Odds & Ends

 The opinions expressed on this webpage represent those of the individual authors and, unless clearly labeled as such, do not represent the opinions or policies of TBS.   For all you BDS supporters Israeli Frontline - August 7, 2019   A letter written by a Professor Denis MacEoin, PHD to his students who voted to boycott Israel: It's a response from Dr. Denis MacEoin a non Jewish Professor, to the motion put forward by The Edinburgh Student's Association to boycott all things Israeli, in which they claim Israel is an apartheid regime. Denis is an expert in Middle Eastern affairs and was a senior editor of the Middle East Quarterly. Here's his letter to the students: TO: The Committee Edinburgh University Student Association. May I be permitted to say a few words to members of the EUSA? I am an Edinburgh graduate (MA 1975) who studied Persian, Arabic and Islamic…

The opinions expressed on this webpage represent those of the individual authors and, unless clearly labeled as such, do not represent the opinions or policies of TBS. Today, some 200 million people may be descendant of the Spanish and Portuguese communities forced to convert to Christianity. By Ilanit Chernick - July 31, 2019 - The Jerusalem Post.       The exterior of what was once the El Transito Synagogue in Toledo, Spain founded in the 1300s. (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)   On July 31, 1492, practicing Jews living in Spain had to make a decision: Convert to Christianity or leave. If conversos – converted Jews – stayed and continued to keep their faith in secret, but were found out by members of the Inquisition or exposed by neighbors, they would be tortured brutally into admitting their “sin” and later be burned, all of which was ordered by the Church.…

The opinions expressed on this webpage represent those of the individual authors and, unless clearly labeled as such, do not represent the opinions or policies of TBS. Yemenite, Mizrahi and Balkan families protest 1950s alleged kidnappings ‘State must admit a crime was committed’ By EMMA MCAVOY - The Jerusalem Post - July 30, 2019     Yeminite family . (photo credit: American Colony-Jerusalem-Photo Dept)   Amram Association activists and families will gather in Paris Square opposite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s house on Wednesday in a rally for the Awareness Day of the kidnapping of Yemenite, Mizrahi and Balkan children more than 70 years ago.In the early years of the State of Israel, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s, thousands of babies and toddlers were taken from their immigrant families. While the families came from different regions, their testimonies were the same: parents were asked to give their children to hospitals…

The opinions expressed on this webpage represent those of the individual authors and, unless clearly labeled as such, do not represent the opinions or policies of TBS. Why I'm Angry With Israel's Mizrahi Elite I've always hoped that the second or third generation of Jews from Muslim countries, remembering their forebears contribution to Islams Golden Age, would be a bridge from Israel to the Muslim world   Arye Dery speaks at a service marking the one-year anniversary of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's death, September 28, 2014. Emil Salman Im angry with the Mizrahi elite. Genuinely angry. In todays Israel, the hostility between Ashkenazi and Mizrahi Jews is growing. Its not exaggerating to say its the most salient attribute of contemporary Israeli society, more than the difference between Jews and Arabs, rich and poor, men and women or right and left. Before I continue, let me state (for the umpteenth time) my…

The opinions expressed on this webpage represent those of the individual authors and, unless clearly labeled as such, do not represent the opinions or policies of TBS. Guns or no guns at synagogue? Recently, the US antisemitism envoy, Elan Carr, stated that guards should be posted at every synagogue and Jewish community center in the US. The question was asked: Should the guards be armed? By MICHAEL MASTERS national director and CEO of the Secure Community Network August 1, 2019 There were 27 mass attacks in public spaces in 2018, according to the United States Secret Service. One of those occurred on October 27 at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where 11 people were murdered. Exactly six months later, an individual walked into another synagogue in Poway, California, and opened fire with an assault rifle. His attack was interrupted and he fled. The reality of these attacks has…

The opinions expressed on this webpage represent those of the individual authors and, unless clearly labeled as such, do not represent the opinions or policies of TBS. Coffee Houses Open on Shabbat… With Rabbinic Approval Records from 18th century Prague show that the opening of Jewish coffee houses on Shabbat enjoyed the approval of the city’s rabbinic leadership. Dr. Maoz Kahana | June 16, 2019 |     A Game of Draughts at Cafe Lamblin by Louis Leopold Boilly In the middle of the eighteenth century, religious life in the Jewish community of Prague was at its high point, with nine well-known synagogues and dozens of study houses. But at the same time that the learned men of Prague were producing vast Torah scholarship and the yeshivas were bustling with students, another institution was gaining popularity – the coffee house. Coffee houses became popular soon after coffee’s arrival in Western…

The opinions expressed on this webpage represent those of the individual authors and, unless clearly labeled as such, do not represent the opinions or policies of TBS.                        ANTISEMITISM THEN AND NOW                  Dedicated to Robert Wistrich and Vidal Sassoon With the growth of Worldwide and Domestic Jew Hatred/Antisemitism not seen since the “30s,” Paul Weinberg of ALDEN FILMS* delivers an hour long talk on how Antisemitism started and why it’s become an issue again 74 years after the Holocaust. Also discussed are responses to this avalanche of hate.  https://youtu.be/h7fO0D0jLD8 *ALDEN FILMS distributes the lectures on DVD of the Vidal Sassoon International Institute For The Study Of Antisemitism Of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ALDEN FILMS has published a catalogue available online and in print on Antisemitism   Antisemitism, that cruel word that evokes visions of the Holocaust, pogroms, expulsions, ghettos, and the stark Jew hatred of the Gentile…

The opinions expressed on this webpage represent those of the individual authors and, unless clearly labeled as such, do not represent the opinions or policies of TBS. Shavuot: The lesson of the cheesecake I remain inspired by the biblical figure of Naomi in the book of Ruth, the story we read each Shavuot. By DIANA BLETTER - June 9, 2019        A cheesecake. (photo credit: PIXABAY)   Every Shavuot – the biblical harvest festival when it is customary to eat dairy foods – our small beach village in the Western Galilee used to hold a cheesecake contest. A few years ago, my New York-born younger son, Ari, decided to enter his New York-style cheesecake. Not from me did his inspiration come: my idea of a perfect homemade dessert is always one that is baked by somebody else.Ari, then a soldier in the Israeli Army and on home leave,…

The opinions expressed on this webpage represent those of the individual authors and, unless clearly labeled as such, do not represent the opinions or policies of TBS. What Jewish law really says about abortion During these charged times, it is appropriate for the Jewish community to remind ourselves that halacha (Jewish law) has a nuanced view of abortion. By EPHRAIM SHERMAN/ JTA May 23, 2019   Alabama and Georgia have passed laws recently that limit or forbid abortions in unprecedented ways, joining a growing number of states that are attempting to dramatically restrict abortion access. During these charged times, it is appropriate for the Jewish community to remind ourselves that halacha (Jewish law) has a nuanced view of abortion. It seems that many in the Orthodox Jewish community have not been overly worried by these and other efforts to curtail legal abortion. Ben Shapiro, a conservative commentator who identifies as…

The opinions expressed on this webpage represent those of the individual authors and, unless clearly labeled as such, do not represent the opinions or policies of TBS. Votes for women Halachic considerations around giving women the vote Rav Uziel ruled in favor of not only giving the vote to women, but also allowing them to run for elected positions. By NECHAMA GOLDMAN BARASH - February 22, 2019       Votes for women (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)   With the upcoming elections, I have been addressing the halachic considerations around giving women the vote. In the previous column, I wrote about the first government elections that took place in Israel in 1920 and the rabbinic attitudes toward suffrage. Votes for women was one of the most contentious issues sweeping the Western world and both chief rabbis at the time, Rav Abraham Isaac Kook and Rav Ben Zion Meir Uziel…