A Jewish woman in Strasbourg, France, gave birth to sextuplets.
The five girls and one boy were born very prematurely on Thursday at the Hautepierre Hospital in Strasbourg, requiring the assistance of 30 medical staff members, the daily LeParisien reported, citing the newspaper Les Actualités Nouvelles d’Alsace.
It took four minutes to deliver the babies, who were born at 24 weeks, after which they were taken to the neonatal intensive care unit. They weighed in at between 1.4 pounds and 1.6 pounds and likely will require a stay of many months in the hospital.
The couple have two other children. The Hebrew-language news website B’haredey Haredim identified the father as Rabbi Ovadia Ben-Simon.
The last sextuplets in France were born nearly 30 years ago, in 1989 in Normandy. Sextuplets occur once in 4.7 million deliveries worldwide.
If you turn up for this Zoom cocktail event, you better look mahvelous.
Billy Crystal will be hosting as the Secure Community Network, the security advisory body to U.S. Jewish community, raises a glass on Wednesday evening to the first responders who have been on the front lines during the coronavirus pandemic.
Crystal, the comic who starred in movies such as “When Harry Met Sally,” in the 1980s coined the phrase “You look mahvelous” as Fernando, an oleaginous nightlife host on “Saturday Night Live.”
FBI Director Christopher Wray and the chiefs of the Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles police departments will be among the top law enforcement officers joining Crystal in an event dubbed “Virtual L’Chaim.”
“Medical professionals, law enforcement, firefighters, EMTs and so many others are devoting their lives to ensure our communities are as safe as possible,” Michael Masters, the director of SCN, said in a statement on the 20-minute, which is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. and will also be seen on Facebook.
SCN is formally affiliated with the Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
Police shut down an Orthodox yeshiva in Brooklyn on Monday for violations of social distancing.
Approximately 60 students were present at the Nitra Yeshiva in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood when the police arrived, according to a New York Police Department spokesperson. Many of the teenage students were not wearing masks or adhering to social distancing, WNBC-TV reported, though a message accompanying a photo circulating on the messaging platform WhatsApp claimed the students were wearing masks and adhering to social distancing.
Officers instructed school leaders to close the yeshiva and the students dispersed.
The closure comes weeks after a large Hasidic funeral in Williamsburg, also in Brooklyn, drew thousands into the street, drawing the ire of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Days after New York Gov. Cuomo issued an executive order in mid-March closing schools across the state, he clarified that the order also applied to private schools such as yeshivas. Last month, Cuomo extended the order to include the rest of the school year.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) held a webinar on May 14 delving deeper into its latest Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents, explaining that anti-Semitism is “not constrained by specific ideology or politics.”
ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said that 2019 had the highest number of incidents of anti-Semitism that the ADL has ever recorded at 2,107. There were increases in all major categories: vandalism, harassment and violence.
“The data doesn’t lie,” Greenblatt said. “Something is going on.”
There were 61 incidents of anti-Semitic violence in 2019, including the Chabad of Poway shooting in April 2019, which resulted in one woman dead, and the stabbing in Monsey, N.Y., that resulted in five injured and one dead.
“It should be clear that the 61 incidents that we logged included 95 individual victims of anti-Semitic incidents,” Greenblatt said.
Screenshot from YouTube.
Greenblatt pointed out that there is a wide variety of motives behind anti-Semitic violence. Poway shooting suspect John Timothy Earnest is a white supremacist who also allegedly set fire to a mosque, according to Greenblatt, whereas the alleged perpetrators in the Jersey City, N.J., kosher supermarket shooting in December were Black Hebrew Israelites. Not all Black Hebrew Israelites are anti-Semitic but some view Jews as biblical imposters, Greenblatt explained.
“Anti-Semitism happens everywhere in an organized and unorganized way; that’s why it’s so critical to call it out wherever and whenever it happens,” Greenblatt said.
ADL Center on Extremism Vice President Oren Segal pointed out there was a slight decrease in anti-Semitic incidents on college campuses, from 201 in 2018 to 186 in 2019. However, there was an increase in anti-Semitic incidents in non-Jewish K-12 schools, from 344 in 2018 to 411 in 2019.
“The sad truth is, we believe that these numbers are only the tip of the iceberg,” Segal said, explaining that the ADL believes that “incidents in schools are the most severely underreported.”
He went onto say that while most perpetrators of anti-Semitic incidents are “not constrained by specific ideology or politics,” the number of known extremists committing incidents increased 13% from 2018 to 2019. Some of the known extremists are the Daily Stormer Book Club and the Ku Klux Klan group the White Knights.
Screenshot from YouTube.
ADL Southern Division Vice President Allison Padilla-Goodman then explained that instances of anti-Semitic harassment and assault tend to be more personal and confrontational, whereas instances of vandalism are more widely seen.
“The two more frequent types of places where we see [anti-Semitic] incidents occur are public spaces and public schools,” Padilla-Goodman said, adding that incidents “usually reverberate well beyond the individual that is being targeted.”
Two recent anti-Semitic incidents featured graffiti of swastikas found on two synagogues in Huntsville, Ala., on April 8 and 10. Padilla-Goodman praised the community’s reaction to the incidents, as area residents provided the synagogues with food, flowers, handmade cards and resources to remove the graffiti.
“These happy endings, they don’t always make the headlines … but they are behind a lot of them,” Padilla-Goodman said.
Greenblatt proceeded to discuss anti-Zionism, which he described as people denigrating “the Jewish state with the same tropes they use to denigrate the Jewish people.” He said that there were 175 instances of anti-Zionism in 2019, an increase from 140 the year before. One such instance was graffiti on a rock at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in September stating, “Jews did 9-11. Google: Dancing Israelis.”
Additionally, Greenblatt pointed out that there are various conspiracy theories blaming Jews and Israel for the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is why we say clearly and unequivocally: anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism,” Greenblatt said.
Greenblatt believes that there are a multitude of factors that have led to the recent rise of anti-Semitism. He said that a heavily charged political environment has been a contributing factor, saying that it started with name-calling at the top, referring to President Donald Trump.
Additionally, economic anxiety also has contributed, Greenblatt argued, pointing a growing divide between the rich and poor as wages have remained stagnant.
“That creates an environment where scapegoating flourishes and thrives,” Greenblatt said.
He added that social media also have given anti-Semitism more attention.
“Extremists have exploited all of these trends to insert themselves into the margins and into the mainstream,” Greenblatt said.
The ADL CEO pointed to the fact that 12 white supremacists and neo-Nazis ran for public office at the federal, state and local level. For instance, a neo-Nazi who ran for Congress in Illinois in 2018 as a Republican received 56,000 votes, according to Greenblatt.
Additionally, anti-Zionists have been running for office on the political left, Greenblatt said.
“I don’t think either side is exempt,” Greenblatt said. “No political party as a monopoly on morality.”
Greenblatt said that people could take action against anti-Semitism through reporting anti-Semitic incidents to the ADL whenever they occur.
“It doesn’t take long but the impact could be lasting,” he said.
If you are a fan of classic rock radio, then you have heard the work of record producer, arranger and songwriter Shel Talmy on countless occasions, possibly even today. The producer of early sessions for the likes of The Kinks, The Who, The Creation and The Easybeats, that is indeed his production on rock classics like “My Generation,” “You Really Got Me,” “All Day And All Of The Night,” and “Tired Of Waiting For You.” Talmy’s discography also includes work with Manfred Mann, The Small Faces (the precursor to the Rod Stewart-fronted The Faces), The Damned, Lee Hazlewood, The Fuzztones, and Davy Jones & The Mannish Boys; said “Davy Jones” was an early moniker for none other than David Bowie.
These days, Talmy keeps busy with Shel Talmy Productions, which continues to license selections from his extensive catalog to film, television and gaming projects. Those following him on Facebook will also notice that Talmy regularly posts rock-related memories and industry-oriented insight.
As especially relevant to this publication, Talmy was raised Jewish and was a graduate of Fairfax High School. We spoke about this and more within our May 13 phone conversation, of which audio is embedded below; apologies for the interview’s rough overall audio quality, as Skype was not having a great day in these parts.
Rituals are important to joy and staying centered in a world out of balance.
Our daily morning coffee-making ritual can help us to be centered and joyous for the day. One of the ways that I’m staying more centered in the age of coronavirus is by preparing my morning coffee from a local, small-batch roaster.
One of America’s most important small-batch coffee roasters is Aharon Vaknin. Considered a up-and-coming master by his peers, Aharon and his wife Batsheva operate Aharon’s Coffee and Roasting Co. in Beverly Hills. The boutique roaster has a strong local following, worldly coffee offerings, and a friendly healthy-organic vibe.
Aharon is devoted to “The Joy of Coffee”. For Aharon, coffee is not simply a means to a caffeine buzz. Rather, his ritual preparation of morning coffee takes on a spiritual significance. If you have a chance, watch Aharon prepare a cup of coffee. You will never look at this simple act the same way.
A Small Business That’s Still in Business
Worried that the coronavirus might put small businesses like Aharon’s in jeopardy, I headed over to his shop soon after the lockdown started. I grabbed a bag of AM organic Roast, something from Columbia, and a heritage coffee from Ethiopia. I ran back over to Aharon’s recently to restock. Thankfully, Aharon and Batsheva have managed to stay in businesses, adapting to the new reality and expanding their customer base.
Coffee transformed the world, and plays a special role in many our lives. For me, coffee in the morning is one of ways that I greet that day, right after my “modeh any l’fanecha” giving thanks to God, and saying good morning to my wife. Rachel and I have been sitting down and enjoying our morning coffee together for nearly a quarter century. During that times, our tastes have changed but our love for morning joe has not abated.
Small details and rituals in our daily lives are a critical part of maintaining our equilibrium during times of stress. Our state of mind on any given day can often be attributed to how we spend the first part of that day. For my wife and I, the ritual of preparing a fresh cup of coffee before our exercise and prayers has only taken on more meaning during this pandemic. We are truly grateful for every morning that we can greet the new day and “toast l’chaim” with Aharon’s made-with-love coffee.
Rituals in Your Morning
Coffee isn’t the only way that we can start our days. What rituals help you stay centered and balanced in this every more complex and challenging world of the coronavirus era? We would love to hear from you! Please send in your questions and comments here.
Check out my interview with Aharon Vaknin on Facebook and YouTube.
Thank you to the Jewish Journal for hosting our blog!
Reflections on the dilemma facing synagogues: Zoom is not a substitute for the communal experience.
How do we manage our lives during the coronavirus crisis? How do we keep our sanity? How do we use this quarantine to bring out the best in ourselves? Tune in every day and share your stories with podcast@jewishjournal.com.
Moments before I strapped two cranky toddlers into their car seats at 4:30 p.m. on a Monday afternoon and drove towards our nursery school Purim carnival the first week of March this year, I wondered if I was crazy. We would definitely end up putting them to bed late, missing bathtime and eating nothing but hamentashen cookiesfor dinner. As soon as we arrived though, and I watched as my older son ran towards his preschool class friends dressed in their costumes jumping in the moonbounce, all doubt was erased. Instead of worrying about how bedtime would go I couldn’t help but watch him in that classic mom way, simultaneously enjoying the moment and being emotionally nostalgic as I watched it pass.
I had no idea just how nostalgic I would be about that evening as that week would be my three-year-old’s last one going into his classroom for the remainder of the school year. As the news deteriorated my trepidation about taking care of a one-year-old and three-year-old all day for weeks (now months) on end with no school turned into grief for all we were losing.
Any child in preschool who suddenly had their last day due to the spread of Coronavirus knows the ache and longing for the teachers and friends they were unceremoniously separated from. As parents, we miss that social-emotional connection just as much as those early educational learning blocks of colors, numbers, letters and shapes. But as a Jewish mom, with children in a Jewish preschool, that loss feels twice as painful to me.
Like many families in our situation, Jewish preschool will likely be the only formal Jewish day school education my children will have.
Like many families in our situation, Jewish preschool will likely be the only formal Jewish day school education my children will have. Jewish day schools are unfortunately cost prohibitive and a luxury many families can’t justify. So this is it, these three precious years in preschool were going to be the heart and the start of it for our little boys.
Now I’m just recklessly optimistic that we will return to the classroom in some way in September, but I’m not naive enough to believe that they won’t likely need to close again at some point this Winter, and even if they don’t what will become of things like Purim carnivals, Hanukkah parties, and Passover model seders? These hallmarks of Jewish preschool often create those powerful first memories of positive and important Jewish milestones in our lives.
Hallmarks of Jewish preschool often create those powerful first memories of positive and important Jewish milestones in our lives.
I know it’s my responsibility to make my home the center of Jewish life but I don’t think we can dismiss how fundamental those early childhood years are in Jewish education or be Pollyanna enough to think experiences over Zoom are comparable to in-person ones when you’re three (though our teachers and rabbis have done an amazing job trying to bridge the gap!)
I don’t have a positive spin to end these thoughts on, I usually try to think of one but I can’t today. I just want to give voice to the parents of the littlest learners and remind us not to give up on figuring out a way to safely return to the magic of those nursery school classrooms.
Marion Haberman is a writer and content creator for her Youtube channel and Instagram @MyJewishMommyLifepage where she shares her experience living a meaning-FULL Jewish family life. She is also a professional social media consultant and web and television writer for Discovery Channel, NOAA and NatGeo and has an MBA from Georgetown University.
JERUSALEM (JTA) — A Jewish-Israeli man was convicted of the murder of three members of a Palestinian family in a firebombing on their home in the West Bank village of Duma.
Amiram Ben Uliel, 26, was convicted on three counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder, as well as two counts of arson, and was acquitted of membership in a terror group on Monday morning by the Lot District Court.
The firebombing on July 31, 2015, killed Riham and Saad Dawabsha and their toddler son, Ali Saad Dawabsha. Ahmed Dawabsha, then 5, survived the attack but required months of treatment for his burns. He now lives in Duma with his extended family.
Ben Uliel’s attorney said his client would appeal to the Supreme Court. A sentencing hearing was scheduled for June 9.
Ben Uliel had refused to testify before the court on his own behalf. He confessed to the attack three times during interrogations by the Israel Security Agency, or Shin Bet. Two of the confessions were thrown out by the court in 2018 for being coerced.
But the court decided that one of Ben-Uliel’s admissions of planning and committing the attack was usable since it was made well after the end of the physical pressure and was “given willingly.” It declined to rule on whether the pressure during the interrogation by the Israel Security Agency, or Shin Bet, was torture or what the agency calls “enhanced interrogation.”
Ben Uliel had re-created the crime in great detail, and also had a knowledge of details that investigators were not aware of at the time of his confession.
A confession that also pointed the finger at Ben Uliel given by a minor defendant in the case was disqualified after the court decided that it was coerced. The defendant, a minor at the time of the attack, agreed to a plea bargain in which he admitted to planning the attack but was not accused of murder.
The indictment said that Ben-Uliel was motivated to carry out the attack as revenge for the murder of a Jewish Israeli in his 20s in a Palestinian drive-by shooting a month earlier, which took place near Duma.
RIO DE JANEIRO (JTA) — A Brazilian journalist implied on CNN that the Jewish community was involved in choosing the country’s health minister.
“Nelson Teich was aided by people who are part of the Jewish community and supported him at the helm of the Ministry of Health,” political analyst Basilia Rodrigues said during a live broadcast of CNN Brasil’s “Live CNN” show. “They were at the table to choose the minister of health: businessmen, doctors and Jews.”
Teich lasted only two weeks at the helm of the Health Ministry after he disagreed with President Jair Bolsonaro’s plans for reopening gyms and beauty parlors, BBC reported.
Last month, some Brazilian media reported that Teich was Jewish after pointing to his connections to the Jewish community and the Albert Einstein Israelite Hospital in Sao Paulo. But Teich is not Jewish, and Jewish groups criticized the reports, saying the claims could create dangerous controversy.
Rodrigues appears to have picked up on the theory that Teich’s supposed strong ties to the Jewish community helped him earned the job.
“The journalist gave the impression that the Jewish community interferes in the choices of ministers. It’s unfortunate,” the Brazilian Israelite Confederation wrote in a statement in response to Rodrigues’ comments. “Being a Jew is not a profession and it is not fair to qualify us in this way.”
CNN Brasil released a note saying “We never intended to cause any discomfort to the Jewish community, which has our admiration and friendship,” Yahoo Brasil reported.
That statement wasn’t enough for the Rio Jewish federation, which called for a full detraction of Rodrigues’ comments.
