Published by Miami Herald SURFSIDE, Fla. — As the hope of finding survivors dimmed at the site of the Surfside condo collapse, some heartsick families were already grieving an unfathomable loss. Five residents of Champlain Towers South, which collapsed early Thursday morning, were identified among the nine dead recovered by rescuers. This leaves 152 residents […]
She grew up in Brooklyn, New York, her roots deep in the Ashkenazi culture of Poland, Hungary, and Lithuania. He grew up in Long Beach, California, a third generation Japanese American, and he barely knew a single Jewish person. On paper, they might not sound like an obvious match: Jewish Brooklyn versus Buddhist Japan, kvetching as a collective mode of connection versus pursuit of inner peace. But while Leah and Randy Matsui may come from disparate ethnic backgrounds, “two different flavors” as Randy puts it, over the past four decades, they have become one woven unit, and their story teaches a great deal about what love is, what true connection looks like, and most significantly, what diverse Jewish journeys look like in the 21st century. [M. Evan Wolkenstein]
Torah on a Tatami: How One Couple Found Community In a Pandemic World Read More »
International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA
Published by AFP Washington (AFP) – The US Supreme Court on Monday handed a final victory to a transgender student who fought for years to use the boys’ bathroom at his high school. The highest US court refused to hear an appeal brought by Virginia school officials opposed to allowing transgender teenagers to use the
US transgender student wins years-long war on school bathroom rights Read More »
USA
There are some things for which there are no words. On Thursday I did two funerals where I spoke about why we thank God at times of tragedy-because when we feel vulnerable, that the world has slipped out from underneath our footsteps, we need to find some rock to anchor ourselves, and that rock with a capital R is God. However, how can we thank God in the midst of a tragedy: the structural collapse of the Champlain Towers South Building? How can we be thankful when people are missing and all that might remain of them are DNA traces under the rubble? How can we be grateful when so many don’t know if their loved ones are alive or dead? [Rabbi Ben Herman]
A Response to Surfside Read More »
Jewish Religion, USA
Published by Reuters By Daniel Trotta (Reuters) – The Israelis come trained by war. The Mexicans, by natural disaster. Search-and-rescue teams from Mexico and Israel have joined the phalanx of local firefighters and other specially trained experts combing the rubble for survivors where a residential high-rise collapsed near Miami on Thursday, killing at least nine
Israeli, Mexican rescuers bring distinct experience to Miami building collapse Read More »
USA
Published by Reuters SURFSIDE, Fla. (Reuters) – Some families of the missing at the Miami-area building collapse have found comfort in therapy dogs brought in during the agonizing wait for news. With some 150 people unaccounted for, many of whom could be buried beneath the rubble, the Boricuas de Corazon disaster relief team brought in
Therapy dogs comfort families of the missing in Miami building collapse Read More »
USA
Published by New York Daily News President Biden on Sunday ordered precision airstrikes against facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups in the Iraq-Syria border region, the U.S. Department of Defense said in a statement. The targets were facilities that Iran-backed militias were using to engage in drone attacks against U.S. personnel and facilities in Iraq,
Biden orders airstrikes in Iraq-Syria against Iran-backed militia groups Read More »
Middle East, USA
Some instances from the beginning of Israel’s new government: Likud has picked on a law of family reunification in order to embarrass, and perhaps defeat the Bennett-Lapid government. It’s a law that prevents Palestinians, who marry Israeli Arabs, to acquire citizenship in Israel. It’s been on the books since 2003, but has effect only for a year. Thus, it has to be renewed annually. It is something widely supported by predominantly Jewish political parties. But its current renewal has been opposed by Likud. [Ira Sharkansky, PhD]
Cracks in Israel’s Government Coalition, Opposition Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
Published by Reuters By Maayan Lubell JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel summoned Poland’s ambassador on Sunday to express its “deep disappointment” over a Polish bill that critics say will make it harder for Jews to recover property seized by the country’s Nazi occupiers during World War Two and then kept by post-war communist rulers, the foreign
Israel summons Polish envoy over Holocaust property bill Read More »
International, Middle East
Published by NJ.com The death toll from the collapse of a Florida beachfront condo building has risen to nine as search-and-rescue efforts continue, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Sunday. One person died in the hospital, and workers pulled four more bodies from the wreckage, the mayor said. Scores of rescue workers remained on the
Florida condo collapse death toll rises to 9 Read More »
USA
Published by AFP Rome (AFP) – Israel’s foreign minister on Sunday voiced concern over US diplomacy with Iran but promised a less confrontational approach, in the new government’s first high-level talks with the Jewish state’s closest ally. Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, a centrist who masterminded a coalition that this month unseated veteran right-wing leader Benjamin
Israel’s new FM tells US of Iran concerns but promises to work together Read More »
Middle East, USA
In the June 27, 2021 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:
–UK National Health Service to trial Israeli cancer treatment test.
–Israeli grandmother is honored for fostering 217 babies.
–Israeli anti-malaria system wins top IBM AI prize.
–Israeli software powers Intel’s 5G microprocessors.
–Israeli sensors can detect when plants are unhappy.
–Three more billion-dollar Israeli companies in one week.
–Israel’s team of 81 Olympic athletes is the largest ever.
–Honduras is the fourth country to open an embassy in Jerusalem. [Michael Ordman]
Good News from Israel (June 27, 2021) Read More »
Business & Finance, International, Lifestyles, Michael Ordman, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Science, Medicine, & Education, Sports & Competitions, The World We Share, Travel and Food, USA
Everyone in our family called the tuner of my daughter’s piano, “the piano tuner,” though his name was Fishbein. He was a brusque man, even for a fellow Viennese, stooped, often wore a checkered jacket which contrasted ridiculously with his formal striped pants, as if he had been a jazz saxophonist at one stage of his life and a concert pianist in another; his polka dotted, cabaret comedian’s tie completed the total mismatch. He arrived, tuned the piano, refused tea and cake (not very Viennese), pleaded that he was late for another piano, grabbed his tuning case and hurried away. Always the same ritual. His statement about being late for another piano caused us to chuckle (after he left) because he spoke of the piano that awaited him like it was a person. [Larry Lefkowitz]
Short Story: Fishbein, the Piano Tuner Read More »
International, Jewish Fiction, Middle East
Published by Reuters (Reuters) – A consultant had warned three years before the deadly collapse of a South Florida condominium building that there was evidence of “major structural damage” to the concrete slab below the pool deck and abundant cracking and crumbling in the underground parking garage, the New York Times reported early on Saturday.
Engineer had warned of structural damage before Florida building collapse -NYT Read More »
USA