A dramatic rise in attacks on Asian-Americans has led to an overall increase in hate crimes in New York City during 2021, while the number of crimes targeting Jews decreased slightly.
Jews in New York were targeted in 54 hate crimes reported between Jan. 1 and May 2, down from 58 such crimes in the same period in 2020, according to New York Police Department figures released Monday.
The NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force said the city recorded 180 hate crimes through May 2, compared to 104 such crimes during the same period last year, a 73% increase.
Asians were the most targeted group with 80 hate crimes through May 2 — soaring from 16 in the same period in 2020. Jews were the next most targeted.
WASHINGTON — An agency that provides administrative services to the U.S. military posted an Easter sermon on its website that described a New Testament passage preaching to Jews as a demand to “say sorry” for killing Jesus.
The Washington Headquarters Services pulled down the sermon attributed to a Navy chaplain in North Carolina on April 28, a day after complaints by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a group that advocates for troops and veterans who report discrimination in the military.
Both the foundation and the Jewish War Veterans have called for an inquiry into the sermon by Lt. Aristotle Rivera of Camp Lejeune and how it was posted on March 30. The foundation, which also wants repercussions against Rivera, said the sermon contradicted rules against proselytizing and peddling bigotry.
It wasn’t clear why an administrative services agency would post a sermon of any kind. Regina Meiners, the acting director of the Washington Headquarters Service, did not return a request for comment.
Rivera’s sermon takes a well-known passage in the New Testament book Acts that is an account of Peter preaching to “men of Israel” the redemption available in Christ’s death. He appears to use the passage to dismiss liberal interpretations of scripture.
The chaplain concludes that the message of the passage is “Jesus lived. You killed him. God raised him. We saw him. Say sorry,” and wishes readers a Happy Easter, which took place this year on April 4.
The King James Bible text recounting Peter’s conclusion to the sermon is “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation and its director, Mikey Weinstein, brought the complaint on behalf of what it says are 32 military and civilian defense personnel in the greater Washington region, 24 of whom are Jewish.
The Jewish War Veterans said it wanted an “apology and admission of wrongdoing by Lt. Rivera.” The group also said it was asking the Department of Defense to issue a statement acknowledging the anti-Semitic nature of the article.
IHRA Program Needed Third Panelist
I wish to respond to one point of disagreement in Jesse Bernstein’s April 29 article, “Panel on IHRA Anti-Semitism Rankles.” Would the panel discussion co-sponsored by Congregation Rodeph Shalom and Temple University’s Feinstein Center for American Jewish History have been objectionable to Murray Friedman, z”l, the center’s founder?
Well, yes, and no.
My first Jewish job was as Friedman’s assistant from 1979-83. An intellectual giant and mensch, Friedman introduced me to and got me totally hooked on the field of Jewish community relations where I ended up spending my entire professional career. He was a strong supporter of Israel and Zionism, but he also was not afraid to criticize those Israeli policies with which he disagreed.
A neo-conservative in a community dominated by liberals, he constantly challenged our conventional wisdom. In that regard, I believe he would have approved of a program that explored the use or misuse of the IHRA definition of antisemitism. I also believe — in the interest of exposing participants to a full range of opinions — that he would have preferred to see a third panelist on the program to defend the current use of the IHRA anti-Semitism definition advocated by establishment Jewish organizations. That was an important, yet missing perspective.
Martin J. Raffel | Langhorne
Simple Arithmetic
One sentence spoken by Joyce Ajlouny, general secretary of the American Friends Service Committee, reveals the perversity of modern antisemitic liberal education. (“Panel on IHRA Anti-Semitism Definition Rankles” April 29).
She complained that the criticism over what many perceived as the antisemitism of the chosen panelists “affirms that the attempt to silence narratives is alive and well.”
In fact, in the real world there are no narratives, only facts. Two and two equals four. There is no narrative to make two and two equal five or three except in the minds of modern antisemitic liberal educators.
“Educators” that teach students to just create their own narratives that two and two equals five or three or anything you want about modern Middle East history and we will coddle you and say it’s all true, because everyone is entitled to their own narrative regardless of the facts.
Sorry, there are facts about modern Middle East history, not narratives, and as much as you wish it were true, two and two does not equal three or five.
Last Thursday evening, as I was about to close my computer, I saw the news alert from The New York Times: “Breaking News: At least 15 people are dead and dozens are injured after a stampede at a religious celebration in Israel.”
A surge of panic ran through my body. I stopped reading because I knew this happened at Mount Meron, the site of the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, where over 100,000 chasids and other Jews had gathered to celebrate Lag b’Omer.
This tragedy would have been upsetting in any circumstances. But my terrified reaction was deeply personal: My 21-year-old son was there. Horrifying thoughts ran through my head. What kind of devastating things had he witnessed? Was he injured? I couldn’t let myself think beyond that.
The Friday before, my son had told me that his yeshiva in Jerusalem was providing a bus for students who wanted to celebrate Lag b’Omer at Mount Meron. I was so excited for him. During the eight months he’s been in Israel, he hasn’t been able to leave Jerusalem very often due to COVID-19 restrictions. Now he was getting to travel and participate in a unique experience that I knew he would find deeply spiritual.
My son and I are both deeply passionate about Judaism, but our practices differ enormously: I am a Reform rabbi and he is haredi Orthodox. I myself had been to Mount Meron on Lag b’Omer some 25 years ago, and I still remember it well — the thousands of chasidic men dancing and singing; the 3-year-old boys getting their first haircuts; the bonfires and the joyful celebration.
But here I was at home in Philadelphia feeling helpless and terrified about my son. It was after 8:30 p.m. — way past the time I’d normally call him, as Israel is seven hours ahead of us — but this night was different. Fingers trembling, I reached for my phone and dialed, but I couldn’t get through. Nightmare scenarios raced through my brain.
As I sat there, practically unable to move, my phone rang — I saw that it was my husband, who wasn’t home at the time. He had reached our son and he was safe. He described sensing trauma in my son’s voice, but at that moment only one thing mattered to me: He was alive! I was so relieved, so grateful.
I learned the next day that the death toll was 45, and more than 150 people were injured. I finally talked to my son before Shabbat began in Israel, and he told me that two young men from his yeshiva were still missing.
Throughout Shabbat, all I could think about was what happened at Mount Meron. Forty-five human beings; 45 families that had lost loved ones. I was so grateful that my son was alive, and at the same time felt terrible pain for the parents, grandparents, siblings and children who weren’t so fortunate. I could have been one of them.
I haven’t been able to bring myself to read a single article about what happened, though I see the headlines and I hear people talk about it. I envision the crush of people and innocent people dying of asphyxiation. All I’ve read on the topic are the emails from my son’s yeshiva. Yesterday’s email informed us that there was a funeral for one young man from the yeshiva on Saturday night, after Shabbat ended; there were two more on Sunday.
Because my son is on a religious path that’s so different than mine, I often think about how dissimilar our family is from those of his haredi peers. We have three kids, while many of them have 10 or 12. Our understanding and observance of Jewish law is very different. But these past few days, I can’t stop thinking about how similar we are; how much all Jews — and all humans, for that matter — love their children. Haredi parents may have more children than I do, but I know that losing one of them is every bit as tragic for them as it would be for me.
While we are deeply grateful that our son is physically unharmed, my husband and I worry that he could be suffering from PTSD. Fortunately, I am incredibly impressed with how his yeshiva, which I have always respected but usually feel I can’t relate to, is handling this devastating situation. It has provided counseling for those who want — the young men can even make anonymous phone calls to a counselor — and is working to get entry permits to Israel for those parents who want to visit their sons.
Knowing that my son is in good hands gives me comfort. But no matter what I’m doing, my mind drifts to Mount Meron, imagining that horrific evening that my son was lucky enough to survive — but many others weren’t. I find myself constantly fighting back tears, although sometimes I don’t bother to hold them back.
I will continue to pray and mourn for all the families who lost loved ones, with the humble acknowledgment that we are far more alike than we are different. May the memories of these 45 souls be a blessing.
Rabbi Robyn Frisch is the director of the Rukin Rabbinic Fellowship for 18Doors as well as the spiritual leader of Temple Menorah Keneseth Chai in Northeast Philadelphia. This op-ed first appeared on Kveller.
Shira Goodman. dennis drenner 2012.www.dennisdrenner.com..Jeremy Bannett
By Shira Goodman and Jeremy Bannett
We have always known that antisemitism is a social virus that has mutated with deadly efficiency throughout human history. In 2020, Jews actually watched in real time as the “world’s oldest hatred” updated itself for a new era.
For the last 40 years, the ADL has released its annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents, which tracks incidents of vandalism, harassment and assault against Jews across the nation. Our latest report reflects some disturbing developments in 2020: During a year we spent mostly at home and reliant on technology for school, work, religious gatherings and our social lives, antisemitism did not abate.
In fact, we saw the third-highest number of incidents across the nation since we began tracking in 1979. It was also the third-highest number for Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and the second-most on record for Delaware.
How can we explain extraordinarily high numbers of antisemitism across the nation and around the region in a year when most people were largely kept apart by social distancing and pandemic-related restrictions? The audit reveals that antisemitism morphed in 2020 to thrive in these new conditions.
Because large swaths of society and the economy were shut down, we saw significant declines in vandalism, assault and other incidents at in-person locations. Yet much of those declines were offset by spikes in harassment and threats online and at Jewish institutions, where bigots actively sought out Jews to target.
Antisemitism in 2020 experienced two major “innovations” — the adaptation of classic antisemitic tropes to the current moment and the manipulation of new technology as a means to spread hate.
Familiar symbols of hate were used in antisemitic incidents online and offline. Synagogues were vandalized with swastikas, old slurs were hurled and tired memes like the Happy Merchant and the Diseased Jew were recycled to accompany accusations that Jews are greedy, somehow responsible for the spread of the virus and profiting from vaccines.
These age-old manifestations of hate exploded online in 2020 — incidents more than doubled in every state in the region and across the nation. Last year, 36% of Jews reported that they personally experienced antisemitic harassment online, with 22% experiencing severe harassment. This does not include the millions of antisemitic posts and images circulating online without a specific victim, which infected our digital ecosystem with anti-Jewish hate.
Bigots also innovated in 2020, repurposing new technology to target Jews. “Zoombombing” is a perfect example of this increasingly malicious version of online antisemitism. Synagogues, Jewish schools and secular venues saw hundreds of virtual gatherings hijacked by people spewing vile anti-Jewish hate. This development is notable because, for the first time, haters could infiltrate Jewish spaces almost at will. No gathering was spared, no matter how sacred — High Holiday services, weddings and even shivas all suffered traumatic Zoombombing attacks last year.
We must look behind the numbers to the incidents themselves, each of which represents an individual and a wider community targeted or terrorized. Our friends and neighbors, many right here in the region, have been targeted with antisemitic threats online, taunts of “dirty Jew” during sporting events and harassing telephone calls. It is our synagogues and community centers that have been vandalized with swastikas, terrorized with bomb threats and disrupted by “Zoombombers.”
Antisemitism is happening right here, right now. The need to solve this problem should unite Jews in solidarity. Antisemites, whether online or offline, do not discriminate when picking particular targets — Jews of all denominations, political affiliations and economic status are fair game. Accordingly, we must continue to fight this battle together.
But we can’t fight it alone, nor can it be about antisemitism alone. All forms of hate are closely tied together, so anyone who cares about stopping anti-Jewish hate must also work to fight all forms of bigotry. Fighting back against antisemitism and all forms of hate will require a whole-of-society approach at the levels of government, law enforcement, business, technology, civil society and community. It demands creative thinking, coalition-building and courage.
Antisemitism is changing before our very eyes, and now is the time to stop it before it has a chance to mutate into an even more virulent and dangerous form. l
Shira Goodman is the regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, and Jeremy Bannett is the senior associate regional director.
The Palestinian elections have been canceled again. This is not a surprise, and it is also not a surprise that most of the world will blame Israel. I haven’t decided yet if this is because many people are ignorant, or whether it is just another manifestation of antisemitism (I prefer the term “Judeophobia”).
Elections haven’t been held for over 15 years for a very simple reason. Last time there were elections (in 2006), Hamas won by a landslide. International pressure to reverse the outcome (some overt and some covert) led to an open conflict between Fatah and Hamas, which resulted in Fatah assuming power in the West Bank and marginalizing Hamas in Gaza.
Even if the elections had been held, it would not have been a sign that things were becoming more democratic in the West Bank and Gaza. It is important to remember that both Fatah and Hamas are classic autocratic and kleptocratic entities, and Hamas is a terrorist organization. They both control the press and arrest journalists who dare to speak out against them. They routinely arrest political rivals and dissidents. They torture those under arrest and have political control of what are called courts. Each rules without significant internal competition, so any candidates for the legislature or the presidency exist only because they are allowed by the current leadership.
If the announced elections were not signaling a movement toward democracy, what were they? More than anything else, they were a recognition that in the Middle East, the struggle of the Palestinians is no longer seen as central to the future of the region. Four Arab countries, Morocco, the U.A.E., Bahrain and the Sudan, have already normalized relations with Israel, and this is probably only the beginning.
For years, the Palestinian conflict was seen as the key to peace in the region, but this is no longer the case. Both Fatah and Hamas recognize that the upcoming elections could have offered them an opportunity to get back in the game.
The key to all of this is the new Biden administration, which could be impressed with the elections and see this as a reason to return to old models for understanding the Middle East. President Joe Biden is anxious to re-assert American leadership around the world, and he might be enticed to insert America back into the middle of the Israel-Palestinian conflict at a time when the rest of the Middle East has moved on. He has already begun to reinstate aid to the Palestinian Authority and other groups aiding Palestinians — $75 million to Palestinian areas, $40 million for security assistance, $150 million to the United Nation’s refugee agency and other assistance.
The real reason that the elections were not held is that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, now 85, is not popular.
In a recent survey, the Palestine Center for Policy and Survey Research found that the most popular political leader throughout the West Bank and Gaza is Marwan Barghouti, who is currently serving five consecutive life sentences in an Israeli prison for murder and terrorist activities.
In addition, Mohammed Dahlan and Nasser al-Qudwa could play roles in the election. Dahlan was a rival of Abbas until he was driven out of the West Bank in 2011. He has been in exile in the UAE since and is often mentioned as a possible successor to Abbas. The Jerusalem Post calls him a “wheeler-dealer” rather than a “conviction politician,” and therefore someone who might bring some change to the Palestinian Authority. But several of Dahlan’s key associates were recently arrested in the West Bank. Nasser al-Qudwa is the nephew of Yasser Arafat and a former envoy of the PA to the United Nations. He was on the Central Committee for many years but was recently dismissed when he announced his intention to run in the legislative election and support Barghouti for president.
With all of these contentious players, the Fatah vote would have been split in the election, bringing certain victory to Hamas. Abbas, of course, would never admit this publicly. Instead, he turned to the reliable excuse of blaming the Israelis. The only question is: Why would anyone believe him?
Solomon D. Stevens has a Ph.D. in political science from Boston College and has published a book entitled “Challenges to Peace in the Middle East.
Adventure, culture and memories to last a lifetime. The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia provides experiences for people of all ages and backgrounds to travel and connect with Jewish communities from around the world.
While in-person missions are still on hold due to COVID-19, the Jewish Federation has offered a number of tailored, engaging and immersive virtual trips for the community.
“We have pulled together as a Jewish community during the pandemic and have been able to explore the world through technology,” said Arielle Shemesh, missions and travel manager of the Jewish Federation. “I hope that soon we will be able to travel in-person again and connect face-to-face with Jewish communities in America, Israel and around the globe. When that time comes, we will be ready to take you on an incredible and life-changing experience.”
As the possibility of resuming group travel becomes more of a reality, we spoke with past participants from the Jewish Federation’s various missions to Israel to reflect on how their trip expanded their worldview and their Jewish identity.
Baruch Hashem, here’s to next year in Jerusalem! For more information about travel experiences with the Jewish Federation, contact Shemesh at [email protected].
PHILADELPHIANS LOVE ISRAEL
Ali Sayer: Israel360 2018
Going on Israel360 made me feel more connected to my Jewish identity. I felt as though I was somewhere I belonged. Visiting the historical sites of our ancestors made me feel closer to those who came before us, and experiencing the newer innovations was exhilarating. It is easy to say the Jewish Federation assists in Israel, but going on this Mission allowed me to experience first hand the work being done there.
Paul Fires: Men’s Entrepreneurship Mission 2016
I felt a connection as soon as we landed, a connection of being a Jew in a Jewish country. It was that indefinable feeling, which embraces and envelops you as nothing else can, a sense of belonging which reaches people at all levels of observance. I prayed with my Mission friends, walked among catacombs unchanged by millennia, and experienced the enormity of our Jewish history and of our communal responsibility to each other.”
Marilyn and Jonathan Goodman: Honeymoon Israel, 2019)
When we learned we would be traveling to Israel, we were looking forward to making new friends, tasting new foods and seeing new sights. However, our trip to Israel was so much more. It allowed us to connect with a place, a destination, and a concept as something that felt familiar and foreign at the same time. Israel gave us such wonderful gifts and memories that have shaped our lives and our futures as Jewish people.
The Women’s Mission to Israel was an important part of exploring my place within the Jewish community. Being surrounded by such wonderful, strong and inclusive Jewish women during my trip reinforced my belief that raising my children in this community was the path for me. Beyond bonding with my fellow trip members, I got to meet some incredible families from the Negev region and see the work the Jewish Federation does to support growth and protect communities.
Carl Lutz. Courtesy of The Mid-Atlantic – Eurasia Business Council
Resolution to Honor Holocaust Hero Carl Lutz Introduced in Senate
Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey and Sen. Roy Blunt (Mo.) introduced a resolution April 28 to the U.S. Senate honoring Carl Lutz, a Swiss diplomat who saved more than 50,000 people — half of Budapest’s surviving Jewish population — from deportation to concentration camps during the Holocaust.
While working in Nazi-occupied Hungary, Lutz obtained permission from Nazi leadership to issue 8,000 letters of diplomatic protection. Anyone holding the protective papers was considered to be under Swiss protection and exempt from deportation. Instead of issuing the papers to 8,000 Jewish individuals, Lutz issued them to entire family units, ensuring protection for thousands more Jews.
Lutz also placed 76 buildings under Swiss diplomatic protection, where he was able to house thousands of Hungarian Jews who had lost their homes.
Lutz’s efforts marked the largest civilian rescue mission of World War II.
Lutz later worked in both Philadelphia and St. Louis as a Swiss diplomat.
“With antisemitism on the rise, we must never forget the millions of lives lost during the Holocaust and the stories of the brave men and women who put their lives on the line to save others from Nazi persecution,” Casey said. “I am pleased to introduce a bipartisan resolution to honor Carl Lutz for his act of valor, which saved tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews from deportation to Auschwitz concentration camp.”
Companion legislation was introduced in the House by U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (Mo.).
HIAS Pennsylvania Announces Golden Door Awards for 2021
HIAS Pennsylvania virtually handed out its 2021 Golden Door Awards on April 28 to “those who lead the way in support of immigrants and refugees.”
U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, who represents Pennsylvania’s 5th Congressional District, was cited for “her outstanding leadership in extending the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act, and support for the immigrants in our community.”
The Refugee Access Center at Snyder Church in South Philadelphia was honored for “their continual support of refugees and immigrants in South Philly throughout the pandemic and beyond.”
And Lara Ali and Ali Arif, who are former HIAS PA clients, were cited for becoming “leaders in their community, working within the Philadelphia School District to make it welcoming to immigrants and refugees.”
Jewish Exponent Reporter Places First in 2021 Keystone Media Awards
Jewish Exponent reporter Sophie Panzer won first prize in the 2021 Keystone Media Awards in the diversity category.
The entry included five stories “that inform on diverse elements in the community, encourage diversity awareness and reflect an ongoing effort to cover inclusive integration of diverse populations within your community.”
Panzer’s entry included “Couple Creates Ribbon to Mourn Victims of Racism” (Sept. 10), “Original ‘SNL’ Writer Explores Comedy in Memoir” (Dec. 10), “Phillies Pitcher Helped Integrate Baseball” (May 7), “Russian‐Speaking Moishe House Goes Virtual” (April 9) and “Interfaith Couples Navigate Unusual Holiday Season” (Dec. 10).
Jewish Law Day Set for 37th Year
The 37th annual Jewish Law Day will feature former Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman of the State of New York Court of Appeals speaking about Jewish law and the responsibility to perform pro bono service.
The virtual event will take place on May 24 at 4 p.m.
The day was originally honored in juxtaposition to the Red Mass celebrated by the Thomas More Society, but in conjunction with the Brandeis Law Society, the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia and the Greater Philadelphia Board of Rabbis, the celebration was moved to Shavout, the time of revelation of the Ten Commandments.
Over the years, prominent speakers have included White House Counsel Abner Mikva; Supreme Court of Canada Justice Rosalie S. Abella; Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice Max Baer; professors Melvin I. Urovsky, Jonathan Sarna and Deborah Lipstadt; and Villanova University Professor of Law Abraham Gafni.
Courtesy of Jewish Family and Children’s Service
JFCS to Present Notecards to Holocaust Survivors to Recognize Liberation Day
In lieu of its annual Café Europa luncheon for members of its Holocaust Survivors Support Program, Jewish Family and Children’s Service will recognize Liberation Day by delivering packets of notecards on May 13.
JFCS Art Therapist and Art Studio Manager Debora King collaborated with members of the program, teenagers from its Education and Outreach Services, and members of its People Living with Disabilities Program “to create a beautiful piece of art representing the concept of liberation.”
JFCS plans to directly deliver more than 100 packets of notecards to survivors and mail an additional 400 packets to survivors in the five-county region.
“When I spoke with the Holocaust survivors, they shared images and colors they experienced on Liberation Day so many years ago,” King said. “Their common theme was experiencing tremendous grief, loss, trauma and sorrow. They shared seeing a bright light which inspired the tunnel, flashing yellow and light blue colors for salvation, warmer hues of oranges and yellows for strength, and a vision of a wounded person looking at the sky with wide arms, which I depicted as birds flying free.” l
People are often shocked by their own indifference to right and wrong. Men and women who have always preached morality and justice might find themselves on the wrong end of a string of misfortunes or disappointments and find themselves just too tired to care.
Right, wrong, what’s the difference anyway?
People sometimes feel this way as a result of persistent poverty. Unable to climb out of what they feel is a pit of failures, they give up not only on success, but on being right. It doesn’t seem to matter anymore.
Others fall into this trap as a result of chronic illness, or loneliness, or an endless stream of depressing news.
Having always believed that doing good is the surest path to living well, such well-meaning people, when they suffer disappointments, may find themselves terribly discouraged and despairing of the benefits of doing the right thing.
What is a person to do at that point?
G-d declares in the Torah this week, “If you follow in my ways …” and a shower of blessings follows that opening. The Talmud illuminates the verse and explains, “In this case, ‘if’ means ‘if only.’ Almighty G-d is imploring us to follow in His ways.”
A deeper look reveals an astonishing truth: Far more than we depend on G-d to provide our needs, G-d needs us to provide His needs. And what are divine needs? The performance of the mitzvot; the choice of right over wrong.
G-d has too often been portrayed as the supreme drill sergeant in the sky, barking orders, setting the bar, demanding performance and handing out penalties to those who misbehave. As if the commandments He issues are for your benefit and your benefit only, He is perfect and isn’t really depending on your success. As if He would love you if you found purpose in your life, but His perfection has no need for your petty life lived right.
Literally, nothing could be further from the truth. The shining quality of G-d’s perfection is His ability to be vulnerable to us. He created us, we didn’t create Him. This whole universe was His idea, not ours. Morality and living right and not wrong — that’s all Him.
The mitzvot are His dearest wishes, and He entrusts them only to us. Not to the celestial angels, not to the natural world; only to us, His cherished, dear, mere mortals.
The truest reason to make the right choices in life is not because that’s how you get ahead but because that’s how you fulfill the purpose of your life. You are needed — urgently, indescribably needed — with an eternal need coming straight from the creator of the universe Himself, and the mitzvot are what you are needed for. G-d got the world started in the six days of creation, but He’s been looking for partners ever since then.
We are His partners. Full, comprehensive partners. Our decisions affect Him and His plans exactly as His decisions affect us and ours. He prays for us to do the right thing just as we pray for Him to do what we (imagine we) need Him to do.
With the same intensity that a person might yearn for divine intervention in the midst of a crisis, G-d yearns for our intervention where we can make a difference. The only distinction is that G-d’s yearning is infinite.
Our very existence is the biggest compliment. The fact that G-d put us here and keeps us here is His way of saying, “I need you.”
Hard times can put a damper on our energy and darken our moods. Tough times can be discouraging to our enthusiasm for doing what’s right and for sacrificing for a higher purpose. But knowing that the urgency of our lives and our choices comes not from our needs but from G-d’s, means that it never changes. Our self-worth comes from G-d’s faith in us, not from our own self-importance.
If G-d in Heaven, in front of the watchful eyes of all the angels, is imploring us to run our little corner of His world with kindness and wisdom, this means one thing: All the hard times, foul moods and bitter disappointments in the world can not diminish the glorious purpose of our days, our stories and the choices we make to write their most triumphant chapters.
Rabbi Moishe Mayir Vogel is executive director of The Aleph Institute — North East Region in Pittsburgh.
Scapes are hitting the markets now: These spring garlic sprouts are the tender-ish greens that shoot out of garlic bulbs. They look like long, curly scallions but have a garlicky flavor.
Like scallions, they can be used raw or cooked, and you should use both the white bulb and green stalk portions of the vegetable; some of the very top of the stalk can be tough and reedy, so discard that.
Scapes deliver a milder zing than mature garlic cloves, but there’s plenty of flavor to go around. Like mature cloves, scapes will mellow when cooked.
I have used these recently to jazz up scrambled eggs, mixed them with carrots to form a mirepoix-style coating for slow-roasted salmon, and snipped them into both a green salad and red salsa. I also mashed them into a baked potato with Icelandic yogurt for a light, healthy, flavorful supper.
Here are some other delicious ways to use scapes:
Puree them into pesto, stir them into risotto or toss them over pasta.
Chop and mix them with salt, oil and vinegar to drizzle over steak or fish.
Shove them inside a roasting chicken to add flavor.
Snip them into soups either while simmering or as a fresh and zippy garnish.
Stir them into tuna salad or chicken salad for a riff on the traditional onion/celery combo.
Jazz up homemade or store-bought hummus with a sprinkle of chopped scapes.
Chop them finely and mix them with sour cream or plain yogurt with a spritz of lemon and a sprinkle of salt for an epic dip.
Drape them on top of avocado toast.
Schmear them in your cream cheese and lox over a bagel.
The main thing to know about scapes is that, like spring, they are only here for a short time. So enjoy them while you can!
Scape-coated Salmon Serves 2
I used lingcod in this preparation and it worked beautifully, but any fish filet would shine in this recipe. Just be sure to adjust cooking time based on the size and thickness of the pieces.
2 lingcod filets
1 wedge lemon
1 tablespoon oil
2 scapes, green and white parts, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Heat your oven to 275 degrees F. Spritz the fish with lemon, and sprinkle it with salt and pepper; set it aside.
In an ovenproof skillet, heat the oil and sauté the carrots until they are beginning to soften, about 6 minutes. Add the scapes, along with a little salt and pepper, and sauté until they are wilted and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.
Move the vegetables to the sides of pan, place the fish filets in the center and scoop the carrot/scape mixture over the fish to coat it. This will keep the fish from drying out, while also infusing flavor. Bake the fish for about 25 minutes until just cooked through.
Scrambled egg-scape. Photo by Keri White
Scrambled Egg-scape Serves 1
I bashed this together for a quick, healthy, flavorful lunch. The scapes elevated the basic scramble to something quite special.
I am notoriously lazy about dishes, so I tend to just crack the eggs into the hot skillet and scramble them with a spatula. But more motivated and precise cooks may wish to crack them into a bowl and whisk them until fluffy. Your dishes, your call! And if you want to make this a little fancier, make an omelet, frittata or a soufflé; the scapes don’t care what’s wrapped around them.
2-inch piece of scape, chopped
Spray of cooking oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 eggs
In a small skillet, heat the oil and sauté the scapes until they are wilted and fragrant, about 3 minutes.
Add the salt, pepper and eggs, and mix them in the pan to distribute the scapes evenly. Cook to the desired doneness, about 3 minutes for a soft-ish texture. Serve immediately.
By Ron Kampeas
Adventure, culture and memories to last a lifetime. The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia provides experiences for people of all ages and backgrounds to travel and connect with Jewish communities from around the world.
