Three sets of Los Angeles-based parents of students with special needs as well as two Los Angeles Jewish schools are suing the California Department of Education and the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) over being excluded from special education funding.
The two schools listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Shalhevet High School and Yavneh Hebrew Academy; the parents are Chaya and Yoni Loffman, Fedora Nick and Morris Taxon, and Sarah and Ariel Perets, all of whom are Orthodox Jews. The lawsuit, filed on March 13, noted that the federal law Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provides funding for special education and other disabilities services to the states, but California only provides such funding to secular private schools, not religious schools. “Since parents often cannot afford to pay for disability services themselves, California forces them to choose between accessing those services and giving their children a Jewish education,” the lawsuit stated. The lawsuit names the state Department of Education and LAUSD as defendants since they’re the ones responsible for distributing special education funding.
Additionally, the lawsuit noted that in June, the Supreme Court struck down a Maine law that barred public funds from going to religious schools and argued that the same precedent would apply toward their lawsuit as well.
“It takes a special kind of chutzpah to deny Jewish kids with disabilities equal access to special education benefits,” Eric Rassbach, Vice President and Senior Counsel at The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement. “California politicians can end this unlawful discrimination the easy way or the hard way. Either they change the law that is hurting children with disabilities, or they can shamefully fight in court for the right to discriminate. California’s elected officials should want to help the most vulnerable members of our society, not hurt them. There is no reason to stand by this outmoded law instead of giving kids with disabilities equal access to benefits.”
A spokesperson for the state Department of Education told the Journal that they have not yet been served a lawsuit and thus cannot comment on it. An LAUSD spokesperson told the Journal that the district doesn’t comment on pending or ongoing litigation.
LA Jewish Schools, Parents File Lawsuit Against CA, LAUSD Over Exclusion from Special Ed Funding
Three sets of Los Angeles-based parents of students with special needs as well as two Los Angeles Jewish schools are suing the California Department of Education and the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) over being excluded from special education funding.
The two schools listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Shalhevet High School and Yavneh Hebrew Academy; the lawsuit, filed on March 13, noted that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provides funding for special education and other disabilities services to the states, but California only provides such funding to secular private schools, not religious schools.
“It takes a special kind of chutzpah to deny Jewish kids with disabilities equal access to special education benefits,” Eric Rassbach, vice president and senior counsel at The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement. “California politicians can end this unlawful discrimination the easy way or the hard way.”
Hitler, Swastikas Drawn on Stanford Jewish Student’s Door
An image of Adolf Hitler and multiple swastikas were drawn on the whiteboard hanging on a Jewish student’s dormitory door at Stanford on March 10.
The Stanford Daily reported that the student, who wished to remain anonymous, told the paper that the drawings are “really making this living situation feel pretty hostile to me. It’s very unsettling thinking that I was in my room sleeping and someone was outside of my door doing this.” In an email to students, Vice Provost Susie Brubaker-Cole wrote that university police are investigating the matter and that antisemitism and other forms of hate “will not be tolerated.”
The drawings were the third instance of antisemitic vandalism on campus in the past two weeks, per the Daily.
Tempers Flare at Hayward School Board Meeting Over High School Teacher’s Reported Antisemitism
The Hayward Unified School District board meeting on March 7 featured a lot of anger over the situation involving Mt. Eden High School English teacher Henry Bens, The Jewish News of Northern California (The J) reported.
The J had previously reported that Bens was placed on leave for assigning the antisemitic pamphlet “The Hidden Tyranny,” which spreads conspiracy theories of Jewish world control. Students, parents and teachers expressed dissatisfaction during public comment at the fact that it took two months for Bens to be placed on leave and that in his absence the classroom has been divided between those who support and oppose Bens. The result has been a “tense” campus climate, per The J.
McKinsey Rescinds Sponsorship from Harvard Arab Conference Over Speaker’s Antisemitic History
The global management consulting company McKinsey & Company announced in a March 6 statement that they canceled their sponsorship of the Arab Conference at Harvard University over a speaker’s antisemitic history.
The company’s statement read: “When we learned late last week that a speaker at an event our recruiting team was sponsoring at Harvard University had a history of antisemitic comments, we immediately stepped away from the conference, canceled our in-person recruiting meeting, and withdrew two speakers from the program. We condemn antisemitism in all its forms and stand for inclusion and tolerance everywhere.” They did not specify which speaker they found to be antisemitic. Among those that headlined the conference included former Women’s March leader Linda Sarsour and Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.).
Republican Senators Asks Education Dept. Secretary Why “Taxpayer-Funded Antisemitism” Is Happening on College Campuses
A letter to Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona signed by several Republican senators asks why “taxpayer-funded antisemitism” has been allowed to occur on college campuses for so long.
Among those signed the letter included Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.); the senators argued that too many academic programs provide a one-sided narrative against Israel, arguing that 93% of Israel programs at UCLA from 2010-13 showed bias against Israel and noted that New York University featured former Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine member Leila Khaled speaking on a Zoom webinar in 2020. The senators also cited an Anti-Defamation League report stating that “incidents of antisemitic harassment, vandalism and assaults are rising on campuses” and cited an AMCHA Initiative study saying schools with faculty supporting the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement are 3.6 times more likely to have Jewish and pro-Israel students violently targeted on campus.
They concluded the letter by asking a series of questions on the extent of federally funded antisemitism on college campuses and what the department is doing to crack down on it.
Editor’s note: This speech was delivered at Carnegie Hall via video on March 13 by former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo at a memorial service for Eleanor Esther Elka Paul, mother of Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, head of the World Values Network. It has been edited for length and clarity.
The world is in crisis. We’re in the midst of a storm, a storm of antipathy, anxiety, and antagonism.
Russia, Ukraine, China, Iran, the Middle East, everywhere you look.
Yes, even in the mirror, in this country: growing division, unrest and fear.
And fear can make people dangerous.
In the midst of the storm, antisemitism is increasing. No, antisemitism is exploding.
We see it in the shadows, we see it in subtlety, and we see it in vicious and violent displays.
Well, they say now there are reasons why antisemitism is increasing, it’s not because people just don’t like Jewish people. There are reasons.
Yes, that’s what they have always said throughout history. There was a reason.
Hitler had a reason.
Jews were genetically inferior, that’s why. They carried diseases. That’s why.
There was always a reason.
It’s the Israel homeland, but they forget that the world closed its doors to the Jewish community, Britain in 1905, the United States in 1924, Latin America in 1930.
It’s not antisemitism, it’s that the government is too far to the right, it’s apartheid policies.
They always find a reason. But there is no reason, no reason that justifies antisemitism.
We can have political disagreements with Israel. Fine. We have political disagreements with many allies, but we don’t condemn the people for the politics.
My friends, it is time to stand strong against the storm because we remember the lessons of history.
We remember how when this world allowed seemingly small slights against the Jewish community to go unanswered, the slights increased, and the slights metastasized to assaults, and attacks, and yes to mass murder.
We learned important lessons.
It was not just the actions of the bad, it was the inaction of the good.
Where were the good people when this country was begged to bomb the rail lines to concentration camps but FDR did nothing.
Where were the good people when this country turned away a ship – the St. Louis – with Jews fleeing extermination.
Where were the good people when Jews rose up against the Germans in the Warsaw ghetto and resisted for 30 days with no one coming to help.
The silence of the good was deafening and deadly.
And I ask you today, where are the good people after Poway California, after Monsey New York, after Los Angeles California, after Lakewood New Jersey, after Chicago Illinois, after Pittsburg Pennsylvania.
Where are they? Not with platitudes of condolence, not with pandering press releases, but with meaningful action for justice?
Well, they say, the politics are hard, it’s controversial. Excuses, excuses, excuses.
I know it’s easier to stay seated, but when it’s this important you have to take a stand.
We must demand accountability. You can’t be pro-Israel and have dinner with Nick Fuentes and Kanye West, stand with white nationalists or have members of your own party make anti-semitic remarks and refuse to denounce them.
It’s time for our officials to condemn antisemitism not just with their words, but with their actions.
You cannot denounce antisemitism but waver on Israel’s right to exist and defend itself.
And it shouldn’t just be our Jewish officials but it should be the non-Jewish officials who speak first and loudest.
Why? Because we learned.
In the words of Martin Niemöller:
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
Last point. Tonight my father the late great Mario Cuomo is sitting with the late great Eleanor Esther Elka Paul. I will tell you what he is saying. He is saying it is time for the Shabbos goy. The Shabbos goy can do work that benefits both the Jewish community and the non-Jewish community. The Shabbos goy can turn on the lights on the Sabbath because it benefits everyone.
The Shabbos goy can do work that benefits both the Jewish community and the non-Jewish community. The Shabbos goy can turn on the lights on the Sabbath because it benefits everyone. I will stand and turn on the lights. I am starting an organization called Progressives for Israel.
I will stand and turn on the lights. I am starting an organization called Progressives for Israel and I am going to call out the question for Democrats:
Do you stand with Israel or do you stand against Israel? Because silence is not an option.
Never again is not a prayer, but rather a call to arms.
It is not passive, it is active.
It will never happen again, because we will never allow it to happen again.
Rabbi Shmuley and Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York converse at the 75th liberation of Auschwitz at the death camp in Poland where both traveled for the commemoration.
While nagging doubts may dog some people in his position, Rabbi Jonathan Jaffe Bernhard recognized the warning signs of burnout.
He reacted with clarity and a sense of finality, declaring he was proceeding in a new direction. “There were lots of reasons” for stepping away, the Long Island native said. “More than anything else, though, I was done. Worn out. Empty. Or as one of my colleagues said, ‘Broken but not fallen apart.’” So, two years ago this spring, after 25 years at Adat Ari El in Valley Village — first as an assistant and then as senior rabbi, he resigned to concentrate on a quite different, non-traditional, pursuit.
He could have kept going, but it wouldn’t have been good for him or the congregation, he said.
Bernhard describes himself today with the seldom-used label of independent rabbi. Practically speaking, he appears successful and uncommonly happy pursuing his central passion: executive director of the Jewish Initiative for Animals.
“Animal welfare is a vital part of Jewish tradition, especially in terms of obligations.“
“Animal welfare is a vital part of Jewish tradition, especially in terms of obligations. When we figure it out and have that relationship in proper balance, it not only is us fulfilling our obligation toward the animals, but it helps us and helps the world we live in … We start with the presumption we have to get the right relationship with the other animals with whom we share this world,” Bernhard said.
He was 54 when he made this decision, presumably in his prime, but he noticed warning signs that it was time to travel a new path.
“My own level of energy and my ability to focus” were chief red signals. To be clear, he said that it was not the fault of the congregation. “I could feel the balance that was getting to a point, it was unhealthy for me. I, therefore, wasn’t healthy enough to lead the congregation.”
It wasn’t exactly a straight line from announcement to departure.
“There was one moment when I already had announced that I asked myself, ‘Did I do the right thing? I don’t know what I am going to do next.’”
The answer emerged mere moments later when he walked across the Adat Ari El campus to the nursery school and storytelling time. “If telling stories to the kids was not the greatest joy I took, it certainly was up there,” he said.
“I was struggling to come up with stories to tell, to finding the joy and the energy that always had been there.”
Then thunder struck. Suddenly, “I was struggling to come up with stories to tell, to finding the joy and the energy that always had been there.”
Bernhard felt relieved afterward, a confirmation he had made the correct choice, to step away.
Was he concerned about generating income? Yes.
How did he and Laurie, his wife of nearly 30 years and mother of their three sons, handle the looming crisis? The rabbi’s response sounded like a formula for a happy marriage. “I understood that with stepping away there would be a risk,” he said. “But Laurie and I talked it through. I came to the realization that in all likelihood, the position I took would be financially less than what I was making. But we were comfortable with that and simply worked through.
“We don’t see ourselves as big spenders, but we would figure it out.”
With his worries in the rear-view mirror, the Bernhards set a number — this is the minimum the rabbi had to earn to make them feel comfortable. They agreed to give it a trial year, see how it went. If it did not work, he said with a grin, he would figure something else. He didn’t have to.
His passion about animals was sparked in 1987, between his junior and senior years at Haverford College in Pennsylvania. Working in a chicken coop on a kibbutz, Bernhard noticed people had two different reactions. “Some really liked the chicken they ate, and attacked it with a certain voraciousness. And some of us were like, nope. I was in that group. That is when I started being a vegetarian.”
Speaking of life-changing decisions, he visited Simi Valley to experience the Brandeis-Bardin Summer Institute. That is where he met Laurie, a Los Angeles native. They were married in 1992. She encouraged his interest in the rabbinate, which led him to the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS).
In his last year at JTS, he began looking for potential pulpits. But not just anywhere.
“It seemed to me that being married to a pulpit rabbi could be tough,” said Bernhard. “I wanted my wife to have the most built-in support she could have,” which is why he narrowed his search to her hometown of Los Angeles.
The owner of a splendid sense of humor was asked if he always wanted to be a rabbi. “My parents are still trying to figure what went wrong,” he says with a grin. He grew up “in a very loving, wonderful, small family of secular middle-class Jews” with two older sisters.
Then there was his mother’s response when her only son revealed that he was going to be a rabbi: “So this is how good Jewish boys rebel against their parents.”
Fast Takes with Rabbi Jonathan Bernhard
Jewish Journal: What is your favorite Jewish food?
Rabbi Bernhard: My wife’s challah.
JJ: What is your favorite pastime?
Rabbi Bernhard: Too many. Love reading, watching English Premier League soccer and my team Liverpool, and playing the ukulele.
One verse, five voices. Edited by Salvador Litvak, the Accidental Talmudist
You shall kindle no fire throughout your settlements on the Sabbath day – Exodus 35:3
Aliza Lipkin Writer and educator, Maaleh Adumim, Israel
The Zohar states: “When G-d created the world, it could not exist until He infused it with peace. What is this peace? It is Shabbat….”
The Zohar also compares one who is angry to one who lights the fires of Gehinnom (ed. note: loosely translated as “purgatory” or “hell”). This leads to a deeper understanding of the verse: “You shall kindle no fire throughout your settlements on the Sabbath day.”
On Shabbat, we must avoid anger and discord. Shabbat is a day of union between the Jewish people and G-d.
Shabbat is also associated with the tangible feminine presence of G-d known as the Shechinah. The Shechinah will not reside in a place of discord. Therefore it is incumbent upon us to make peace with family and friends to properly welcome the Shechinah into our dwelling places.
Given this information, we can now understand why we are told of the commandment not to kindle a flame on Shabbat before the building of the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was also meant to be a meeting place for the nation and G-d. Just like the sanctity of Shabbat requires peace, the Tabernacle also requires peace to function successfully.
All Shabbat preparations and the activities we engage in on Shabbat are designed to infuse the atmosphere with peace. Since we are not permitted to light a fire on Shabbat, we are commanded to light candles before Shabbat. This hints to us to resolve our disputes before Shabbat, leaving us with the light and warmth of the Shechinah to enjoy.
The Sabbath is a cornerstone of Judaism. The amazing thing is how something so central to Torah life could be left to tradition for elaboration. Make no mistake, the Oral Law has just as much authority as the Written Law. But the laws of the Sabbath might have been less “controversial” had the Torah mentioned all 39 forbidden activities explicitly, instead of just the one about not lighting fire in all our dwellings.
Perhaps this anomaly can be explained with the help of another section of Talmud. There it says that someone who prepares on Friday will have food to eat on the Sabbath, whereas those who do not will not have food to eat on the Sabbath. Though true about the Sabbath, the Talmud is talking about the World to Come, using the Sabbath only as an analogy.
Perhaps the deeper meaning is, just as one must investigate the laws of the Sabbath to properly observe it, likewise a person must investigate life in order to make it to the World to Come. Billions of people have missed the point of life because they just took everything about life for granted … until, that is, it was too late to change course.
Approaching the twilight of their lives they realized that they have not properly prepared to “eat” in the next world. The “Sabbath” is not the time to light your fire for truth and meaning. Do it while you’re young and able to prepare yourself for the next world.
Rabbi Benjamin Blech Professor of Talmud, Yeshiva University
It seems like a perplexing paradox.
Shabbat is welcomed with the lighting of candles. It is a powerful symbol of the warmth, the light and the beauty the Sabbath brings to our homes. More, it is a vivid reminder of the purpose of the day chosen by God to reflect on the divine source of creation – the origin of our world when the Lord said “let there be light” and He separated between light and darkness.
Light is the first thing God called good.
Yet now, as our ancestors are first taught the laws of Shabbat, they are commanded “you shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the Sabbath day”!
Why forbid creating the very thing that ushers in Shabbat? Perhaps there is a profound message to us as we dedicate a day to bringing a halt to creating – a day whose purpose is not to create more but to reflect on whether what we have already created is moral, whether the light we kindle is that of the candle of sanctity or the fire of destruction.
We have come to worship the new without fully acknowledging the need to grasp that the new can bring curses in place of blessing. Progress can bring with it the problems of the untried and the unknown; Shabbat is a weekly call to carefully and cautiously weigh the consequences of our fascination with untested creation. Shabbat fulfills its purpose when our souls remain filled with the light of original creation.
Rabbi Gershon Schusterman Author, “Why God Why?”
Shabbat is a sign which connotes the covenant between G-d and His people. It commemorates two events: One, that G-d created the world in six days and on the seventh He rested, and two, that we were slaves in Egypt and G-d liberated us and chose us as His nation and obligated us to observe His commandments, including celebrating Shabbat.
One way we observe the Shabbat is by refraining from work. But what kind of work is The Torah referring to? The definition of work is quite ambiguous.
In the instruction not to kindle a fire on Shabbat we find the answer: Kindling a fire is uniquely creative and constructive.
The Torah uses two words for work: Melacha and Avoda (usually translated as labor). Melacha is used in the Torah in two narratives: One, in the story of Genesis, and two, regarding the tasks of building the Tabernacle, G-d’s home in the desert. In both, the work was creative and constructive.
In charging us to observe Shabbat, God is saying: “I am the Creator. I have granted humans the unique ability and duty to emulate Me in being creative and constructive. I want mankind to partner with me in developing and improving the world. I recognize that in doing so, man can begin worshiping himself as a junior god, so I’m giving you Shabbat. On Shabbat I instruct you to cease from your creativity and humbly cede it to Me and bond completely with Me and rejoice in My holiness.”
Rabbanit Alissa Thomas-Newborn BCC/ Columbia-Presbyterian and Congregation Netivot Shalom
The commentary Daat Zekeikim underscores how odd this verse is. We already know not to do work (melacha) on Shabbat, so what does this add? They resolve that this verse preempts a natural instinct. Many melachot are obviously work (sowing, kneading, etc), but most people would not consider lighting a fire to be worthy of the category of “work.”
The ease and accessibility of fire demonstrates the need for our verse. There is wisdom in highlighting the effort and creativity that go into the simple things we often overlook.
In 2023 America, it’s especially easy to take fire for granted. Shabbat fosters gratitude and awareness about where everything comes from, including that which comes easily.
In this spirit, our verse can prompt spiritual introspection on how we want to appreciate the things that are obvious in our lives. This could be a physical resource like fire, or even a person or relationship. By refraining from lighting a flame on Shabbat, we notice its value. And in so doing, we ignite a different spark: the luminosity of the things and people that show up for us most. Who/what are you overlooking and how can you celebrate it this Shabbat?
This week’s guest is the hilarious standup comedian, the talented artist, and long-time friend of Mark’s, Carol Siskind.
Carol started her stand-up career in New York, honing her skills in all of the comedy clubs in the City. She then moved on to Los Angeles and has appeared on television more than 200 times. She was on “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” five times and after her first spot, Johnny came to her dressing room and said , “Welcome to the family”. She also did ‘stand-up’ and ‘panel’ on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”
Carol has headlined clubs, colleges and theaters throughout the United States and abroad.
Carol is also an accomplished artist. You can see some her latest works on Instagram and her art website – some of her paintings are for sale. Do yourself a favor and check them out.
