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Jewish Journal

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March 31, 2021

Vaccine Passports are Being Compared to Yellow Stars of David from the Holocaust

Leave a Comment / News, United States, Wires /

(JTA) — Political activists, including Rep. Madison Cawthorn and the ambassador to Germany under Donald Trump, are comparing the idea of “vaccine passports” to Nazi Germany, with many invoking the yellow Stars of David that Nazis forced Jews to wear during the Holocaust.

Other opponents of public health restrictions have suggested or implied that the idea of opening recreational spaces only to those who aren’t at risk of COVID is similar to the Nazis’ persecution of Europe’s Jews, which culminated in genocide.

The trend is the latest instance of people, generally but not only on the political right, equating public health mandates they don’t like to the Holocaust — a practice that anti-Semitism watchdogs and Holocaust scholars have repeatedly condemned.

“To compare COVID-19 rules to the slaughter of millions in the Holocaust is disgusting, wrong and has no place in our society,” Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted last year.

Vaccine passports refer to documentation that would allow those who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 to access public spaces such as gyms, malls, museums or theaters that would require such proof in the future. The Biden administration is workingon creating a vaccine passport system as vaccination numbers ramp up, according to The Washington Post.

Israel, which has inoculated the majority of its population of 9 million, has been implementing a vaccine passport system for about a month. Supporters of the idea say it will allow vaccinated people to enjoy a relative return to normalcy while encouraging others to get the vaccine.

Throughout the pandemic, anti-lockdown activists have compared COVID-related public health restrictions to the Holocaust. The idea of vaccine credentials — a digital proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test reportedly being considered by the White House and already rolled out in New York State — has riled conservatives.

“Proposals like these smack of 1940s Nazi Germany. We must make every effort to keep America from becoming a ‘show your papers society,’” said Cawthorn, a freshman Republican congressman from North Carolina, according to Fox News. “The Constitution and our founding principles decry this type of totalitarianism.”

Earlier this year, Cawthorn sparked concern among some Jewish leaders in his district when he tweeted an adaptation of a popular poem about the Holocaust, apparently to advertise his online campaign store.

Others tweeted that vaccine passports are comparable to the yellow stars, often inscribed with the word “Jew,” that the Nazis forced Jews to wear in public.

“Are the vaccine passports going to be yellow, shaped like a star, and sewn on our clothes?”the Libertarian Party of Kentucky tweeted on Monday.

Defending the comparison, the party tweeted later that day that vaccine passports are “a complete and total violation of human liberty. This is the stuff of totalitarian dictatorships.”

In a Tuesday tweet that has since been deleted, the Libertarians also condemned “banksters and politicians” and displayed a quote, ostensibly by a member of the Rothschild family, about how being able to “issue and control a nation’s money” is more important than being able to write laws.

The false notion that the Jewish Rothschild family controls international finance is an age-old anti-Semitic stereotype.

Richard Grenell, former President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Germany and a member of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, tweeted a meme showing a Nazi Gestapo officer in the Quentin Tarantino film “Inglourious Basterds” saying “You’re hiding unvaccinated people under your floorboards, aren’t you?” The original line from the movie uses similar wording in referring to Jews.

“Speak up now. #slipperyslope,” Grenell wrote.

In Britain, conservative pundit James Delingpole tweeted, “Wouldn’t it be better just to cut to the chase and give unvaccinated people yellow stars to sew prominently onto their clothes?”

On Tuesday, the ADL and others noted that in 2019, Grenell tweeted, “Never compare the Holocaust to anything. Ever.” At the time, Grenell was referring to liberals who had compared immigrant detention facilities on the Southern border to concentration camps. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York Democrat, used the comparison and invoked the phrase “Never again,” a term most commonly associated with the Holocaust.

Following Ocasio-Cortez’s statements, several Jewish organizations either urged caution in using Holocaust analogies or came out against the comparison. Others, mostly on the left, endorsed the New York lawmaker’s words. Some of the cautioning groups, including the ADL, have also come out against other comparisons of Trump or his policies to Nazis or the Holocaust.

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial and Museum said in a statement that week that it “rejects efforts to create analogies between the Holocaust and other events, whether historical or contemporary.”

Grenell’s 2019 tweet was referencing that statement.

Vaccine Passports are Being Compared to Yellow Stars of David from the Holocaust Read More »

JewBelong’s Archie Gottesman on Passover, Jewish culture, goals, Steven Weber and more

Leave a Comment / Blogs /

JewBelong’s mission is to welcome people to Judaism with Jewish readings and rituals that many people can relate to. Helping people who are often disengaged from Judaism to find all the richness, joy and spirituality at the heart of the religion, JewBelong aims to “Jewish outsiders” feel like they belong. “Jewbelong” – get it?

Archie Gottesman carries the title of Co-Chief-Rebrander-of-Judaism – or CCROJ – with JewBelong, which she co-founded with Stacy Stuart. Aside from her work with JewBelong, Gottesman serves on the board of the Foundation for Jewish Camp and the Women’s Board of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC). In addition to her work for Jewish causes, Gottesman is a past chairwoman of Animal Haven Shelter in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood.

On March 27th and 28th, JewBelong will be hosting “Burning Man-Ischewitz,” a Virtual Passover Seder. There will be “live showing” at 4:00 PM PST on both dates. It is free to RSVP.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Archie Gottesman via Zoom on March 18, 2021, as embedded below. We discussed JewBelong’s past, present and future, her history with Judaism and plenty more. An inspirational, fun and thought-provoking conversation with a wonderful human being, to say the least.

More on JewBelong can be found here and here.

JewBelong’s Archie Gottesman on Passover, Jewish culture, goals, Steven Weber and more Read More »

Two Anti-Semitic Incidents Occur at UConn During Passover Weekend

Leave a Comment / News, United States /

Two anti-Semitic incidents occurred at the University of Connecticut (UConn) over the weekend.

The Daily Campus, UConn’s student newspaper, reported that swastika graffiti was found on the building facing UConn Hillel on March 27 and on March 28. Somebody also shouted anti-Semitic slurs at a Jewish student wearing a kippah and holding a box of matzah. Additional swastika graffiti and the Nazi “SS” symbol was found on a university building on March 30.

There have been a total of seven anti-Semitic incidents on campus during the 2020-21 school year, according to The Daily Campus. There have also been two incidents involving anti-LGBTQ+ slurs on campus in March.

“It is distressing to me that a letter like this one is necessary, but it is absolutely urgent for us to make clear to all of our students, faculty, and staff members that you are vital, valued members of the UConn community,” UConn President Thomas Katsouleas wrote in an email to the campus community. “For those who feel distressed or uncertain in the face of incidents of abhorrent conduct, let us be as clear as we can: Hate has no place here.”

UConn Hillel Board President and student Dori Jacobs told NBC Connecticut that the recent anti-Semitic incidents on campus has affected “the safety of the way that Jewish students on campus feel” and that “it’s a very, very hard time to be hit with anti-Semitism like this because it feels like once again we have to fight for our ability to practice our religion freely without this type of hate.” She urged the university “to incorporate anti-Semitism education into the curriculum. Just as you incorporate education against all other forms of hate and bigotry.”

The Anti-Defamation League tweeted, “Hateful rhetoric against anyone has no place in schools. Pleased @UCONN is taking these attacks seriously and will hold those responsible accountable. @ADL_Connecticut is supporting UConn Hillel & student leaders to bring about long-term positive change.”

 

The Stop Antisemitism.org watchdog, on the other hand, criticized the university’s response to the anti-Semitic incidents. “.@UConn students have been begging the President to do something for MONTHS,” they tweeted. “With the massive amount of $$$ invested into the school’s security, we’re finding it a bit puzzling as to why none of the eight antisemitic incidents that have happened since September have been solved?”

Two Anti-Semitic Incidents Occur at UConn During Passover Weekend Read More »

The Bouncing Baby

Leave a Comment / Columnists, Opinion /

“No cowboy was ever faster on the draw than a grandparent pulling a baby picture out of a wallet.”

“One of the most powerful handclasps is that of a new grandbaby around the finger of a grandparent.” — Joy Hargrove

When my wife and I first became grandparents, I wrote a piece about becoming a member of the greatest club on the planet, the Grandparent Club. The word happy is insufficient to describe the feelings of elation we felt when we became grandparents to a beautiful bouncing baby boy named Ben. (I don’t know why they call new babies bouncing babies. Ben not only did not bounce, but also he hardly moved for the first few months). It is now nine months later, and Ben is a nonstop bouncer along with his parents, who, at times, are bouncing off the walls. One big happy bouncing family.

For me, this kid has been a mechayeh (delight). You might think you know the reasons that I am about to tell you, but you do not. Sure, having a new person to love is amazing. Sure, watching my son and daughter-in-law blossom is amazing. Sure, spending thousands of dollars on a person that will never know you spent thousands of dollars on them is amazing, although according to Maimonides, the Rambam, this is an extremely high form of giving.

But for me, that’s all a pittance compared to what I am about to tell you. The best of all — and I mean the absolute best — is knowing that this new family member is a much bigger slob than I am. I have always been a slob. But this kid takes the cake and then spits it back out all over the place. I am so grateful that God, in his infinite wisdom, has decided to take some of the heat off me.

The best of all is knowing that this new family member is a much bigger slob than I am.

My beautiful wife constantly complains that my hands are wet. After I wash them, I try to dry them, but water seems to stick to them no matter how much I towel them off. Not only are Ben’s hands always wet from nonstop sucking on them, but also he can practically put his whole hand down his throat. Also, his cute little face is always drenched. If you did not know better, you would think he just climbed out of a swimming pool. Then there is the perpetual thick drool that constantly hangs from his chin but does not seem to bother him. He is a drool machine. From a distance, if you stare at the drool, it looks eerily like razor sharp icicles that hang from underpasses on the East Coast during winter. He also acts as if this is 1509 and he is Henry VIII. If he does not like his food, he throws it on the floor, grunts and bangs on his highchair.

Then there is his gas problem. This kid releases more gas in one afternoon than the United States has produced since 2009. When he toots one out, he is never asked to say, “I’m sorry.” He is never asked to leave the room. In fact, quite the opposite. Everyone is incredibly happy to hear the foghorn. Some even clap. Me, on the other hand, if I should do such a thing, I am practically sent to The City of Refuge. I am not proud of it, but more than twice, I tossed blame his way for what I should have taken ownership of. I wonder if God considers that a lie. Write me and let me know if I need to make amends at www.markschiff.com.

When I ask the family why it is okay for him to do these things but not me, their stock answer is “He’s a baby and doesn’t know any better.” Yes, I do know better. Yes, I do act civilized (“act” being the operative word). But really civilized… come on. The Rabbis teach you that “who you are as a person is how you act when you are alone.” I know how I eat and what sounds come out of me when nobody else is around. Enough said. You get my drift.

But dear parents of beautiful bouncing Ben, you can hope, and you can pray, and we all know you will be the greatest, most loving parents possible. But this is a boulder that quite possibly cannot be stopped. Not so many years from now, some unsuspecting sweet woman will, God willing, marry Ben. And like every woman that marries every guy, at some point in the relationship there will come the day when she asks herself the question, “Who the heck raised this animal?”

Mark Schiff is a comedian, actor and writer.

The Bouncing Baby Read More »

Marvelous Macarons, From Baghdad With Love

Leave a Comment / Food /

When my younger brother Danny was bar mitzvah many years ago, he kept telling my mother that he wanted to invite Saeed to the party. My mother had no idea who Saeed was, but my brother insisted that Saeed was his friend and he had to be there. Needless to say, Saeed was at the party. Saeed and his family were members of Kahal Joseph Congregation, Los Angeles Iraqi synagogue, which my family also attended.

In the late 80’s and early 90’s, many young singles would gather at “Kahal” for the Sephardic Educational Center’s Classes for the Masses. Lifelong friendships were created. Many couples met and married, including Neil and Rachel Sheff and our good friend Molly who married Saeed Jalali. They were neighbors in Westwood. Neil Sheff became vice president of the board of Kahal and Chairman of the Religious Committee. Molly headed up the Talmud Torah. Saeed became the assistant Chazan, alongside the beloved longtime Chazan Sassoon Ezra.

Over the years, we prayed at Kahal Joseph together and we celebrated many milestones and happy occasions there. My youngest brother Nathan’s bar mitzvah. My son Ariel’s Brit Milah. And the bar and bat mitzvah’s of Molly and Saeed’s children and Rachel and Neil’s children.

Every year, the sisterhood, led by the current President Yvette Dabby, had the most fantastic community Purim bake. Out of the ovens would come hundreds of delicious, crispy date-filled cookies called baba tamar, fragrant doughy pillows of cheese sambusak, flaky walnut-filled cigars called malfouf and dainty almond macarons.

All those old world Iraqi pastries are chametz, except for the macarons. Tikva Iny’s recipe results in delicately flavored (cardamom, cinnamon and rosewater) and deliciously chewy and slightly crispy bites. In a world that has gone gaga for gluten-free all year long, this is a simple recipe for a deliciously, sophisticated cookie.

By the way, you can still hear the beautiful melodies of Chazzan Saeed at Kahal Joseph. And you’ll most likely be greeted with a warm smile by my baby brother, Rabbi Natan Halevy.

IRAQI ALMOND MARZIPAN COOKIES

Based on Tikva Iny’s recipe

Ingredients:

3 cups Almonds ground finely, or almond flour
1 cup sugar
3 egg whites
1 tsp cardamom
1tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp rose water or 2 tsp almond extract

Separate 3 egg whites from egg yolks in two bowls, you will not be using the yolks.

With a fork beat egg whites until fluffy, add the sugar and continue to beat by hand until sugar has dissolved.

Add the ground almonds or almond flour, and combine.

Add the spices and combine.

Add the rose water or almond extract and combine.

Make walnut size balls and place on parchment lined cookie sheet, three to a row.

Place an almond on top and press down.

Bake at 350 degrees until just turning golden about 10 minutes (keep an eye on them, as every oven is different)

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.

Marvelous Macarons, From Baghdad With Love Read More »

Israelis Celebrate Biblical Escape From Egypt by Lining up To Return

Leave a Comment / Middle East, News, Wires /

(The Media Line) Hundreds of Israelis flocked to the Egyptian border crossing early Tuesday morning, hoping to be one of the lucky few allowed to enter the Sinai Desert for a prized holiday vacation after nearly a year of total lockdown.

“We have to take a few days off. After an entire year of closures and stress, there’s no chance we’d stay when we finally have an option to take a break,” Anat, 28, who plans to leave for her trip on Thursday, told The Media Line.

According to the Israeli government’s decision from last week, only 300 visitors will be allowed to leave the country each day and go vacationing in the beloved desert oases of the Sinai, traditionally a favorite holiday destination for Israelis.

To enter Egypt, visitors must present either a vaccination certificate or a certificate of recovery from the coronavirus issued by Jerusalem’s health ministry, on top of a valid negative COVID-19 test.

Upon returning to Israel, citizens will be asked to take two tests, on each side of the border.

Hundreds of would-be travelers have protested in recent weeks, after Israel’s international airport and border crossings with neighboring Jordan were opened while the Egyptian crossing remained shuttered.

Last week, Jerusalem’s government finally announced the border would be open in time for Passover, the Jewish holiday which, ironically, commemorates the Israelites escape from Egypt over 3,000 years ago.

After the two countries signed their historic peace accord in the early 80s, the sparsely populated Sinai Peninsula, situated between Israel’s southern desert and Egypt’s bustling mainland, became a darling among Israelis, especially during the summer and spring holidays.

“We’ve gone every year for Passover vacation, for I think nearly ten years now,” Ofer, 39, who has reserved an entry into Egypt for his family for later this week, told The Media Line.

“Last year we couldn’t go, because of the restrictions. It was tough, but when the vaccinations arrived, we knew we would go down there this time,” he said.

Yet Israeli tourists may have more to fear than a locked border crossing or the still-raging pandemic.

On Monday, Israel’s National Security Council (NSC) published its semiannual assessment of global terror threats to Jews and Israelis traveling abroad.

According to the travel advisory, “Iran is expected to continue pursuing its intention of harming Israeli targets in the near future,” similar to the attempted attack near the Israeli embassy in India in January.

The arenas most likely to be chosen for such activities, the NSC projects, are Gulf nations which have recently signed normalization accords with Jerusalem and have subsequently become coveted tourist attractions for Israelis, and the Sinai Peninsula.

“It should be reminded that the recent year has seen explicit calls by ISIS leadership to its operatives in Sinai and in Syria to target Israelis,” the report concluded.

“We have to take a few days off. After an entire year of closures and stress, there’s no chance we’d stay when we finally have an option to take a break.”

Yet vacationers at Israel’s southern border will not be denied their holiday.

“They put out their report every year, so what?” Anat said dismissively. “It’s just to cover themselves. We’re going to a recognized campsite, we know the people there, we’ve been there before. I’m not worried.”

Israel over the past few weeks has largely been rid of the scourge of the coronavirus, chiefly due to the mass vaccination effort of its citizens.

Nearly 5 million Israelis have received both vaccine doses required to achieve over 90% immunity from the virus, bringing the nation’s morbidity rate down sharply.

The test positivity test has dropped to under 2% over the past week, as the number of hospitalizations, severe cases and new infections have also all declined rapidly.

“It’s our own freedom celebration,” said Anat, referring to the Jewish Passover holiday which marks the Jews’ exodus from slavery in Egypt to liberty in their homeland.

“We deserve it, don’t we?”

Israelis Celebrate Biblical Escape From Egypt by Lining up To Return Read More »

A Clear Guide to Israel’s Messy Coalitions

Leave a Comment / Commentary, Featured, Opinion /

Maybe there will be a coalition. Maybe Israel is headed for another round of elections in August or September. Maybe the weeks of political maneuvering ahead of us are all a waste of time — in fact, this is more than a “maybe;” this is a high probability. And yet, there are other options, and I will lay them out here, numbers and all, for you to easily understand.

Religious Right + Deserters

This could be a coalition headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It will include his “natural partners”: his own party, Likud (30 seats); the two Haredi parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism (9 + 7); and the hardcore right Religious Zionist party (6).

The trickier part is that Netanyahu needs the Yamina party (7 seats), headed by Naftali Bennett, to form such a coalition. Bennett is uncommitted. Prior to the election, he presented himself as an alternative to Bibi and still thinks it’s time for the PM to go.

But even if Bennett decides that there is no better path for him to pursue, that is still not enough. Look at the math: 30+9+7+7+6=59. Two more members of Knesset are needed. Netanyahu will search for them in other parties. Are there members of Blue and White that could switch? Or maybe members of the disappointing New Hope? If he can find two deserters — and promise them the moon — then the PM will have a coalition.

Is it likely? Not very likely, because emotions run high and deserters will be treated accordingly. And Bennett might have better options.

Religious Right + Raam

This is the most interesting option, which would include the combination of the previous coalition (59), but instead of adding two deserters, the Islamist Raam Party (4 seats) would complete a coalition of 63 members.

There are obstacles to such coalition. Raam is a conservative party, and on many social issues it can easily agree with ultra-Orthodox parties (no to gay rights, yes to religion as a political guide). On the other hand, it is an Arab party with ties to Islamist movements such as Hamas. The hardcore rightists, those of Religious Zionism and maybe also those of Yamina, do not seem comfortable with the idea of partnering, or even relying, on Raam. Still, Netanyahu will push them hard: It is either this or the “left”; it is either this or a fifth election.

Is it likely? Maybe as a minority coalition, with Raam supporting from the outside. If this happens, it will be a weird result to a dramatically close election.

The picture is clear, complications are many.

Religious Right + Center

This coalition would exclude Likud and Netanyahu. The “right” includes Yamina (7) and New Hope (6). The religious right features the two Haredi parties (9+7). The center comprises Blue and White (8), Yesh Atid (17) and possibly Labor (7, as a leftist addition). Numbers: 17+9+8+7+7+7+6=61.

But there are many difficulties with such a coalition. The Haredi parties are sticking with Netanyahu for now. They’d have to be convinced to ally with strongly secular parties such as Yesh Atid. Also, there is the question of who will be prime minister. Yair Lapid has the most seats (17) but both Bennett of Yamina, Gideon Saar of New Hope and the Haredi parties will not sit under him. They want a right-wing religious government, even though many members come from the center-left (Yesh Atid and Blue and White).

Yes, this is chutzpah, but also acknowledgment of political reality. Lapid has no coalition. Bennett might have one. The deal between them could be simple: Get Bibi out of the PM’s office — your high priority — in exchange for support of a government dominated by the religious right.

Is it likely? In theory it’s possible, but in real life, political leaders have their egos and their constituencies. The Haredi voters want Netanyahu, Bennett is still on the fence, Lapid can’t believe Bennett’s nerve (and his voters begin to grumble), Benny Gantz of Blue and White could benefit from a fifth election. In short, Gideon Saar is the only PM candidate that could make this coalition happen. But the more likely scenario is that this coalition will not happen.

No Bibi Coalition

57 members of Knesset belong to parties who vowed not to sit in a Netanyahu coalition. These include members of the centrist Yesh Atid (17), centrist Blue and White (8), leftist Labor (7), ultra-secular and Russian Israel Beitenu (7), the Arab Joint List (6), rightist New Hope (6) and leftist Meretz (6). 17+8+7+7+6+6+4=57. Add Islamist Raam (4), and you have a coalition. A coalition with one mission to complete: Get Netanyahu out of the PM’s office and hope for the best, because on most other matters, there is not much that connects Saar and Ayman Oded (of the Joint list), not much that ties Avigdor Lieberman (Israel Beiteinu) and Mansour Abbas (Raam). Ideologically speaking, this coalition, presumably under Lapid as the PM, is ridiculous. But the Bibi factor is the reason why Israel goes to the polls time and again. A year of such a messy mosaic is a possible cure for at least this one disease.

Is it likely? No. It is true that ideology doesn’t play as much of a role in Israeli politics as it used to. And yet, I can’t see Saar sitting with the Joint List in one coalition. And besides, Raam has not hinted that it would join such a coalition. Maybe a partnership with Netanyahu seems more appealing.  

Other possibilities

We can mix and match some other options that could get us to 61, such as a Bennett coalition that includes the Zionist Religious party (67). But it’s hard to imagine Labor accepting such a partnership. Another option is a Netanyahu coalition with Blue and White, again, to prevent a fifth election (the likelihood of Gantz accepting such an offer is slim to nonexistent). Perhaps Saar and Bennett will partner with Likud, forcing Bibi out for a year and having Bennett serving as the PM during the first term. It’s hard to see Netanyahu going for this option rather than having a fifth election and staying in power during another roll of the dice.

The picture is clear, complications are many. A sober politician is working hard to form a coalition while also strategizing for the next election. The first item on his planning board: how to make sure that when a new election is called, somebody else will be blamed for the miserable outcome.

A Clear Guide to Israel’s Messy Coalitions Read More »

Passover Sermon: COVID-19 as a Spiritual Opportunity

Leave a Comment / Columnists, Opinion /

Fourteen months ago, I was privileged to host Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks of righteous memory at Sephardic Temple.

The rabbi’s first teaching to the congregation was that “Crisis is also an opportunity.” And what a crisis we have all been going through for more than a year now. It’s as if the world entire has been plagued with utter and ferocious darkness, and in the words of the Torah, “No person could even see his brother [fellow person].”

We have learned yet again that all the incalculable privileges of advanced civilization — which we mistakenly tend to take for granted — are on very thin ice indeed. This includes our ability to defy gravity and catch a flight, go to the cinema, dine at a restaurant, pray in synagogue, hug a friend and kiss a loved one.

In the poignant words of Winston Churchill, it is as if an “iron curtain” descended upon this sublime and tormented world of ours. We have been experiencing the most severe and acute global health crisis in the history of humanity and the greatest challenge to our species since World War Two.

In our own little neck of the woods, here in these United States, one in twelve people was infected with COVID-19, and over half a million souls perished. In other words, the number of fatalities from COVID-19 exceeds the number of Americans who died during World War One and World War Two combined.

Last year, on one beautiful Sunday morning, my wife sent me to stand in line at a local supermarket at 6:30 am, half an hour before opening time, in order to purchase milk and eggs for our family. As I stood in that interminable line — in Beverly Hills of all places — I understood more than ever before what philosopher Hannah Arendt had in mind when she wrote that “normal people don’t know that everything is possible.”

In the sagacious words of Rabbi Sacks himself: “A microscopic virus has brought humanity to its knees.” In the chilling words of Israeli General Shmuel Gonen, about Israel having survived potential annihilation on the threshold of the Six-Day War: “Unto Death we stared in the face eyeball to eyeball — and death lowered its eyes.”

We have been undergoing a sustained tutorial in cosmic humility throughout the last year. We who compose Shakespearean sonnets and launch spaceships to explore the infinite expanses of outer space have learned yet again, in the words of the great Rav Soloveitchik, that “man is finite, and so are his victories.”

We have seen the world’s most gifted scientific minds working in concert day and night to find a remedy for humanity. The Talmud rightly professes that all of Israel are responsible for one another. And during this year, we also learned once more that in a global era imbued with information technology, nuclear warheads and environmental challenges, all humans are responsible for one another. We all inhabit, in utter and complete interdependence, one gigantic Noah’s ark.

To be a Jew is to know that everything can be taken away from you in an instant — be it physically, politically or financially. To be free is also to heed the existential maxim formulated by Bill Keane, namely that “yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery” and now is a present — now is a gift. If you can embrace life in the here and now during Passover and beyond, despite life’s radical uncertainty and tumultuous vicissitudes, then you are truly free.

If you can embrace life in the here and now, then you are truly free.

We who inhabit homes, which often cost over a million dollars, are sometimes more internally subjugated and enslaved to the material dimension of life than people who were incarcerated in concentration camps.

When Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon frequented Auschwitz, the late Elie Wiesel showed him the place where inmates lined up early in the morning to put on the sole pair of arm tefillin available to them in the valley of the shadow of death. These people were freer than many of us who live in America today.

Many years ago, when I first prepared a Rosh Hashanah sermon, I found a Hebrew book in the library entitled: “In Auschwitz We Sounded the Shofar.” Spiritually speaking, those walking skeletons were more internally liberated than many of us.

In the summer of 2009, Elie Wiesel stood in Buchenwald with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Barack Obama. Wiesel, whose father died in his arms on the threshold of liberation, whose mother and little sister Tzipora were gassed to death, reminded them that “in the final analysis, there is more to celebrate than to denigrate in the human condition.” And then Wiesel asked humanity the following question: “Will we ever learn?”

Will we ever learn as a species to put an end to ethnic and religious enmities and atrocities? And also — I would venture to add — will we ever learn that we have everything we need to truly be happy and internally satiated and fulfilled?

Shimon Peres once observed that many of us live today with superior physical conditions to those enjoyed by monarchs a couple of centuries ago. We have more access to the world’s cuisines in our fridge, more ability in normal times to roam the planet and travel the world, and we also have — literally at our very fingertips — the ability to access the total knowledge accumulated by humankind throughout the millennia.

This Passover, more than ever before, having gone through the trauma of COVID-19, our generation in history is better poised to “emancipate ourselves from mental slavery,” in the astute words of Bob Marley.

In the words of our sages regarding the ancient geopolitical exodus from Egypt millennia ago, it is also high time for our generation to soulfully transition “from subjugation to salvation, and from darkness — to a great and luminous light.”

I leave you today with five words in the Aramaic from the book of Zohar. Words which loom large, and which we articulate in synagogue right before we take our portable home, the holy Torah scroll, from the ark. These holy words in the Aramaic from the Zohar read: “Ana avdah de Kodsha Brich Hoo,” which means that we, at our finest and loftiest of moments, are “the servants of the Holy One Blessed Be He.”

Chag Sameach, and Happy Festival of Freedom.

Rabbi Tal Sessler, Ph.D., is the author of four books in philosophy and contemporary Jewish identity. He is the Senior Rabbi of Sephardic Temple Tifereth Israel, and the incoming Dean of the Rabbinical School at the Academy for Jewish Religion in California, where he also teaches Jewish philosophy.

Passover Sermon: COVID-19 as a Spiritual Opportunity Read More »

Satirical Semite: Cancel Cancel Culture

Leave a Comment / Columnists, Opinion /

As cancel culture marches forward with increased momentum, artists are hiding in their foxholes, afraid of being ostracized for a flippant tweet written during their brazen-faced youth. Actors lose jobs, professors get fired and classic films are banned for portraying outdated ideals that don’t fit today’s sensibilities. The safest move is to cancel all forms of culture.

Shakespeare can be deleted, not because of the debate as to whether “The Merchant of Venice” is anti-Semitic (I don’t think it is), but because it is written in English, which excludes people who don’t speak English. His sonnet “shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” offends and excludes the other three seasons. Schoolchildren should replace Elizabethan drama essays with analytic critiques of “Love Island” episodes, which shows great family values by not insisting on outdated concepts like monogamy or fidelity.

The instruction manual for 2021 is Ray Bradbury’s dystopian novel “Fahrenheit 451,” set in a society that burns books, although it doesn’t give any instruction for Kindles. Every schoolchild can be issued with one copy, a box of matches and the instruction “burn before reading.”

Fortunately there are enough big cancellations to go around, including the near-cancellation of the international travel industry, President Biden cancelling various U.S.-Mexico border restrictions, Kim cancelling Kanye, Britain cancelling the European Union and various people cancelling their organic food orders as a result of their income being cancelled last year when COVID-19 hit.

Judaism may have to be cancelled because the Torah is offensive to enemy peoples like Amalekites, who we are commanded to kill, despite the fact that they repeatedly tried to destroy us. It also shows intolerance towards genocidal nations, including Egypt, Rome and Babylon, and other tribal enemies who attacked us, including the Jebusites, Amorites, Hittites and Perizzites.

King David has to be cancelled because of his disrespectful treatment of Goliath, King Solomon is cancelled due to innuendos in the Song of Songs, Miriam and Aaron are cancelled because of speaking out about Moses, who is in turn cancelled because he cancelled the first set of tablets by smashing them on the mountain. Instead of going to synagogue on Shabbat, we can achieve spiritual elevation through weekly binge sessions of “Shtisl.”

There is also a danger of being too woke, and this morning I cancelled my alarm clock because it unapologetically woke me up for the 800th day in a row, which is the one type of wokeness worth cancelling.

this morning I cancelled my alarm clock because it unapologetically woke me up for the 800th day in a row

The entertainment industry has been woken up by the wokerati but does not go far enough. “Star Wars” is a major violator since Ewoks are not played by real Ewoks, the Mandalorian is not actually a Mandalorian and the Jedis are not played by real Jedis, partly because they kept failing auditions due to a lack of on-screen force. “The Sixth Sense” is cancelled because Bruce Willis wasn’t really dead, “The Walking Dead” is cancelled because the actors aren’t really undead, but we’ll make an exception for the movie “Ghost” because the ghost was played by the dearly-departed Patrick Swayze, who was alive at the time.

There was a cancellistic victory when tech giants muted President Trump’s social media accounts, although CNN lost an estimated 50% of nightly viewers in the 24-54 age group. Fortunately Trump will uncancel his cancellation with the launch of a new social media platform, reinstating CNN with the man they love to hate. Every drama needs a villain, and their narrative is currently bereft of a supposed bad guy. Millions of people cheered Trump’s being deplatformed, although platforms themselves are offensive because they allow the person on a platform to look down on the people who are not on a platform, so we must deplatform platforms.

Our society could take longer to reflect before vilifying and exiling people. This is hard since the First Amendment (free speech) has been cancelled. In fairness, free speech should allow us to condemn anyone at any time, although the polysyllabic word “condemnation” is offensive to illiterate people due to its four syllables, as is the even more offensive five-syllabled word “polysyllabic.” If you are in fear of being publicly deleted, play it safe by getting a fake tan and exiling yourself to Love Island.

Marcus J Freed is an actor, author of The Kosher Sutras and creator of The Hebrew Hamilton (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6x-aoOKlwm8).

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Table for Five: Passover 2

Leave a Comment / Judaism, Torah /

One verse, five voices. (This week with six voices.) Edited by Salvador Litvak, the Accidental Talmudist

Moses took with him the bones of Joseph, who had exacted an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely remember you, and you shall bring up my bones from here with you.” -Ex. 13:19, Torah reading for 7th Day Passover

Rabbi Benjamin Blech
Professor of Talmud, Yeshiva University

There is a profound psychological truth at the heart of the Passover story – a truth the Jewish people have had to repeatedly learn throughout the years of our exile.

It is to my mind the best explanation for the continued existence of the virulent virus of anti-Semitism that has afflicted us from the time of Egyptian servitude to the present. Why, we wonder, does the world hate us so much? Why, after all that we have contributed to every land in which we settled, do we remain the ones most often chosen to be victims of oppression?

The answer is implicit in Mark Twain’s famous rhetorical question: “Why does that man hate me so – I never did anything for him?

All too often hatred is directed not to those who harm us but rather to those who challenge our self-worth by way of their superiority. It is hard to bear the burden of being grateful to people who stand out by way of their talents, their achievements, and their contributions. Anti-Semitism is the envious response of the world to the unparalleled accomplishments of the Jews. Go back to the slavery of Egypt. Joseph was the man responsible for saving the country. His brilliance saved the land from the famine that afflicted all its neighbors. And so it was almost inevitable that “a new king arose who did not know Joseph” – or better put did not choose to remember the Hebrew who saved his empire. That’s why Joseph begged his descendants to “take his bones with them” – so that they never forget the message.

Bracha Goetz
Author of 38 spiritual children’s books

More than a hundred years before our Exodus, Joseph, the governor of Egypt, had made a request of his brothers before passing from this world. He made them promise that his bones would be taken with them when the Jewish people would return to the Land of Israel. Joseph’s brothers’ remains were also honorably re-interred from Egypt to Israel, and yet the Torah only specifically mentions Joseph’s bones being found in the depths of the Nile and taken by Moses on the journey from enslavement to freedom. Why is this?

In Hebrew the word for bones, atzamot, is closely connected to atzmiut, the Hebrew word for essence. Bones, the physical framework of the body, correspond to the spiritual framework of a person, one’s essence, the soul. While his brothers were shepherds, Joseph was the leader of the greatest superpower of the time. Even while involved in potentially consuming high-profile work, he managed to remain steadfastly aligned within the framework of his pure essence.

During this time of major transition, it was vital to have the inspiration of Joseph’s remains accompanying us in our journey. Joseph showed us how to act royally and lead with wisdom while immersed in exile. It is a message to continue to carry with us still today. God will surely remember every single one of us, no matter how distant – or enslaved – we may become. From the depths, ultimately, our essence, too, can still rise to redemption.

Rabbi Adam Kligfeld
Senior Rabbi, Temple Beth Am

Wise people, in parenting and in life, disagree as to whether scripted, somewhat-forced apologies should be extracted from children who err. There is an argument that from the habit of offering sincere-sounding words of apology, a child learns contrition and respect. Alternatively, there is the argument that words, even apologetic ones, offered without intention are empty. Better to lead a child towards the feeling of regret, such that words of apology will emerge organically.

I find myself vacillating, but recognizing that even if the former argument is correct, it is right to question the half-life of any apology. If, even when sincere, it is not followed up with actions that reinforce learning and growth, then retroactively an apology is hollow. When the injured party is not present to forcefully remind the injurer of the injury, how will that injurer act when next confronted with a chance to injure?

The medieval French commentary Hizkuni reads into our verse Joseph’s wanting to extract enduring contrition from his brothers. Joseph is not asking for a personal favor. Once he is gone, it matters not where his bones lay. But the brothers, already having expressed remorse, must complete their teshuvah (repentance) by undoing what they wrought, which was to initiate Joseph’s descent into Egypt. Even and especially when Joseph is gone, and his face no longer reminds them of their waywardness, it is incumbent upon them to show they meant their apology. The future character of the Children of Israel, and all children, depend on such forthrightness, and growth.

Rabbi Mendel Schwartz
The Chai Center

On the night of the Exodus, while the Jewish nation was amassing wealth, Moses was busy with an entirely different chore. Moses was on the hunt for Joseph’s body. With the help of an elder woman, he located the spot where the Egyptians sunk his body in a lead casket to the bottom of the Nile. They felt Joseph had the key to fertility, and the Nile would rise high and irrigate all their crops.

The Talmud tells us, for forty years there were two arks wandering the desert with the Jewish people. The Holy Ark, and Joseph’s casket.

Why was Joseph afforded this type of honor? Were his brothers Judah and Benjamin not deserving of such miracles? Because Joseph was the Viceroy and wealthier than Elon Musk we should give him front row seats like many temples do today? Why did G-d and Moses perform these miracles for Joseph?

Joseph was the first Jew as a “prototype” living in a foreign land. He got married in Egypt. He had children and grandchildren there. His home was Egypt.

Not only did he not succumb to the temptations that Egypt had to offer, he flourished as Jew. As a religious Jew. He studied Hebrew with his children, Jewish history, and even built yeshivot later for his family. He didn’t just survive Hollywood as a Jew, he thrived. He was an inspiration to all.

So for Joseph, G-d chose to make miracles and show the Jewish people for forty years that Joseph is My man.

Aliza Lipkin
Writer and educator, Maaleh Adumim, Israel

Why was it Moshe who specifically took Yosef’s bones out of Egypt when Yosef exacted the oath from the entire nation?

Moshe went through many circumstances that caused him to identify with Yosef. Both spent a good portion of their life in the Egyptian palace and managed to maintain their faith, morals, and ethics.

Both were chosen by God to be the leader of the Jewish people. Yosef at the beginning of the exile and Moshe at the end.

Yosef at 17 was sold down to Egypt by his brothers. They resented and hated him for acting superior to them. After he told them about his dreams of leadership, they incredulously exclaimed, “Will you reign over us, or will you govern us?”

Moshe too, was forcibly estranged from his home at around the same age after displaying leadership qualities over his Jewish brethren. They similarly proclaimed, “Who made you a man, a prince, and a judge over us? Do you plan to slay me as you have slain the Egyptian?” Yosef was a Jewish legend. Perhaps his legacy profoundly impacted Moshe and gave him the fortitude to act in righteous indignation and maintain his moral compass on his lonely journey. Only Moshe could fully appreciate Yosef’s impassioned plea to take his bones out from “this” having experienced was “this” truly means. Moshe’s action displays his deep emotional connection and gratitude to Yosef. Moshe and Yosef suffered personal hardships that not only strengthened their character but shaped a nation.

Nili Isenberg
Pressman Academy of Temple Beth Am

In the Talmud (Sotah 13b) we learn, “It was more of an honor for Joseph to be buried by the many than by the few.”  Joseph was not buried by his own children, but by the following generations, who first carried his remains lovingly through the desert for 40 years, and then brought the bones to their final resting place in Shechem.  We read in Joshua 24:32 that this great mitzvah is thus attributed to all of the Children of Israel.

In our generation, the great mitzvah that we can perform together is preserving the memories of those who perished in the Holocaust.  Of this terrible time, Poet Nelly Sachs (1891 – 1970) wrote: “O the chimneys / on the carefully planned dwellings of death / When Israel’s body rose dissolved in smoke / through the air – ”  For these victims, we have few precious remains: no bones, no gravesites, only smoke.  But when we remember these six million Jewish men, women, and children, we collectively honor their lives and bring a measure of peace to their souls.

Joseph promised his descendants that God would remember them.  This promise, according to R. Hirsch (1808 – 1888) “became a ray of light that kept the hopes of coming dawn awake through the dark centuries that lay ahead.”   This upcoming Yom HaShoah, may we be the light that was hoped for during the dark years of the Holocaust.  Let us teach our children to remember, and to celebrate all that we are fortunate enough to have today.

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