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Jewish Journal

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November 23, 2020

Giving Thanks for the Yummiest Holiday Ever

Leave a Comment / Food /

Little 7 year old me arrived in Los Angeles from Casablanca one week before Halloween. My uncle took me to get a costume and off we went trick or treating at the home of Elvis Presley. Lucille Ball handed me a Hershey’s Chocolate bar and I was convinced: America is paradise.

Little did I know that November would bring Thanksgiving with its wondrous foods. Roasted turkey, cranberry sauce, gravy, stuffing and creamy pumpkin pie for dessert. Best food ever!

My parents quickly adapted this most American of holidays and every year we indulged in Turkey and all the sides.

When my uncle and aunt and cousins arrived from Paris, they too fell in love with Thanksgiving. When my cousin Rachel was married, she took on the tradition of hosting the feast. She has tables set with beautiful flowers and her buffet groans under the weight of several birds and every traditional side—the beans, the mashed potatoes, the stuffing. There is a soup station, as well as cakes and pies and muffins. It’s over the top and absolutely fabulous.

Cousin Rachel’s Delicious Pumpkin Mash

32 oz (4 cups) sweet potato, cubed
32 oz (4 cups) butternut squash, cubed
30oz can pumpkin pie mix
1 cup vegetable broth
½ cup vegetable butter or coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups mixed dried berries (Trader Joe’s cranberries, blueberries, and raisins)
1 box granola (Trader Joe’s Ginger cereal)
1 cup pecans, to sprinkle on top

In a large bowl, combine the sweet potato, butternut squash and pumpkin pie mix. Add 1 cup of vegetable broth, melted butter, brown sugar, maple syrup and berries.

Pour into a large baking dish, bake covered with foil at 350 for an hour.

Cover the top with cereal and chopped pecans and bake for another 15 minutes until the top is golden.

This dish can be made several days ahead.

Serves 15

Rachel’s Sourdough Stuffing

6-8 cups sourdough bread, cubed
1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup carrot, chopped
1cup celery, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 portobello mushrooms, chopped finely
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, finely chopped
1 tablespoon sage, finely chopped
½ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup dried cherries
2 tablespoons brandy
3 oz bag roasted / peeled Chestnuts, chopped
1 granny smith apple, peeled and cut into small pieces
1 cup stock, (vegetable or chicken)
2 eggs beaten

One to two days ahead, cut sourdough loaf into cubes, place on a cookie sheet and let dry. (The more dry the bread, the better the stuffing consistency will be.)

In a small bowl combine cherries and brandy, set aside.

In a pan, sauté the onion in olive oil a few minutes and add the carrots and celery for 5 minutes, pour into a bowl and set aside.

In the same pan, add 2 tablespoons olive oil and mushrooms, sauté for a few minutes until they start to caramelize, add the balsamic, sauté a few more minutes, add salt and pepper, thyme and sage.

In a large bowl combine the mushrooms, vegetables, cherries with liquid, chestnuts, apple and bread, toss, add the stock and eggs, combine well.

Pour into a greased oven dish, preferably one that serves from oven to table.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until the top is toasty and golden.

Serves 10

Shira’s Spoon Bread Souffle

Over the years, we have shared some seriously gourmet Thanksgiving meals, with our friends Shira & Joe. Shira is an extremely talented and innovative home cook. Her Spoon Bread Soufflé is like cornbread, but super fluffy and delicious. When I make it, I like to add finely chopped scallions and sliced jalapeños. Definitely a dish that your family will enjoy and remember.

3 cups almond or oat milk
1 ½ cups cornmeal
3 tablespoons earth balance or coconut oil
1 tsp salt (omit if your shortening is salted)
¾ teaspoon baking powder
6 large eggs, separated
1 cup frozen roasted corn
1 tablespoon finely chopped scallion (the green ends)
1 small seeded and finely sliced jalapeno (can be omitted)

Preheat oven 375.

Grease a deep baking dish.

Heat milk in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until hot, not boiling. Add the cornmeal and whisk until very thick and smooth, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl, stir in earth balance, salt, baking powder, egg yolks, roasted corn, scallion, and jalapeño, then set aside and cool.

Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt using an electric mixer until they form stiff peaks. Stir one fourth of whites into the cornmeal mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining whites gently but thoroughly.

Spoon batter into baking dish and bake until golden brown and puffed, 45 to 50 minutes. Serve immediately, if possible.

Makes 8-10 side servings

Honey Sweetened Cranberry Sauce

1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin powder
1/2 cup water
2 packages fresh cranberries
1 cup orange juice
1 cup raw pale honey
2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½  teaspoon ground or fresh ginger

In a small bowl, sprinkle unflavored gelatin powder into water.

In a sauce pan, combine cranberries, orange juice, honey and orange zest.

Cook over low heat until the cranberries begin to soften and break up, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Pour gelatin mixture over the cranberries and add nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger stir well and remove from heat.

Let cool and refrigerate.

The sauce can be refrigerated in an airtight container for a week ahead and can be frozen for up to six months.

Rachel Sheff and Sharon Gomperts have been friends since high school. They love cooking and sharing recipes. They have collaborated on Sephardic Educational Center projects and community cooking classes. Follow them on Instagram @sephardicspicegirls and on Facebook at Sephardic Spice SEC Food.

Giving Thanks for the Yummiest Holiday Ever Read More »

Remembering Dr. Sharon Gillerman

Leave a Comment / News, Obituaries /

We mourn the untimely death, on Nov 20th, of our beloved friend, teacher and colleague, Dr. Sharon Gillerman, scholar of modern European Jewish history and Professor of Rabbinical students at the Skirball Campus of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC) and undergraduates at the University of Southern California (USC).

Sharon brought to every conversation her raw erudition and intelligence, as well as her suppleness of mind – a capacity to hear other perspectives and, just as importantly, a willingness to do so. She was motivated in the balance of these abilities by a profound, intellectually pure and edifying curiosity.

Bringing these talents and commitments to the longstanding institutional and instructional relationship between HUC and USC, where she began teaching in 1999, Sharon also initiated and participated in the various research initiatives that bind us collegially. As an instructor, she offered our Jewish Studies courses on the Holocaust, in which she went to great lengths, often against the tide of student culture and expectations, to convey the impossibly ramified and morally challenging dimensions of the Holocaust, always with her unflinching intellectual honesty. In this, as well as through her scholarship, Sharon helped shape a new generation’s understanding of that momentous chapter in human history.

Her research focused on German Jewish social history and the history of family and gender. Her first book was Germans into Jews: Remaking the Jewish Social Body in the Weimar Republic, and her current book project was on Siegmund “Zishe” Breitbart, a Jewish performer known as the strongest man in the world in the 1920s. And though she did not widely reveal it, Sharon was also a wonderful Hebraist. She read Hebrew text with uncommon expertise and precision, and she brought her rich intellect and evident passion to the issues of Israel and Zionism, always teaching and welcoming the opportunity to learn, at one and the same time.

Most of all, we will remember Sharon for her thoughtfulness, empathy and perfectly timed (often understated) wry humor. She approached every topic of business or study with an eye to the well-being of other people, and she pursued the education of our students without ever losing sight of the professor’s task, namely, to promote their intellectual, personal and cultural growth.

Sharon is survived by her husband, Mark Quigley, associate professor of English at the University of Oregon, her daughter Maya Gillerman, her mother Roberta Gillerman, her brother David Gillerman and her nieces, Shayna, Alyssa, and Ana. We who had the privilege of working with Sharon, extend our most heartfelt condolences to them, and we join our colleagues around the world in grieving the loss of deeply admired scholar.

Remembering Dr. Sharon Gillerman Read More »

Where Tony Blinken Stands on Jewish Issues, From Immigration to Israel

Leave a Comment / Israel, News, United States, Wires /

(JTA) — Tony Blinken, President-elect Joe Biden’s choice for secretary of state, is the stepson of a Holocaust survivor whose stories shaped his worldview and subsequently his policy decisions, including in the Middle East.

Biden named Blinken to the post on Monday, a day after news leaked about his plans to bring on the Jewish former high-ranking official in the Obama administration.

Blinken, 58, has been one of Biden’s closest policy advisers for over a decade and espouses the opposite of Trump’s “America First” agenda, which prioritized nationalist goals over international diplomacy. Multiple reports say that Blinken will seek to rejoin many of the international agreements that Trump left as president, notably the Paris Climate Accords and the Iran nuclear deal (an agreement with major diplomatic consequences for Israel).

Under Blinken, the State Department will usher in a much different foreign policy era, including on Israel. Like Biden, Blinken has close ties to the country forged from his decades of strong support of the Jewish state.

His Jewish parents were influential in their own right. 

Blinken was born in New York City, where he spent most of his early years. His father, Donald, co-founded the hefty E.M. Warburg Pincus & Company (now Warbug Pincus) investment firm and served as the U.S. ambassador to Hungary for four years under President Bill Clinton’s administration. There is an archive at George Soros’ Central European University in Hungary named for Donald Blinken, now 95, and his second wife, Vera, who survived the Holocaust, in part for their support of the “democratization process in the United States and in Hungary.”

Donald Blinken’s grandfather Meir Blinken also was a noted Yiddish author whose stories were published in a book in the 1980s that features an introduction by scholar Ruth Wisse.

His stepfather’s Holocaust experience shaped his worldview.

Tony Blinken’s mother, Judith, remarried Samuel Pisar, a Holocaust survivor and attorney who advised President John F. Kennedy and multiple French presidents. Pisar, who survived three concentration camps, also worked for the United Nations, wrote a libretto title “Kaddish-A Dialogue With God” at the behest of Leonard Bernstein and penned an award-winning memoir about his Holocaust experiences. Read more about him here in a Jewish Telegraphic Agency obituary and the description of a Yad Vashem program named after him.

Blinken has said that Pisar’s experiences have informed his vision for the “engaged” role that the United States should play on the global stage. Here’s one story he tells frequently, via Jewish Insider:

“One day as they were hiding out, they heard this deep rumbling sound,” Blinken recounted, “and as my stepfather looked out, he saw a sight that he had never seen before — not the dreaded Iron Cross, not a swastika, but on a tank a five-pointed white star. And, maybe in a foolhardy way, he rushed out toward it. He knew what it was. And he got to the tank, the hatch opened up, and a large African-American G.I. stared down at him. And he got down on his knees and he said the only three words that he knew in English, that his mother had taught him before the war: ‘God bless America.’ And at that point, the G.I. lifted him into the tank, into freedom, into America. That’s the story that I grew up with — about what our country is and what it represents, and what it means when the United States is engaged and leading.”

His diplomatic career has spanned decades and gained him a reputation as a centrist.

That career began on the National Security Council under Clinton. Blinken also was appointed staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which was headed by Biden during the George W. Bush years.

In 2008, Biden tapped Blinken to help his presidential campaign, and when Biden was chosen as Barack Obama’s vice president, Blinken followed, becoming one of his national security advisers. In 2014, Obama elevated Blinken to deputy secretary of state under John Kerry.

During those years, Blinken was heavily involved in the crafting of Middle East policy, including the landmark Iran deal.

Blinken has been described as a centrist and an interventionist, and he’s said to have a “mind meld” with Biden on foreign policy — an area of governance in which the president-elect specializes and wants to prioritize in the Oval Office.

Blinken is more hawkish on issues such as Russia, whom he considers a foe (he helped Obama’s team respond stiffly to Vladimir Putin’s encroachments into Crimea).

On Israel, Blinken’s views reflect the Democratic mainstream.

Within the Democratic Party, a minority of lawmakers and advocates have been trying to shift the party to the left on Israel issues. Progressives including Bernie Sanders have suggested that aid to Israel ought to be conditioned on certain policy choices.

The Trump administration has shifted U.S. policy to the right in recent years, moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv and, just last week, saying that the United States would consider the movement to boycott Israel officially anti-Semitic.

Blinken is a centrist here, too. He has said that a Biden administration will not condition aid to Israel on policy choices, will keep the embassy in Jerusalem and will staunchly support Israel at the United Nations — a body that often singles out the Jewish state for human rights abuses without condemning offenders such as Syria and China. In May, Biden wrote that he “firmly” rejects the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, and Blinken has backed up that stance.

Blinken’s appointment drew praise from centrist Democrats on Sunday night, but also from Sanders’ foreign policy adviser, Matt Duss, who tweeted that it would be “a new and great thing to have a top diplomat who has regularly engaged with progressive grassroots.” Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., a progressive who is known for her harsh criticism of Israel and support for boycotting Israel, responded that she would be happy as long as “he doesn’t try to silence me and suppress my First Amendment right to speak out against Netanyahu’s racist and inhumane policies.”

Blinken’s record has earned him respect from Israeli officials, even when he hasn’t always agreed with them. Michael Oren, a conservative former U.S. ambassador to Israel, called Blinken a man of “singular intelligence and warmth” in a passage of his 2015 book “Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide” — even in describing how Blinken rebuked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for expanding settlement building after agreeing not to.

“How could you do this to Israel’s best friend?” Blinken said about Biden to Oren, who was the ambassador at the time.

On Twitter Sunday night, Oren said he could think of “no finer choice” for the post, and news of Biden tapping Blinken drew praise from a cross-section of Israelis who have encountered him in the course of diplomacy.

If there’s ever tension between Israeli and American leadership, don’t expect to know about it. A big part of keeping things copacetic, as Biden and Blinken see it, is leaving policy disputes behind closed doors — something Blinken pushed for during the Obama years, sometimes to no avail.

As he told a “Sesame Street” character, Blinken is compassionate toward refugees. 

President Trump prioritized closing off U.S. borders and punishing immigrants who sought asylum in a policy set by a Jewish adviser, Stephen Miller.

Biden has said his approach to immigration — an issue important to many American Jews— will be much different. Blinken explained his attitude about refugees in a 2016 video with the “Sesame Street” character Grover, in which he explains to the fuzzy blue puppet that refugees should be treated the same as “you and me.”

“We all have something to learn and gain from one another, even when it doesn’t seem at first like we have much in common,” Blinken said after asking Grover to imagine how challenging it must be for someone to feel so unsafe that they decide to leave their home.

He’s got a lighter side — and a band with a clever name.

At one point the Harvard grad — who married Evan Ryan, a former assistant secretary of state in a ceremony that involved both a rabbi and a priest — wanted to be a filmmaker. Blinken also has a ’70s-inspired band called Ablinken — wordplay on multiple levels — that has two tracks on Spotify and was making headlines Monday.

Where Tony Blinken Stands on Jewish Issues, From Immigration to Israel Read More »

Home Shalom Monday Message #32

Leave a Comment / Blogs /

Home Shalom promotes healthy relationships and facilitates the creation of judgement free, safe spaces in the Jewish community. Home Shalom is a program of The Advot Project.

Please contact us if you are interested in a workshop and presentation about healthy relationships, self-worth or communication tools.

“Even those who have a miracle happen to them don’t recognize their own miracle.” – Talmud Niddah 31a 

There is a story told in the Talmud about two men who were traders who both intended to set sail on a ship bound for a foreign land where they might trade their goods. On the way to the ship, one of the men gets a thorn in his foot which becomes infected so that he can’t travel and he misses the boat (literally). Naturally, he is upset and begins to revile God. He expresses his anger at the misfortune that has fallen upon him. He then learns that his friend’s ship had sunk in the sea and everyone aboard was lost. When he hears the news, suddenly he realizes that what he thought was a curse was actually a blessing and he starts to praise God instead of cursing Him. The sages of Jewish tradition then say, “That is why it is written, ‘Your wrath turned back and you comfort me’” (Isaiah 12:1). They use this passage from the Bible to assert, “Even those who have a miracle happen to them don’t recognize their own miracle.”

The lesson taught is that we have miracles abounding in our lives but mostly walk sightless through them all and fail to recognize them when they happen.  It is a common human trait to see that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, to constantly compare our own life circumstances to that of others and believe that others are better off. The constant comparisons we make tend to discourage us from recognizing the power of our personal choices and the fundamental right that each of us has to choose what and who serves us and to reject those that diminish our individuality and feelings of self-worth. “Consent” is literally a “God-given” right in Jewish tradition and we should each cherish it for the blessing that it is.

Rabbi Steven Carr Reuben, Home Shalom
Naomi Ackerman, The Advot Project

Home Shalom Monday Message #32 Read More »

You’re Not a Bad Jewish Mom If Your Kid Wants Santa Claus to Come to Your House

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You’re not a bad Jewish mom if your kid wants Santa Claus to come to your house. You haven’t failed to share your love of Judaism l’dor v’dor from your generation to the next. Christmas in America, Santa Claus and everything else wrapped up in all the tinsel and joy is just really enticing. There’s about a billion dollars of marketing expenses hoping you’ll think so.

So what do you say to your Jewish kid when they are upset about Santa?

Here’s what I say to mine: “We celebrate Hanukkah and other families celebrate Christmas  Santa is part of the Christmas celebration and we have our own fun family traditions that are part of Hanukkah. And you know what, you’ll still get presents even without Santa being part of it. I totally get that Santa sounds like a lot of fun! It’s OK to be sad that he’s not part of our traditions and you’re allowed to be mad that he doesn’t come to our house and we can’t go visit him. You can always tell me how you feel. I know you’re disappointed, let’s come up with a list of all the fun things you want to make sure to do together during Hanukkah this year.”

There’s two really important messages I want to make sure my kids understand here and they actually have NOTHING to do with Judaism. 1. It’s ok to be upset about things that are hard. It’s ok to have feelings and to feel them. And 2. It’s ok to share those feelings with mom and dad, that’s what we’re here for. 

No one escapes some jealousy and some resentment and no faith is perfectly appealing. Judaism isn’t designed to be the Disneyland of religions, it’s not fun all the time and the point of faith isn’t that it makes life more fun but that it makes life more meaningful. The story of Hanukkah reaffirms the idea that we can triumph over adversity and that we can find a way to kindle light in the darkness. These are beautiful values that give us resolve throughout our lives. It’s in those early years though where we don’t see the fruits of these lessons in our children. We often only hear the complaints about why we can’t do this or that on Shabbat or how unfair it is that Santa isn’t coming down our chimney. Know that through your demonstration of your own love and commitment to Judaism your kids are listening and learning.

I also give you full permission to go BIG on Hanukkah! Some folks will shake their heads and say ‘it’s not the Jewish Christmas’ but honestly I’ve had so many Christian parents tell me that Christmas as it’s observed in America today (Santa Claus and all) isn’t even the Christian Christmas! So in my heart I just do everything to the fullest, if you’ve been following me for a while you know I think Judaism is a blessing in life and if it increases your family’s joy to buy large presents each of the eight nights there’s no halachah (Jewish law) against it! And even with all that if your kids are still sad about missing the big jolly guy in red, just know that you are NOT a bad Jewish mom, and not a bad mom at all.

Marion Haberman is a writer and content creator for her YouTube/MyJewishMommyLife channel and Instagram @MyJewishMommyLife page where she shares her experience living a meaning-FULL Jewish family life. Haberman is the author of Judaism and pregnancy book “Expecting Jewish!” 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.

You’re Not a Bad Jewish Mom If Your Kid Wants Santa Claus to Come to Your House Read More »

Tlaib: I Hope Blinken Doesn’t Suppress My Right to Speak Out Against Bibi

Leave a Comment / News, United States /

Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) tweeted on November 22 that she hoped President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for Secretary of State Antony Blinken doesn’t infringe upon her right to criticize Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Tlaib’s tweet was in response to Faiz Shakur, who was Senator Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) 2020 presidential campaign manager, calling Blinken “a solid choice.”

“So long as he doesn’t suppress my First Amendment right to speak out against Netanyahu’s racist and inhumane policies,” Tlaib replied in a quote tweet. “The Palestinian people deserve equality and justice.”

She subsequently tweeted on November 23: “[Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo has moved to suppress BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions], a peaceful protest movement protected by the 1st Amendment. I hope that Mr. Blinken and President-Elect Biden’s Administration will change course from [President Donald] Trump’s State Department & not target or suppress support of Palestinian human rights.”

 

On November 19, the State Department classified the BDS movement as anti-Semitic and announced that it will take steps to ensure that foreign aid does not go to organizations that boycott Israel or support BDS.

Pro-Israel Twitter users criticized Tlaib’s tweets as being anti-Semitic.

“If a Jewish American politician tweeted this, they would be immediately accused of being more loyal to Israel than the people they represent…by Rashida Tlaib,” Israel-based writer Hen Mazzig tweeted.

 

Former New York Democratic Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who also heads the Americans Against Antisemitism watchdog, similarly tweeted, “Biden names a Jew to his cabinet. What’s Rashida’s response?! ‘Welp, as long as that Judische pick doesn’t stop me from focusing my hatred on one country, Israel, then he’s a good Jew!’ It’s not your 1A right you’re trying to protect but your vile Jew-hatred!”

International human rights lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky also tweeted to Tlaib,  “You are just obsessed with Israel and BDS. Why don’t you focus a little more on your district, than engaging in mild Antisemitism and bigotry.”

Mike Harris, one of the founders, of San Francisco Voice for Israel, tweeted to Tlaib, “And as long as your interpretation of ‘justice’ for the Palestinians requires the elimination of Jewish statehood, then it’s not Blinken or Biden standing in the way of peace. Rather, it’s the Palestinian leadership and its enablers in the West.”

https://twitter.com/DrMikeH49/status/1330731970465128449?s=20

 

The progressive Jewish group IfNotNow, on the other hand, praised Tlaib “for speaking out against the administration’s inhumane and dangerous policies, and pushing the new one to reverse course and do better” and asked her to “sign our petition calling on @JoeBiden to reverse @SecPompeo’s pro-occupation actions on day 1.”

 

Tlaib is scheduled to participate in a December 15 panel called “Dismantling Antisemitism, Winning Justice” along with Temple University Professor Marc Lamont Hill, author Peter Beinart and University of Chicago Professor Barbara Ransby; IfNotNow and Jewish Voice for Peace are among the organizations that are co-sponsoring the panel. Many Jewish and pro-Israel commentators have criticized the panel for “making a mockery of a discussion on antisemitism for not including a variety of Jewish voices.”

Tlaib tweeted, “When it comes to standing up for Palestinian rights & human dignity, our intentions are questioned even though we probably are some of the biggest fighters against antisemitism.”

Tlaib: I Hope Blinken Doesn’t Suppress My Right to Speak Out Against Bibi Read More »

At G20 Summit, Pandemic Spurs Action

Leave a Comment / News, Wires, Worldwide /

The Media Line — International leaders at the G20 summit called on Sunday in a closing statement for COVID-19 vaccines and other pandemic-related supplies to be distributed equitably to lower-income countries.

“We have mobilized resources to address the immediate financing needs in global health to support the research, development, manufacturing and distribution of safe and effective COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines,” the Leaders’ Declaration said at the end of the two-day virtual summit on the coronavirus and its economic fallout.

“We will spare no effort to ensure their affordable and equitable access for all people, consistent with members’ commitments to incentivize innovation,” it said.

Earlier this month, the US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, in conjunction with Germany’s BioNTech, announced that it had a coronavirus vaccine that was 90% effective. Last week, Moderna said that it had manufactured a vaccine with a 94.5% success rate. Pfizer later revised its efficacy rate even higher.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, generally referred to as MbS, noted the unifying impact of the virus.

“This pandemic knows no borders. It has reached all countries and affected [them], directly and indirectly…. In order to confront this global threat facing all of humanity, the G20 took the initiative to adopt unprecedented measures and coordinated actions to deal with the pandemic and its aftermath,” he said in the statement.

Some of these measures include what the crown prince called an “unprecedented G20 economic stimulus” of $11 trillion.

MbS also touted the continuation of the G20’s Debt Service Suspension Initiative, which has so far provided $14 billion in debt relief for developing countries and their more than a billion inhabitants.

The G20 members are Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, the EU, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.

At G20 Summit, Pandemic Spurs Action Read More »

The Book Truck READ-A-THON December 6, 2020

Leave a Comment / Blogs, Commentary /
WANT TO READ FOR A GREAT CAUSE? JOIN THE BOOK TRUCK 2020 READ-A-THON! 4TH ANNUAL READ-A-THON! On Dec. 6th, participants will spend the day reading to fight the literacy crisis for foster care, homeless, and low-income teens. This is a virtual fundraiser, so you can read from anywhere!!

“Your Future is an Open Book!”

The Book Truck’s 4th Annual Read-A-Thon!!   Dec 06 2020

On December 6th, Read-a-thon participants will spend the day reading to fight the literacy crisis for foster care, homeless, and low-income teens.

Show your support by donating – and thanks to an anonymous donor, your support will go twice as far!! All donations will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $5,000.00!!

Our fight to stop learning loss because of Covid-19:

Because of the pandemic, our teens have increased their demand for books now more than ever. Given the challenges of Covid, the already difficult learning environment for these vulnerable underserved teens has resulted in a profound loss of learning, especially for those at risk of dropping out. In response, we created an exciting new programming initiative, Lit Boxes. Though we have paused our event-based programming, we have been distributing Lit Boxes filled with free high-interest books and literacy materials to underserved teens throughout LA County.

How we know our programs works:

Our programming doubles and triples the number of teens reading in underserved communities, where dropout rates can be as high as 50%.

Why it’s important:

Higher literacy rates mean lower rates of teen pregnancy, incarceration, and poverty.

You can shape the future of teens in these communities by supporting our Read-a-thon!!

Are you a teen who loves reading and talking about books?

Become a volunteer at our teen literacy events! We’ll train you to become an official book expert to help other teens find and take home the perfect books. Once you’re trained, you’ll be able to volunteer at any of our teen literacy events across LA County.

The benefits of reading are boundless.

Teens who read more perform better in vocabulary, spelling, writing, and mathematics (Sullivan & Brown 2013). Those with access to their own books also have significantly higher reading scores. Additionally, reading has been shown to produce the same health benefits as deep relaxation so readers have lower stress, higher self-esteem, and less depression than non-readers (Dovey 2015). In fact, research shows that reading enjoyment is more important for educational success than socio-economic status (OECD 2002).

The Book Truck READ-A-THON December 6, 2020 Read More »

Netanyahu in Saudi Arabia. For Real!

Leave a Comment / Featured, Rosner's Domain /

Although Antony Blinken deserves congratulations for his appointment — yet to be confirmed — as the incoming U.S. secretary of state, his predecessor, Mike Pompeo, is hard at work proving that the administration can still score some wins before now and January 20, such as a historic meeting between an Israeli prime minister and a Saudi ruler. That’s right: On November 22, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had a secret meeting (that is secret no longer) in which they discussed Iran and the way forward toward normalization.

The reports are dry and do not include much detail. But the moment should be one of note. This is not the Emirates or Bahrain, both of which normalized their relations with Israel. This is not Sudan. We have gotten used to countries moving towards normalizing with Israel, which has made us almost numb. Another day, another country.

Yet, Saudi Arabia is not another country. It is a regional leader. It is the prize. And of course, we have not seen normalization, no public ceremonies and no photos of handshakes. No matter: Israel and the Saudis talking without making sure to keep it under wraps is a step forward. A giant step forward. (It is noteworthy that Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz attacked Netanyahu for leaking the story about the meeting. So perhaps it was supposed to remain a secret. We don’t know.)

The Saudis are Iran’s great enemies, as the book “Black Wave” (a notable book of 2020 on many lists) demonstrates in great detail. Many Westerners, the book argues, wrongly believe that the animosity between these two countries is mostly over theological differences between Sunnis (a majority in Saudi Arabia) and Shiites (a majority in Iran). The author of “Black Wave,” Kim Ghattas, believes that the real issue is not the religious gap. She writes: “Before it was weaponized in the years following 1979, the Sunni-Shia schism lay mostly dormant.” So why the fight? The two countries trained and armed sectarian militias across the region in the pursuit of political power. For more than four decades, the two countries were the primary agents of instability in the region.

Make no mistake: the timing of the Israeli-Saudi meeting is hardly an accident. Both countries decided to let Pompeo orchestrate the meeting and preside over it because they wanted to send a signal to his slated successor. They wanted to send more than a hint that the Trump way is what both of them see as the proper way forward in the Middle East. This is a Saudi-Israeli front that President Biden and Secretary Blinken must consider as they ponder their policy toward Iran. Yes, the Democrats probably want the United States to go back to the Iran deal, as if Obama never left office. But Israel and the Saudis have other plans and expect to be consulted.

Saudi Arabia and Israel wanted to send more than a hint that the Trump way is what both of them see as the proper way forward in the Middle East.

Will they be consulted? The table is set for discussion, but not all observers agree that the United States must accept what both Israel and the Saudis want. A deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia “may not work entirely in the United States’ favor,” writes Yasmine Farouk, a visiting fellow in the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She flags a few of the points that could make the incoming Democratic administration suspicious of Pompeo’s great achievement. For one, “both countries want Washington to intervene beyond its remit. Israel and Saudi Arabia’s interests in the region are not identical to those of the United States; in fact, Israeli and Saudi interests overlap in ways that U.S. interests do not. Both have an interest in keeping the United States an active regional military hegemon.”

Yoel Guzansky at the Institute for National Security Studies doesn’t disagree: “Establishment of official relations with Israel will help Saudi Arabia realize a number of strategic objectives. First, in recent years, the Saudi elite has come to doubt the willingness of the United States to stand by it when its essential interests are at stake. The kingdom has a clear interest in having Washington deeply involved in the Middle East and being more committed and sensitive to Saudi interests, particularly where Iran is concerned. Riyadh regards an agreement with Israel as a means of strengthening its ties with the United States.”

Obviously, the Israeli-Saudi meeting took place at a time when the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians has stalled. A lot of ink has been spilled in recent months to explain how Israel (and Netanyahu personally) proved that it was right all along: peace with the Arabs is possible with or without Palestinian approval. Surely, the Saudis want the Palestinians to live in peace and get along with Israel. And yet, when they weigh their many other interests, they prioritize ties with Israel over the interests of the Palestinians (who recently realized that cutting ties with the Gulf states will get them nowhere and let their ambassadors return to Bahrain and the UAE).

A few weeks ago, I argued for considering Donald Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize. I knew this had zero chance. I knew this was more provocation than a serious proposal. And yet — look what he has just done.

 

Netanyahu in Saudi Arabia. For Real! Read More »