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Israel Matters!

Israel Matters! – December 2023

Israel Matters On Campus Too!

As of the date this article is written, Israel is under attack from all sides. While the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) relentlessly continue their mission of dismantling Hamas in Gaza following the atrocities of October 7, amid all the tragic collateral civilian casualties due to Hamas having embedded deeply in the local population, Israeli cities and towns continue to be targeted by rockets fired from Gaza.  Other Iranian-sponsored terrorists have joined in this naked aggression: Hezbollah rockets have forced Israel to evacuate civilians from the “finger of the Galilee” emptying towns from Metulla to Kiryat Shemona. Combined with surviving residents forced to flee their homes in Israel’s south (the “Gaza envelope”), at least half a million Israelis are now refugees in their own homeland living in hotels, shelters, or with family elsewhere in the country.  Iranian-backed terrorists based in Syria have launched rockets and drones at Israel, one of which landed on a kindergarten in Israel’s Red Sea resort town of Eilat.  From the south, Iranian-backed Houthis have also launched rockets at Israel, though so far none of these have reached their targets, having been intercepted by US naval forces or Israeli missile defense systems. (more…)

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Odds & Ends / Webmaster's Odds & Ends

Syndrome K: the fake WW2 disease that saved Jews from the Nazis

Sky HISTORY by Chloe Rixon

A photo of Dr Giovanni Borromeo and the hospital Fatebenefratelli where he practised

Above: A photo of Dr Giovanni Borromeo and the hospital Fatebenefratelli where he practised

During 1941 and 1945, Hitler’s Nazi Germany murdered around six million Jews, about two-thirds of the European Jewish population, in what would become known as The Holocaust.

Although this was a time where tales of hope and salvation were few and far between, there are stories of individual people and groups who demonstrated extraordinary bravery to save lives. They were a glimmer of light during a dark time that resulted in few happy endings.

On November 12, 2023, our Kritstallnacht Community-wide commemoration will take place at Congregation Or Shalom, in person and via Zoom. We will remember the lesser-known story of Syndrome K, the fictitious disease invented by Italian doctors that fooled the Nazis and saved lives. The program will include the presentation of a U.S. Senate Special Recognition to Dr. Cristina Ossicini on behalf of her late father Dr. Adriano Ossicini. (more…)

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Odds & Ends / Webmaster's Odds & Ends

Robert Sapolsky Doesn’t Believe in Free Will. (But Feel Free to Disagree.)

Shedding the concept “completely strikes at our sense of identity and autonomy,” the Stanford biologist and neuroscientist argues. It might also be liberating.

What if Believing in Free Will Is Just a Choice?.

By Hope Reese

There is no free will, according to Robert Sapolsky, a biologist and neuroscientist at Stanford University and a recipient of the MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant. Dr. Sapolsky worked for decades as a field primatologist before turning to neuroscience, and he has spent his career investigating behavior across the animal kingdom and writing about it in books including “Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst” and “Monkeyluv, and Other Essays on Our Lives as Animals. (more…)

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Rabbi's Corner

Everyone is Equal

In the very first chapter of the Bible, there is a verse that may be the most important verse in the whole Bible, or anywhere. It says that every single human being is created in the image of G-d.

This sounds so simple, right?

And yet, if everyone believed this and looked at all other human beings as equals, this world would be a very different place. (more…)

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Israel Matters!

Israel Matters! – November 2023

This Time is Different – Israel Under Attack – A Personal View

October 7, 2023, may be the worst day in Israeli history.

I arrived in Israel on October 3rd.  Israel is a place I have visited dozens of times. There are so many things I love about Israel – the people, the culture, the food, the air, walking on the “tayelet” (boardwalk) along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, visiting the many historic, cultural and religious sites, and being in a place where it isn’t an effort to be Jewish.

But this trip to Israel was different.
(more…)

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President's Message

November 2023: President’s Message

Kol Nidre – High Holiday Message

When I sat down to write my speech, I put on my Andy Grammer Spotify playlist. Andy Grammer is a singer/songwriter known for engaging, energizing, and empowering his audience through songs that have a positive and inspirational message that everyone can relate to.

Last year he released the album called The Art of Joy. One of the songs called “Joy,” conveys a message of resilience, finding happiness in the face of adversity, and cherishing the love and relationships that bring joy into one’s life. In fact, the chorus emphasizes this power of joy, by repeating the phrase “I found joy in my life.”

And, yes, maybe the “Joy” in the song is really Andy Grammer’s wife, but “Joy” can be anyone, anything or anywhere. It can be your friends and your family, the restaurants where you eat, or the things that you do. It can be where you are tonight – Temple Beth Sholom.
(more…)

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Rabbi's Corner

Sukkot

After the High Holidays, the festival of Sukkot can seem like an anticlimax. But it is a beautiful, joyous holiday. In fact, is the only festival in which we are COMMANDED to be happy: “For a seven-day period you shall celebrate… and you shall be happy!” (more…)

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Israel Matters!

Israel Matters! – October 2023

Sabra Celebs!

Too frequently, what the world sees, hears, and thinks about Israel is negative (frequently with a not-so-accurate and anti-Israel slant). But on the other end of the public opinion continuum, Israel has a number of internationally-known “celebs” (a “celeb” or “סלב” in Hebrew is just what you might expect – a celebrity), who routinely shine a bright spotlight on the country. Israel Matters is proud to devote this month’s issue to highlighting a few of these famous folks of Israeli descent who, through their exemplary work, bring a positive feeling about the State of Israel to many around the world. (more…)

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