fbpx

GET HOME DELIVERY! CLICK HERE »

ADVERTISE
pick up locations
HOME DELIVERY
donate

Jewish Journal

Connect. Inform. Inspire.

May 10, 2020

Jews Shouldn’t Be Excluded From Ethnic Studies

Leave a Comment / Opinion /

Thousands of Jews are members of Facebook groups on everything from “A Place For Liberal Jews” to “Persian Jews” to “Orthodox Jews Against Discrimination and Racism” to even “the jews are tired™.” 

And then there’s the group that calls itself “sounds like your intersectionality doesn’t include Jews but ok.” Now in its second iteration, the 802 member group was formed “to discuss how Jews fit into current social justice movements …The core issue here is the frequent blanket categorization of Jews as Europeans and/or not a marginalized group, and thus their experiences being discounted in intersectional theory.”

In a nutshell, this is a community that addresses how it is excluded from modern-day movements, and how anti-Semitism is either ignored or displayed by activists engaged in fighting societal persecution.

Jews have been ostracized from the sociological conversation on oppression.

Commentators in Slate, The New York Times, National Review and The New York Post have argued that Jews have been ostracized from the sociological conversation on oppression. “Although Jewish feminists have attempted to place Jews into this dialogue the discourse on and about ‘race, class, and gender’ has limited this possibility,” Jessica Greenebaum wrote in the Journal of Race, Gender & Class. “This ‘marginalizing discourse,’ which excludes Jews, is partially due to the way we construct the notions of oppression and anti-Semitism as well as categories of race, ethnicity, and class.”

SF State students and supporters march from Malcolm X Plaza to the Administration building during a rally to defend the funding of the College of Ethnic Studies at SF State Wednesday, March 16. Source: Melissa Minton, Flicker

In August, this discourse dilemma manifested when California’s Department of Education was criticized by the American Jewish Committee for releasing a draft ethnic studies curriculum that did not include Jews. Anti-Semitism was only mentioned in the curriculum in passing. It didn’t even make the glossary. The Anti-Defamation League, which rallied for the curriculum to be redrawn, said the classwork employed negative stereotypes about Jewish people. Amidst the backlash, the Department agreed to revise the curriculum in September.  

However, some still argue that Jews should be excluded from courses where children are taught about culture and tolerance. “Frankly, the allegations of exclusion and erasure seem to be bad-faith arguments designed to tear down this program, rather than engage productively and build something sustainable,” Mark Tseng-Putterman, a Ph.D. student Brown University told Jewish Currents. This week, in the magazine’s analysis of the curriculum controversy, scholars said Judaism is “outside of the scope of ethnic studies.” 

This argument is offensive and absurd. It is not only politically correct to include information about Jews and anti-Semitism in ethnic studies – it is crucial that we do so. The first reason is obvious: it’s necessary to teach tolerance toward all targeted minorities. 

It is not only politically correct to include information about Jews and anti-Semitism in ethnic studies – it is crucial that we do so.

The second is that anti-Semitism requires teaching. Prejudice is not one-size-fits-all. The bigotry faced by Latin American immigrants might overlap in some ways with what Jews experience, but each ethnic and religious group battles unique stereotypes. You need to know the history behind anti-Semitic tropes to understand them. And like any minority, it requires literacy in Jewish heritage and customs to live beside and advocate for us. 

If you aren’t aware of the Holocaust, how can you understand how offensive it is to make an “oven” joke about a Jew, let alone identify the bias against underrepresented groups like Iraqi Jews, who survived the Farhud? Sephardic and Mizrahi groups have been particularly vocal about their displeasure with their erasure in California’s ethnic studies blueprint. Six congregations and five of its major advocacy groups penned a letter rebuking it.

Protesters are seen in June 2011 in support of the Tucson Unified School District’s Mexican-American studies program. A new state law effectively ended the program saying it was divisive. Source: Wikipedia Commons

Anti-Semitism is rooted in conspiracy theories about wealth, control, manipulation and bloodthirst, which are confusing even for Jews. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, these tropes are mutating to be more complex and threatening than ever. White supremacists are claiming that Jews designed the virus in Chinese labs. In France, a conspiracy theory that the nation’s Jewish former health minister personally caused the pandemic has gained steam.

“Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a significant rise in accusations that Jews, as individuals and as a collective, are behind the spread of the virus or are directly profiting from it,” Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress told Reuters in April. “The language and imagery used clearly identifies a revival of the medieval ‘blood libels’ when Jews were accused of spreading disease, poisoning wells or controlling economies.”

When you teach children they need to fight racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia but completely ignore that Jews exist, it frames the fight against anti-Semitism as an opposing rather than a parallel cause.

The erasure of Jews from ethnic studies doesn’t just breed ignorance. When you teach children they need to fight racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia but completely ignore that Jews exist, it frames the fight against anti-Semitism as an opposing rather than a parallel cause. It’s no wonder that Dyke Marches, SlutWalks and the Women’s March have been accused of engaging in anti-Semitism. 

When you exclude Jews from ethnic studies, children graduate into the world thinking that fighting anti-Semitism is unworthy and unrelated to social justice. Is it really a safe space if Jews are not allowed inside?

Jews Shouldn’t Be Excluded From Ethnic Studies Read More »

I Work At A Jewish Cemetery. We’re Risking Our Lives to Get Jews A Proper Burial.

Leave a Comment / First Person, Opinion /

 Whenever I tell someone where I work, they respond with the predictable, “You work at a cemetery?” or “What’s it like working at Mount Sinai?” or “How do you do it every day?” 

In reality, few people know what it’s like to work at a cemetery serving the entire Jewish community of Southern California. In truth, it’s fairly simple. I’ll let you in on a little secret: Everybody who works here, whether they are in accounting or mortuary or landscaping or advance planning, is motivated by the same mission: to carry out our responsibility to honor the deceased and care for the living. Admittedly, both have been challenging for all of us these days.  

A few days after California issued the “safer at home” order, Mount Sinai was faced with its first COVID-19 burial. Suddenly, the pandemic became very real. It was no longer about empty shelves at the supermarket, but about a member of our community who lost his life. The day of the funeral, I stood on the grass in the Hollywood Hills park watching the clergy guide four extended family members through the service while the immediate family could witness this intimate moment only at home through livestream. It was heartbreaking and marked Day One of the new normal. 

This has become a familiar scene for mourners across the country. A single landscaper lowering the casket in the ground. Maybe a few, if any, family members shoveling dirt using separate shovels brought from home. Families mourning their loved ones on screens. No large gatherings or services followed by a stream of cars to the gravesite. No pallbearers. No directions to the family home for shivah. 

COVID-19 has changed the way we plan ceremonies, forcing many of us to rethink what it means to honor the deceased.

COVID-19 has changed the way we plan ceremonies, forcing many of us to rethink what it means to honor the deceased. Many of the public health guidelines directly contradict some of the most important tenets of Jewish burial. For many, a funeral is a ritual of loss and a connection to comfort the living. But the coronavirus has altered that ritual: The loss remains but the connection changes. That’s why it was never a question whether my Mount Sinai Memorial Park colleagues and I would continue to work during this pandemic. And while COVID-19 has forced us to adapt, the human need to grieve and mourn remains. Still, we are here. We stand in, connect with and care for our families during their time of need. 

The day after the statewide “stay-at-home” order was issued, I spoke with Rabbi Chaim Mentz — who established Chabad of Bel Air — about a personal matter. Our call quickly morphed into a discussion about so much more: Should I stay home as a single mother with a history of health challenges and a chronically ill daughter? Or should I continue to work somewhere where I’d likely be thrown into the COVID-19 crisis?  

He comforted me as clergy are known to do, and I realized continuing my work was never a question. The true question was how to navigate the fine line between the person I have become through my years at Mount Sinai Memorial Parks and what I choose to do for a living. A few days later, Mentz sent a text that still resonates deeply six weeks later, “Stay safe, u r on the front line of compassion.” Yes, rabbi, while we may not necessarily be the first COVID-19 front-line workers you think of, we have always been on the front line of compassion. 

While doctors and nurses risk their lives working tirelessly to treat those infected with the virus, our staff members risk theirs guiding the deceased to a dignified Jewish burial.

While doctors and nurses risk their lives working tirelessly to treat those infected with the virus, our staff members risk theirs guiding the deceased to a dignified Jewish burial. We know all too well the risk in being here. While we exercise the utmost caution protecting our team, Mount Sinai’s staff comes to work every day knowing what separates its members from potential infection is a pair of latex gloves and a surgical mask. Of course, there is fear but also the courage to do what we feel is right.  As Ambrose Redmoon wrote, “Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the judgment that something is more important than fear.” Members of Mount Sinai staff have stood graveside, recited Kaddish, acted as pallbearers, held the phones for FaceTime and Zoom services and refused to diminish our responsibility to care for the deceased or our deep sense of care for the community. 

On Mother’s Day, I think back to previous years when visitors created traffic jams and coolers filled with water bottles were quickly emptied. The days would seemingly run on a time-lapse. We’d see so many families with whom we have built relationships with — either through advance planning or during loss — and be greeted with smiles as cars passed through the gates, reminding us that the words on the park entrance translate to “House of the Living.”

We will be here this Mother’s Day, smiling back under our masks, waving with our gloves on and keeping a safe distance.

And this is the house of the living — the same house where every Mother’s Day we celebrate the lives of the women who made us who we are. We will be here this Mother’s Day, smiling back under our masks, waving with our gloves on and keeping a safe distance. We will be spread throughout the park placing stones on hundreds of markers and visiting gravesites for the families who must stay at home. And, just like many of my colleagues, I will be here all day on Mother’s Day while my children are home alone. We will visit mothers who are not our own; but, this Mother’s Day, they will be.  

It’s hard for most to imagine not having your children in your home on Mother’s Day, especially at a time when the world has slowed down and the focus has shifted to ensuring life’s basic necessities are met. However, it reminds me of a story I heard about my colleagues when the Northridge earthquake hit in 1994.

 No one expected the staff to show up to Mount Sinai, yet the employee parking lot was full. My colleagues had dodged electrical fires, water main floods and navigated disintegrated freeways to make it to work — all because they (who are still working here 25 years later) knew that there were those in need of burial and families in need of care. Our team truly has been on the front line of compassion always and in all ways. This is what we do. And, in the time of COVID-19, we have adapted to this new reality, following protocol, navigating ever-changing guidelines, and internally struggling as we do our best to provide traditional burials that exceed expectations. 

The funeral of former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron, who died from complications of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) infection at the har HaMenuchot cemetery in Jerusalem on April 13, 2020. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

Last Shabbat I attended a funeral service. It was not a COVID-19 burial, but the scene was the same as our staff outnumbered the two mourners present. The widow was a mother of young children, and our paths had crossed on the phone months ago. I met her in person with a masked face in the parking lot only  minutes before the funeral of her husband. I expressed my heartfelt condolences graveside and then watched the service from afar as I have done so many times. Mentz officiated the service; this was the first time we chatted since his text when this all began. We walked to our parked cars talking about his wife’s salmon recipe before wishing each other a good Shabbos. As he drove away, I got in my car and cried. This was not the first time. No two days are alike and having the courage to do what we feel is right does not mean that we don’t hurt. And showing up does not mean that we’re not tired. I don’t want the new normal to become normal. 

 I think about what we at Mount Sinai Memorial Parks would do if faced with the overwhelming situation New York endured. All I know for certain is that we would show up and continue to honor the deceased and care for the living because that is what we do. And this is when I tell all those who say, “I could never do that” that — yes — you can. We all have the choice to act, work on ourselves and make commitments to our community. In Judaism, it is said that Deed shapes the Heart. Outward actions can shape our inner character. Day in and day out, we do and do and do again. And therefore, who we are and what we do is so intertwined. We aren’t superheroes, we are just strong enough to do the right thing. Courage is the engine that enables us to move forward perpetually, with intentionality, with compassion and with knowledge that both meaning and purpose is found in our work.

Kimber Sax is the director of advance planning at Mount Sinai Memorial Parks.

I Work At A Jewish Cemetery. We’re Risking Our Lives to Get Jews A Proper Burial. Read More »

Is Israel Failing the Diaspora?

Leave a Comment / Opinion /

On Monday evening, May 4, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood before the television cameras and announced that Israel had achieved remarkable success in its battle against coronavirus.

While the prime minister rightfully observed that every life lost is one too many and that it is far too early to declare victory against the deadly virus, the reality is that Israel has established itself as an international leader in minimizing the health impacts of COVID-19.

LOD, ISRAEL – MARCH 01: Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, delivers a statement to the press during a Likud Party meeting on March 1, 2020 in the city of Lod, Israel. Israelis will head to the polls tomorrow for the third time in less than a year. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)

Our accomplishments in this ongoing battle are undoubtedly a source of great national pride. While explaining why one nation has succeeded where others have failed is deeply complex—perhaps even unexplainable—there is a general consensus that Israel’s history and ongoing security challenges make us that much better suited to address crises. With decades of unfortunate experience, the nation and its leadership are able to adopt a military mindset that allows us to very quickly adjust from “routine” to “emergency” that requires difficult decision-making from both our elected officials and the general public.

And yet, while we are deeply thankful for where we are today, we risk contentment that borders on hubris.

The Jewish state is in danger of celebrating beating COVID-19 while the Jewish Diaspora continues to suffer.

Potentially most problematic, the Jewish state is in danger of celebrating while the Jewish Diaspora continues to suffer. This would be a callous and inexcusable mistake.

For many years, the State of Israel has been on the receiving end of endless waves of compassion and outright support from our friends and family in the Diaspora. When our enemies hoped to destroy us, whether it be in the form of physical attacks or financial embargoes and boycotts, the Diaspora community was unwavering in the intensity of their response.

Hundreds of millions of dollars of philanthropic aid pours into our country every year from Jewish donors who are moved by Israel’s challenges and recognize our historic plight.  In times of increased tension, we are always moved by the arrival of missions from all over the world who disregard security concerns and choose to demonstrate solidarity with real action; Jews relating to Israel as their real homeland and coming home when our country was in need.

Today it is the Diaspora that requires Israeli support.

In a painful reversal of fortunes, today it is the Diaspora that requires Israeli support.

Not only has Israel fared relatively well in this crisis, but the Jewish world abroad has been terribly maimed. Communities with large concentrations of Jews, like New York, New Jersey and London, are bearing the brunt of the pandemic.

In a community where respect for the dead is paramount, we have been horrified by the images of funeral homes stretched beyond their capabilities. The very tenets of Jewish life—schools and synagogues—have been closed, and communal prayer and study forced into the privacy of homes.

I write this as my own elderly parents in Florida are homebound, some of my siblings in New Jersey are recovering from COVID-19, my daughter is a health-care professional in New York City and we have yet to personally hug a new granddaughter born to us in Connecticut.

Jewish tradition and practice are predicated upon the concept of unity, that wherever our people find themselves in the world, we thrive on the recognition that we are “one people with one heart.” It is that understanding that has always inspired Diaspora Jewish support for Israel and must therefore be the one that motivates our actions in the face of this latest crisis.

I am proud of some of the activities that I have witnessed among the Israeli community in an effort to help Diaspora Jewry. World Mizrachi, based in Israel, has put together a plethora of programs to inspire thousands in the Diaspora during this difficult time, and convened a WhatsApp group that has engaged hundreds of community rabbis throughout North America and Israel so we can share in real time best practices during this time of emergency.

Israeli musicians like Ishay Ribo and media personalities like Sivan Rahav Meir have engaged tens of thousands throughout the Diaspora. Our hospitals and research institutes are in constant dialogue with those around the world to be able to leverage our experiences for the betterment of the global community. Furthermore, I take great pride in Ohr Torah Stone’s 300 rabbinic and educational emissaries around the world; Israelis who continue to give of themselves to lead Jewish communities worldwide—as well as the OTS professionals who have been supporting them 24/6.

Nevertheless, I fully recognize that Diaspora Jewry feels alone, and we need to do better.

Diaspora Jewry feels alone, and we need to do better.

The situation demands a re-evaluation of what it means to be “one Jewish community.” Help and solidarity cannot—and must not—be a one-way street. We are no longer the poor cousin. Israel has succeeded in countless ways; it would be ignorant and irresponsible to minimize the contribution of Jewish communities abroad in that achievement.

Just like our pain has been your pain in decades past, you deserve to know that today your pain is ours.

Women wear face masks as they join hundreds of members of the Orthodox Jewish community attending the funeral for a rabbi who died from the coronavirus in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Until we are all blessed with a return to a far healthier world very speedily in our days, every Jew—and particularly the people of Israel—must open their hearts to Diaspora Jewry and say, “We are with you and, without you we are incomplete.”

Rabbi Kenneth Brander is president and Rosh HaYeshiva of Ohr Torah Stone, an Israel-based network of 27 educational and social action programs transforming Jewish life, living and leadership in Israel and across the world.

Is Israel Failing the Diaspora? Read More »

Israel to Launch ‘Cyber Defense Shield’ for Health Sector

Leave a Comment / Israel, News /

Israel is preparing to inaugurate a “cyber defense shield” for the country’s health care sector amid a spike in attacks since the beginning of the global COVID-19 epidemic.

Speaking to participants in an online conference hosted by the Cybertech B2B networking platform on Thursday, an Israeli Health Ministry official revealed that the new system − developed in coordination with the cybersecurity firm FireEye − would provide real-time protection from attacks.

“The goal is to raise the health care sector’s resilience,” Reuven Eliahu, chief technology officer and supervisor of the ministry’s health system security and cyber division, told participants. “The [defense shield] will be available for free to all health organizations in Israel.”

Since the novel coronavirus pandemic began, the ministry had recorded a “very significant increase” in attacks on health organizations, with hackers taking advantage of security holes that had arisen as a result of many employees working remotely.

Eliahu said that since the novel coronavirus pandemic began, the ministry had recorded a “very significant increase” in attacks on health organizations, with hackers taking advantage of security holes that had arisen as a result of many employees working remotely.

“Our workers are at home, and it’s their home [systems] that are less protected,” he said. “We see more and more state-sponsored players who are working as spies. … Many are looking to get their hands on solutions to the virus.”

Moreover, Eliahu noted that the number of phishing attacks had risen by thousands of percentage points in recent weeks and that China, Russia and North Korea were among the state actors behind those targeting health bodies.

Eli Parnass is the regional vice president for Israel, Greece and Central and Eastern Europe at Fortinet, a California-based cybersecurity firm that works with enterprises, service providers and government organizations across the globe.

Eli Parnass, regional vice president for Israel, Greece & Central and Eastern Europe at Fortinet. (Courtesy)

“In the last couple of weeks, health care has become one of the most targeted sectors around the world, with many cyber-criminals that are seeking to exploit the fragile situation that we’re in for their personal gain,” Parnass told The Media Line.

“Essentially, health care organizations are under constant cyberattack attempts ranging from targeted phishing and customized ransomware incidents to more common exploits such as malware and botnets,” he explained.

Ransomware is installed by cyber-criminals on a person’s or institution’s computer system before the hacker threatens to publish data or simply block access unless a ransom is paid.

According to Parnass, who also participated in Thursday’s conference, there are several factors motivating cyber-criminals to carry out these online offensives.

“Hospitals and other health care organizations possess a vast amount of data, including sensitive and confidential patient information,” he explained. “Therefore, these organizations are known to be targets for ransomware attacks, as they are more willing to pay to reclaim data. … Upon payment of the ransom, reclaimed data may be corrupted or missing, leading to a potential impact on patient safety. In this situation, cyber-criminals have a lot to gain, and hospitals? A lot to lose.”

Like Eliahu, Parnass warned that remote medicine – also referred to as telemedicine – offered many benefits but could also open the door for cyber-criminals to access the networks of health care organizations.

“The value of the data being transmitted between networks is what encourages cyber-criminals to target telemedicine practices,” he said, adding that patients using unsecured personal devices, messaging apps or video conferencing platforms were also at risk of having their medical data stolen.

Parnass recommends that organizations add multifactor authentication and validate credentials in order to ensure that private or sensitive information does not fall into the wrong hands. Moreover, IT teams should consider implementing a comprehensive endpoint solution “that provides integrated visibility, control and proactive defense while providing secure remote access with a built-in VPN [virtual private network],” among other things.

Hospitals especially are facing a broad range of cyber challenges during this period.

Hospitals especially are facing a broad range of cyber challenges during this period.

Prof. Yoram Weiss, director of Hadassah Medical Center at Ein Kerem in Jerusalem, told The Media Line that a growing number of hackers were trying to access electronic medical records and IT infrastructure.

“We are experiencing attacks on a regular basis, like many hospitals,” he revealed. “We’re putting a lot of emphasis on trying to safeguard Hadassah from these cyberattacks.”

According to Weiss, hackers are taking advantage of the fact that hospitals are under “enormous strain” as they grapple with the coronavirus.

“Many hospitals are trying to create new infrastructure for critical-care patients,” he explained. “As we add more electronic infrastructure, many times it is to monitor the patients from afar, and not from their bedside, but you always have to keep in mind the possibility that you are putting stuff on not entirely secure lines.”

Hackers are taking advantage of the fact that hospitals are under “enormous strain” as they grapple with the coronavirus.

Weiss notes that hospitals are always on the lookout to measure the risk and benefit of any new infrastructure because they understood that if not properly secured, it could represent a safety risk for patients. One example is air conditioning systems, which if infiltrated, could be used to spread the coronavirus among hospital wards.

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL – MARCH 20: An Israeli Fire Department crew man drives a fire truck before spraying disinfectants to sanitize the entrance to Tel Aviv’s Hospital Emergency Department on March 20, 2020 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Number of coronavirus in Israel continues to jump, after over 200 new cases have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)

“For this reason, it is key for managers to understand that they first need to keep security managers and cybersecurity [staff] in the loop when introducing new devices and infrastructure,” he stressed. “Hospital employees during this time are very strained and have a lot of workload, but it’s important to make them aware.”

Health organizations around the globe have suffered an onslaught of cyberattacks since the beginning of the pandemic.

Health organizations around the globe have suffered an onslaught of cyberattacks since the beginning of the pandemic.

This week, the UK’s National Cyber Security Center (NCSC), the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) warned of a coordinated attack on the health care sector. The advisory cautioned health care workers and those involved in medical research to create complex passwords and use two-factor authentication.

The warning further stressed that those involved in COVID-19-related medicine and research were especially at risk of being the target of malicious cyber activity, and called on health care organizations to boost their cyber defenses.

One of the main types of attacks being carried out, the advisory specified, was “password spraying,” a technique in which an attacker tries several commonly used passwords over a large number of accounts.

“This technique allows the attacker to remain undetected by avoiding rapid or frequent account lockouts,” the advisory said. “These attacks are successful because, for any given large set of users, there will likely be some with common passwords.”

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL – MARCH 20: Israeli Fire Department crew pull a hose with disinfectants as they sanitize the entrance to Tel Aviv’s Hospital Emergency Department on March 20, 2020 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Number of coronavirus in Israel continues to jump, after over 200 new cases have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)

Perhaps ironically, the Cybertech conference − which featured an array of top Israeli cybersecurity experts − was originally scheduled to take place on Wednesday but did not proceed as planned when the website crashed within minutes of the start.

“Due to a system overload and a technical issue that is being checked, many viewers were unable to connect to the conference broadcast,” a statement quickly sent out by the event organizers said.

Cybertech, however, told The Media Line that the conference had not been the target of an attack.

Israel to Launch ‘Cyber Defense Shield’ for Health Sector Read More »

Israeli Folk Dancers Refuse to Be Stopped by COVID-19

Leave a Comment / Israel /

RAANANA, Israel (JTA) – Like all other mass gatherings now, Israel’s Karmiel dance festival, one of the largest of its kind in the world, was postponed.

The annual fest, which takes place at the end of June, draws thousands who take part in one of the country’s oldest passions: Israeli folk dance.

Those in the know say some 200,000 Israelis across the nation attend regular Israeli folk dance, including public and private sessions called harkadot, on beachfronts, sports facilities and more.

To cheer up those disappointed about the Karmiel fest and others around the world, instructors in the U.S. helped set up a 24-hour online folk dance marathon on Zoom from April 13 to 14. A team of 26 instructors shared the lead, depending on their time zones, serving as DJ for up to 1,000 dancers simultaneously in a mosaic of user screens.

“It’s an honor to arrange moments like this,” said Israeli choreographer and instructor Elad Shtamer, who has been broadcasting dance live on Facebook four times a week. “The feeling is amazing when you bring people together and make them feel they’re part of a community, which is the main goal of Israeli dance.”

The 54-year-old Gadi Bitton, one of the leading authorities on Israeli folk dancing, in a typical year leads three huge festivals and gathers some 2,000 “harkaholics” three times a week for sessions in Tel Aviv and Kfar Saba. Hundreds of other instructors hold their own daily harkadot countrywide. The sessions are popular as well in the United States and other countries.

In the face of COVID-19, Bitton and others are moving their sessions online for the time being.

“We have a big global community,” Shtamer said. “It’s super important for them to continue to feel they’re connected. They can’t lose the bond because we want them back when it’s OK to go back.”

Jews and dancing go way back — when Moses opened the Red Sea waters and the Israelites miraculously crossed it to the other side, they sang and danced in circles to celebrate their freedom. The Bible and Talmud refer to dance events several times. And in 1948, Israelis danced in the streets to celebrate their country’s independence.

Community dances first arose among the halutzim, or pioneers, of the First Aliyah in 1882, and others later brought them from the Diaspora. Major folk influences include the hora, which originally is a Romanian dance form, the temani from Yemenite Jews, the Hasidic from Eastern European Jews and the debka from Arabic folk, as well as Kurdish, Druze, Bedouin, Latin and more.

“We are proud to have something unique, with so many influences,” said Bitton, who is the son of a haredi Orthodox rabbi but left the religious fold. “It’s very catchy all over the world, everyone can fall in love with our folklore in a minute.”

When the coronavirus outbreak started, Bitton quickly put together an online studio called Ulpan Bitnua for the Yeahbit project, which mixes Israeli folk dance, gym and Zumba. Five times a week, his team of quarantined instructors hold morning sessions from their own porches or living rooms. In the evening, online viewers are offered diversified content about Israeli folk dance, including a talk show and lots of dances, of course.

“I feel the responsibility to keep people connected, they need to feel the sense of community. We must stick together until this crazy situation is over,” said Bitton, who serves as head of Tel Aviv University’s dance school of teachers and leads the folk dance section of Israel’s national artistic committee.

There are challenges to the online format, said Levi Bar-Gil, 56, an Israeli folk dance instructor.

“Touching one another is a basic Israeli folk dance thing. Holding hands is the root of what dancing together is about. Smiling, talking, hugging, kissing, talking, everything is connected,” he said.

Every Sunday and Wednesday, Bar-Gil now holds a 45-minute Israeli dance session for kids on the Arutz Habidud, or isolation channel, a newly released online TV broadcast made live by the Hod Hasharon municipality.

But instructors around the world are adapting.

Brazilian-born Andre Schor, 33, is a rising star in the Israeli dance world. His hit dance called “Achi Karov Alaich” has been taught in several countries. Every Saturday online, he has been broadcasting Israeli songs to Brazilian dancers, where he comments live in Portuguese.

Allon Idelman was raised in Brazil and immigrated to Israel in 2019. He runs a performance group called Olim Rokidim, which gathers 15 dancers who are all immigrants from Brazil, Turkey, France, Mexico, France and Uruguay.

“It’s tough to rehearse over the internet, so we have been keeping the social element alive in our WhatsApp group,” said Idelman, a 42-year-old physiotherapist from Raanana. “We share Israeli dance-related material and celebrate personal dates and achievements.”

When Sarita Blum moved from Rio to Berkeley, California, 11 years ago, finding an Israeli dance environment was among her top priorities. Today she is part of a group called Cafe Simcha, where she learns and teaches.

“During quarantine, when you feel the absence of people, I’ve never felt so connected to them,” she said. “We video call each other all the time. I have been watching and sharing videos of dances that remind me of special moments of my life or special people.”

Blum travels to Israel every year and attends sessions with Bitton, Bar-Gil and several other instructors. She’s used to dancing in online videos because she often sends them to her 8-year-old Israeli granddaughter.

“Israeli dance is everything to me. It gives you a sense of freedom and unity,” she said. “When you hold hands, you feel safe, you feel free. I hope we’ll be all free to dance face to face together once again.”

Israeli Folk Dancers Refuse to Be Stopped by COVID-19 Read More »

Showtime’s President of Entertainment is a Cantor on the Side

Leave a Comment / Culture, Hollywood /

Gary Levine’s day job is president of entertainment for Showtime Networks. On Saturdays, though, he’s a cantor.

The Hollywood Reporter has been running a series of stories about how Tinseltown notables are faring during the pandemic (pretty well, thanks for asking). Thursday’s story profiled Levine, who explained that he is the lay cantor for his Ahavat Torah synagogue in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles — a role he’s filled for Shabbat services, holidays, weddings, and bar and bat mitzvahs since 1995.

During the lockdown, he has had to adapt to singing for congregants on Zoom:

I’ve learned that I can pray and play piano at the same time. I’ll explain. I am the cantor at my synagogue. So, every Saturday, I go there and wail away under normal circumstances, accompanied by some really wonderful musicians. Well, in a Zoom universe, where you can’t be in sync with other musicians or other singers, I’ve got to fend for myself. I had to learn how to play all of the prayers on the piano so that I could accompany myself and then still hopefully chant with as much spirituality and meaning and passion as I normally do while I’m still figuring out if it’s A flat or A sharp. (Laughs.) It’s been an interesting process but I’m really enjoying it and I think having the congregation get together to Zoom on Saturdays is really a welcomed break from the isolation.

He also mentioned another Jewish-themed amusement that he’s been participating in while indoors: watching “Fauda,” Season 3.

Showtime’s President of Entertainment is a Cantor on the Side Read More »