connect the center of the country to the localities of Gav HaHar, Yitzhar, Itamar, Elon Moreh and Har Bracha, and will provide a safe trip for residents and passengers to these areas.
Yossi Dagan stated, “This is a groundbreaking, historic moment for Samaria and the entire settlement effort. In about two years, the mountain settlements will become accessible to the center of the country. The road is expected to make traveling in the area safer for both Arabs and Jews, it is hoped that paving the road will lead to prosperity in the area.”
On many AFSI Chizuk MIssions we have driven through Hawara. It will certainly be a tremendous help to the communities in Samaria to have this road built. Talks about it have been on the table for years. Completing this project will make travel to and from the Shomron so much safer. We applaud this long overdue measure.
Sincerely AFSI Staff – Americans for a Safe Israel
Rush Hudson Limbaugh, III, the iconic leader of conservative talk radio left this world after a brave battle against lung cancer
I will never forget the vital lessons that Rush taught us
By: James O’Keefe
It is with great sadness that I learned my dear friend, inspirational figure, and American radio icon Rush Limbaugh has passed away.
I will never forget what Rush said when someone once asked him about how he handled being hated:
There’s a good reason for the media hating me. And once I came to grips with that fact, that there’s a reason they should hate me, then it makes sense. One of the toughest things I had to do was learn to psychologically accept the fact that being hated was a sign of success. Most people aren’t raised to be hated. We’re all raised to be loved. We want to be loved. We’re told to do things to be loved and appreciated and liked. We’re raised, don’t offend anybody, be nice. Everybody wants total acceptance. Everybody wants respect. Everybody wants to be loved, and so when you learn that what you do is going to engender hatred you have to learn to accept that as a sign of success. That was a tough psychological thing for me.
Here are some of my favorite moments with Rush Limbaugh. I will never forget them:
In the early Project Veritas days, Rush reminded me what it meant to have moral courage.
The first question he ever asked me on-air was about how much moral cowardice I had seen from people – even on the right:
Rush Limbaugh: “Have you ever encountered people on our side who have let you down? Who’ve said you know ‘James, you’re putting too much pressure on us.’ Have you had any people on our side ask you to tone it down?”
James O’Keefe: “You know Rush, one of the things you said that really resonated with me is — you said that our adversaries circle the wagons, and our allies circle the firing squad. I have come to know this over the last few years in a sort of baptism by fire.”
Rush once read an entire column I wrote with my mentor Andrew Breitbart on the air, where I explained why I refused to speak with CNN. Network producers had gotten ahold of my phone number and dialed me so frequently I couldn’t make outgoing calls that morning.
Andrew advised against taking the interview because their mission was not to expose truth, but to destroy my credibility as a journalist. CNN frequently took partisan stances on the ACORN story and worked to defend the organization’s staff following our investigation.
Due to their dishonest statements and refusal to cover the ACORN story fairly, I instead chose to write an op-ed for BigGovernment.com in a preemptive strike, which was later read on air by Rush.
From an Intrepid CNN Producer:
9-11-09 | James O’Keefe
70 times he was called.
As read on “The Rush Limbaugh Show”
So far CNN has only reported on the breaking story on blatant ACORN CORRUPTION from angles that attempt to extricate the government funded “community organizing” enterprise from the extreme crime we caught on videotape.
First CNN pushed the false ACORN line that “[t]his film crew tried to pull this sham at other offices and failed.”
To set that record straight please check the Washington D.C. tape we dropped today at BigGovernment.com, which is also being aired on your cable news competitor with curiously higher ratings.
Now that ACORN lied to you, Jonathan Klein, what are you going to do?
Here’s what I have noticed from your coverage: You brought in the damage control crowd to FRAME the story. Before even airing our damning Baltimore video. You know your audience would turn on ACORN if you showed them the evidence. So instead, you put your competitors in journalism in the crosshairs instead of airing a blockbuster report making massive waves elsewhere.
You even trotted out shameless Clinton era apologist Joe Conason to challenge the ETHICS of our expose. Unreal.
What about the ethics of those at ACORN caught on tape trying to help create a brothel featuring illegal immigrant age range 13-15 from El Salvador?
What about the countless laws broken on tape from a group that stands to get billions from President Obama’s “stimulus” package?
Why don’t we wait to have the Columbia Journalism School debate on “journalistic ethics” after you do actual journalism.
When you air the raw ACORN footage that is now viral on the Internet and being played on FOX NEWS and countless talk radio shows, then and only then — when America can see, hear and smell the stench we have exposed — will I subject myself to a CNN hit job.
The op-ed itself went wildly viral. That blew me away. Friends were texting me nonstop.
This was the purest form of media warfare. This is what I was born to do.
Rush understood this. He knew, like I did, that the media is more powerful than all three branches of government.
Klein, the CNN president, would be let go a year later. On his departure, the New York Times noted the network’s ratings had “languished, while Fox’s and MSNBC’s have improved, leading some media critics to publicly wonder how he managed to keep his job.” We wondered too.
I will miss Rush, as I’m sure you will too.
He dedicated his life to this country, the least we can do is honor his memory in our everyday lives.
Rush, may God give your beautiful soul a nice and warm welcome into heaven.
James O’Keefe established Project Veritas in 2011 as a non-profit journalism enterprise to continue his undercover reporting work. Today, Project Veritas investigates and exposes corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, fraud, and other misconduct in both public and private institutions to achieve a more ethical and transparent society.
As Glenn Bunting of the Los Angeles Times reported in 1997, Feinstein’s husband Richard Blum “has expanded his private business interests in China – to the point that his firm is now a prominent investor inside the communist nation.”
What that means for America’s patriotic movement
By: Lloyd Billingsley
On February 11, Joe Biden announced sanctions on Burma for a recent coup in that nation, also known as Myanmar. “The military must relinquish power they’ve seized and demonstrate respect for the will of the people of Burma as expressed in their November 8 election,” Biden said. For the current occupant of the White House, first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972, that was something of a departure.
During a political career of nearly 50 years, it’s hard to find the Delaware Democrat urging China’s ruling Communist Party to respect the will of the people and hold free elections. As they made clear at Tiananmen square in 1989, the people of China want freedom, democracy, and human rights. The Communist regime deployed massive military force against the people, but for Joe Biden that proved no object to China’s admission to the World Trade Organization.
As the Black Book of Communism and other studies confirm, China’s Communist regime has murdered scores of millions, but American politicians demanded no accounting, or punishment of those responsible, as a condition of WTO admission and trade privileges. Neither did they require free multi-party elections, or self-determination for Tibet, as a condition of joining the WTO.
Access to the American market was supposed to make China more peaceful, but the regime became more repressive and expansionist. On the other hand, American politicians made plenty of money. Prominent among them is Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a regular guest of the PRC since the 1970s and a staunch advocate for China’s most favored nation status.
As Glenn Bunting of the Los Angeles Times reported in 1997, Feinstein’s husband Richard Blum “has expanded his private business interests in China – to the point that his firm is now a prominent investor inside the communist nation.” In 1995, Dianne Feinstein became a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, “giving her a prominent platform for her efforts to support China’s trade privileges.”
As Ben Weingarten noted in the Federalist in 2018, Feinstein’s husband has “profited handsomely from the greatly expanded China trade she supported.” The senator also “served as a key intermediary between China and the U.S. government, while serving on committees whose work would be of keen interest to the PRC.”
For 20 years, through three election cycles, Feinstein maintained on her staff a Chinese spy who would even attend consular functions for the California Democrat. One wonders what the FBI knew, when they knew it, and what they did about it, if anything.
Other politicians with China business connections include Mitch McConnell and Nancy Pelosi, whose husband has conducted a series of deals in the Communist nation. Recall that Speaker Pelosi kept Eric Swalwell on the House Intelligence Committee even after his “PoonFang” liaisons with a Chinese spy.
The PRC’s biggest American asset is surely Joe Biden. He acquired the China beat in 2012 on the recommendation of National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, a failed Fannie Mae lobbyist and behind-the-scenes operator for the “composite character” David Garrow described in Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama.
Biden routed the China trade through son Hunter, a frequent flyer on Air Force Two. Hunter’s laptop was the equivalent of Hillary Clinton’s private server, enabling the vice president to avoid scrutiny. The FBI had Hunter’s laptop but by all indications FBI bosses believed that, as Comey said of Hillary Clinton, no reasonable prosecutor would bring charges against Joe Biden’s son, especially with the “Big Guy” running for president. The New York Post broke the story, but the Democrat-media-tech axis promptly banned the October surprise.
Joe Biden is also on record that the Chinese Communists are “not bad folks,” and “not competition for us.” So no surprise that Biden turns a blind eye to China’s repressions and beats up on Burma, a nation that poses no threat to the United States. In effect, Joe Biden serves as governor general of Americachukuo, China’s North American economic zone.
With Biden in the White House, President Trump predicted, China would “own the United States.” There’s also something to Trump’s charge that the Bidens are an “organized crime family.”
In December, Joe Biden claimed nobody in his family would be involved in any business that even appears in conflict with the presidency and the government. As Miranda Devine of the New York Post reports, it turns out that Hunter Biden still holds a 10 percent share of the Chinese firm BHR partners and is thus “still in business with the Chinese Communist Party.”
The performance of Joe “America Last” Biden and China-compliant Democrats brings clarity to the patriotic movement now in place and growing. At least 74 million patriots are part of an independence movement that seeks to preserve rights under the U.S. Constitution.
Those rights are now at risk, as the Democrat demolition squad seeks to erase the nation’s history. To adapt Milan Kundera, the struggle of the patriotic movement against the America-Last regime is the struggle of memory against forgetting.
The torturous road of the pandemic is indeed one filled with many heartbreaks. Our schools are central to a thriving society today and for future generations to come.
By: Phil Orenstein
For 150 years New York City Public Schools have remained continuously open and undaunted by all manner of calamities and natural disasters. Throughout our history from the Spanish Flu of 1918, the Great Depression, two World Wars, Cold War panic, civil unrest, the terrorist attacks on Sept 11, 2001, to Hurricane Sandy, the schools have always been open.
Not until 2020 has New York had a governor, a mayor, and a political class during a time of crisis, who have so miserably failed the children of New York. They have put our children in harm’s way physically, emotionally and academically. We do not know the full scope of the consequences of these failures on the part of our political leadership, but the closing of our schools for 10 months and likely longer can be considered one of the biggest scandals in the history of our country. It has already taken an enormous toll on a generation of our children suffering in remote-learning environments, sequestered on endless video games. The laundry list of physical, emotional and academic maladies affecting our children due to remote-learning include mental illness, suicide, sickness, depression, anxiety, weight gain, isolation, 10 months of squandered learning, and lost opportunities for academic and athletic scholarships.
It has taken an enormous toll on working and middle-class parents and their extended family as well. The balancing act that parents must perform is work, their child’s education, and the financial stability of their families. These challenges that parents face are simply devastating. Never has the pressure been so unevenly placed upon the family unit than it has today by New York politicians.
The public heaved a big sigh of relief when teachers were classified as essential and went to the front of the line for Phase 1 of the vaccinations. We all thought that within a short span of time, we would see the beginning of the reopening of our schools and the return to normalcy.
Teachers who were in their 20’s went to the head of the line, in front of seniors and people with comorbidities. But the public was ok with it because teachers are essential to the education and development of our greatest asset in America, our children.
The public was willing to let the teachers go to the front of the line and were hopeful to see the light at the end of the remote-learning tunnel. But the hope soon turned to despair as we were conned once again. The bait and switch charade pulled off on the public was from a minor faction of teachers and the union leadership who are still balking about going back into the classroom. While teachers are considered essential in receiving preferential treatment, our children are an afterthought.
For 150 years, New York’s political leadership understood the prime importance and significance of a good education, to ensure successful outcomes for future generations of our children. In 2020, the world changed. Elected officials abdicated their responsibilities in government and leadership roles regarding the education of our children, and left it in the hands of union leaders and a few selfish interests.
The political con job they played on parents and their kids was in promoting their misleading narrative that the classroom environment is unsafe. While the city’s schools closed for 10 months, Catholic and private schools have effectively remained open, and the teachers are safely at work doing in-person learning. The CDC never recommended schools close, and the CDC Director said schools are ‘one of the safest places’ for kids during the pandemic. Catholic schools are already starting up their after-school sports programs to begin on March 1st. Our local and state elected officials have failed our children, our parents, our communities, and our country, and there will be dire consequences for all.
The torturous road of the pandemic is indeed one filled with many heartbreaks. Our schools are central to a thriving society today and for future generations to come. We offer some simple guidance for the days that lay ahead. Vaccinations for teachers and school staff started in January. By the middle of April all personnel of the city’s Department of Education, should have been vaccinated. The mayor, City Council, and DOE should require all teachers and staff to be back at work by April 15th. Citywide information portals should clearly communicate the planned reopening so that everyone understands NYC schools are in fact fully opened five days a week with after-school activities. The consequences for those civil service employees who fail to report to work is the implementation of the Taylor Law to enforce back-to-work orders. This is above and beyond the realm of politics, union contracts, and special interests, and once and for all, decisive action must be taken.
What has been going on since March of last year has been near criminal. Never before in the history of our country, has a government and its political leadership so forsaken our most cherished resource in the present and for the future of our country. Our children are essential.
Phil Orenstein is the president of the Queens Village Republican Club. Established in 1875, it is America’s oldest Republican Club www.QVGOP.org. Historian, Jerry Matacotta, founder of History Seminar Series at Queensborough Community College was the advisor for this article. He worked 32 years for New York City Public Schools primarily teaching High School American History.
The young French liberal lawyer, politician, and author Alexis De Tocqueville (1805-1859) arrived in the United States in 1831 on a fact-finding mission reviewing the incarceration system. He published the results of his observations on “Democracy in America” in two volumes in 1835 and 1840, respectively. We at Save The West (STW) think it is time to honor Tocqueville by examining a few of his notable observations:
1)Tocqueville: “The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.”
STW–We are witnessing huge demand the “free stuff.”
2)Tocqueville: “Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.” STW–Socialism is shared poverty.
3)Tocqueville: “Despotism often presents itself as the repairer of all the ills suffered, the support of just rights, defender of the oppressed, and founder the of order.”
STW–Despots use lofty-words to deceive the population.
4)Tocqueville: “The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.” STW–Voters and public opinion rectify our problems, but not if freedom of speech is suppressed, as it is now.
5)Tocqueville: “Democracy and socialism cannot go together. You can’t have it both ways. Socialism is a new form of slavery.”
STW–People who vote for socialism to seek security do so at the peril of losing their freedom.
6)Tocqueville: “A man’s support for absolute government is in direct proportion to the contempt he feels for his country.”
STW–Our new socialist elites are contemptuous of the people.
7)Tocqueville: “Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith.”
STW–Our socialist leadership belittles faith and disregards morality.
8)Tocqueville: “When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness.”
STW- Tearing down statues removing our past and our ability to learn from our mistakes.
9)Tocqueville: “When a large number of organs of the press come to advance along the same track, their influence becomes almost irresistible, and public opinion, struck always from the same side, ends by yielding under the blows.”
STW–Today’s media and social media are spreading the leading Party’s disinformation campaigns.
10)Tocqueville: “The religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention; and the longer I stayed there, the more I perceived the great political consequences resulting from this new state of things.”
STW–Only Evangelicals can save Christianity in America.
11)Tocqueville: “An idea that is clear and precise even though false will always have greater power in the world than an idea that is true but complex.”
STW- Our new despots present bad as good and good as bad.
12) Tocqueville: “It is impossible to believe that a liberal, energetic, and wise government can ever emerge from the ballots of a nation of servants.”
STW–Voters demanding excessive economic security will become dependent on the state.
13)Tocqueville: “When the taste for physical gratifications has grown more rapidly than their education and their experience of free institutions, the time will come when men are carried away and lose all self-restraint at the sight of new possessions they are about to obtain.”
STW- This lack of self-restraint makes it easier to bribe the voters with whatever the despots see fit.
14) Tocqueville: “There is no country in the world in which everything can be provided for by laws, or in which political institutions can prove a substitute for common sense and public morality.”
STW- Judeo-Christian culture is crucial to the preservation of morality and democracy.
15)Tocqueville: “No sooner does a government attempt to go beyond its political sphere…than it exercises… insupportable tyranny.”
STW: -The new despots want to provide benefits that are not part of the Constitution, causing them to ignore the Constitution.
Tocqueville’s perspicacious observations from 181 years ago are very relevant today. America’s Democracy today is struggling with the same dilemmas it suffered in 1835. Yet, American Democracy prevailed until now. But recent developments highlight the importance of Tocqueville’s insights to protecting America’s Democracy and our liberty.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaking with attendees at the 2019 California Democratic Party State Convention at the George R. Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco. Credit: Gage Skidmore/Flickr.
Sunlight is the best disinfectant, and the scrutiny the Democrats are not being subjected to will likely make it difficult for them to maintain their Senate and House majorities in 2022.
By: Caroline Glick
The Democrats had a lousy week. It began with former President Donald Trump’s acquittal in the Senate.
Trump’s acquittal was a major blow to the Democrats. It isn’t that anyone believed Trump would be convicted. Whether Republicans love or hate the former president, the fact is that it is unconstitutional to hold an impeachment trial for a former officeholder. And for that reason alone, there was no chance that more than a smattering of Republicans would support the move.
After nearly a year of Cuomo being lavished with adulation for his leadership of the coronavirus pandemic in New York, upheld as the future of the Democratic Party, touted as a possible candidate for Attorney General and even winning an Emmy for his press conferences, the truth has caught up with “America’s governor.” Photo Credit: WKBW.com
But once the farcical trial ended, public focus moved to the Democrats—who now control both houses of Congress and the White House. True, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is already planning to drag Trump back to center stage with her “January 6 Truth Commission.” But that won’t happen for several months. And in the meantime, for the first time in five years, the Democrats find themselves, and their actions, the focus of public attention.
The first casualties of the scrutiny have been the Democrat governors of the most populous Democrat states in the Union—Andrew Cuomo of New York and Gavin Newsom of California.
After nearly a year of Cuomo being lavished with adulation for his leadership of the coronavirus pandemic in New York, upheld as the future of the Democratic Party, touted as a possible candidate for Attorney General and even winning an Emmy for his press conferences, the truth has caught up with “America’s governor.”
Last March, as the number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized in New York mounted and fears that hospitals would be overwhelmed rose, Trump ordered the Army to set up a field hospital at the Javits Center and sent the Navy’s USS Comfort floating hospital to New York harbor. Not wanting to give any credit to Trump, Cuomo ordered nursing homes to take in COVID-19 patients from hospitals. The result was disastrous. COVID-19 spread like wildfire among the most vulnerable population and thousands of elderly New Yorkers died.
Trump ordered the Army to set up a field hospital at the Javits Center and sent the Navy’s USS Comfort floating hospital to New York harbor. Not wanting to give any credit to Trump, Cuomo ordered nursing homes to take in COVID-19 patients from hospitals. The result was disastrous. COVID-19 spread like wildfire among the most vulnerable population and thousands of elderly New Yorkers died. Photo Credit: AP
Republicans and conservative journalists have long pointed out that Cuomo’s move was lethally misguided. But protected by the media, Cuomo indignantly denied the allegations. Recently, though, his ability to deny the charges was dealt a fatal blow. New York’s Democrat Attorney General Letitia Jones released a report that showed Cuomo’s data on nursing home deaths from COVID-19 were false. Whereas Cuomo claimed that 8,500 nursing home residents died of COVID-19, the real number is more than 15,000.
Last week, Associated Press reported that Cuomo also understated the number of COVID-19 patients that were transferred to nursing homes from hospitals by nearly 40 percent. In the face of the actual data, many Democrats have joined Republicans in calling for federal and state authorities to open criminal investigations against Cuomo.
Last December, the chorus of California business owners and parents making impassioned pleas to Governor Gavin Newsom to lift his draconian COVID-19 lockdowns that barred California children from school and shuttered most businesses, including restaurants for both indoor and outdoor dining, was becoming a groundswell.
As he imperiously rejected the calls, Newsom and his wife were photographed dining with friends at a swanky French restaurant in Napa Valley.
Newsom’s mind-blowing hypocrisy reinvigorated a Republican campaign to recall him from office in special elections. This week, activists garnered the requisite one and a half million signatures—a month before the deadline—and so guaranteed that California will hold a gubernatorial election later this year. Facing an enraged public, Democrats fear that they may lose their total control over the deep-blue state for the first time in 15 years.
New York’s Democrat Attorney General Letitia Jones released a report that showed Cuomo’s data on nursing home deaths from COVID-19 were false. Whereas Cuomo claimed that 8,500 nursing home residents died of COVID-19, the real number is more than 15,000. Photo Credit: AP
This then brings us to President Joe Biden. Less than a month into his presidency, Biden has managed to turn off U.S. allies and anger his own voters.
Both during the campaign and since taking office, Biden pledged to rebuild America’s standing in the world after Trump allegedly destroyed respect for America with his “America First” foreign policy. Yet, as Walter Russell Mead laid out in the Wall Street Journal last week, U.S. allies are not at all pleased with how Biden’s “return to normalcy” is shaping up.
India and Japan are ignoring Biden’s sanctions against Myanmar following its military coup. Whereas identity-politics-sopped Democrats were sure Vice President Kamala Harris’s Indian heritage would make Indians love the new administration, it turns out that progressive politics spewed by Indian Americans is not a recipe for warm relations.
Mead reported that India’s Hindu media is on the warpath against the administration after Harris’s niece participated in protests against the policies of India’s Hindu-nationalist BJP ruling party.
Mead added that Canada is up in arms over Biden’s cancellation of the Keystone pipeline. Brazil is angry about the administration’s deforestation policies. And Mexico is scaling back its cooperation with the U.S. regarding cross-border drug smuggling.
Less than a month into his presidency, Biden has managed to turn off U.S. allies and anger his own voters. Photo Credit: AP
Israel and the U.S.’s Arab allies completely oppose Biden’s efforts to restore the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and otherwise appease Tehran’s ayatollahs. Netanyahu is rightly using his record of withstanding U.S. pressure under the Obama administration as an electoral asset ahead of the March 23 general elections.
As for Biden’s domestic programs, rather than capitalize on the goodwill a new president generally enjoys to pass a bipartisan legislative agenda, Biden and his fellow Democrats are pushing ahead with a radical legislative agenda on Capitol Hill, and so helping Republicans still smarting and divided after their electoral defeats to unify their ranks.
This week, Biden broke his campaign promise to reopen schools in his first hundred days, after teachers unions torpedoed his efforts. Instead, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki announced that the new, “ambitious” goal is to open schools one day a week. Republicans are rightly capitalizing on parents’ anger at the prolonged school closures.
But the Democrats’ bad week portends a much worse future for Americans in general.
It isn’t just that the teachers’ unions want to keep the schools shut. The schools they don’t want to open are now becoming bastions for progressive indoctrination. Parents may be better off not sending their children to school, at least not in Democrat-controlled school districts.
This week, Fox News reported that in Oregon, teachers are being urged to use a new math curriculum, designed for middle school teachers, whose purpose is to “dismantle racism in mathematics.”
To achieve this dubious goal, teachers are supposed to stop requiring students to show their work. They are also supposed to stop demanding that they get to the right answer. Instead, teachers are encouraged to have students “come up with at least two answers that might solve this problem.”
The great culprit for woke math is objectivity, as in objective truth. Objectivity, or objective reality, Oregon teachers are being told, is racist.
The new math is called “ethnomathematics,” and ethnomath teachers are instructed to “identity and challenge the ways that math is used to uphold capitalist, imperialist, and racist views.”
Whites are the boogeymen in the progressive America. Indeed, New York City is now pushing a scale of whiteness that moves from white supremacists (bad), to white abolitionists (good). White abolitionists, New York’s Education Department claims, are whites who work to overthrow the entire social and political system that produced the evil America that must now atone for its sins.
But while whites in general are the targets, the most immediate victims of the new (re-) education system are American Jews. In the new progressive America, Jews are specific targets in two ways. First, the progressive revolutionaries seek to eliminate merit as a basis for advancement on the argument that like objective truth, merit is inherently racist.
American Jewry’s rise in American society over the past century has been based almost entirely on American meritocracy. If you eliminate merit as a basis for advancement, you doom American Jewry to second-class citizen status.
Progressive America also targets American Jews through its Israel-anchored anti-Semitism. Anti-Zionism does not simply reject the moral basis for Israel’s existence and support systemically discriminating against and eventually eliminating it. It also supports ostracizing American Jews who support Israel and barring them from expressing their views in public. That is the actual purpose of the BDS campaigns that at least two senior Biden administration officials—Maher Bitar and Reema Dodin—led in their student days.
Today, anti-Semitism is not a bar for advancement in progressive circles. To the contrary, it is an asset. Consider the big promotion that Rep. Ilhan “It’s all about the Benjamins baby” Omar just received.
When Nancy Pelosi gave Omar a seat on the prestigious House Foreign Affairs Committee in 2019, the move provoked both anger and fear among many American Jews. They were angry because Omar, with her long record of anti-Jewish pronouncements, would certainly use her position to advance her anti-Semitic positions.
Barack Obama’s ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro insisted angrily that Jewish criticism of these officials is “racist.” He added, “There is unfortunately this bias, this prejudice against Arab and Muslim Americans, particularly if they’re working on issues related to the Middle East.” Photo Credit: greatdecisions.tv
And they were scared because the fact that Pelosi appointed Omar over a loud chorus of objections was a sign of the power of progressive anti-Semites in the Democrat Party.
When this week Pelosi appointed Omar chair of the subcommittee for Africa, global health and human rights, outside a few conservative Jewish groups, the move met with no opposition. And there is a reason for that. Two years on, anti-Semitism is so ingrained in progressive circles that objecting to it is enough to get you tagged as a racist.
To drive this point home, last week the Jewish Democratic Council of America—the Jewish arm of the Democrat Party—hosted an online discussion of Biden’s appointment of outspoken Israel haters and Palestinian terror supporters. Barack Obama’s ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro was one of the participants. Shapiro insisted angrily that Jewish criticism of these officials is “racist.” He added, “There is unfortunately this bias, this prejudice against Arab and Muslim Americans, particularly if they’re working on issues related to the Middle East.”
In other words, like objectivity and merit, in Woke America, substantive criticism of others based on their actions and statements is now “racist.” Fighting anti-Semitism is racist. Fighting hatred is racist. Fighting ignorance is racist.
Sunlight is the best disinfectant. And scrutiny of the Democrats will likely make it difficult for them to maintain their Senate and House majorities in 2022. But the damage progressives are already causing to public health, to America’s standing in the world, to
American schoolchildren and to American Jews will take more than one election to repair.
In The Perils of NonViolent Islamism, her fourth book in English, Elham Manea, a University of Zurich political scientist, author, activist, and consultant offers a warning to the West.
Reviewed by: Phyllis Chesler
IPT News
As the Egyptian-born child of a Yemeni diplomat, Elham Manea and her family traveled widely. But their move from Morocco to Yemen, when Elham was a young teenager, stands out. She compares it to time travel, leaving a free and modern life for a place where women are veiled and public life is gender segregated. She was told that art, music, poetry, and philosophy were forbidden, and that her new, true family of “sisters” and “brothers” were other Muslims who believed all this.
She was taught to “hate,” Jews in particular, and that it was right to deceive infidels. When she was told that a husband is God to his wife, that she would have to sacrifice her blood family in favor of other true believers, she backed away.
She has been backing away ever since.
In The Perils of NonViolent Islamism, her fourth book in English, the University of Zurich political scientist, author, activist, and consultant offers a warning to the West.
In Manea’s view, “nonviolent Islamism,” is the basic building block that leads to violent jihad. And our misreading of that reality can lead to real harm.
If we continue “cancelling” politically incorrect ideas and speech, continue “vilifying dissent,” and “insisting upon the infinite guilt of the West” then, as Russell A. Berman writes in the foreword to this work, “we should expect the real-world consequences of this ideology soon to become clearer and rougher.” Manea believes that repressing dissent can easily turn into repressive practices. “Cancel culture” may indeed be our “Islamism.”
Nonviolent Islamism’s insidious nature is one of Manea’s most important points. Westerners have been hopelessly gullible in their choice of “smiling and patient” Saudi-funded Muslim Brotherhood/Salafi representatives as their go-to experts on both Islam and Muslims.
“One cannot combat an ideology and fundamentalism by working with the very groups that promote that ideology,” she writes. Further, Western cultural relativism and doctrines of “multiculturalism” has served us and freedom-loving Muslims very, very poorly.
This battle, she writes, is “the global challenge of the 21st century.”
Both hardcore and softcore Islamism must be “challenged and confronted … we need to dismantle the structures and the system that spread(s) this ideology and its radicalized form of Islam.” That means we must adopt significant changes in Islamic schools, mosques, youth groups, and camps; we must retrain paid imams who work in the prison system.
“Not only do we need to fight criminal organizations such as ISIS and al-Qaeda. We must also deal with the nonviolent form of Islamism: the ideology and its fundamentalist reading of Islam… security measures… alone are futile. They do not solve the problem. They do not tackle its roots or structure.”
Manea insists that Western governments must “fight them as you fight your own fundamentalists, fascists, and racist groups.”
Phyllis Chesler writes: In Manea’s view, “nonviolent Islamism,” is the basic building block that leads to violent jihad. And our misreading of that reality can lead to real harm. Photo Credit: genevasummit.org
Following in Investigative Project on Terrorism Executive Director Steve Emerson’s footsteps, Manea’s second important point is her description throughout the book of how the Muslim Brotherhood is structured and organized globally so that it can indoctrinate successive generations into “radicalized Islam” or hate ideology, the kind that leads to funding and perpetrating violent jihad; gender segregation; closed communities especially in the West; the veiling of women, child marriage; infidel hatred, especially Jew-hatred, etc. She calls for defunding all such groups. “Stop mainstreaming (them). Hold them accountable.”
Fighting Islamism, Supporting Muslims
Manea understands and criticizes how Islamists operate in the West. What begins as “reasonable requests for religious accommodations” soon entails the following:
“Muslim pupils and students need to eat halal food in the cafeteria. They need a prayer room in the school. They want to leave classes during the times of prayer throughout the day and on Fridays. They organize ritual foot washings in the bathrooms. For swimming classes, the genders must be segregated and girls must wear a burkini. School trips are frowned upon or reduced… to just one to ensure girls would participate. Classes should also be gender segregated. Muslim pupils are not allowed to play with non-Muslim pupils in the playground and vice versa.”
Her third important point is that Muslims themselves are on the front lines of this battle against “Islamist” fascism. Muslim-on-Muslim violence and warfare yields a far higher body count than does Muslim-on-infidel warfare. Muslims are blowing up Muslim civilians, including women, children, and the elderly in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq, Nigeria, and in other Muslim-majority countries.
Muslims are the first victims—and they are also the bravest of dissenters who cannot understand why Westerners, who already live in greater freedom, do not support heroic Muslim struggles against totalitarian fundamentalism in Muslim-majority countries.
For example, the 2017 Marches of Muslim Imams against Terrorism in Cologne, Germany and in Paris each attracted only 100 people. Muslims Manea spoke with said they had their jobs, and even their lives, threatened if they attended.
She provides examples of people who paid a price for challenging fundamentalist interpretations of the Quran. Sheikh Mohammad Abdulla Nasr, a religious scholar at Egypt’s Al-Azhar, “spent five years in prison for questioning the rationale behind following the Sunna … which was written two hundred years after the Prophet Mohammed’s death.” Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mkhatir, a Mauritanian blogger, originally faced execution and spent five years in prison for “blasphemy” for challenging the Quranic basis for slavery, a practice which remains legal in Mauritania. Only an international campaign may have stopped his execution.
Black African slaves are still held captive by ethnic Arab Muslims in Mauritania, Sudan, Libya and Algeria, by Boko Haram in Nigeria. ISIS enslaved Yazidi girls and women, and held slave auctions when they controlled territory in Iraq.
Ironically, according to Manea, Muslim scholars are blaming Islamic texts and fundamentalist Muslim indoctrination and practices for jihad even as Westerners are berating and blaming themselves for colonialism and white racism as having led to violent jihad. Such Westerners do not understand that Muslim leaders in countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia also perpetrated these practices as well as practiced both religious and gender apartheid.
Manea is now adding her voice to those of us, like Ibn Warraq, Bat Ye’or, Zeyno Baran and Douglas Murray, who have been challenging Islamism for years only to be ignored or defamed as “racist Islamophobes.”
Most of these voices are either apostates, converts, secular Muslims, or they are Jews or Christians. Although Manea happily quotes atheists Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris, what makes her unique is that, like Zuhdi Jasser and my dear friend Seyran Ates, Manea is not a secularist. She is holding onto the possibility that Islam as a religion can and must be reformed. In her view, the way to do so is to follow the “peaceful” Meccan verses of the Quran, and re-interpret or pay no mind to the “war-like” Medinan verses.
Manea personally remembers a far more tolerant Muslim society in Morocco, Egypt, and Yemen, one in which women were not veiled or segregated. She writes about a diversity among Muslims, both in her lifetime and in times gone by, which she misses and longs to see again.
Manea adds to the conversation by giving us recent examples of how and why certain European governments have courted “the Muslim (Islamist) vote”: In the 1960s, Belgium’s king needed cheap oil, and in return, allowed for Saudi-funded mosque-building and imam-training. Sweden’s Social Democrats lost elections, and their way back to power relied on a Muslim voting bloc, especially immigrants, in exchange for protecting a segregated life—and in the name of “multicultural progress.”
Manea, who has written about sharia law and women, has clarified her position on the Islamic veil. Once, she did not know how to reconcile freedom of religion with bans against it. Now, she is absolutely clear that it is the sign and symbol of “political Islam.” How one weans indoctrinated girls from wearing the hijab or niqab is an open question. The fact that America’s “Women’s March” romanticized the veil as a form of resistance to racism was most disheartening to Manea—to me, too.
Reform Is Needed
In 2007, I participated in the Secular Islam Summit in St. Petersburg, Fla. It was organized by Austin Dacey and Ibn Warraq; I had the honor of chairing the opening panel with participant Tawfik Hamid, a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The summit’s declaration rejects Sharia courts, opposes penalties for blasphemy or apostasy; seeks an end to female genital mutilation, honor killing, and child marriage; and envisions public discussions without coercion or intimidation. It states in part:
“We insist upon the separation of religion from state and the observance of universal human rights.
We find traditions of liberty, rationality, and tolerance in the rich histories of pre-Islamic and Islamic societies. These values do not belong to the West or the East; they are the common moral heritage of humankind.
We see no colonialism, racism, or so-called “Islamophobia” in submitting Islamic practices to criticism or condemnation when they violate human reason or rights.”
Based on her book, Manea seems to agree with this declaration. Perhaps it is time for someone just like her to call for another gathering and to generate a new declaration to be signed by Muslims who want a religious reformation of Islam; who believe this can and must be done; and that it can only be done from within, by Muslims themselves, who want a spiritual life, who do not want to break entirely with whatever they prize in religion, but who do want to denounce fundamentalism, totalitarianism, infidel hatred, Muslim supremacism, Islamic racism, misogyny, etc.
Secularist Ayaan Hirsi Ali endorsed The Perils of NonViolent Islamism as “the book that had to be written on political Islam… [and] a stirring wake-up call to policymakers on what’s really at stake in this conflict.” In 2015, Hirsi Ali called for an Islamic “reformation.” She wanted to abolish sharia law and “repudiate and nullify” certain precepts entirely. Hirsi Ali accepted the fact that most Muslims will not leave Islam entirely and that women’s rights, minority rights, and the separation of religion and state may only come about through a religious reformation.
Manea suggests that the more peaceful, less hateful Meccan sura be relied upon for such a reformation; the later more hostile and hateful Medinan sura must themselves be abrogated or re-interpreted.
I asked my good friend and comrade-in-arms, Ibn Warraq, what he thinks about dividing the Quran in half and keeping only the “peaceful” Meccan sura, as Manea suggests. “I do not accept the Islamic version of events and cannot take this suggestion seriously,” he said. “There is no such thing as the Meccan vs the Medinan sura.”
I am a religious Jew, albeit a very imperfect one. I would not want to be totally parted from a religious life, socially, ritually, but more important, intellectually. I would like to see someone like Ibn Warraq and Hirsi Ali working together with Manea to fight what Manea has, correctly, called “the greatest battle of the 21st century.”
Manea has written a moving and persuasive book. It is also a brave and informative work, one which deserves a serious readership. (Investigative Project on Terrorism)
Phyllis Chesler is an Emerita Professor of Psychology and Women’s Studies at the City University of New York (CUNY), and the author of 20 books, including Women and Madness (1972), and A Family Conspiracy: Honor Killings. (2018), She is a Senior IPT Fellow, and a Fellow at MEF and ISGAP.
This extremely enjoyable book offers about fourteen short essays on various ideas related to psychology and psychobiology. Photo Credit: Amazon.com
(Maseches Berachos) by Rabbi Dr. Ethan Eisen (Kodesh Press, 2020)
Reviewed by: Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein
This extremely enjoyable book offers about fourteen short essays on various ideas related to psychology and psychobiology. The author uses the mention of some of these ideas in Maseches Berachos to further expand on them and present his own novel interpretations. Throughout the book, traditional Jewish sources and academic/popular medical sources are used side-by-side to present new ways of looking at the various topics discussed. The author compares and contrasts how these two different types of sources address each given issue, and uses data from one corpus to fill in lacuna in the others. At the close of each chapter, Rabbi Dr. Eisen offers practical “Lessons for Today” that bring home the point of that chapter and tie it in to something more useful.
In his opening chapter, Eisen talks about how the rabbis’ preferred antidote to the pox of procrastination echoes the famous words of Nike’s iconic slogan: “Just do it.” This simple, but effective advice encourages people to overcome their indolence and dithering, and puts an end to the use of delay tactics. Eisen further develops this idea by showing how the Halakhic principle of zerizim makdimim l’mitzvos preempts man’s dilly-dallying and allows a person the freedom to live a more productive and meaningful life. He also draws on various psychological studies to probe the cognitive and behavioral causes of procrastination.
In another chapter, Eisen discusses how consistent synagogue-attendance alleviates many of the problems associated with loneliness, and how studies even seem to support the Talmudic assertion that such regular attendance contributes to longevity. As Eisen so cleverly puts it, “80% of life is just showing up.”
One of the most creative and powerful essays that Eisen presents discusses the so-called “IKEA effect” which asserts that people value things according to the amount of effort that they put in to achieving or building that thing. Eisen uses this idea to explain why the Talmud assumes that Chana was so intent on Eli sparing the life of her son Shmuel, when she could have just as easily allowed Eli to put Shmuel to death and prayed for her to be granted another son.
This reviewer was particularly interested in Eisen’s chapter on colors. He asks the age-old question of how a person can ever be certain that what he sees is the same thing that someone else sees. Color obviously has various Halachic ramifications, and the question of how different people might perceive the same color has implications for psychology, social studies, and even linguistics. This chapter uses the disagreement amongst Halachic authorities over how to exactly define the color of techeiles as a sort of case study to make generalizations into the question of color. [One opinion that the author omitted is that of Rabbi Yair Chaim Bachrach (1639–1702) who characterized the color of techeiles as “purple.”]
Another discussion related to psycholinguistics is the cultural phenomenon of giving people a few seconds to finalize their statements and decisions. For chess players, this leeway allows a person to retract his move until he lifts his fingers from the chess piece that he moved, and in Halacha, this leeway allows a person to delay the effects of his Halachic speech-acts until what we call toch k’dai dibbur (roughly, the amount of time it takes to greet another person) has passed. This leeway is not to be taken for granted in all cultures, yet Eisen shows how it has some basis in the neurosciences.
Eisen also offers a few discussions that aren’t quite related to psychology, per se, but do touch on issues related to the human body. For example, he offers a chapter that discusses the physiological effects of shame and humiliation, which lead to both blushing and the paling of one’s face. The rabbis, of course, refer to embarrassing another as “whitening the face of one’s fellow.” Another chapter explores King David’s sleeping habits and considers the effects of a midnight candle on a person’s circadian rhythm. While on the surface these types of discussions seem more related to physiology, their effects are also studied by research psychologists and applied by clinical psychologists.
What is arguably the most important chapter of this book is saved for last. In this last chapter, Eisen shows how the sensitivity to so-called microaggressions is not just a post-Modern oversensitivity, but has a basis in basic human decency. He demonstrates how the Torah and Talmud are sensitive to the plight of victims and the down-trodden, leading to the expectation that Jews be especially vigilant in avoiding even miniscule acts of aggression.
The matters discussed in this book are loosely arranged by their appearances in Maseches Berachos and this reviewer looks forward to seeing similar books by Rabbi Dr. Eisen on other parts of the Talmud. Rabbi Dr. Eisen is trained in both rabbinics and psychology, using his mastery of each to complement our knowledge of the other. With witty chapter titles and easy-to-read discussions, this book is truly delightful and informative.
Purim is a holiday of Jewish Unity. Purim should have been a day of eulogy, tragedy, and another sad story of betrayal and extermination of Jews. Photo Credit: jewishvoice.org
By: Joshua Goldstein
Purim is a holiday of Jewish Unity. Purim should have been a day of eulogy, tragedy, and another sad story of betrayal and extermination of Jews. But, in truth, it could never have been made possible without the incredible display of both unity and organization.
The Purim story starts with King Ahasuerus’s feast. History verifies that when he displayed his riches and had a festival of six months, it was also a strategy session for his impending invasion of Greece. Secular history tells us that he began the invasion soon after this party, in 481 BCE. Many Jews, who were still living in Persia, decided to attend the party, despite the use of the Temple vessels from conquered Jerusalem as part of the celebration. So, here we have the defeatists and the apologists. Four long generations past the First Temple’s destruction showed the decayed state of many of the Jews who lived in Persia.
Mordechai certainly broke any mold of traditional Jewish heroes. He displayed many Machiavellian-like traits. Mordechai was both smart and cunning. Utilizing his close relative, Esther, as a pawn, in a gambit to ensure that Jews had access to the king is one example. He knew her beauty would dazzle and win over the Ahasuerus. Another illustration of Mordechai’s unconventional approach was how he compelled Esther to hide her Jewishness.
Esther, rightfully scared, seemed indecisive when Mordechai asked her to petition Ahasuerus. She displayed incredible heroism by making the decision to risk her life to petition the king. This was captured in the tense climax when Mordecai stated “think not with yourself that you shall escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews. For if you altogether hold your peace at this time, then will relief and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish,” (Esther 4:13,14). Mordecai used strong words to persuade Esther to do her part and get involved.
Equally amazing was Esther’s ability to know what to do next. Esther took charge and developed a plan to work directly with all the Jews in the community. Through Mordechai she appealed to all Jews, regardless of class. She didn’t ask for an assembly of rabbis, or elders, she did not request that a committee be formed to deal with the issue. There was simply no time. She directly appealed to the Jewish community and used her authority as the highest-ranking Jew in the royal court, to petition all Jews to fast for three days and nights. Fasting also implies prayer here. Esther asked for the Jews of Shushan to come together in fasting and prayer to help beg G-d to favor her efforts. Rather than be dismissive of her request, the miraculous happened: the Jews of Shushan fasted and prayed together on behalf of the nation of Israel.
Finally, when the drama had played out, the Jews were given permission to defend themselves. The Jews banded together, and it should be noted, the Megillah mentions the effects of self-defense. 300 would-be attackers were killed in Shushan and in the king’s provinces they killed a staggering 75,000 more! There was no debate if they should not do this! There was no looking for help from among righteous gentiles! There was simply massive action!
Self-defense means killing for survival. Defending oneself takes time and practice. That the Jews were able to defend themselves is only mentioned in two verses of the entire Megillah, but it might as well have been a whole separate book, dedicated to this achievement. Jews had to first have consensus that fighting was necessary. The shared value of defending oneself successfully had to have been firmly established. Weapons had to be acquired. It also meant that to be able to defend themselves, they had to have proper training in fighting with both swords and other available weapons of the time. This story could have ended in tragedy but because of the unity over self-defense, it did not.
I wonder what kind of preparation had to have been developed and put in place, in the years before, to train Jews in how to defend themselves? These Jews were able to assemble a fighting organization in a noticeably short time frame. The amount of training, coordination, and working together, is what is also utterly amazing. This undertaking had to have the consent of many Jews and an agreement must have been in place to make sure Jews would have a sizable enough group of defenders to defeat the threat. To gather like this had to require prior careful planning and consensus.
The greatest miracle of Purim was the level of Jewish unity displayed throughout the dark days before the salvation. Was it because Jews were willing to unify for their survival, that G-d’s hidden hand was activated to overturn this grave danger? What could have been the biggest massacre of Jewish people since the First Temple’s destruction, turned out to be truly a miracle on many levels!
As we look at today’s sad affairs of growing extremism and the unprecedented upheaval of political institutions and social conventions, frustratingly, we as Jews, have not done enough to unify ourselves. Could the miracle of Purim happen today? With the tragic division among the streams of Jews, the apathy, and the insistence of putting partisan social concerns over Jewish communal issues, unfortunately, the answer may be a resounding no! Jews today remain so divided that they almost certainly would not allow for the type of unity displayed in the times of the Purim miracle.
We should learn from Purim that respect for one another as Jews is critically important for our survival. We must learn how to prevent future attacks like the tragedy which shook us to our core when the Pittsburgh Synagogue mass shooting occurred in 2018. How much good could be gleaned by harnessing the power of the now separate communities working together on pressing issues of the Jewish community? Education? Alcoholism? Outreach between the streams? Could we give up some of our “kosherness” to improve these bonds of unity? This Purim reach out to another Jew, of any denomination and create a connection. We as a Jewish nation have been dysfunctional for far too long. We have so much we could do together that could benefit us all, regardless of orientation, especially now, in these dangerous times in which we live. Purim is about the hidden miracle. But, that miracle never would have been able to occur had the Jews of that time remained fragmented. Let us use Purim’s underlying message of unity, to transform ourselves and heal our divided nation.
A better understanding of Zionism is one way to improve Jewish unity and towards that end, Herut North America has published a free eBook for Purim titled “Purim: The Zionist Holiday You Never Really Knew.” Request a copy at https://herutna.org/purimbooklet
Joshua Goldstein is chairman of Herut North America’s US Division. Herut is an international movement for Zionist pride and education. In 2020, Goldstein was a delegate to the 38th World Zionist Congress for Herut. Herut’s website is https://herutna.org/
The jolly Jewish holiday of Purim is celebrated every year on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Adar (late winter/early spring). Purim 2021 begins on Thursday night, February 25 and continues through Friday, February 26, (extending through Sunday in Jerusalem). It commemorates the (Divinely orchestrated) salvation of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian empire from Haman’s plot “to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews, young and old, infants and women, in a single day.” Literally “lots” in ancient Persian, Purim was thus named since Haman had thrown lots to determine when he would carry out his diabolical scheme, as recorded in the Megillah (book of Esther).
Continue reading to learn the story, observance and meaning of the Purim holiday.
The Story in a Nutshell
The Persian Empire of the 4th century BCE extended over 127 lands, and all the Jews were its subjects. When King Ahasuerus had his wife, Queen Vashti, executed for failing to follow his orders, he arranged a beauty pageant to find a new queen. A Jewish girl, Esther, found favor in his eyes and became the new queen, though she refused to divulge her nationality.
Meanwhile, the Jew-hating Haman was appointed prime minister of the empire. Mordechai, the leader of the Jews (and Esther’s cousin), defied the king’s orders and refused to bow to Haman. Haman was incensed, and he convinced the king to issue a decree ordering the extermination of all the Jews on the 13th of Adar, a date chosen by a lottery Haman made.
Mordechai galvanized all the Jews, convincing them to repent, fast and pray to G d. Meanwhile, Esther asked the king and Haman to join her for a feast. At a subsequent feast, Esther revealed to the king her Jewish identity. Haman was hanged, Mordechai was appointed prime minister in his stead, and a new decree was issued, granting the Jews the right to defend themselves against their enemies.
On the 13th of Adar, the Jews mobilized and killed many of their enemies. On the 14th of Adar, they rested and celebrated. In the capital city of Shushan, they took one more day to finish the job.
Why Is It Called Purim?
Purim means “lots” in ancient Persian. The holiday was thus named since Haman had thrown lots to determine when he would carry out his diabolical scheme. You can pronounce this name many ways. In Eastern tradition, it is called poo-REEM. Among Westerners, it is often called PUH-rim. Some Central-European communities even call it PEE-rim. (WARNING: Calling this holiday PYOO-rim—as English speakers are sometimes wont to do—is a surefire newbie cover-blower.)
Purim Observances
Reading of the Megillah (book of Esther), which recounts the story of the Purim miracle. This is done once on the eve of Purim and then again on the following day.
Giving money gifts to at least two poor people.
Sending gifts of two kinds of food to at least one person.
A festive Purim feast, which often includes wine or other intoxicating beverages.
Purim, which recalls the Jewish people’s salvation in ancient Persia from an evil official, Haman, and his foiled plot to destroy them, is celebrated annually on the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Adar.
More frequent Megillah readings and other innovative ways to observe the holiday
By: Karen Schwartz
Zahava (Gwenn) Flait and her husband Stuart are more excited than ever before for Purim to arrive. The holiday will be their first time back in person at Chabad of West Boca Raton, Fla., since last Purim, when the emerging coronavirus pandemic began to spread through the world and the Flaits celebrated almost a year of Jewish holidays at home.
As will be the case at Chabad centers around the world, Chabad of West Boca’s socially-distanced, outdoor Purim event will give people the chance to safely participate in the holiday’s four mitzvot: hearing the Megillah, giving to the poor, sending gifts of food to friends and neighbors, and participating in a seudah, a festive meal.
“The fact that it’s Purim and that we’re back in a holiday cycle again with each other for simchas (joyous events) is wonderful. It’s just great stuff,” says Flait.
Purim, which recalls the Jewish people’s salvation in ancient Persia from an evil official, Haman, and his foiled plot to destroy them, is celebrated annually on the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Adar. Purim 2021 begins Thursday night, February 25 and continues through Friday, February 26 (extending through Sunday in Jerusalem).
Zahava (Gwenn) Flait and her husband, Stuart, are more excited than ever for Purim to arrive. The holiday will be their first time back in person at Chabad of West Boca Raton, Fla., since last Purim, when the coronavirus pandemic began to spread throughout the United States. Since then, the Flaits have celebrated almost a year of Jewish holidays at home.
As will be the case at Chabad centers around the world, Chabad of West Boca’s socially distanced, outdoor Purim event will give people the chance to safely participate in the holiday’s four mitzvot: hearing the Megillah; giving to the poor; sending gifts of food to friends and neighbors; and participating in a seudah, a festive meal.
“The fact that it’s Purim and that we’re back in a holiday cycle again with each other for simchas (joyous events) is wonderful. It’s just great stuff,” says Flait.
Purim, which recalls the Jewish people’s salvation in ancient Persia from an evil official, Haman, and his foiled plot to destroy them, is celebrated annually on the 14th day of the Jewish month of Adar. Purim 2021 begins at sundown on Thursday, Feb. 25 and continues through Friday, Feb. 26 (extending through Sunday in Jerusalem).
Chabad centers around the world are getting extra-creative this year when it comes to welcoming community members for the Megillah readings, meals and holiday festivities. To ensure safety, many Chabad centers are having multiple readings with limited attendance at each reading, as well as more outdoor readings than ever before. They’re working hard to make sure Jews can conveniently and perform the holidays’ mitzvot—and experience its joy—even in such unprecedented times.
For those still isolated at home, in addition to local centers bringing Purim to the homebound, Chabad.org has a special Purim During Covid section that includes How to Celebrate Purim @ Home, how to Give Matanot L’Evyonim Online, Purim Foods to Make (and Enjoy) at Home, and holiday inspiration from the Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory—on The Rebbe on Purim page.
And a special Purim PDF booklet packed with uplifting inspiration, information and other tidbits to enhance the holiday at home is being widely shared with the intention that people print it and use the information to boost their festivities.
Round-the-Clock Readings in Jerusalem
In Jerusalem, Rabbi Yisroel Goldberg, co-director of Chabad of Rechavia with his wife, Shoshana, has retooled his popular Azza Zaza program, known for offering thousands of people the chance to participate in Purim mitzvot at area restaurants.
This year, he’s arranged nearly 100 public Megillah readings in a dozen central locations, in addition to coordinating dozens of rabbinical students and other expert volunteers to hold private readings for individuals unable to leave home.
The round-the-clock Megillah readings will take place in outdoor areas so people can be properly distanced, as mandated by Israel’s strict pandemic-related regulations.
Additionally, Chabad is sending cars out around the city to give out more than 10,000 mishloach manot packages and distributing large sandwiches to provide people a convenient way to have a holiday meal.
“It’s a different twist to Azza Zaza, but we have to adapt to the situation,” says Goldberg.
Despite this year’s pandemic challenges, it’s a “triple Purim,” which means Jerusalem celebrates for three days since Shushan Purim coincides with Shabbat. That spreads elements of the celebration over three days to account for Shabbat restrictions and gives people even more opportunities to share in the holiday fun.
“Even though this is the current situation, not only should we not minimize the happiness, we should increase it triplefold,” says Goldberg. “The Rebbe teaches us to adapt, and to multiply on the good that we have. We’re not happy about the situation, but we’re happy despite the situation.”
Goldberg has spent the year finding ways to transform its programs to keep serving the community even during the pandemic, and Azza Zaza is no exception, remarks Jerusalem resident Hadassah Chen. “As much as it has been an incredible and tough year for all of us, the rabbi managed never to lower expectations or excitement about any of the programs,” she says. “The extreme originality, the enthusiasm; it’s exactly the same.”
‘Glow Party’ in Florida
Shaina Kramer, program director at Chabad of West Boca Raton, Fla., with her husband, Rabbi Moshe Kramer, is hosting an outdoor Purim event on Thursday night. The “glow party” at the Chabad House is a family event with crafts, a Megillah reading and pre-packaged food. They will also host a festive meal and socially distanced Megillah readings on Friday.
“I really believe it’s important that people see that we are there for them,” says Kramer. “That we’re here, and that we never stopped caring for our people and our community, and that we’re always ready to give more and do more for everybody. We hope people see that.”
Nearby, Friendship Circle of Chabad of South Broward in Hallandale, Fla., is celebrating Purim under a tent outdoors, with the theme “Purim in the Circus.”
Chana Reicher, the Friendship Circle’s program coordinator, says she’s looking forward to helping teens and families participating to have a bit of normalcy in a safe environment. “What we want is for them to come out with the Purim spirit,” she says.
Teen volunteers packed mishloach manot for their special friends, which will be delivered to their homes for them to enjoy.
Warming Up in New York
Meanwhile, in Chester, N.Y., Rabbi Pesach Burston, who co-directs Chabad-Lubavitch of Orange County with his wife, Chana, is getting ready for a snow-covered Purim. “We have two realities we’re dealing with—Covid and the cold—and we decided to embrace them both. That’s why we’re doing ‘Purim in the Arctic,’ ” he says.
Burston’s seventh-grade daughter came up with the idea at the dinner table one night and it’s taken off, with Chabad centers in other chilly climates offering people the chance to “bundle up and chill.”
People bundle up for ski trips, the presidential inauguration and other planned events, he notes. “So my philosophy is if [Sen.] Bernie Sanders could be at the inauguration with his mittens on because it was important to him, we can be there for Purim because it’s important to us.”
The Burstons are planning to offer a socially distanced Megillah reading indoors and other elements of the celebration outdoors at a rented hall space, with food including hot soups, sizzling stews, warm kugels, campfire-style marshmallow-roasting and, of course, classic hamantaschen. “Is it easy to be at a party in 20-degree weather? No. But I actually think it could be a lot of fun if we’re ready for it and we embrace it,” he says.
The challenges this year may have changed, but the message of Purim remains the same, he says. “There’s always light—there’s always a way to find light within the Jewish community,” he affirms. “No matter the circumstances, the Jews have found ways to overcome and celebrate, and this year is no different.”
For more information about Purim events near you, visit the Purim Event Directory. For more inspiration and insight about the holiday, visit www.Chabad.org/Purim.
My interest in the relationship between a person and his or her clothing goes back to my early days in graduate school. I was taking a course on human personality, under the tutelage of a remarkably insightful and erudite woman, Dr. Mary Henle. I was so enthusiastic about the courses that I took with her that I asked her to supervise my master’s degree thesis.
I remember the morning I shared my proposed topic with her. I thought that one of the ways to assess personality was to take note of the kind of clothing that a person wore. I further postulated that not only does a person’s clothing tell us a lot about him or her, but the clothing that we wear actually has an impact upon us. Our clothing helps make us who we are.
Dr. Henle tactfully deflated my ego that morning. She said, “That’s just an old wives’ tale. Our personalities are very profound, subtle, and complex. At most, our clothing reflects just a superficial aspect of our identity. You give too much credit to the saying, ‘Clothes make the man.’ It is really only a wisecrack attributed to Mark Twain. There is nothing more to it than that.”
I subsequently chose another topic for my master’s degree thesis.
Many years have passed since that disappointing encounter, and Dr. Henle has long since passed away, although I remember her respectfully. During those years, I have learned that she was mistaken on many grounds. For one thing, the saying, “Clothes make the man,” did not originate with Mark Twain. Centuries before the American humorist, the 16th century Catholic theologian Desiderius Erasmus wrote: “Vestis virum facit,” which translates as, “Clothes make the man.” Not long afterwards, none other than William Shakespeare put these words into the mouth of the character Polonius in his famous play Hamlet: “The apparel oft proclaims the man.”
Truth to tell, statements about the relationship between a person and his clothing go back much further than a mere several centuries. Such statements originate in the Bible, and a passage in this week’s Torah portion, Parshat Tetzaveh (Exodus 27:20-30:10), is a case in point. We read:
“You shall bring forward your brother, Aaron, with his sons, from among the Israelites, to serve Me as priests…Make sacral vestments for your brother Aaron, for dignity and adornment. Next you shall instruct all who are wise of heart… to make Aaron’s vestments, for consecrating him to serve Me as priest.”
Maimonides, codifying the concepts which emerge from the Biblical text, writes: “A High Priest who serves in the Temple with less than his eight vestments, or an ordinary priest who serves with less than his four required vestments…invalidates the service performed and is subject to punishment by death at the hands of Heaven, as if he were an alien who served in the Temple… When their vestments are upon them, their priestly status is upon them, but without their vestments their priestly status is removed from them…” (Hilchot Klei HaMikdash, 10:4).
We are left with the clear impression that these vestments are external manifestations of the royalty and majesty of the priestly role. The clothing literally makes the man. Without the clothing, each priest is “ordinary”—one of God’s subjects for sure, but without any regal status. With the clothing, he is not only bedecked with “dignity and adornment”, but has become a prince, and can play a royal role.
Rabbi Moses ben Nachman, Ramban, makes this even more explicit. He writes, “These are royal garments. These cloaks and robes, tunics and turbans are even today (he lived in 13th century Spain) the apparel of nobility…and no one would dare to wear the crown…or the tekhelet (blue yarn) except for royalty.”
From this perspective, clothes make the man. With them, he is imbued with the spirit of royalty and can carry himself with regal bearing.
Others interpret the function of the sacred garments differently, but all agree that garments influence the wearer in some fashion. For example, Rashi, commenting on the verse, “Put these on your brother Aaron, and on his sons as well; anoint them, and fill their hands” (Exodus 28:41), points out that in the Old French language with which he was familiar, when a person received a new official position the nobleman would put gloves upon him, indicating that he now had the authority of a new position. Rashi uses the Old French word gant, which the reference books that I consulted translate as a “decorative glove.” This would indicate that the garments were a type of official uniform, not necessarily regal, but symbolic of a specialized responsibility. With the donning of the gant the person himself gained the self-assurance of authority and power.
The late 15th century commentator Rabbi Isaac Arama, in his classic Akedat Yitzchak, provides even stronger support for our contention that clothes make the man. He identifies a similarity between the Hebrew word for the Kohen’s uniform and the Hebrew word for ethical character. The Hebrew word for uniform is mad, plural madim, and the Hebrew word for a character trait is midah, plural midot.
Rabbi Arama notes that in Latin, too, the word habitus refers to both a special garment (e.g., a nun’s habit) and a character trait (e.g. a good habit). He persuasively argues that “just as it can be determined from a person’s external appearance as to whether he is a merchant or a soldier or a monk, so too, the discovery of our hidden inner personality begins with our external behaviors.”
For Rabbi Arama, that our clothing is metaphor for our moral standing is evident in this biblical verse: “Now Joshua was clothed in filthy garments when he stood before the angel. The latter stood up and spoke to his attendants: ‘Take the filthy garments off him!’ And he said to him: ‘See, I have removed your guilt from you…’” (Zechariah 3:3-4).
Finally, there is another biblical verse which demonstrates the central role of clothing in “making the man.” And here we go back even further in history than this week’s parsha. Indeed, we go all the way back to the first parsha in the Torah, Bereishit: “And the Lord God made garments of skins for Adam and his wife, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21).
Nechama Leibowitz comments: “Everything in the way of culture and civilization was given to man to discover and develop on his own, with his own capacities. Nothing in the way of repairing the world and settling it was given to him by God. Neither the discovery of fire nor farming nor building houses was revealed to man by God. Rather, he was required to invent all these procedures on his own. Only clothing was given to him from Above. “And the Lord…made garments.”
God made clothing for man. And clothing makes the man.
Ah, do I now wish that I had not abandoned my original idea for a master’s degree thesis. What a fascinating thesis it would have been!
Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb is Executive Vice President, Emeritus of the Orthodox Union
The Midrash Ha’ne’elam (quoted in Torah Sheleimah) explains that Moshe Rabbeinu’s name does not appear in our Parashah because he said, after the sin of the Golden Calf (32:32), “And now, if You would just forgive their sin! — but if not, erase me from Your book that You have written.” Photo Credit: YouTube.com
By: Shlomo Katz
The Midrash Ha’ne’elam (quoted in Torah Sheleimah) explains that Moshe Rabbeinu’s name does not appear in our Parashah because he said, after the sin of the Golden Calf (32:32), “And now, if You would just forgive their sin! — but if not, erase me from Your book that You have written.” Says the Midrash: Moshe cursed himself conditionally, and Hashem in fact forgave Bnei Yisrael’s sin as a result of his plea. Even so, he was erased from one Parashah that speaks of the building of the Mishkan. Moshe Rabbeinu’s name should have been written in connection with every aspect and every mitzvah in this Parashah, but it was erased. This teaches that the curse of a Torah scholar comes true even if it was uttered conditionally. [Until here from the midrash]
R’ Menachem Mendel Kasher z”l (1895-1983; prolific author of Torah works) explains, citing earlier commentators: Even though the verse quoted above appears in next week’s Parashah, it is a general rule that the Torah is not necessarily written in chronological order.
Why was this Parashah chosen as the one from which Moshe’s name would be excluded? R’ Kasher writes, again citing other works: Originally, Moshe, not Aharon, was to have been the Kohen Gadol. However, when Moshe refused to go to Pharaoh to demand Bnei Yisrael’s freedom and he suggested that Aharon go in his place, the Torah says (Shmot 4:14), “The wrath of Hashem burned against Moshe and He said, “Is there not Aharon your brother, the levi?” He meant: Aharon would have been a Levi, and you a Kohen, but now it will be the reverse. Therefore, Moshe’s name is omitted from the Parashah that discusses the garments of the kohanim.
Some, however, explain the absence of Moshe’s name in our Parashah as a sign of distinction. The Parashah opens, “Now you shall command Bnei Yisrael . . .” Because this Parashah is the conclusion of the description of the Mishkan, Hashem wanted to give honor to Moshe by giving him a role in commanding Bnei Yisrael, without the usual introduction, “Hashem spoke to Moshe.” (Torah Sheleimah)
“Into the Choshen Ha’mishpat / Breastplate of Judgment shall you place the Urim and the Tumim, and they shall be on Aharon’s heart when he comes before Hashem; and Aharon shall bear the judgment of the Bnei Yisrael on his heart constantly before Hashem.” (28:30)
R’ Yosef Bechor Shor z”l (France; 12th century) writes: “Urim” means “provinces,” as in (Yeshayah 24:15), “Honor Hashem in the Urim / provinces,” and (Bereishit 11:31), “Ur / the province of Kasdim.”
He continues: “Tumim” means “boundaries,” from the word “Tam,” which means “to reach the end.” It follows that what was placed into the Choshen Ha’mishpat was a description of how Eretz Yisrael would be divided among the tribes. Each tribe’s boundaries were written down and the paper or parchment was placed inside the Choshen opposite the gem that corresponded to that tribe. That would have the effect of preventing litigation among the tribes; therefore it is called, “The judgment of Bnei Yisrael.” (Bechor Shor) –
Private collection of Berber/Jewish artifact and bridal gowns/dresses on display at the Tangier American Legation – New York Jewish Travel Guide
By: Meyer Harroch
Tangier is a mixture of North Africa, Spain, Portugal, and France. it is the ideal melting pot and has a rich Jewish history. This beautiful city, only 35 minutes from Spain by hydrofoil or two hours by normal ferry boat service, is a multicultural society, predominantly Muslim, but with small Christian and Jewish communities who have had peaceful relations. In the 1950s, it was a place – and sometimes a refuge – for many artists and writers from America and Europe.
This port city that is shaped by the sea has attracted famous literary figures including Paul Bowles, Tennessee Williams, and Truman Capote and other writers, poets, and artists, such as Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and Brion Gysin. Notable painters who lived in Tangier included Eugene Delacroix and Henri Matisse. Judaism has played an important part in Tangier’s cultural heritage, with Jewish settlers originally migrating to the city after the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem. Today, Tangier’s Jewish community consists of about 60 Jews, down from a peak of 22,000, many of them having emigrated to places such as Canada, Lisbon, and New York.
The Al Boraq is the first superfast bullet train of its kind in Africa, running along the Atlantic coast for 200 kilometers between the port of Tangier and the commercial hub of Casablanca. These high-speed trains with double-decker cars take about two hours and 10 minutes to reach Tangier with a speed of 320 kilometers per hour (200 mph) and have a capacity for 533 passengers. The amazing Moroccan interior features art deco lamps and spacious seats facing each other that are covered in a rich red fabric. There’s a large set of racks to stow your luggage and a helpful sign tells passengers all the times for both regular and high-speed trains. The seats are accompanied by much roomier tables than you’d typically find on an airplane. Plans call for service extending to major tourist hubs such as Agadir and Marrakech.
Moise Nahon Synagogue
Suspended lamp from the second floor – Nahon Synagogue – New York Jewish Travel Guide
At one time there were over 20 synagogues in Tangier. The Nahon Synagogue, also called “Masat Moshe,” offers a fascinating look at one of them. Located on Rue Synagogue in the Medina, it was constructed in the 19th century by Moise Nahon, a prominent educator, and scholar from an influential Jewish family. The synagogue ceased activity in the second half of the 20th century and fell into disrepair until its restoration in 1994. It now functions as a museum.
The prayer room is accessible via a small courtyard at the end of the entrance corridor. The inside is well kept, and beautifully decorated with silver candelabras and lamps in an Andalusian style. An impressive wooden Torah ark and panels above it are decorated with Hebrew calligraphy, and many silver chandeliers hanging from the high ceiling were donated by former members to remember their loved ones. The upper gallery is used as an exhibition hall of Jewish relics, showing the community’s Ketubas, tapestries, wedding agreement, handmade embroidery, and also other artifacts used for prayers. Perhaps most remarkable is the Arabic calligraphy repeated in three medallions vertically aligned below the superior lobe. Under this decoration, the lower portion of the wall is lined with rectangular, carved wood panels. The center of the prayer hall opens to a ceiling that is also decorated, with a large skylight in the center. Today this synagogue is only used for celebrations such as anniversaries and bar and bat mitzvahs.
View of the synagogue’s interior from the women’s balcony, Synagogue Rabbi Akiba – New York Jewish Travel Guide
The smaller of the two synagogues in the medina, Synagogue Rabbi Akiba was constructed in the mid-19th century and was rebuilt in 1912. More recently it has been converted into a museum highlighting Tangier’s Jewish history.
Detail view of a suspended lamp from the second floor -The Chaar Rafael – New York Jewish Travel Guide
Chaar Rafael is one of the last surviving synagogues and remnants of Tangier’s Jewish heritage. Located on 27 Boulevard Pasteur in the newer part of the city, this Jewish-owned villa was built in 1919, and it was converted to a synagogue in 1954 when the owner, Raphaël Bendriahm, died. The current rabbi is Jacob Tordgman, who has been with the community for 10 years. The rabbi is also a lawyer who is fluent in French and Arabic before learning Spanish in order to communicate with his congregants Today, only some 10 to 15 people attend Shabbat services, with more tourists and visitors coming for the High Holidays.
Tangier Cemetery: Beth Hahayim
Beith Hahayim Cemeterie- Tanger – New York Jewish Travel Guide
The Jewish Cemetery in Tangier referred to as the “old cemetery,” was in operation already in the 1910s. It has 1,000 graves, mostly white stones, some of which date back to the 16th century. There are many righteous individuals buried there. Owned by the Tangier municipality, the Jewish Cemetery, just outside the Medina, is open to the public and has caretakers who oversee it. While the cemetery has had a combination of erosion and water issues, the inscriptions on the tombstones have been digitized to offer those interested the opportunity to locate a gravesite online. The tombstones are in Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese and French, with the most recent burials dating back to 1935-40.
Tangier American Legation Museum.
Located within the hustle of the Medina, this museum adds a somewhat foreign feel to the city. This museum, based in an elegant five-story mansion, also played an instrumental role in the Allied landings in North Africa in 1942, known as Operation Torch. During World War II, J. Rives Childs, the head of the U.S. legation, helped 1,200 Hungarian Jews escape the Holocaust with visas to Spanish Morocco. President Harry Truman presented Childs with the Medal of Freedom in 1946 to honor his service. It is not widely known that Morocco was the first country to recognize the United States as an independent nation after the Revolutionary War. The Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies, or TALIM for short, was the only U.S. Historic Landmark on foreign soil and the first structure owned by the U.S. government abroad. TALIM was originally gifted to the United States by Sultan Moulay Suleiman of Morocco in 1821. The building, which originally functioned as the U.S. consulate, and has served as a symbol of American engagement with the Muslim world ever since.
The museum also holds an impressive display of paintings that give a view of Tangier’s past through the eyes of its artists, most notably Scotsman James McBey’s painting of his servant girl, Zohra, which has been called the Moroccan Mona Lisa. There is a small bookshop and a wing dedicated to American author Paul Bowles. A hidden gem is a temporary exhibit, “Customs and Costumes of Sephardic Morocco,” a private collection of Berber/Jewish artifacts and featuring the bridal gowns and dresses of Sophia Cohen Azagury. TALIM also houses an 8,000-volume research library that operates a long-standing women’s literacy program and is looking to expand English language lessons for local children and students.
Nearly 100 Jewish educators from nine states came together to collaborate on developing their skills and toolboxes for creating positive and stable experiences for their students.
Edited by: TJVNews.com
The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a negative toll on so many aspects of everyday life, including the ongoing anxiety of students and teachers in the classrooms. Hidden Sparks, a nonprofit focusing on training teachers and providing them with the tools to support struggling students in mainstream Jewish day schools, recently convened a virtual conference to address this challenge. Nearly 100 Jewish educators from nine states came together to collaborate on developing their skills and toolboxes for creating positive and stable experiences for their students.
Participating educators were able to choose from 11 lecture options that gave them tools in a variety of areas like topics like art therapy exercises in the classroom to teacher’s self-care and personal growth. Topics included Recognizing Anxiety in Myself and Others, Guided Relaxation Exercises, Building a Positive Psychological Toolbox and Personal Growth in Difficult Times, among others.
Participating educators were able to choose from 11 lecture options that gave them tools in a variety of areas like topics like art therapy exercises in the classroom to teacher’s self-care and personal growth
The participating educators hailed from 45 Jewish day schools in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Missiouri, Texas and Rhode Island. They span the religious affiliation gamut from those identified as serving a non-denominational community to those serving Hassidic students.
Moreover, educators from 25 New York Jewish day schools joined the program.
They included:
Long Island
HALB
Shulamith School for Girls
TAG
HANC Plainview
HANC West Hempstead
Northshore Hebrew Academy Middle School (Great Neck)
Brooklyn
Bais Esther School
Bais Yaakov of Bor Park
Beth Rivkah
Bnos Pupa of Williamsburg
Mazel Day School
Shulamith School of Brooklyn
Torah Vodaath
Yeshiva Chaim Berlin
Yeshiva Darchai Menachem
Yeshiva of Flatbush
Yeshivat Shaare Torah Boys
Queens
Bnos Malka Academy
SSSQ
Yeshiva of Central Queens
Manhattan
Breuers
Ramaz Lower School
Monsey
Yeshiva of Spring Valley
Yeshiva Darchei Noam of Monsey Ohr Reuven
Riverdale
SAR Academy
They heard from leading education experts including Rona Novick, Ph.D, dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration at Yeshiva University and co-educational director for Hidden Sparks; Lily Howard Scott, MS, Hidden Sparks’ Social Emotional Learning Coach; Hidden Sparks coaches from across the country, school and clinical psychologists, and an art therapist.
Topics included Recognizing Anxiety in Myself and Others, Guided Relaxation Exercises, Building a Positive Psychological Toolbox and Personal Growth in Difficult Times, among others.
Throughout the past year, Hidden Sparks has remained in constant communication with Jewish day school educators, monitoring the impact that the pandemic has had on both the teacher’s personal psyche as well as those of their students and the effects on their overall classroom experiences. The seminar’s focus on mental health was specifically chosen in response to those findings, in order to provide educators with the tools they need now to help both themselves and their students.
“Fortunately, many of yeshivas and day schools have managed, through careful planning, to stay open for most of the year but this whole period has been especially challenging for our teachers,” said Hidden Sparks Executive Director Debbie Niderberg. “It was very clear to us that the focus for our retreat this year had to begin with strategies for teachers self care, and then expand to how do I bring these strategies into my classroom. There has been such a focus on academic learning loss this year but in reality there have been so many other kinds of loss that we have experienced through this time, and we recognize how important self care strategies and mental health sensitivity are for teachers and students.”
Founded in 2006, Hidden Sparks is a one of the leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to helping teachers and schools educate struggling learners. Through professional development programs and on-site coaching for teachers, it helps educators deepen their understanding of learning and approaches for teaching all kinds of learners, particularly those who struggle. With 110 participating day schools in the US as well as schools in Israel and 3,875 educators trained by the Hidden Sparks curriculum, the organization impacts 8,800 students on average annually. For more information please visit: www.hiddensparks.org.
