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Jewish Journal

Connect. Inform. Inspire.

July 14, 2017

Passivity, Threats of Violence and Integration in LA

Leave a Comment / Blogs /

Two weeks ago—before the Donald Jr./Russia revelations— the president of the United States was testing our tolerance for outrage with a video tweet of himself appearing to beat up a TV show wrestler who had the CNN logo on his face. During the campaign then-candidate Trump used rhetoric that encouraged his audiences to act out against hecklers; he revels in being a “counter-puncher” who hits back when he feels aggrieved.

He may not be the catalyst of the attitude, but Trump senses that we have become increasingly inured to threats of violence and have, apparently, widely accepted the notion that grievances can be responded to by threats and acting out.

That callousness to threats and violence can erupt in the most unexpected places.

Recently, NPR broadcast a piece about Boyle Heights and the incipient gentrification that is taking place there. A seemingly innocuous topic about the changes in neighborhoods that inevitably occur in dynamic and teeming cities.

As I listened to the report, it was apparent that is was anything but innocuous, in fact, it was rather troubling.

The reporter, Saul Gonzalez of local NPR station KCRW, was offering the national NPR audience a glimpse of LA and his vision suggested that class violence was on the horizon, and there was little resistance to that prospect.

Gonzalez painted a portrait of a Boyle Heights community that is “gritty and industrial” that is being undermined by a “world of high-end art” galleries that are coming into the community and don’t fit in.

There are genuine debates to be had about the impact of gentrification on low-income communities-especially ones with large numbers of renters. Whether people get compensated when their neighborhoods gentrify and whether there are comparably priced accommodations for them elsewhere are legitimate issues to raise and debate.

But that debate is not furthered when it devolves into vulgar class warfare and threats of violence that are accepted as part of the discussion.

Reporter Gonzalez gave a megaphone and a majority of his broadcast to an activist, Leonardo Vilchis, who railed against art galleries because they might lead to others moving into the neighborhood who might add to its value:

Put in an art gallery with paintings that cost tens of thousands of dollars and the audience that comes to this place starts looking for other kinds of amenities….They look for the brewery, for the coffee shop for the place to hang out. All of those things increase the cost and the value of the local neighborhood. “

The fact that the galleries are moving in to what the report itself described as “vacant industrial spaces” didn’t impact Vilchis argument—he described the galleries as “cancer cells…who need to move out….you need to start killing the cancer cells that are creating the cancer.” [Emphasis added]

There are those who have taken his vile language seriously: mock eviction notices and flyers with human skulls in gun sights accompanied by threats such as “Boyle Heights is not safe for hipster trash” printed on them were noted in the report.

But Vilchis saw nothing wrong with those tactics—-compromise is impossible, “they” all have to leave; after all, they are like spreading cancer cells and they are all bad. He derisively dismissed those moving into the neighborhood who are sympathetic to gentrification concerns and desire to work with the community, “‘OK, I’m a cancer cell, but I want to be good,’ doesn’t change the fact that you’re a cancer cell. You need to move out.”

The fact that the NPR reporter never expressed the slightest discomfort with Vilchis’ characterization of the art gallery owners or his condoning threats of violence or the not-so-subtle bigotry against folks who don’t fit the mold of those who now live there, suggests that we now yawn at incendiary rhetoric, stereotypic expressions, and even threats of violence.

In an era when much has been written about the need to integrate neighborhoods across racial, ethnic and socio-economic lines this blatant push for homogeneity is bizarre. That is not where America or Los Angeles needs to head.

The absence of a nuanced discussion of the natural and constant growth and transformation of cities (after all, Boyle Heights was once a pre-dominantly Jewish neighborhood) including gentrification, would be too much to expect in a short radio piece. There should have been at least a bit of outrage over, or at least a counterpoint to Vilchis’ incendiary remarks. There was but one gallery owner quoted as saying “I’m not going anywhere.” Was no one else in the neighborhood concerned about threats, intimidation and the prospect of violence?

In the Age of Trump, if the president can appear to assault a reporter with whom he disagrees and hecklers can be assaulted with his approbation, even NPR is not immune from callousness to threats of violence.

It’s wrong in the White House and it’s wrong in Boyle Heights.

Passivity, Threats of Violence and Integration in LA Read More »

Why there are no women on the Chief Rabbinate’s ‘blacklist’

Leave a Comment / Israel /

The Israeli Chief Rabbinate’s so-called “blacklist” of Diaspora rabbis runs the denominational gamut. The rabbis on the list, whose letters confirming the Jewish identities of immigrants were rejected by the Chief Rabbinate in 2016, are Orthodox, Conservative, Reform — and even from the smaller Reconstructionist and Renewal movements.

But one category of rabbis is missing: women.

Women make up a growing percentage of Jewish clergy in North America. Every Jewish stream, including a branch of Orthodoxy, now boasts ordination of some kind for all genders. Roughly 20 percent of non-Orthodox rabbis in North America are women.

Even so, all of the 78 North Americans on the rabbinate’s list are men.

The list includes some 160 rabbis in total. The nonprofit that obtained the list, Itim, claims it’s a “blacklist” meant to delegitimize the rabbis. The rabbinate, however, says the list was formulated incorrectly and is meant only to indicate problems with letters written by the rabbis, not with the rabbis who wrote them.

The rabbinate’s spokesman, Kobi Alter, declined to respond to an inquiry as to why the list includes no women.

One explanation, of course, could be that the rabbinate had accepted whatever letters it received from women rabbis in 2016. That is possible, of course, but American women rabbis had a few other theories they consider more likely.

Some suggested that the rabbinate didn’t want to recognize women as clergy.

“If they put names of women rabbis on that list, they’d have to acknowledge that women can be rabbis, and I think that’s not a step they’re willing to take publicly,” said Rabbi Rachel Ain of New York City’s Conservative Sutton Place Synagogue. “They’re not willing to put my name on the list because they don’t consider me a legitimate rabbi.”

Still, many Israeli haredim, or fervently Orthodox Jews, do not recognize any Reform and Conservative rabbis, and yet the names of many are on the list. Rabbi Debra Newman Kamin suggested that’s because women rabbis are in a category all their own. She surmised that the absence of women was more unconscious than intentional discrimination.

“A woman rabbi is like a unicorn, so why would you include a unicorn on the blacklist?” said Newman Kamin, vice president of the Conservative Rabbinical Assembly. “I don’t think it’s because they want to make a statement about the position of women rabbis. We’re not even on their radar screen.”

Others suggested that the rabbinate’s opposition to women rabbis leads to a form of self-censorship. Because women rabbis know the rabbinate will reject them, some reach out to male rabbis when a congregant asks for a proof-of-Judaism letter.

There are two reasons immigrants to Israel would need a proof-of-Judaism letter from a rabbi: to gain citizenship and to get married. Citizenship is determined by the Israeli government, which maintains a fairly expansive definition of Jewish identity. But marriage in Israel is controlled by the Chief Rabbinate, which requires that the bride and groom both be Jewish according to Orthodox Jewish law. So it’s easier for a citizenship letter to be accepted than a marriage letter.

Newman Kamin said that she had submitted letters to the rabbinate, for marriage, that were approved in years past. But other women rabbis said they hesitate to write such letters now. Rabbi Ellen Nemhauser, co-president of the Reform Women’s Rabbinic Network, said that when her son needed a letter to extend a visa to Israel recently, she asked a male rabbi to sign.

“I believe my ordination is valid, but we don’t want to set people up to run into difficulties or failure,” said Nemhauser. “I’m guessing there are many women like myself who defer to a male colleague.”

The reason for the absence of women might be more prosaic. The terms of the list are clearly defined — rabbis whose letters were rejected in 2016 — and women may not appear simply because, four decades after the Reform movement began ordaining women, there still aren’t all that many women rabbis, relative to the total number of rabbis in the U.S.

Nemhauser estimates that among the 3,000 Reform rabbis, a quarter are women. Newman Kamin says the figure is about 15 percent for the Conservative movement’s 1,700 rabbis. Fewer still are the number of women rabbis leading congregations. And beyond a small group of Orthodox women clergy — many of whom do not call themselves “rabbi” — all Orthodox rabbis are men.

“How many could there be in any given year?” Newman Kamin said. “How many American Jews are getting married in Israel who happen to belong to synagogues with women rabbis?”

Why there are no women on the Chief Rabbinate’s ‘blacklist’ Read More »

William Sachs Goldman, grandson of Goldman Environmental Prize founders, dies in plane crash

Leave a Comment / Obituaries /

William “Bill” Sachs Goldman, the grandson of San Francisco philanthropists Richard and Rhoda Goldman, was killed July 13 in a light plane crash in Sonoma County. He was 38.

Goldman was piloting the single-engine private plane, which also was carrying his two children and the family’s au pair, when it crashed at about 12:45 p.m. in a rural field southwest of Sonoma Skypark Airport, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office.

Goldman was pronounced dead at the scene. The three other passengers were taken to local hospitals, deputies said. The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat identified them as Valeria Anselmi of Milan, Italy, and grade school-age children George and Marie. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the crash.

Assistant Schell-Vista Fire Chief Mike Mulas said a half-dozen civilians arrived at the crash site before emergency personnel and pulled the children from the wreckage, The Press Democrat reported. “All three of the injuries were severe to critical,” Mulas said.

Gina Isi, of Sonoma, was on her lunch break outside cork company Ganau America in Sonoma watching the runway when she heard the plane take off, The Press Democrat reported.

“It was just at the beginning of its ascent, when I heard it — like it was going to stall,” she said. “It sounded like it choked a little bit, so I was like, ‘Holy cow!’ and then it seemed like it was going to recover, like I heard more revving, and then it just died,” she is quoted as saying on the newspaper’s website.

Goldman was an assistant professor of international studies at the University of San Francisco. In a statement released after the crash, University of San Francisco President Paul Fitzgerald said Goldman was “an accomplished scholar, a beloved and generous teacher, and a valued member of our community.”

“He will be greatly missed by his colleagues, students and the countless alumni who were inspired by him in and out of the classroom,” Fitzgerald said.

Goldman’s grandparents were philanthropists Richard Goldman and his wife, Rhoda, an heir to the Levi Strauss & Co. fortune, the Los Angeles Times reported. In 1989, the couple established the distinguished Goldman Environmental Prize to recognize grass-roots environmental activism around the world. Each winner received an award of $150,000 — the largest award in the world for grass-roots environmentalists — and often is referred to as the “Green Nobel.”

The eponymous foundation gave $700 million to more than 2,500 grantees in its 60 years of existence. The fund closed in 2012.

In 2012, Goldman and siblings founded the Richard W. Goldman Family Foundation to assist underserved children and communities gain access to education, health and financial resources.

Goldman’s wife, Serra Falk Goldman, an associate attorney at Falk, Cornell & Associates, is a member of the University of San Francisco’s board of trustees and school of law alumna.

William Sachs Goldman, grandson of Goldman Environmental Prize founders, dies in plane crash Read More »

A Moment In Time: Return to Sender

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Dear all,

When this personal letter was returned to me recently (three full months after I sent it), my knee-jerk reaction was that I felt deflated: “Why didn’t she want to hear from me?”

But I soon remembered that true communication has many, many elements:

1) Did I make a mistake in the address?
2) Did I have the correct address but use illegible handwriting?
3) Did I put on the wrong postage?
4) Did the post office goof?
5) Did the recipient move?
6) Did the recipient, in fact, not want to hear from me?

I don’t know the answer. At least not yet. But I am reminded that communication is not only about what we say, but it’s about how we deliver the message.

Do we use empathy and kindness?
Do we have our radar on, knowing when to speak and when not to?
Do we listen?
Do we try again?

It’s not easy. But taking an extra moment in time when we communicate can unfold into deeper understanding, broagder sensitivity, and greater relationships.

With love and Shalom,

Rabbi Zach Shapiro

 

Rabbi Zach Shapiro

A change in perspective can shift the focus of our day – and even our lives. We have an opportunity to harness “a moment in time,” allowing our souls to be both grounded and lifted. This blog shows how the simplest of daily experiences can become the most meaningful of life’s blessings. All it takes is a moment in time.

Rabbi Zach Shapiro is the Spiritual Leader of Temple Akiba, a Reform Jewish Congregation in Culver City, CA. He earned his B.A. in Spanish from Colby College in 1992, and his M.A.H.L. from HUC-JIR in 1996. He was ordained from HUC-JIR – Cincinnati, in 1997.

 

A Moment In Time: Return to Sender Read More »

Jerusalem’s top Muslim cleric detained following deadly Old City shooting

Leave a Comment / Israel /

Israeli police detained the senior Muslim cleric of Jerusalem after a terrorist attack in the city that left two Israeli police officers dead, a son of the mufti of Jerusalem said.

The grand mufti of the city, Mohammed Hussein, was detained for questioning Friday at a police station in the Old City, his son, Omar, told The Associated Press.

According to the news site NRG, the mufti was called in to answer questions over his call to worshippers after the attack to ignore a temporary ban on prayer and public gathering at the Temple Mount compound and the Haram al Sharif mosque. Police closed the area after two Israeli police officers were killed there and another was wounded, allegedly by three Arab-Israeli men of Palestinian heritage whom security forces killed at the scene of the attack.

Hussein called the closure “an escalation and aggression against al-Aqsa,” the Arab-language name of the compound.

In the aftermath of the attack, the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem instructed government employees and their family members not to enter the Old City of Jerusalem, without prior approval, until 8 a.m. Saturday.

Private U.S. citizens should “take into consideration these restrictions and the additional guidance contained in the Department of State’s travel warning for Israel, Jerusalem and the West Bank when making decisions regarding their travel in the Old City and in Jerusalem,” the statement also read.

The American ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, wrote on Twitter about the attack: “Shocked and horrified by the despicable attack.” He added: “Terrorism must be condemned by all and defeated. We pray for the victims.”

Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, condemned the attack in a telephone conversation he initiated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Anti-Defamation League praised Abbas for acting “appropriately,” but blamed the attack on Palestinian incitement under his watch.

“For decades, there has been unceasing incitement against Israel, rife with false allegations about policies and actions in Jerusalem and on the Temple Mount, from Palestinian and Israeli Arab religious and political leaders,” Jonathan Greenblatt, the ADL’s CEO, and Carole Nuriel, the director of its Israel office, wrote in a joint statement.

They said Abbas and other “Arab political and religious leaders must now take concrete action to curb anti-Israel incitement.”

Jerusalem’s top Muslim cleric detained following deadly Old City shooting Read More »

Senators demand action on Palestinian terror payments

Leave a Comment / Israel /

Republican and Democratic lawmakers called for a dramatic reduction in U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Wednesday. The session focused on the Taylor Force Act, legislation that would cease American economic aid to the PA if payments to terrorist families do not end. “To me, this legislation is an absolute no brainer. I’d go much further than this,” said Sen. James Risch (R-ID). “This thing has been going on for decades and decades. We are getting nothing for this but business as usual.”

[This story originally appeared on jewishinsider.com]

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who introduced the bill in February, spoke at the beginning of the packed hearing and praised the efforts of Taylor Force’s father, Stuart Force, who also attended the session. Taylor Force was a West Point graduate who served in the US military before being killed by a Palestinian terrorist while participating in a study abroad program in Israel last year.

Elliott Abrams, who served in several senior administration positions for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, testified in favor of the bill while former U.S. Ambassador to Israel (2011-2017) Daniel Shapiro, urged the bill to be amended. Shapiro did however back the legislation’s ultimate goals of ending the controversial payments.

The independent-minded Republican Senator from Kentucky, Rand Paul, expressed his support for the legislation. He noted how in 2014 he sponsored S. 2665 that would have also cut off U.S. assistance to the PA, but “the chairman (Bob Corker, R-TN) blocked me at the time.” The Kentucky lawmaker added, “People sense weakness. Cut it all. Cut every last penny of it. Restart it when they (PA) change their behavior.”

Responding to Paul’s charge, Corker emphasized, “Please remember also the reason I opposed bringing it to the floor at that time is the Israeli government — who it is we are trying to help here — was strongly opposed” to the bill.

In response to a suggestion by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) about possibly shifting the U.S. assistance from PA funding to non-governmental organizations or peace projects, Abrams expressed skepticism. “If the penalty for spending money on terrorists is well it goes from box one to box two, that’s not much of a penalty. I think Palestinians need to be told: this has got to stop.”

Paul suggested that it’s up to Israeli lawmakers to take the first step. “If the Knesset can’t even withhold the tax money… what kind of message are we sending? If the Knesset is listening to us, for goodness sake you have got to do at least that first step.” The Knesset has in fact introduced legislation similar to the Taylor Force Act. However, the bill requires additional three readings before it becomes law.

One proposal floated by Shapiro was to add a national security waiver — similar with the six-month waiver on moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem — that would allow President Donald Trump to waive the requirement of cutting off aid if viewed as appropriate.

The Taylor Force Act would actually cut $50 million to Israel since the PA spends some of the US assistance on debt repayments to Israel, Corker emphasized. The committee Chairman added that based on a conversation he had with Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer, Jerusalem still supports the proposal.

Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) raised the concern that the language of the bill as written could prevent Washington from providing humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip should there be another outbreak of violence. Shapiro agreed with Coons that flexibility in the legislation is critical to allow the U.S. to offer emergency humanitarian aid given the three wars in Gaza since 2009.

During his time as U.S. Ambassador, Shapiro noted that senior Israeli military officers cautioned against significant reduction in foreign assistance to Ramallah due to the fear of the PA’s collapse and the impact such an event could have on Israeli security.

Ranking Democrat Ben Cardin (D-MD) expressed disappointment during his opening statement that no representative of the Trump administration was present at the hearing to offer the executive branch’s view on this legislation.

While the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) has actively promoted the bill, AIPAC has mostly remained mum and did not post about the Taylor Force Act on social media Wednesday.

Corker has called for the passage of a “Taylor Force like Act” by the August recess signaling urgency for the legislation.

Senators demand action on Palestinian terror payments Read More »

7 Haiku for Torah Portion Pinchas by Rick Lupert

7 haiku for Torah Portion Pinchas by Rick Lupert (Is it Kosher if I tune my guitar?)

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I
After the foibles
of the Midianites – time
to do some smitin’

II
Nothing stops us from
making babies – Over six
hundred thousand now

III
Plots are divided
We all get a piece of a
land we’ve never seen

IV
Moses, not long for
this world, endows Joshua
with a promotion

V
Summertime….and it’s
time to lean more about the
laws of sacrifice

VI
Don’t burn the fruit – Don’t
put the goat in the fruit bowl
So many details

VII
Is tuning guitars
considered mundane work ask
all the song leaders.

Los Angeles poet Rick Lupert created a the Poetry Super Highway (an online publication and resource for poets), and hosted the Cobalt Cafe weekly poetry reading for almost 21 years. He’s authored 20 collections of poetry, including “I’m a Jew, Are You” (Jewish themed poems) and “Feeding Holy Cats” (Poetry written while a staff member on the first Birthright Israel trip), and most recently “Donut Famine” (Rothco Press, December 2016) and edited the anthologies “Ekphrastia Gone Wild”, “A Poet’s Haggadah”, and “The Night Goes on All Night.” He writes the daily web comic “Cat and Banana” with fellow Los Angeles poet Brendan Constantine. He’s widely published and reads his poetry wherever they let him.

7 haiku for Torah Portion Pinchas by Rick Lupert (Is it Kosher if I tune my guitar?) Read More »

Rosner’s Torah Talk: Parashat Pinchas with Rabbi Alexander Davis

Leave a Comment / Israel, News, Rosner's Domain, Rosner's Video /

Rabbi Alexander Davis is the senior rabbi of Beth El Synagogue in St. Louis Park, MN, where he previously served as the associate rabbi. Rabbi Davis received his B.A. in German Studies from Grinnell College and in 1999 graduated from the Jewish Theological Seminary with rabbinic ordination and an M.A. in Jewish Education. Since moving to the Twin Cities, Rabbi Davis has served on a variety of local boards and has participated in national conferences on Judaism and spirituality and synagogue leadership.

This week’s Torah Portion – Parashat Pinchas (Numbers 25:10-30:1) – begins with Pinchas being rewarded for his problematic act of killing the Israelite and his Midianite paramour in the previous portion. A census is then conducted and God tells Moses how to divide the land between the tribes and people of Israel. The five daughters of Tzelafchad ask Moses to grant them the land of their father, who died with no sons, and God accepts their claim and adds it to the Torah’s laws of inheritance. Moses names Joshua as his successor, and the Parasha ends with a detailed list of daily offerings and of offerings brought on different holidays. Our talk focuses on the leadership transition from Moses to Joshua.

 

Rosner’s Torah Talk: Parashat Pinchas with Rabbi Alexander Davis Read More »

Sewing tools

“Chew” by Carren S. Oler (June 20, 2017)

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[Ed. Note: There have accrued over the centuries some folk practices, local beliefs, superstitions, and customs around issues of dying and death in the Jewish world. This poem touches on just one of these that is fairly widespread among those with connections to certain parts of the world. Enjoy. — JB]

“CHEW”

For Zayda’s visits from time to time

From a different city,

We children were excited

And wanted to wear our best

To look pretty.

Zayda was a tailor and never far

From needle, thread, and thimble

In the pocket of his ever-present vest

One inside the other, a carefully placed nest.

 

I rushed to hug him

And wasn’t so nimble

(I was eight) and snagged my sleeve

On the lamp table

Not able to stop my skip and hop.

I was shocked, sure my mother would be mad.

(It was the newest blouse I had!)

 

“Sh, Sh” Zayda gestured, “Come here.”

And as I came near, he said,

“Chew!”

“Chew?” What could be stranger?

But I felt I was in real danger.

So I stood there and chewed.

And in no time my mood

Lifted as he sewed my sleeve

With perfect, even stitches.

 

And my mother never knew

Or so I thought then….

 

Sometime later (months? years?)

After my fears abated,

I asked my mother why,

When sewing my sleeve,

Zayda told me to “chew”…

She laughed and wasn’t shy

About the explanation she knew.

 

“Zayda belongs to the Chevrah Kadisha

And is one of the tailors who sews

Tachrichim (shrouds) on those who have died.

And he says we cannot hide

From the Angel of Death who hovers…

BUT, if he is sewing on one who chews,

It’s not news that such a person lives.

And the Angel of Death is chased away

And cannot stay.”

 

Years later, as I was starting to sew a button

Back on my then young son’s sleeve,

You can best believe

That the first thing I said to him was,

“Chew!”

Carey Oler

Carren S. Oler
Carey Oler

Carren S. Oler, Esq.

Freelance Paralegal; Previously in private law practice with an emphasis on general litigation, family law, dispute resolution, mediation and collaborative law. Retired from legal practice following a breast cancer diagnosis, surgery and chemotherapy at Georgetown’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.  Currently and gratefully in remission.

Shmira Coordinator: Jewish Funeral Practices Committee of Greater Washington, February 2017 to date; Program provided 246.5 Shomer hours in May 2017. Chevrah Kadisha member at two Maryland synagogues; occasional Taharah trainer.

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GAMLIEL INSTITUTE COURSES

LOOKING FORWARD: UPCOMING COURSE

The Gamliel Institute will be offering course 2, Chevrah Kadisha: Taharah & Shmirah, online, afternoons/evenings, in the Fall semester, starting September 5th, 2017. This is the core course focusing on Taharah and Shmirah, ritual, liturgy, practical matters, how-to, and what it means.

CLASS SESSIONS

The course will meet online for twelve Tuesdays (the day will be adjusted in any weeks with Jewish holidays during this course).

There is a Free preview/overview of the course being offered on Monday August 14th at 5 pm PDST/8 pm EDST. You are welcome to join us to see if this course is one in which you would like to enroll. Contact info@jewish-funerals.org or  j.blair@jewish-funerals.org for information on how to connect to the preview webinar.

There will be an orientation session on how to use the platform and access the materials on Monday, September 4th, 2017, also at 5 pm PDST/8 pm EDST online. Register or contact us for more information.

Information on attending the online orientation and course will be sent to those registered.

REGISTRATION

You can register for any Gamliel Institute course online at jewish-funerals.org/gamreg. A full description of all of the courses is found there.

For more information, visit the Gamliel Institute website, or at the Kavod v’Nichum website. Please contact us for information or assistance by email info@jewish-funerals.org, or phone at 410-733-3700.

____________________

DONATIONS

Donations are always needed and most welcome to support the work of Kavod v’Nichum and the Gamliel Institute, helping us to bring you the conference, offer community trainings, provide scholarships to students, refurbish and update course materials, expand our teaching, support programs such as Taste of Gamliel, the Gamliel Café, and the Gamliel Gracuates courses, provide and add to online resources, encourage and support communities in establishing, training, and improving their Chevrah Kadisha, and assist with many other programs and activities.

You can donate online at http://jewish-funerals.org/gamliel-institute-financial-support or by snail mail to: either Kavod v’Nichum, or to The Gamliel Institute, both c/o David Zinner, Executive Director, Kavod v’Nichum, 8112 Sea Water Path, Columbia, MD  21045. Kavod v’Nichum [and the Gamliel Institute] is a recognized and registered 501(c)(3) organization, and donations may be tax-deductible to the full extent provided by law. Call 410-733-3700 if you have any questions or want to know more about supporting Kavod v’Nichum or the Gamliel Institute.

You can also become a member (Individual or Group) of Kavod v’Nichum to help support our work. Click here (http://www.jewish-funerals.org/money/).

___________

MORE INFORMATION

If you would like to receive the periodic Kavod v’Nichum Newsletter by email, or be added to the Kavod v’Nichum Chevrah Kadisha & Jewish Cemetery email discussion list, please be in touch and let us know at info@jewish-funerals.org.

You can also be sent a regular email link to the Expired And Inspired blog by sending a message requesting to be added to the distribution list to j.blair@jewish-funerals.org.

Be sure to check out the Kavod V’Nichum website at www.jewish-funerals.org, and for information on the Gamliel Institute, courses planned, and student work in this field also visit the Gamliel.Institute website.

RECEIVE NOTICES WHEN THIS BLOG IS UPDATED!

Sign up on our Facebook Group page: just search for and LIKE Chevra Kadisha sponsored by Kavod vNichum, or follow our Twitter feed @chevra_kadisha.

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SUBMISSIONS ALWAYS WELCOME

If you have an idea for an entry you would like to submit to this blog, please be in touch. Email J.blair@jewish-funerals.org. We are always interested in original materials that would be of interest to our readers, relating to the broad topics surrounding the continuum of Jewish preparation, planning, rituals, rites, customs, practices, activities, and celebrations approaching the end of life, at the time of death, during the funeral, in the grief and mourning process, and in comforting those dying and those mourning, as well as the actions and work of those who address those needs, including those serving in Bikkur Cholim, Caring Committees, the Chevrah Kadisha, as Shomrim, funeral providers, in funeral homes and mortuaries, and operators and maintainers of cemeteries.

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“Chew” by Carren S. Oler (June 20, 2017) Read More »