November 14, 2019

A Moment in Time: The Benefit of the Doubt

Leave a Comment / Blogs / Rabbi Zach Shapiro

Dear all,

As I was walking through a garage recently, I noticed two cars parked unusually close. I thought to myself, “The GUY (yes – I assumed it was a guy) in the white car has no scruples, decency, or humility.”

I didn’t realized that the driver of the white car was still inside. When the door opened, I watched as a very old man got out.

I then witnessed something extraordinary. A young women approached the man, showed him the situation, and offered, “Can I help by moving your car to a space that might be easier for you?”

And as the man handed her his keys, I remembered what our rabbis taught: “Do not judge another until you have been in that person‘s place” (Pirkei Avot 2:4).

It’s so easy to draw quick conclusions without understanding the breadth of a circumstance. It takes a second to pre-judge. But it takes a moment in time to give the benefit of the doubt.

With love and shalom,

Rabbi Zach Shapiro

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Israel and Gaza Terror Groups Reach Cease-Fire

Leave a Comment / Online / Marcy Oster, JTA

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A cease-fire went into effect between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, as well as other terrorist groups in Gaza.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that the cease-fire went into effect at 4 a.m. Thursday, and Egyptian negotiators said it would begin at 5:30 a.m.

Several rockets were fired between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. The quiet held until 11 a.m., when five rockets were fired on the southern city of Ashdod. The IDF said the truce continued to hold despite the latest rocket barrage.

Gaza terror groups fired a total of 450 rockets at Israel between Tuesday morning and Thursday morning, according to the IDF. Israel retaliated in an operation it called Operation Black Belt.

Israel’s targeted killing of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad senior commander, Baha Abu al-Ata, sparked the rocket fire from the terror groups. The IDF in its operation also killed Rasmi Abu Malhous, a senior Islamic Jihad commander, in a strike on his home in the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday night. The airstrike also killed at least six members of his family, according to Palestinian sources.

The Gaza Health Ministry announced the death toll at 34. A majority of those killed are reported to be members of Islamic Jihad and other Gaza terror groups. The Hamas terror organization, which runs Gaza, pledged solidarity with Islamic Jihad during the two days of fighting but did not participate, according to reports.

An Islamic Jihad spokesman said the cease-fire was based on a list of demands from his group topped by a halt to Israeli targeted killings of the group’s leaders. Other demands were to stop using live ammunition on March of Return protesters on the border between Gaza and Israel and a return to existing Gaza agreements.

Israeli government minister Gilad Erdan denied that concessions were made to Islamic Jihad.

The IDF said that it operated “decisively and precisely against Islamic Jihad in Gaza until quiet returned to the skies above Israel. Quiet will be met with quiet.”

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Haim, Jack Black and More Record Songs for a Hanukkah Album

Leave a Comment / Entertainment / Gabe Friedman, JTA

(JTA) — Adam Sandler is finally getting some competition in the Hanukkah music world.

Haim, Jack Black, the Flaming Lips, Yo La Tengo and other prominent artists have recorded songs for a Hanukkah album titled “Hanukkah+,” the record label Verve Forecast has announced.

The album is out Nov. 22 and also features contributions from folk singer Loudon Wainwright III, Adam Green (of the band Moldy Peaches), Alex Frankel (of the electronic group Holy Ghost and a founder of the Jewish deli Frankel’s in Brooklyn) and more.

Rolling Stone reported that the record is a mix of covers and original songs. Haim’s contribution is a cover of the late Leonard Cohen’s “If It Be Your Will.” Black wrote two originals, and the Flaming Lips and Wainwright also penned new songs for the album.

The project is the brainchild of Grammy-winning music supervisor Randall Poster, who was inspired by Yo La Tengo’s annual run of Hanukkah concerts.

“When our old friend Randy Poster asked us to contribute to an album of Hanukkah songs he was putting together, we were kind of stumped,” Yo La Tengo, which is led by singer Ira Kaplan, said in a statement. “As non-practicing Jews (and non-Jews), truthfully the holiday has little meaning for us (that’s the meta joke behind Yo La Tengo’s Hanukkah shows), but we were open to inspiration.”

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Episode 165: Talking with an Israeli Feminist

Leave a Comment / Podcasts, Two Nice Jewish Boys / Naor Meningher and Eytan Weinstein

Author Note: This text was written by the hosts and does not represent Ya’ara Cohen’s opinions

In Israel, every year, 20 women on average get murdered by a family member. It might seem a relatively small number for an American, but in a country of 9 million – it’s a LOT.

The majority of these women, are – PC TRIGGER ALERT- from Arab families, but definitely not all of them. Only recently, Israeli society was shaken by a horrendous murder of a mother by her father in front of their baby – and they were, on paper, the perfectly normal “Israeli” Jewish family.

In the world, Israel is known as the only democracy in the Middle East. A torch of light amidst an ocean of cultural darkness – a country of gay pride parades, innovation and enlightenment. But when it comes to women, we need to ask ourselves – is Israel a feminist country?

To try and answer this, we’re joined by Ya’ara Cohen. Ya’ara is a board member at Politically Corret – “Corret” translates to “She reads,” an organization that tries to shed a feminist perspective on everyday texts which we read in the newspaper and online. We’re happy to have Ya’ara Cohen on our show.