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Israeli Image Shortlisted for Sony World Photography Award

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Detail from “Little Girl on a Fake Beach.” Copyright: © Daniel Gentelev, Israel, Shortlist, Open, Street Photography (Open competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards

Daniel Gentelev’s photo taken in Berlin is titled ‘Little Girl on a Fake Beach’ and is shortlisted in the Street Photography category

Israeli photographer Daniel Gentelev is one of 13 entrants shortlisted for an Open Photography Award in the Street Photography category of the 2019 Sony World Photography Awards.

His picture, “Little Girl on a Fake Beach,” was taken in Berlin.

Gentelev graduated from the photography department of Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem in 2011. Photo Credit: Bezalel Academy

“I stumble by this image completely accidentally. I saw the girl with the broom while watching her movements to clean the beach. It was a moment when you realize that you are yourself a manifestation of a great divine life within you. Yourself as a vehicle of consciousness and life so that it becomes transparent to something that is beyond speech, beyond words, to what we call transcendence,” he wrote.

Gentelev graduated from the photography department of Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem in 2011. In his third year he took part in Bezalel’s exchange program for merit students at the VSUP-Academy of Arts, Architecture & Design in Prague. His works have been published in several art magazines and group exhibitions in Europe.

The World Photography Organization announced that 326,997 entries were submitted across the four competitions of the 2019 Sony Awards, the highest-ever number to date. Category winners will be announced March 26, and the $5,000 Open Photographer of the Year prize winner revealed on April 17.

“As one of the world’s largest and most prestigious global photography competitions, the Awards annually celebrate and promote the best contemporary photography from the past year across a wide variety of photographic genres,” said the organization in its announcement of the shortlist.

This year’s Open and Youth competition judging was chaired by Rebecca McClelland, Photography Director & Head of Art Production for Saatchi Saatchi & Prodigious (UK). All shortlisted and winning images will be exhibited from April 18 until May 6, 2019 at Somerset House, London.

             (Israel 21c)

Whitney Museum in NYC Acquires Norman Lewis’ Masterwork; “American Totem”

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The Whitney Museum of American Art is pleased to announce that it has acquired Norman Lewis’s American Totem (1960), one of his most iconic paintings.

Lewis (1909-1979), who was born in Harlem, was a central but often under-appreciated figure in the Abstract Expressionist movement. One of the few African American artists associated with the New York School, he was the only black artist to participate in the 1950 closed-door sessions that Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline organized to define this burgeoning movement. Lewis also was a founding member of Spiral, a group that included Charles Alston, Emma Amos, Romare Bearden, and Hale Woodruff, among others. These artists were keenly concerned with how art might engage in questions of racial inequality and struggle, while remaining committed to discovering new formal and expressive possibilities in their work.

American Totem (1960) was made nearly a decade after Lewis’s first solo exhibition at the Willard Gallery in 1949, a period that earned him a reputation but neither the financial rewards nor exhibition opportunities of his peers. Transitioning from calligraphic forms that implied groups or processions, Lewis began a series of black-and-white paintings that explored the emotional and psychic impact of this turbulent historical moment in American history.

While the totem the painting evokes is the infamous hooded Klansman, the figure itself is composed of a multitude of forms resembling apparitions, skulls, and masks. The implication of Lewis’s work, painted at the height of the civil rights movement, is that terror is both representable and abstract, conscious and unconscious, visible and hidden.

“One of Lewis’s most important paintings,” said Adam D. Weinberg, Alice Pratt Brown Director of the Whitney, “this acquisition will allow the Whitney to more effectively portray the complex history of American art at mid-century. Lewis’s painting suggests the power of an object to accommodate both reflection and action. We are thrilled that this work has entered the Whitney’s collection, and it would not have been realized without the generous leadership gift from Laurie Tisch, our longtime trustee and former Co-Chairman of the Board.”

Scott Rothkopf, Senior Deputy Director and Nancy and Steve Crown Family Chief Curator, stated: “Although the Whitney first acquired Lewis’s work nearly thirty years ago, our curators have spent almost a decade assiduously searching for the perfect painting to honor his extraordinary achievement within the context of our collection. We are excited to unveil American Totem to our audiences this summer.”

More recently, his work has also been celebrated in group exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2010); The Jewish Museum, New York (2016); Haus der Kunst, Munich (2016); Musée du Quai Branly, Paris (2016); Royal Academy of Arts, London (2016); Detroit Institute of Arts (2017); Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis, MO (2017); The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC (2017); and elsewhere. Additionally, his work is part of the major exhibition Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power, which debuted at the Tate Modern, London, in 2017.

Woody Allen Sues Amazon for $68M Over Movie Deal Gone Sour

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Famous film director Woody Allen wants damages of $68 million or more over Amazon’s decision to yank its deal with Allen over allegation that he sexually molested one of his kids, in 1992. Allen would have had four films featured on Amazon had the deal not fallen through. Photo Credit: Shutterstock

Famous director Woody Allen isn’t happy with the way he was treated by Amazon, enough so that he decided it’s time to take on this behemoth of an entity in court, according to The New York Times. Allen wants damages of $68 million or more over the company’s decision to yank its deal with Allen over allegation that he sexually molested one of his kids, Dylan Farrow, 7, in 1992. Allen would have had four films featured on Amazon had the deal not fallen through.

“That allegation was already well known to Amazon (and the public) before Amazon entered into four separate deals with Mr. Allen,” according to the lawsuit that Allen filed in a Manhattan Federal District Court. “And, in any event, it does not provide a basis for Amazon to terminate the contract. There simply was no legitimate ground for Amazon to renege on its promises.”

Allen’s case rests on his claims that the allegations gave Amazon an excuse to end their relationship by “referencing a 25-year old, baseless allegation against Mr. Allen.” No charges have been filed against Allen, and the director has continued to deny the allegations.

The Jewish Voice reported back in December 2017 about a Los Angeles Times opinion article that Farrow wrote with the title “Why has the #MeToo revolution spared Woody Allen?” The New York Times reported that the article led to a number of Hollywood figures to cut ties with Allen, including Greta Gerwig, Colin Firth and Peter Sarsgaard.

Amazon and Allen put out a movie back in 2016, so there was already an established relationship between the two. Amazon agreed to work with Allen on four of his films on August of 2017, according to the lawsuit. These are the films now at question in the lawsuit after Amazon decided to not distribute them anymore.

The Jewish Voice has reported about Amazon and its close relation to New York. The company said last year it had selected a site on Long Island City to place its 25,000 employees but didn’t buy any space for offices.

“The company’s brass had to endure a series of hearings in the City Council in recent weeks, in which politicians blasted Amazon’s record on labor issues and its refusal to accede to a unionization drive at its Staten Island distribution center,” reported Bloomberg News and Crain’s New York Business.

Farrow’s story also speaks to a larger movement that took over many news cycles in the past year and a half after stunning allegations of rampant and systemic sexual misconduct by movie mogul Harvey Weinstein shook not just the country but most of the world, helping to spark the #MeToo movement. Simply put, women want to be treated as equals, as human beings and not objects of entertainment to be controlled and manipulated by powerful men like Weinstein.

Lawsuit Brings Fear that Deal, NJ Beach Access Could be Limited

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Beachfront property is valuable, and it can also be controversial. There’s really no secret there. Just go ask anyone who lives near the water in Miami or anyone down the Jersey coast from Deal in Margate City, where residents fought with the Army Corp of Engineers over sand dunes. Now the American Littoral Society is taking legal action against Deal in an attempt to upend a rule from last December that would clear out the end of a street leading to the ocean so that landowners could develop the property for $1 million, Vos Iz Neais News reports.

The American Littoral Society advocates on behalf of the public and preserving land for the public’s use. It fears that a precedent could come out of this deal that could eventually lead to the selling off of more prime and pristine public coastal land to private and commercial development. It would become harder for people to access the beach, with these developments serving as a buffer between the road and the beach.

“It’s definitely not fair what they’re doing,” Matt Schwartz, a local surfer said while enjoying his sport in February. “It seems like they cater to one class of wealthy people here. I own a business and I pay taxes, and I should be able to walk on a public beach.”

Some people who have been around town for a while think that the days of Deal having no beach barriers could be numbered.

“In the 1850s, our courts recognized the value of street ends in providing the public access to the shore,” Andrew Provence said. “It is important to fight this new notion that street ends, Provence, Littoral Society’s lawyer, said that people have to not be swept away with promises of taking street ends and then vacating them “for the right price.”

The litigants talked about how people like surfers and fisherman use Neptune Avenue to access the beach. If the land is sold off, and if developers then block off beach access, then it impedes on the fishing and surfing and other beach activities that people have enjoyed throughout Deal’s history.

“Public access to the beaches and tidal waterfronts of our state is constantly under attack,” Tim Dillingham, the executive director, said. “We are taking this action to prevent the loss of this important public access way to the beach, and to ensure that other towns aren’t tempted to sell off the public’s rights to the highest bidder.” Deal’s position is that the area was never meant to be a beach portal.

As it stands, no development will be allowed to restrict sight lines of the beach and ocean, and some level of access to an area of boulders near the end of the property would be maintained too, according to the development agreement Deal made.

Deal says its agreement with the developer prohibits anyone from blocking visual access to the beach and ocean, and it maintains a 12-foot-wide strip of land enabling access to the end of the property where the boulders begin. That would preserve the existing level of access, the town maintains.

Sprint Files Suit Against AT&T; Claims Customers are Misled On 5G

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With the eminent rollout of 5G, a faster mobile wireless network, Sprint Corp already sued AT&T last week because Sprint believes AT&T is getting an unfair advantage by misleading people to think that the phones they were using took advantage of 5G when it fact that wasn’t the case. Photo Credit: Shutterstock

Things are getting feisty in the tech industry, even if consumers just want whatever device will have the best mobile internet. With the eminent rollout of 5G, a faster mobile wireless network, Sprint Corp already sued AT&T last week because Sprint believes AT&T is getting an unfair advantage by misleading people to think that the phones they were using took advantage of 5G when it fact that wasn’t the case, Vos Iz Neais reports.

Vos Iz Neais reports that AT&T users would have a logo appear on their phones that suggested they were on a 5G network, but Sprint said in its lawsuit that AT&T’s 5G Evolution is actually just running on a 4G network. This alleged problem happens on devices that run on Android and Apple operating systems.

As evidence to show how consumers are being misled, Sprint pointed to a survey in which 54 percent of AT&T customers thought they were on a superior mobile network and that 43 percent of people believed an AT&T phone could use 5G mobile internet.

“We will fight this lawsuit while continuing to deploy 5G Evolution in addition to standards-based mobile 5G. Customers want and deserve to know when they are getting better speeds,” AT&T said as a comment responding to the lawsuit.

5G Evolution and the 5GE indicator can alert people to areas that have the higher speeds, AT&T said.

After years of negotiations and subsequent breakups, T-Mobile and Sprint merged companies. T-Mobile CEO John Legere, made a statement on Twitter saying, “I’m excited to announce that @TMobile & @Sprint have reached an agreement to come together to form a new company – a larger, stronger competitor that will be a force for positive change for all US consumers and businesses!” The combined company, which will take on the name T-Mobile, will consolidate the third and fourth largest wireless service providers in the country.

With a race in the wireless industry to build 5G networks, Verizon Communications picked up an advantage by outbidding competitor AT&T and acquiring wireless spectrum holder Straight Path for $3.1 billion back in 2017, helping the company lay the groundwork early for an eventual massive rollout of 5G.

The Jewish Voice also covered an electronics show in Las Vegas recently in which 5G presentations were given. Later in the day, the “New Frontiers in Mobile” keynote gave attendees a glimpse into the future of 5G. MediaLink Chairman and CEO Michael Kassan kicked off the keynote by declaring to the crowd that “CES 2019 is, for all intents and purposes, the dawn of 5G.” Kassan was joined on stage by AT&T Communications CEO John Donovan and the two discussed AT&T’s efforts to make 5G a reality.

Venezuela & NYC Apartments; A Match Made in Heaven for Financial Crimes

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These developments are rising out of the bribery and money-laundering accusations swirling around a Venezuelan media mogul, Raul Gorrin. Photo Credit: Wikipedia

While the world’s attention is on the country of Venezuela and its political turmoil, countries have to decide which leader and course of action to support. The decisions are difficult and important and cannot be taken lightly. Back here in New York, there’s a Venezuelan problem too, but this one is a much more clear cut-and-dried problem.

United States prosecutors said that some of Venezuela’s rich “boligarchs” have been using Manhattan real estate to run a currency-exchange scam that’s worth almost $2.5 billion, The New York Post reports. The assets are now “subject to forfeiture,” which could return over $40 million-worth of value to the American taxpayers.

These developments are rising out of the bribery and money-laundering accusations swirling around a Venezuelan media mogul, Raul Gorrin. He maintains close relations with Nicholas Maduro, the democratically elected but highly controversial Venezuelan president who is not viewed as the legitimate president by a number of countries like the United States. The idea of a “boligarch” comes from the Russian oligarch notion in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, a country primarily benefiting a few very wealthy people who are close to the president and tend to use corruption and state resources to acquire that wealth.

The scheme was spread across seven different properties, all of which boasted luxuries and amenities most people aren’t privileged enough to even know exist for the wealthiest of citizens. Expensive real estate is a convenient means for international criminals to attempt financial crimes, most commonly by dumping a ton of illegitimate money into real estate in order to launder it and reintroduce it into the system as “legitimate cash,” cash that had just been cleaned to obscure its illegal pathway.

Some of the properties that The New York Post flagged include a 47th-floor living space that had nearly 5,000 square feet of space and is across from the Museum of Modern Art. If such a prime property like that one doesn’t sound good enough, he also had a Billionaire’s Row property at 330 E. 57th St. They may seem like dream properties, but they were never intended for traditional living but rather an apparent currency-fixing scheme.

Another apartment — a full-floor home at 330 E. 57th St. — was purchased for $2.4 million in cash by a holding company controlled by Gorrin’s brother-in-law.

This scheme comes at a time when Venezuela is in turmoil, and the president said while addressing the nation last week “two weeks ago, the United States officially recognized the legitimate government of Venezuela, and its new interim president, Juan Guaido.”

The United States is joined by other Western powers like the United Kingdom in recognizing the self-proclaimed interim president of Venezuela Juan Guaido, while Turkey, Russia, China and many other states continued their support for the democratically elected President Nicolas Maduro.

Internet Site Reddit’s Ever-Increasing Value Now At $3 Billion

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Redditors, as users of the popular social-like website that gives users a wide range of groups to use in order to facilitate discussions about certain topics. Photo Credit: Shutterstock

Redditors, as users of the popular social-like website that gives users a wide range of groups to use in order to facilitate discussions about certain topics. People can learn about and discuss topics like sports or politics, and those broad categories would also have subgroups so that it’s easier to find more specific information and conversations. Investors hope Reddit could become a good company and investment, similar to Facebook after it went public, and now the company hit a valuation of $3 billion following $300 million of Series D funding, Pymnts reports.

Facebook and Google continue sucking up most of the digital advertising space. Recent layoffs at notable news organizations have highlighted this problem. A CNBC report said that Reddit plans to tap into that market and take away some of the stranglehold those two tech giants have on internet advertising.

Facebook users can see advertisements during their browsing experience and will notice that they’re targeted. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he didn’t want a website with advertisements back in the beginning days of Facebook. Internet-browsing consumers will also notice ads for products they searched for on Google following them around to seemingly every website. The full extent of what happens to the massive amount of data companies collect on users is not understood, but the market is clearly lucrative, if only a company could tap into it.

Advertising on Reddit isn’t as wild as it sounds. Pymnts notes that Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) tried reaching out to younger generations by advertising on Reddit. Toyota rolled out advertisements on Reddit in the past too. Pymnts found a number of investors who most people would recognize, from the rapper and entertainer Snoop Dogg to Fidelity, a financial services company. Tencent, a major Chinese player in the technology sector, pumped over $150 million into Reddit.

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman spoke to CNBC about the importance of tapping into advertising revenue and how the company planned to compete with the seeming juggernauts of Google and Facebook. “When we are talking about competing for ad dollars, of course we are talking about Facebook and Google, who take up the vast majority of ad spend,” Huffman said. “We are competing with anybody, or anywhere people spend their free time.”

While Reddit may not have congressional hearings to testify at because a foreign adversary manipulated its services for the sake of waging disinformation campaigns against entire countries, the company has had its fair share of problems that could scare off more investors. As a fairly open online forum, the likelihood of abuse increases, but that’s why Huffman said that his company is “free from abuse and other kinds of misbehaving.

“One of the things that’s been very important to us is that we can now assure advertisers that you are going to have a positive experience on Reddit and potentially even a new experience, a new way of connecting with customers,” Huffman said.

Reddit, which was founded in 2005, has at times been under the microscope for rampant harassment and abuse issues. Huffman said the company has implemented tools to combat this kind of behavior, and that he’s made a commitment to advertisers to make sure the platform is ”

LA Rabbi Takes on Anti-Israel Propaganda in “Prestigious” Art Show

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As the Rubanowitzes entered the art show building, one of the first pieces of artwork in view depicted a large map. An enormous country in the middle was labeled Israel. Around it were areas labeled with the names of many other countries in the Middle East.

An art exhibit is not the usual battleground for controversies over anti-Israel propaganda. But when a prestigious art show in Los Angeles recently displayed artwork comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, a local Orthodox rabbi decided the time had come to speak out.

Rabbi Shalom Rubanowitz is an attorney, musmach of Bais Medrash Govohah in Lakewood, and spiritual leader of The Shul on the Beach (known to many as the Pacific Jewish Center) in Venice, a beachfront neighborhood of Los Angeles. Photo Credit: PJC Shul on the Beach)

The LA Art Show is an annual five-day event featuring the work of many of the world’s hottest contemporary artists. It attracts tens of thousands of visitors—including Rabbi Shalom Rubanowitz, an attorney, musmach of Bais Medrash Govohah in Lakewood, and spiritual leader of The Shul on the Beach (known to many as the Pacific Jewish Center) in Venice, a beachfront neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Rabbi Rubanowitz, together with his children, visited the show on its final day, January 27, which coincidentally was International Holocaust Remembrance Day (the anniversary of the Allies’ liberation of Auschwitz). “It was supposed to be just a nice outing with my kids,” the rabbi said. “But it turned into something very different, and disturbing.”

As the Rubanowitzes entered the art show building, one of the first pieces of artwork in view depicted a large map. An enormous country in the middle was labeled Israel. Around it were areas labeled with the names of many other countries in the Middle East.

“At first, I thought, ‘Oh, isn’t that nice, an Israeli theme’,” Rabbi Rubanowitz recalled. “But as I looked closer, I realized the size of Israel as depicted was disproportionately large compared to its neighboring countries, which were not placed in any geographically correct manner. Then a friend pointed out to me that the peculiar shapes of the countries were not random. It was a map of Europe, and the area labeled Israel was actually in the shape of Germany. The countries around it all had roughly the same contours as the countries that are around Germany, but they were much smaller in size than in reality. The message of this piece of art is that Israel is the ‘new Germany’—but really the ‘new Nazi Germany,’ because it is clearly portrayed as gigantic and menacing.”

The artist who created the artwork is a German painter and illustrator, Daniel Richter. According to Richter’s web site, his work “conveys current events with an anarchic and energetic punk rock approach” who emphasizes “figures in situations of rebellion—scenes that are both exciting and surreal.”

Matthias Kunz of the Munich-based Gallerie Sabine Knust gallery, which arranged for the Richter piece to be displayed at the LA Art Show, had a booth at the show. Rabbi Runbanowitz approached Kunz to explain his concerns. “He said the purpose of the artwork was to ’stimulate discussion,’” Rubanowitz said.

Rabbi Rubanowitz was not impressed by that argument. He said that the display of the painting is particularly “insensitive and incendiary” at a time of rising antisemitism in the United States. “Imagine a similar piece some by a white artist depicting all African Americans as murderous aggressors seeking to enslave all white people—everyone would be outraged, and the painting would be taken down in a second.”

“Of course we live in a free country and any artist is free share his or her perspective, but gallery owners always use their discretion,” the rabbi noted. “That’s why, for example, they don’t display graphic pornography. Well, this kind of slander against the Jewish state is a kind of political pornography, and decent people are offended by it.”

Moshe Phillips, of the Zionist organization Herut, called the depiction of Israel as Germany “part of the growing trend among cultural elites to smear Israel in every possible arena—art, literature, theater, film. It’s another form of warfare against the Jewish state.”

Phillips is national director of the U.S. section of Herut North America, which follows the teachings of the late Zionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky. Other American Jewish and Zionist organizations were contacted by Rabbi Rubanowitz, but none of them have made any statements about the art show.

Asked about the choice of Richter’s Israel-Germany portrait, Heidi Johnson, the media spokesperson for the LA Art Show, responded that “we can’t control or be aware of every piece exhibited in the show,” but “in the future we will keep [the Jewish community’s] concerns in mind.”

Rabbi Rubanowitz is concerned that “Richter’s anti-Israel propaganda, masquerading as art,” may be shown at other shows and galleries around the country in the months ahead. It has already been included in the catalogues that the Gallerie Sabine Knust publishes. The rabbi has created a short video about his visit to the LA Art Show, which he has posted on his Facebook page, and he’s urging national Jewish organizations to be on the lookout. This battle is not over yet.

February 1919: Horror Comes to Ukrainian Jewish Community in the Town of Proskurov

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Pogrom Victims. Proskurov, Ukraine, 1918-1921. During the rule of Simon Petlyura (1919-1921) a wave of pogroms swept the Ukraine killing thousands of Jews. From: "Pogroms Against the Jews 1918-1921", Moscow, USSR, 1926. (Beth Hatefutsoth Photo Archive)

One century ago this week, a catastrophe struck Jewry.

On the Sabbath day, February 15 1919, horror came to the Jewish community of the Ukrainian town of Proskurov. The Proskurov pogrom would come to signify the tragedy that befell the Jews of Ukraine during the Ukrainian-Soviet war. (1918-1920)

Following the withdrawal of German troops after World War One from Ukraine, Communist Bolshevik troops sought control as did Ukrainian nationalists. Also involved were the White Russians who wanted to restore Czarist rule.

Proskurov had no historical record of ever experiencing a pogrom despite its location in a terror plagued region that had suffered many violent attacks for hundreds of years. No pogrom since that of Kishinev in 1904 had made such an impact upon Jewry. The Pruskoruv pogrom caused great fear and panic which spread throughout towns in Ukraine in early 1919 and had alarmed world Jewry to the dire emergency Ukrainian Jewry was facing.

In early 1919, Ukrainian nationalists unleashed their fury against the Jews. Massacres were perpetrated in Yekaterinoslav, Zhitomir and other cities in the Ukraine. Proskurov Jewry, which numbered about 25,000, was soon in great danger. The local Haidamak (Cossack) leader Ataman Semosenko, of the third regiment, who had assumed command just days earlier, targeted the Jews. At a dinner celebrating his new command, he delivered a speech in which he accused the Jews of being the enemy of Ukraine and the Cossacks. Semosenko called for the elimination of the Jews in order to “save the Ukraine.”

He also evoked the common canard that the Jews were Bolshevik revolutionaries and thus adversaries of Ukrainian independence. The vast majority of Jews however, were not Bolsheviks and there were also some Jews who were supporters of Ukrainian independence. Furthermore, other ethnic groups also had members of the Bolshevik party. The vast majority of the Jews of Proskurov, as Shtetle Jews at the time, were not involved in political affairs.

Three days before the massacre, haidamaks paraded throughout the city on horses with rifles in hand. Their intentions were to intimidate the Jews.

The last day before the massacre, was Friday, the fourteenth day of the month of Adar Rishon. (The first month of Adar in a leap year) The Jews of Proskurov were preparing for the Sabbath.

That Shabbat was a sunny day in Proskurov. The Jews observed the Sabbath partaking in the Sabbath meal but there was a foreboding sense of fear.

The pogrom soon began. Hoards of Cossacks divided into smaller groups and began attacks against Jews in the streets and in their homes. The savagery had begun.

Knives, swords and bayonets were most often used but there were also reports of hand grenades being used as well as Jews rushed to cellars and attics to escape.

There are accounts of the slaughter.

According to one survivor, “They (Cossacks) were divided into groups of five to fifteen men and swarmed into the streets which were inhabited by Jews. Entering the homes, they drew their swords and began to cut down the inhabitants without regard to sex or age. ….Jews were dragged out of cellars and lofts and murdered. ”

Entire families were slain.

One survivor, Haia Greenberg, a nurse later testified to the horrors, “The young girls were repeatedly stabbed; the two month old baby with hands lacerations. The five- year old who had been pieced by spears. The elderly man who had been thrown out of a window by his beard. The 13 year old who became deaf because of his wounds. His brother, who received eleven wounds to his stomach and left for dead next to his slain mother, the paralyzed son of a Rabbi who was murdered in his bed; The two young children who were cast alive into a fire. “

Greenberg added, “I will never forget the reddened snow sleds filled with the hacked bodies going to a common pit in the cemetery.”

Some of the victims were forced to dig their own graves. The cries and screams of those who were tortured whose body parts were mutilated rose to the heavens. Many children became cripples from severed limbs.

Some saved Jews at great risk. Dr. S.N Polozov helped many wounded Jewish children he found in the street. He hid more than twenty Jews in his own home.

There are reports of a few Priests who were murdered as they attempted to stop the pogrom.

The massacre was carried out from two to five in the afternoon.

While estimates place the number of deaths at 1600, there are also estimates that place the casualty list as higher. These figures do not include those who sustained severe injury and were crippled for life.

The Jewish hospital and makeshift medical stations were full of the wounded. Victims were brought to the Jewish cemetery by peasants. Most were buried in mass graves.

The following day, the horrors continued. Haidamaks attacked the nearby town of Felstin, perpetrating another massacre where an estimated six hundred Jews were murdered.

One century later, the massacre on that Shabbat in Proskurov, which had become a symbol of that tragic era, is remembered. May the memories of the many martyrs of that era be for a blessing.

Larry Domnitch is an educator and author who lives in Efrat.

Shuttered for 332 Years, 13th-Century Budapest Synagogue Hosts a Bar Mitzvah

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Buda Castle Synagogue, closed since 1686, now home to a flourishing congregation

In the summer of 1686, the Jewish community in Budavár (the ancient nucleus of modern Budapest) was laid to waste by victorious Christian fighters, who had laid a lengthy siege on the city, which had previously been held by Turkish Muslims.

Many of the city’s Jewish denizens were raped, murdered or sold into slavery, and their three synagogues burnt.

One of those synagogues, situated near the “Jewish gate” of the walled city frequented by Syrian Jews, was discovered in 1964 and made into a museum. Known informally as the Buda Castle Synagogue, it is believed to have been built in the 13th century.

In 2018, the EMIH (the umbrella organization associated with Chabad Lubavics of Hungary) was invited to revitalize the building and make it into a thriving center of Jewish life once again.

This past Shabbat, the Buda Castle synagogue was the site of a joyous bar mitzvah, the first to be celebrated there in 332 years. The young celebrant, Yonatan Sebok, is a student of Rabbi Asher Faith, the Hungarian-born rabbi who leads the now-flourishing congregation.

 

Rabbi’s Journey Mirrors Community’s Resurgence

The congregation has been gaining attendees every week, reports Faith, drawing local Hungarian-speaking Jews, Israeli expats and even an Australian Jew who has taken to its charming vibe.

In a sense, the congregation’s rise from the abyss reflects the rabbi’s journey. Raised in Budapest in the 1990s and vaguely aware that he was Jewish, he had no interest in religion and planned to become a journalist. Even after his older sister and twin brother became more involved in Judaism and attended Chabad events and services, he demurred.

After he finished high school, he decided to check out the Friday-night meals that had so captivated his siblings. “I came for the food and to be entertained by the ‘crazy’ American yeshivah students who danced with such joy, but it had nothing to do with me,” he told Chabad.org.

His turning point came when Rabbi Slomó Köves (also a red-bearded Hungarian-born Chabad rabbi) invited him to attend Pesti Jesiva, the Chabad rabbinical school Rabbi Boruch Oberlander had founded in the Szász Chevra synagogue on the Pest side of the city (Budapest was formed by the merger of Buda and Pest, divided by the Danube River, in 1873).

“I came for a day and stayed for two years,” says Faith jovially in a lilting Hebrew laced with a strong Hungarian accent.

Hungry to learn more, he continued his studies in Israel, where he remained for nearly six years. “I had a very hard time at first,” he acknowledges, noting that he knew no Hebrew, which was the language of instruction, “but I stuck with it and eventually persevered.”

In 2010, now married to his French-born wife, Racheli, the young rabbi returned to the city of his youth and joined the team of Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries led by Rabbi Boruch and Batsheva Oberlander, who founded Chabad in Hungary in 1989.

“Rabbi Faith has gained a following among the youth of the city,” says Rabbi Oberlander, who also serves as the head of the city’s Orthodox rabbinical court. “He’s learned, he’s kind, he’s approachable, and people flock to him and his wife.”

Alongside young people, his presence is felt in other segments of the Budapest Jewish community, which numbers as many as 100,000-strong. He gives classes in nursing homes, visits local prisons and organizes an afternoon yeshivah.

The ancient synagogue joins four other synagogues run by Chabad in the Pest side of the Danube is the second to be reopened by Chabad in Buda side. The stately Óbuda Synagogue was been built in 1820 and became a television studio in the 1970s. In 2010, under the leadership of Köves, it was returned to its original sacred purpose.

 

Another Celebratory ‘First’ in the Works

When news spread of the impending return of the Castle Synagogue, members of the Óbuda congregation sponsored a new Torah scroll to grace its newly constructed ark.

Held in September, the official reopening of the synagogue and installation of Faith as its spiritual leader was attended by Hungarian President János Áder and Chief Rabbi of Holland and Representative of the Rabbinical Centre of Europe Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs.

As the hundreds of guests stood reverently, accompanied by a lone violinist, Köves and Faith sang Szól a Kakas Már, the haunting Chassidic melody that has become the unofficial anthem of Hungarian Jewry.

Composed by the beloved Rebbe of Kalev (Nagykálló), the song couches the Jewish people’s yearning for Moshiach in the allegory of a peasant wishing to be reunited with a beautiful bird of the most exquisite colors.

The rabbi didn’t have to wait long before people began attending the synagogue.

Rosh Hashanah saw every seat filled and many more crowding the vestibule, eager to partake in the spiritually uplifting services.

Every Shabbat begins with an hour-long class on another Jewish topic, and every service is preceded by a five-minute talk that sets the stage for a meaningful prayer experience.

Despite being the oldest functioning synagogue in Hungary, the events under its arched stone ceiling are fresh, relevant and attractive.

A kosher whiskey-tasting included a presentation by a connoisseur and a talk from the rabbi on the challenges of producing kosher spirits. On 15 Shevat, the New Year for Trees, the rabbi addressed the significance of the day and chef prepared sangria and other fruit creations. An upcoming soirée will feature a sushi chef and a class on producing and purchasing kosher sushi.

Looking ahead, the rabbi concedes that lack of space is an issue he’ll need to contend with in the coming months. But he is excited about what the future will bring. Following the confetti and celebratory activities of the bar mitzvah, the synagogue now prepares for another milestone: its first Jewish wedding since the Ottoman era.

            (Chabad.org)

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, 67, ‘A Warm Heart’ Who Supported Jewish Causes Worldwide

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Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein offered a personal perspective as he accepted the "Partnering with Colel Chabad to Make Miracles Happen" award. Photo Credit: Colel Chabad

Provided $1.5 billion for programs helping Jews in 50 countries

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, who passed away on Feb. 6 at the age of 67, visits Camp Gan Israel Moscow. Rabbi Dovid Mondshine, director of the Ohr Avner Foundation, looks on.

To the myriads of people who worked with him, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein was a man full of life and vitality, always looking for his next project. Eckstein, the president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), an organization he founded in 1983 that has grown to become a major supporter of Jewish causes in Israel, the former Soviet Union and around the world, passed away suddenly on Wednesday morning at his home in Jerusalem. He was 67 years old.

“We are all shocked,” Rabbi Berel Lazar, the chief rabbi and head Chabad-Lubavitch emissary to Russia tells Chabad.org. “When I met with him a week ago, we discussed plans for the future, new ideas, new projects. He was always looking for ways he could make a positive change.”

Eckstein, Russian chief Rabbi Berel Lazar, and a Russian official on a recent trip to Moscow

Eckstein was raised in Canada and studied at Yeshiva University, where he received his rabbinic ordination and completed his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees. He later served as a lecturer at Columbia University and was a member of the executive board of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC).

His major lifework began in 1983, when he founded the Fellowship. In the years since, he raised more than $1.5 billion, mostly from non-Jews, for programs helping Jews in more than 50 countries, leaving an indelible mark on the worldwide Jewish community.

Chief among Eckstein’s partners in the former Soviet Union was the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS, the umbrella organization for Jewish communities in the former Communist bloc. Working with Chabad emissaries on the ground, the Fellowship was able to provide direct assistance to tens of thousands of Jews, from refugees of the war in Ukraine to impoverished families and orphans in Belarus to the elderly and infirm in Moscow.

Rabbi Eckstein traveled with a guitar, frequently entertaining where he went.

“He really cared for every single Jew,” says Lazar. “He had a special warmth, a warm heart, a special ability to feel someone else’s plight.”

While Eckstein directed aid to the Jewish communities in the FSU, he was also keen to see the situation on the ground himself, being among the first to respond during a crisis or times of need.

“He always wanted to see for himself how he could help—whether it was bringing people to Israel or sponsoring children’s homes and soup kitchens,” says Lazar, adding that that Eckstein would join Chabad of Russia’s yearly Eurostars trip for young people because he felt he had to be there to experience it together with them. “And there were also many projects that people don’t even know he was involved in.”

Lazar notes the personal connection Eckstein had with people he encountered, how he could mesmerize crowds young and old because he exuded a feeling of caring and concern. He was exuberant and always traveled with his guitar, with which he performed at a moment’s notice.

The exuberant Eckstein was known for connecting with people of all ages.

“He listened to their heartbeat, and in turn, was able to touch their hearts,” he says. “We could have a discussion about a particular story, and he would break down crying. He wasn’t faking; that was the secret to his success—he really cared.”

 

Bringing People Closer to Their Heritage

Eckstein was also a strong supporter of security against anti-Semitic and terrorist threats. When, for example, threatening messages were painted on the fence of the Chabad synagogue and community center in Uzhgorod, Ukraine, it was Eckstein’s Fellowship that immediately allocated funds for an upgrade in security. That grant was a part of millions of dollars that the Fellowship allocated for security for Jewish centers, including those in France, since the 2008 terror attack on the Chabad House in Mumbai, India.

Eckstein receives a tour of the Shaarei Tzedek Social Services Center in Moscow.

Beyond caring for the material well-being of the Jewish people the Fellowship’s funds supported, Eckstein worked to bring Jewish people closer to their heritage as well. The Gan Israel summer camp network in the FSU was one of his pet projects, having a material and spiritual impact on thousands of Jewish young people every year. The Fellowship also supports numerous other educational projects, including schools, orphanages and medical centers.

In recent years, Eckstein, whose organization has offices in Chicago and Jerusalem, was joined in his work by his daughter Yael Eckstein, who serves as global executive vice president.

For the last 15 years, another close partner of the Fellowship’s has been Colel Chabad, which—founded in 1788 by Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of the Chabad movement—is the oldest continuously operating charity in Israel. Colel Chabad runs a national food bank, a series of soup kitchens and nonprofit supermarkets, provides meals on wheels, groceries for the elderly and holiday help for the poor, among other projects. Just this past December, Eckstein was honored at the organization’s annual gala in New York, where he offered a personal perspective on “Partnering with Colel Chabad to make miracles happen.”

Performing for the elderly at the Shaarei Tzedek Social Services Center in Moscow.

“He was a very close friend and very dedicated to the Rebbe [Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory] and the Rebbe’s causes,” says Rabbi Sholom Duchman, director of Colel Chabad. “He was always questioning: What else can we do? Always on the alert to try to do the right thing, to help in the right way. He was full of Ahavas Yisroel, full of love for every single Jew, and realized and appreciated the impact of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, and helped the emissaries wherever he could worldwide.”

Eckstein, says Duchman, always made it a point when he was in New York City to stop at the Ohel, the Rebbe’s resting place in Queens.

But Eckstein’s help extended beyond the communal and to the personal as well. Duchman recalls how a few years ago Eckstein heard that a group of shluchot, women Chabad emissaries, were unable to attend the annual gathering in New York. He instantly sponsored tickets for the women who had never been there.

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, zt’l and his daughter Yael in Jerusalem. Photo Credit: The Fellowship

“It wasn’t just support,” says Duchman. “It was a personal relationship.”

Lazar echoes Duchman’s sentiment: “He helped tens of thousands of people, probably much more, that’s true, but aside from the sheer numbers, there was that one-on-one relationship he had with people. He always had people, individuals, in mind.

“The Jewish people and Israel has lost a very special soul.”

Rabbi Eckstein and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Photo: Olivier Fitoussi)

Eckstein is survived by his wife, Joelle; three daughters; and many grandchildren.

            (Chabad.org)

Parshas Tetzaveh–“Clothes Make the Man”

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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

Parshas Tetzaveh; Moshe Rabbenu Putting Himself on the Line

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The kohanim lit the menorah in the Sanctuary every evening and cleaned it out every morning, replacing the wicks and putting fresh olive oil into the cups. Photo Credit: http://www.unleavenedbread.co.za

This week`s parsha, Titsaveh, opens with the words, “V`Atoh titsaveh..,”–”And you shall command…” The words “and you” are puzzling.

Who is “you”, and why is “you” not identified?

You, of course, is a reference to Moshe Rabbenu, and for the very first time since his birth, his name does not appear in the parsha. Rather, HaShem refers to him by the anonymous “You.” But in this anonymity, Moshe speaks with great force and gives us a glimpse of his majesty.

Following the sin of the golden calf, Moshe pleaded “Forgive their sins, but if not, erase me from Your Book…”, and with those words, he put himself on the line and was prepared to sacrifice his own life for his beloved people.

But what sort of defense is this plea? How did Moshe hope that the erasure of his name from G-d`s Book would save his nation? One`s calling, one`s mission is to be found in one`s name. Therefore, Moshe reasoned, “If they committed such evil, it must be my fault–I must have failed as a teacher. Hence, erase my name.” Just as a parent pleads on behalf of his wayward child, “He`s really a very good boy. It`s all my fault. I wasn`t the parent I should have been..”, so Moshe Rabbenu in his unflagging love, accepted responsibility for the sins of the nation. G-d forgave the people, but Moshe`s name was omitted from the parsha.

This omission is difficult to understand. After all, why should Moshe be penalized for his self sacrifice? In reality, he is not. In his absence, the greatness of his person is revealed more powerfully than ever before, for we are reminded that he was prepared to lay down his life for our sake. And more, it is always during this parsha that we commemorate Moshe Rabbenu`s yahrzeit which falls on Zayen Adar, the seventh day of Adar. It is on this day that Moshe was born and it is on this day that he died. Thus, forever and ever, when we come to this parsha and realize that Moshe`s name is missing, we also realize that it is the yahrzeit of our beloved Rebbe Moshe Rabbenu, the holy teacher of all Israel.

 

THE TEACHINGS OF THE MENORAH

Everything in the Tabernacle has a deeper meaning. For example, the menorah represents the sacred light of the Torah and therefore, everything about it is significant–the method of its kindling and the material to be used, as well as its placement. The Torah instructs us to place the menorah “outside of the Partition that is near the Testimonial Tablets” (Exodus 27:21), teaching us that the light of the menorah which reminds us of the eternal light of the Torah must guide us not only when we are in the confines of the sanctuary immersed in study and prayer, but even when we are “outside that Partition.” That light of the Torah must direct our lives, in our homes, in our workplace, or wherever life may take us.

The material -oil used for the lighting of the menorah must be pure olive oil, free of sediment, meaning that our Torah study must be accompanied by purity of heart and commitment. Furthermore, when lighting the menorah, we must be certain that the flame burns brightly, meaning that when we teach Torah, we must impart the lesson in such a way that the student fully understands its teachings.

We live in such menacing times–we have so much stress to contend with. Every day the world becomes more frightening. If ever we needed that pure light of Torah to energize us, give us hope and guide us, it is today. Let us make a commitment to illuminate our minds, hearts and souls with the eternal light of Sinai.

(Hineni.org)

Parshas Tetzaveh; Moshe Rabbenu Putting Himself on the Line

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The kohanim lit the menorah in the Sanctuary every evening and cleaned it out every morning, replacing the wicks and putting fresh olive oil into the cups. Photo Credit: http://www.unleavenedbread.co.za

This week`s parsha, Titsaveh, opens with the words, “V`Atoh titsaveh..,”–”And you shall command…” The words “and you” are puzzling.

Who is “you”, and why is “you” not identified?

You, of course, is a reference to Moshe Rabbenu, and for the very first time since his birth, his name does not appear in the parsha. Rather, HaShem refers to him by the anonymous “You.” But in this anonymity, Moshe speaks with great force and gives us a glimpse of his majesty.

Following the sin of the golden calf, Moshe pleaded “Forgive their sins, but if not, erase me from Your Book…”, and with those words, he put himself on the line and was prepared to sacrifice his own life for his beloved people.

But what sort of defense is this plea? How did Moshe hope that the erasure of his name from G-d`s Book would save his nation? One`s calling, one`s mission is to be found in one`s name. Therefore, Moshe reasoned, “If they committed such evil, it must be my fault–I must have failed as a teacher. Hence, erase my name.” Just as a parent pleads on behalf of his wayward child, “He`s really a very good boy. It`s all my fault. I wasn`t the parent I should have been..”, so Moshe Rabbenu in his unflagging love, accepted responsibility for the sins of the nation. G-d forgave the people, but Moshe`s name was omitted from the parsha.

This omission is difficult to understand. After all, why should Moshe be penalized for his self sacrifice? In reality, he is not. In his absence, the greatness of his person is revealed more powerfully than ever before, for we are reminded that he was prepared to lay down his life for our sake. And more, it is always during this parsha that we commemorate Moshe Rabbenu`s yahrzeit which falls on Zayen Adar, the seventh day of Adar. It is on this day that Moshe was born and it is on this day that he died. Thus, forever and ever, when we come to this parsha and realize that Moshe`s name is missing, we also realize that it is the yahrzeit of our beloved Rebbe Moshe Rabbenu, the holy teacher of all Israel.

 

THE TEACHINGS OF THE MENORAH

Everything in the Tabernacle has a deeper meaning. For example, the menorah represents the sacred light of the Torah and therefore, everything about it is significant–the method of its kindling and the material to be used, as well as its placement. The Torah instructs us to place the menorah “outside of the Partition that is near the Testimonial Tablets” (Exodus 27:21), teaching us that the light of the menorah which reminds us of the eternal light of the Torah must guide us not only when we are in the confines of the sanctuary immersed in study and prayer, but even when we are “outside that Partition.” That light of the Torah must direct our lives, in our homes, in our workplace, or wherever life may take us.

The material -oil used for the lighting of the menorah must be pure olive oil, free of sediment, meaning that our Torah study must be accompanied by purity of heart and commitment. Furthermore, when lighting the menorah, we must be certain that the flame burns brightly, meaning that when we teach Torah, we must impart the lesson in such a way that the student fully understands its teachings.

We live in such menacing times–we have so much stress to contend with. Every day the world becomes more frightening. If ever we needed that pure light of Torah to energize us, give us hope and guide us, it is today. Let us make a commitment to illuminate our minds, hearts and souls with the eternal light of Sinai.

(Hineni.org)

How Anti-Israel Bias in a Boston Suburb’s Public Schools is a Case Study of Emerging Nationwide Trend

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Experts contend that middle and high schools are becoming the next frontier in anti-Israel activism

Over the past decade, the Boston suburb of Newton has been beset by controversy over how the conflict in the Middle East is being taught in its public schools.

The concern over anti-Israel bias in the school system began in 2011, when a Newton resident complained to school officials regarding the use of a supplemental text called The Arab World Studies Notebook, which contained “false and defamatory” anti-Israel sentiment. While the school board eventually removed the textbook, accusations and further evidence of anti-Israel bias within the school system have continued, reaching a fever pitch during a Newton School Committee hearing in late November 2018.

“Unfortunately, faculty and school officials haven’t been open and accountable to the public, including to parents,” Andrea Levin, executive director of CAMERA, an international fact-checking organization that monitors the media. “At a November public hearing, the school committee voted unanimously against transparency—that is, against allowing the public to know what materials are being used in the classroom.”

While the debate over how to teach the Middle East conflict has consumed this quaint Boston-area suburb, home to one of the largest Jewish communities in Massachusetts, there has also been concern that the issues plaguing Newton are part of a wider national trend of anti-Israel sentiment seeping into high school classrooms across the country.

At a Jan. 28 event hosted by CAMERA at the Jewish Community Center in Newton, a panel of experts examined both the issues with curriculum in Newton, as well as other instances of anti-Israel bias in K-12 education that may be affecting younger students’ perception of Israel.

Miriam Elman, a professor of political science at Syracuse University and the new executive director of the Academic Engagement Network, said Newton is not alone in the use of anti-Israel materials within its school system.

“What’s happening in Newton schools is part of a trend in public schools nationwide,” she said.

In an article published in JNS in January, Elman and Levin noted that the anti-Israel ideologies are “trickling down” to high schools, which they term a “negative feedback loop.”

“Not only does anti-Israel hostility on college campuses influence the next generation of high school teachers, but these high school teachers are in turn sending kids up to college with a misinformed view of Israel,” said Elman.

One of the problems, she explained in her talk, stems from Title VI under the Higher Education Act, which provides federal funding for international-studies programs such as Middle East Studies departments found at universities throughout the country that have been accused of anti-Israel bias.

The campus watchdog group AMCHA Initiative published a list of more than 200 anti-Israel Middle East Studies professors at departments through the country.

“Young teachers, trained in humanities departments with an anti-Israel message, are taking those messages into public-school classrooms. The consequence is that, more and more, students are arriving on university campuses with grossly distorted views of the Jewish state,” said Elman.

As part of the Title VI’s requirements, “departments have to do outreach to K-12 as part of the program’s funding,” she added.

In turn, often these outreach programs to K-12 schools will sometimes include BDS groups or speakers.

‘Teachers use the Internet or workshop packets that are not vetted’

Elman pointed to one example in the Los Angeles Unified School District, where a voluntary workshop titled “Learning About Islam and the Arab World” was organized by the LA chapter of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FORUSA), an interfaith organization that supports the BDS movement.

Similarly, in Newton, concern has been raised over the “Middle East Day” program, where BDS speakers and an anti-Israel film were screened, according to Levin.

Following the May 2018 “Middle East Day” program, the Boston chapter of Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Community Relations Council wrote Newton Superintendent David Fleishman expressing concern over the “quality and credibility” of films and resources that were used.

“Unfortunately, when we recently reviewed what’s being taught in the classroom, we found demonstrably false and one-sided information with a clear ideological bent against Israel,” said Levin.

“We’re also very concerned that BDS-supporting guest speakers have been invited to address— unchallenged—large groups of students on school grounds. All the while, the superintendent is telling parents that any claims of anti-Israel bias are ‘baseless.’ It’s very problematic.”

Elman said oftentimes, what remains the most problematic are outside content and speakers.

She said that while textbook publishers are generally responsive to issues regarding anti-Israel bias found in their material, teachers, knowingly or unknowingly, will use anti-Israel materials in their classrooms.

“Often, materials teachers use from the Internet or workshop packets that are not vetted,” she noted. “Most teachers are unwitting participants in the negative feedback loop.”

As such, Elman said that efforts to combat anti-Israel bias need to start in the middle or high schools.

“Major Jewish organizations were slow to recognize and respond to anti-Israel activity on college campuses. My fear is that, once again, they’re not adequately responding to this negative feedback loop that is occurring between high school and college,” she said. “It’s the new frontier in anti-Israel activism. Newton is a case study of it.”

            (JNS.org)

Best Hotels in Israel for 2019

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King David Hotel in downtown Jerusalem. Photo by Abir Sultan/Flash90

From north to south and east to west, from desert lodgings to five-star luxury, we’ve curated 20 outstanding hotels for your next Israel vacation

The range of accommodations in Israel is quite astounding when you consider just how small this country is. With incoming tourism at an all-time high, ISRAEL21c offers you a list of best hotels in 20 exciting categories, whether you prefer urban luxury or desert glamping.

KING DAVID JERUSALEM HOTEL: Best landmark hotel

It’s no exaggeration to use the word “legendary” to describe the King David, a landmark in Israel’s capital city. Opened in 1931, the King David consistently ranks as one of the Robb Report’s top 100 hotels in the world and has won multiple awards.

The King David and its newer neighbors on “luxury hotel row” overlooking the Old City Jerusalem – the Mamilla, Waldorf-Astoria and David Citadel – all placed in the top 11 hotels on Conde Nast Traveler’s “Top Hotels in the Middle East: Readers’ Choice Awards 2018.” But the 206-room King David (ranked #2 on that list) remains the preferred address for visiting prime ministers, presidents and kings.

Address: 23 King David St., Jerusalem

Amenities: Outdoor pool, fitness center, spa, kosher meat restaurant, kosher dairy restaurant, bar, business services, butler service

BERESHEET HOTEL & RESORT: Best desert hotel

Guests at this Isrotel Exclusive Collection property at the edge of the one-of-a-kind Ramon Crater enjoy breathtaking wildlife scenery from the luxury of 111 one- or two-story private-entrance villas and suites situated on 12.5 acres. Thirty-nine of the ground-floor rooms open to personal infinity pools, while the upper-floor rooms open to balconies.

Guests without a personal pool can use the large outdoor swimming pool positioned at the crater’s edge, voted “Coolest Pool in the World” by Travel Agent Central magazine in 2018. No cars are allowed in most parts of the resort beyond the parking lot; guests are transported in electric golf carts.

Address: 1 Derekh Beresheet, Mitzpeh Ramon

Amenities: Outdoor pool, indoor heated pool, fitness center, spa, tennis courts, kosher restaurant

CARMEL FOREST SPA: Best spa hotel

Carmel Forest Spa in northwest Israel. Photo: courtesy

Leave the kids home, shut off your phone and prepare to be pampered at this secluded 126-room Carmel Mountains resort whose spa is so famous that its name graces every sister spa in the Isrotel Exclusive Collection.

SpaFinder named the resort Best Spa in the Middle East several years in a row.

Each day the hotel offers optional activities and classes, such as guided nature hikes, tai chi, concerts and nutrition workshops. No guests under 16 are permitted, making for an exceptionally quiet atmosphere for romantic getaways or group retreats. The only time you need to get out of your provided terry robe is for dinner, before which a rep will call you to discuss your dietary needs.

Address: HaBonim, Beit Oren

Amenities: Indoor and outdoor swimming pools, Turkish bath, fitness center, spa, kosher restaurant, wine bar, tennis court

U CORAL BEACH CLUB EILAT ULTRA ALL INCLUSIVE: Best family hotel

U Coral Beach Eilat Hotel. Photo: courtesy

This 282-room Fattal property in the Red Sea resort town puts the emphasis on “all inclusive,” offering access to a private beach and a wealth of activities for the whole family from windsurfing and snorkeling to dance lessons and archery, cooking workshops and social games. There’s onsite live evening entertainment, and up to five meals per day (special meals can be pre-ordered).

U Coral is exceptionally child-friendly, offering the all-day Fattal Hotels’ Kids Club, children’s entertainment, and babysitting, as well as infant gear – such as cribs, baby bathtubs and bottle warmers — on request. The hotel won a Trip Advisors Travelers’ Choice Award in 2018.

Address: Almog Beach Marina, Eilat

Amenities: Outdoor swimming pool, gym, spa, kosher Italian dairy restaurant, babysitting, tennis/soccer/basketball/volleyball

BAYIT BAGALIL: Best suite hotel

This Orchid Hotels property in the heart of the Upper Galilee’s Biria Forest is built from local Galilee stone to blend in with the landscape.

The hotel offers 33 luxuriously equipped suites, ranging from the 85-square-meter Villa Royal with private pool and Jacuzzi to the 45-square-meter Garden Suite with large balcony. Guests can enjoy herbal tea and homemade cookies around the lobby fireplace. Children are allowed only in July and August or by special arrangement.

Address: Biria Forest, Hatzor Haglilit

Amenities: Outdoor heated swimming pool, fitness center, spa, tennis court, basketball court, kosher Galilean-style restaurant, free bicycles

ELMA HOTEL AND ARTS COMPLEX: Best arts hotel

An exciting trend in Israel’s hospitality industry is art hotels showcasing local talent as part of the permanent design concept. Most are found in Tel Aviv: Diaghilev Live Art Boutique Hotel, Artplus Hotel, Leonardo Art Hotel and new Link Hotel & Hub.

The Elma takes the concept a step further with two large painting and sculpture galleries, four studios for artists-in-residence offering master classes, and two full-size concert halls. And while the Tel Aviv art hotels have a young urban vibe, the Elma is situated on a hilltop in the picturesque, pastoral wine country of Zichron Ya’akov. It offers 84 rooms, suites and freestanding cottages.

Address: 1 Yair Street, Zichron Ya’akov

Amenities: Outdoor and indoor swimming pools, Turkish bath, spa, kosher chef restaurant, poolside restaurant, espresso bar

NYX HERZLIYA: Best business hotel

NYX Herzliya is within a short walking distance of the high-tech center. Photo: courtesy

The seaside city of Herzliya has several top-notch hotels geared specifically to business travelers, given its substantial high-tech ecosystem and its proximity to the startup capital in Tel Aviv.

Fattal’s new concept hotel for business travelers is situated in walking distance of the Herzliya Pituah high-tech center and Mediterranean beaches, offering a balance of work and play. NYX Herzliya was built with smart meeting rooms with fully-equipped workspaces, a business lounge and an expansive conference hall. The hotel’s public areas host modern artwork collections by Israeli artists.

Address: 19 Abba Eban Boulevard, Herzliya

Amenities: Rooftop bar, kosher dairy chef restaurant, fitness center, spa, indoor pool

HAGOSHRIM HOTEL & NATURE: Best kibbutz hotel

Many Israeli kibbutzim supplement their income by running guest houses or hotels, some of them quite luxurious. Hagoshrim Hotel & Nature is one of the fancier ones, with 184 uniquely decorated rooms and suites and a lot of extras such as a nature trail and sculpture garden.

Built on the ruins of an Ottoman-era winter palace, the hotel is surrounded by streams, springs, a spice garden, waterfall and restored windmill.

Nearby are popular nature sites including the Banias Reserve, Mount Hermon and Hula Lake. Notably, Hagoshrim Hotel has ecology-minded installations such as recycling stations, and donates food and equipment to local social-welfare organizations.

Address: Kibbutz Hagoshrim, Upper Galilee

Amenities: Spa, sports and health center, lobby bar, kosher restaurant using local ingredients

THE NORMAN: Best boutique hotel

This consistent award-winner featuring individually designed rooms, hand-painted tile floors and original Israeli artwork was named best hotel in Africa and the Middle East in Condé Nast Traveler’s “Top Hotels in the Middle East: Readers’ Choice Awards 2018” and was cited in Travel + Leisure’s “25 Rooftop Pools to Dream About While You Sit in the Office.”

The 50-room boutique hotel, opened in December 2014, occupies a prime location in two restored 1920s Bauhaus buildings with a citrus garden between them. It’s on a quiet side street off bustling Rothschild Boulevard and 10 minutes from the beach. The friendliness and efficiency of the staff is frequently noted in online guest reviews.

Address: 23-25 Nahmani St.

Amenities: Rooftop infinity pool and deck, Japanese tapas restaurant, French-Mediterranean brasserie, Library Bar, gym, spa, yoga and Pilates classes,

KFAR HANOKDIM: Best Bedouin-style accommodations

Consistently a favorite with tourists, Kfar Hanokdim in Arad offers 46 desert-style air-conditioned rooms with indigenous handcrafted furniture and en-suite bathrooms, with a small cooking area nearby.

There are also sleeping tents and nine goat-hair heated guest lodges sleeping four to eight people, featuring wood floors, sleeping futons, coffee-making facilities and an elevated veranda from which to savor the desert views (bathroom facilities are nearby along with a small cooking area and place to build a campfire).

Address: PO Box 1568, Arad

Amenities: Breakfast buffet, grapevine-roofed lounging zulas, Bedouin coffee-making ceremony and Arab feast, camel and donkey rides

THE SETAI: Best Sea of Galilee hotel

Lobby of Setai Sea of Gallilee hotel. Photo: courtesy

The Setai Sea of Galilee, which claims to have the largest spa complex in Israel, opened in mid-2017. One of its first guests was Conan O’Brien, who was in Israel that August to film an episode of “Conan Without Borders.”

Situated on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret), the pastoral hotel includes 110 rooms and “villas”; the ground-floor villas have private infinity pools while the second-floor villas have outdoor hot tubs. Guest-room balconies afford views of the Golan Heights to the northeast and the city of Tiberias across the sea.

Address: Tza’alon Beach near Ein Gev

Amenities: Outdoor infinity swimming pool, spa with indoor pool and Turkish bath, fitness center, kosher chef restaurant featuring locally sourced ingredients, wading pool, children’s club, free bicycles

BEIT SHE’AN GUEST HOUSE: Best youth hostel

The 18 properties that make up the Israel Youth Hostel Association are well-known as spacious, well-maintained and economical accommodations for groups, families or any travelers on a budget.

Beit She’an Guest House in the Jordan Valley, near the major archeological national park at Beit She’an, boasts many of the features you’d find at a hotel — a swimming pool, free Wi-Fi and kosher breakfast — and has the added advantage of a stunning view over the valley and the Gilboa mountain range.

The 62 rooms (private rooms and dormitories are available) are air conditioned/heated and have a TV, mini-bar, electric kettle and bathroom with bath and shower. Besides breakfast, additional meals can be ordered in advance to take on the road or eat in the 250-seat dining room.

Address: 129 Menachem Begin Blvd., Beit She’an

Amenities: Outdoor swimming pool, snack bar, Internet stations, cinema system, basketball court, TV room, lecture halls equipped for audiovisual presentations

SHKEDI CAMPLODGE: Best glamping accommodations

Two guest tents, six wooden cabins and – best of all – a romantic “Dream Bus” with a private yard make up this quaint site located between the Dead Sea and the Arava region. It’s an ideal and convenient point of departure to the many hiking trails in the area as well as the ever-popular Dead Sea, for those looking for a more rugged experience than the luxury hotels provide.

Groups, families, couples and individuals can be accommodated. Each cabin has a private dining and seating area, including a BBQ stand and outdoor lighting. Except for the bus, restroom and shower facilities are shared.

Address: Moshav Neot Hakikar

Amenities: Fully equipped shared kitchen, central bonfire dome, hammock dome, bar with free Wi-Fi

POLI HOUSE: Best urban hotel

Opened in 2016, this 40-room Brown Hotels property next to Tel Aviv’s Carmel Market is housed in a meticulously restored Bauhaus building with a storied history as a commercial office space, clandestine printing press and children’s shoe store. It appeared on the New York Times’ 2016 list of 7 Notable New Hotels and on Wallpaper’s Best Urban Hotels 2017 Shortlist.

Wallpaper enthused about the interior design by Karim Rashid, who “has taken his cues from the tech-savvy, forward-thinking city, with neon colors, mesmerizing graphics and ultramodern shapes,” and about the rooftop “where an infinity pool and sweeping city views make for an impressive first impression.”

Address: 1 Nahalat Binyamin St., Tel Aviv

Amenities: Rooftop heated swimming pool and cocktail bar, spa, breakfast garden café, business services, free bicycles

EFENDI: Best Western Galilee Boutique Hotel

Nestled in the picturesque narrow lanes of coastal Acre (Akko) overlooking the sea and the historic city walls, the Efendi Hotel was opened in 2012. Its wine cellar is based on bricks from the Byzantine era more than 1,500 years ago. The main lobby includes a foundation from the Crusader era (900 years ago) in its midsection and restored walls and foundations from the Ottoman period (more than 400 years ago). Italian artisans were flown in to restore the hand-painted ceilings and a fresco of Istanbul painted in 1878 in honor of the new Orient Express train station.

The boutique hotel is the fulfillment of a dream long held by Uri Jeremias, chef and proprietor of the famed Uri Buri fish restaurant in Acre. The layout consists of 12 suites spread out over three levels, each of which has four uniquely decorated guestrooms and a central communal salon with a sitting area.

Address: Louis IX St., Old Acre

Amenities: Spa, restored 400-year-old Turkish bath found on site, wine bar in a renovated Crusader-era wine cellar

THE COLONY: Best Heart-of-Haifa Hotel

The 40-room Colony Hotel is smack in the middle of the German Colony, the restored historic center of Haifa, in a preserved edifice built as a hotel in 1920.

Completely renovated by new owners in 2006-2008, The Colony affords a breathtaking view of the world-famous stepped Baha’i Gardens only a two-minute walk to the south, while the beach promenade beckons five minutes to the north. Restaurants, cafés and shops also surround the hotel, and the city’s tourist info center is right next door.

Address: 28 Ben-Gurion Blvd., Haifa

Amenities: Spa, 24-hour business center, kosher breakfast room and lobby bar, events rooftop, garden

THE WELL INN: Best Beersheva B&B

A five-minute walk from the Central Bus Station and Abraham’s Well tourist center in this unofficial capital of the Negev, the Well Inn is in a quiet area of the artsy Old City in two century-old stone homes that once housed the midwife and the chef, respectively, of Hadassah, the first hospital in the city. They were restored in 2014 by the new owners and currently encompass five spacious studios and suites, each decorated uniquely.

Address: 24 Gershon Duvenboim St., Beersheva

Amenities: Free breakfast, outdoor courtyards, Wi-Fi, kitchen facilities

CNAAN VILLAGE: Best Golan Heights Boutique Hotel

Chosen for three years in a row as one of the leading small hotels in the Middle East by Trip Advisor, the Cnaan Village Boutique Hotel & Spa features five double suites, each with a private terrace, large Jacuzzi, fireplace, kitchenette and complimentary fruit, chocolate and wine. A full Israeli breakfast is served by the pool, and in the lobby there are homemade cakes and cookies , fruit, coffee and tea, chilled Lambrusco in summer and hot cider and wine in winter.

Address: Had Nes, Golan Heights

Amenities: Spa, outdoor/indoor heated pool, hot tub, wine-tasting at local boutique winery

HERBERT SAMUEL: Best downtown Jerusalem hotel

Boutique hotels, hostels and B&Bs are springing up in downtown Jerusalem like mushrooms. Sitting in the middle of it all is the 5-star Herbert Samuel, occupying an iconic location at the junction of the Zion Square and Nahalat Hashiva pedestrian promenades, conveniently close to a light-rail stop.

The hotel’s 137 rooms and suites are decorated with local Jerusalem stone and the 11th-floor restaurant offers 360-degree panoramic views of the capital city.

Address: 25 Shamai St., Jerusalem

Amenities: Spa, gym, indoor pool, wet and dry sauna, free bicycles, kosher restaurant

DANIEL DEAD SEA HOTEL: Best Dead Sea hotel

The Daniel Dead Sea’s 302 luxury rooms, including 12 suites, are floored with locally produced ceramic tiles and feature breathtaking views of the desert scenery and the Dead Sea against the backdrop of the Moav Mountains. There’s a paved walkway to the recently expanded beach for hotel guests. The hotel offers daily activities ranging from fitness classes and walks to nutrition workshops.

Address: Ein Bokek

Amenities: Spa, gym, indoor and outdoor pools, pub, children’s club, tennis and basketball courts, kosher dairy and meat restaurants, poolside grill, solarium, business lounge, classes on health, beauty, nutrition, fitness.

               (Israel 21C)