Thursday, May 2, 2019

Shabbat-O-Gram for May 3


Shabbat-O-Gram

The O-Gram is being sponsored this week by Keri and Lavi Ben-Zvi in honor of their son, Ari, becoming a Bar Mitzvah
and...
Lucille Orillaneda and Dave Schneider in honor of their daughter, Jenny, becoming a Bat Mitzvah.


   

 
Our 7th Graders explored the Lower East Side last Sunday, along with three parents, Mara, my son Dan and me, a visit that included the fabulous Tenement Museum, the historic (and unique) Janina synagogue, a bialy stop at Kossars, pickles at The Pickle Guys and lunch at Ben's Deli.  We thank the Milton and Norma Mann Foundation for the grant that made this unforgettable trip possible!  See more photos in 7th Grade Lifecycle Album

----------------
Shabbat Shalom!

Mazal tov to Ari Ben-Zvi, who becomes Bar Mitzvah this Shabbat morning. Join us then, and on Friday night as well - and don't forget next Friday's Mediterranean Shabbat, and this Tuesday's special Holocaust film (flyer at bottom).  And mazal tov also to Jenny Schneider, who becomes Bat Mitzvah on Sunday morning!  We are very proud of her, as we are of Ari and all our b'nai mitzvah!  Jenny will also be "leading off" as the first Bat Mitzvah for her 6th grade Hebrew School class.

Last week during services, we had an extensive discussion about why Jewish law clearly supports vaccinations.  I gave out a packet of material, showing both Orthodox and Conservative sources on this controversial topic.  It's incredible that this is even a thing, but it has become a major thing, and we need to combat the false impressions being shared by fringe sources, some coming from an anti-science perspective that is simply not the Jewish way.




A Passover Unlike Any Other

 
This week I had the chance to visit the courageous Manheim family, who, as you'll read below, are staying in Boston while young Emmet undergoes treatment.  I invited Emmet's mom Lisa to share with us some of their experiences.  

"Mah-nishtanah" was never quite as true for our family as it was this year, as we spent the first seder huddled in a tiny hospital room on the 6th floor of Boston Children's Hospital.  Just one week earlier, our 10-year-old son, Emmet, had undergone a bone marrow transplant, requiring a long hospital stay while his new stem cells find a home in his body.
 
We had missed many of the preparation rituals that we had grown to love: looking for chametz with a feather and a spoon with Papa; making my mom's sweet and sour brisket which is second to only Lori Gilbert's 40-garlic brisket; cleaning the house to rid it of anything that doesn't spark joy or bread-rising.
 
Nonetheless, I was determined to make this Pesach as normal as possible. I gathered up the accoutrements for our plastic seder plate.  Parsley, horseradish, romaine, and a hard-boiled egg were located fairly easily, but charoset was a challenge without a kitchen, and where the heck does someone find a shankbone in a hospital?  (Actually, where does someone find a shankbone at all?) We decided on applesauce for charoset and a website claimed that we could substitute fresh grapes for a shankbone. I found a local kosher supermarket and bought prepared food for my husband Jeff's and my festive meal.  Emmet would not be able to partake, as he is on a low-bacteria diet right now, which prohibits most fresh fruits and vegetables, anything "homemade" or not prepared in the hospital, or food that hasn't been pasteurized, like yogurt and some cheeses. Ironically, he can eat all the chips and candy and matzah he desires.  
 
My family was on board in helping us create an unconventional, high-tech holiday.  My dad shipped us the family Hagaddahs, so that we could follow along as we streamed my parents' seder in Florida.  They propped an Ipad at the table and we participated as if we were there. Emmet made it as far as the first page before drifting off to sleep (thereby fulfilling the commandment to recline during the seder). We turned off the lights and conducted our seder by electric candlelight. Jeff and I sat on the bed/daybed/dining room table illuminated by the glow of the iPad, missing our family in real life and marveling about how truly different this night was from any other Seder night.  But we followed along, entrenching ourselves in the story of our people's journey from slavery in Egypt to freedom in Eretz Yisrael.

 

We thought about our own journey from slavery to freedom since the time when Emmet was first diagnosed with aplastic anemia last May to this very day. Emmet's disease has indeed enslaved our family in both concrete and abstract ways. Right now, we are tethered to this physical place--the hospital--and it has now been a month since Emmet has stepped outside into daylight.  He has told us that it literally feels like he is in captivity.
 
But I think his feeling goes even deeper than being confined to physical space, and we have come to understand freedom in a new way.  The real freedom he is missing is being able to do what he loves without repercussion.  It has been a year since Emmet has been able to ride his skate-board, go on a roller coaster, or play in a baseball game. He missed last summer at sleepaway camp and will not be able to attend this summer either.  The Hebrew word for Egypt is "Mitzrayim," which means "narrow." We feel that narrowness this year. The Haggadah asks us to imagine ourselves as slaves in Egypt, and we understand this in new and profound ways.
 
But, like our ancestors, we don't plan to stay in "Mitzrayim."  We are on our journey towards freedom, helped along the way by brilliant doctors and modern medicine.  And, also like our forefathers and mothers, we aren't traveling solo. Moses may have been the leader, but lots of people helped along the way: Miriam lifted everyone's downtrodden spirits after crossing the Red Sea; Joshua helped to defeat Amelak, a thorn in the side of the Jews. Their path to freedom wasn't easy.  Despite moments of fear, skepticism, and struggle, the Jews powered through the desert for 40 years and finally reached the Promised Land together.
 
Our path has also been difficult: there have been high hopes, disappointments, moments of joy and many moments of despair. But our community is helping us power through too, steadfastly accompanying us on this journey to our own Promised Land. Whether it has been an email or text to check in, a gift that made Emmet smile, a card, a visit, or a FaceTime surprise call, we have never felt alone. Here in Boston, we are on our own Freedom Trail which will hopefully end the same way each seder concludes:
 
B'Shanah haba'ah Yerushalayim.  Next year in Jerusalem.
 
While a trip to Israel is always welcome, we have realized a that "Jerusalem"means less of a physical place where we should hold next year's seder than the freedom to live your life the way you wish. The line asks us to examine our lives to find the places where we are enslaved and then to strive for better, to give ourselves the opportunity to live our most free and fulfilling lives. We pray that next year Emmet can reach his own version of Jerusalem....which probably looks a little like Six Flags.  
 
In the meantime, we walk through the desert surrounded by those who lift us up.
 
B'shanah haba'ah Yerushalayim.

 

-----------------------------------------------

After Poway

Following yet another attack on Jews and yet another on a place of worship, we are inconsolable....


We are drowning in a flood of hate.....
But if all rivers flow into the sea (Ecclesiastes 1:7), let the rivers of hate be overwhelmed in a sea of love..."

But the weight of what's happening is so overwhelming, the pain so unbearable...

 

Anti-Semitic acts reported in the US over the first four months of 2019    
 
  
January 1: Beverly Hills police chief accused of anti-Semitism and racism amid $2.3 million settlement (Fox News)
January 1: Two swastikas drawn outside apartment of elderly Jewish woman in Brooklyn (JTA)
January 2: New Orleans chapter quits Women's March and cites anti-Semitism charges against national leadership as one of the reasons (JTA)
January 2: Simon Wiesenthal Center calls for sanctions against Ohio doctor who threatened online to give Jews "wrong meds" (Algemeiner)
January 3: SF Café protested because of Zionist owner is hit with graffiti (The Forward)
January 3: DeKalb, Georgia teacher accused of anti-Semitism a year ago is still employed by the school system (Atlanta Jewish Times)
January 4: Bi-partisan bill reintroduced in Congress to upgrade status of State Department's Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism (Cleveland Jewish News)
January 4: Arizona synagogue vandalized (JTA)
January 5: University of North Carolina Asheville defends decision to invite Mallory as MLK speaker despite antisemitism controversy (Citizens Times)
January 5: Swastika painted on door of Catholic church in Bridgeport draws condemnation of anti-Semitism by local bishop (CTPost)
January 6: Fake bomb with anti-Semitic message left at UC Berkeley (JTA)
January 6: Swastika on Ventura, CA, Reform Synagogue (JTA)
January 7: Michigan synagogue vandalized for the second time in two months (JTA)
January 8: US Jewish groups denounce new Palestinian-American congresswoman for allegedly implying supporters of anti-BDS legislation have dual loyalties (Haaretz)
January 10: Former porn star and convert to Judaism, Jenna Jameson, quits Twitter over anti-Semitic content (Times of Israel)
January 10: Passengers accuse Spirit Airlines of anti-Semitic harassment by crew members (Fox News)
January 10: Local Brooklyn officials denounce anti-Semitic stickers (Greenpoint Post)
January 11: US House passes bill elevating status of anti-Semitism envoy position (Times of Israel)
January 11: Vanderbilt University investigating anti-Semitic vandalism in classroom (WKRN)
January 11: Birmingham Mayor partially retracts his charge that Jews were responsible for the rescinding Angela Davis award (JTA)
January 12: Fairfax, VA police investigating swastika vandalism in local park (Local DVM)
January 13: Jewish man assaulted in Crown Heights and police investigating as a hate crime (Algemeiner)
January 13: Newton police investigating anti-Semitic flyers (Boston Globe)
January 14: Tamika Mallory refuses to criticize Farrakhan's anti-Semitism (JTA)
January 15: Newsweek reporter says that Israel, Mossad, Chabad are among the third rails of American journalism (JTA)
January 15: Democratic National Committee pulls out of sponsoring Women's March over anti-Semitism controversy (USA Today)
January 17: Anti-Semitic literature left in Little Free Library box (Toledo Blade)
January 17: FBI arrests man who wanted to attack White House and blow up a synagogue (JTA)
January 18: DC Police investigate anti-Semitic graffiti outside an auto shop as possible hate crime (WJLA)
January 18: Swastika found inside bathroom in Maryland school (WJLA)
January 18: Minnesota School superintendent promises more Holocaust education after social media post of students with Nazi salutes and references to Hitler (Kare 11)
January 18: Tamika Mallory refuses to state whether Israel has a right to exist (JTA)
January 21: Alexandria Ocasio Cortez says Jewish community must be protected from antisemitism coming from White House (JTA)
January 22: Congresswoman admits to unknowingly using anti-Semitic trope (Haaretz)
January 23:  Republican representatives introduce resolution condemning anti-Semitism and BDS and at the same time singling out two Democratic congresswomen and Louis Farrakhan (Daily Caller)
January 23: Seattle private school teacher is fired for allegedly distributing anti-Semitic letters (770 KTTH)
January 24:  Republican state legislator introduces bill adding working definition of antisemitism language to law on discrimination in state educational system (Forward)
January 25: College professor fired for giving Nazi salute to his colleagues in the days after Pittsburgh shooting (JTA)
January 28: Church members on walk to remember Holocaust are interrupted by a driver shouting anti-Semitic slogans (JTA)
January 30: Los Angeles synagogue defaced with anti-Semitic graffiti (CBS Local)
January 31: Jewish family sues Colorado school district over charges that reporting of anti-Semitic incidents led to retaliation (Denver Post)

"Take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." 
Elie Wiesel

February 1: Two new Muslim-American women elected to Congress are target of GOP attacks and partisan split over what can be considered anti-Semitic remarks (New York Times)
February 1: Dearborn Museum protests firing editor over article covering Henry Ford's anti-Semitism (Detroit News)
February 3: Another Orthodox man in Crown Heights hospitalized from vicious beating (The JC)
February 4: After praising UK's Corbyn, Ocasio-Cortez notes concerns over anti-Semitism (Times of Israel)
February 5: Trump administration appoints new Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, Elan Carr (Jerusalem Post)
February 6: Trump condemns anti-Semitism and calls out Iran for threatening genocide of Jewish people in State of the Union (Times of Israel)
February 6: US Embassy in Cairo closes booth at International Book Fair over anti-Semitic material (Jerusalem Post)
February 6: Bipartisan group of House members introduce legislation to fund Holocaust Education in schools (Times of Israel)
February 7: Daily Caller White House correspondent apologizes for 2012 anti-Semitic tweets (Daily Beast)
February 8: House Minority Leader McCarthy challenges Democratic leadership to denounce alleged anti-Semitism (San Francisco Gate)
February 8: Anti-Semitic flyers found in University of Montana student parking lot (KPAX)
February 10: Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations and Jewish Federations of North America developing hotline for students to report incidents of anti-Semitism on college campuses (Jerusalem Post)
February 10: Congresswoman Omar criticized for associating AIPAC with anti-Semtic trope of Jewish buying political support (Daily Beast)
February 11: Congresswoman Omar criticized by fellow Democrats over anti-Semitic tweet (Haaretz)
February 11: Community forum held after Atlanta area high school defaced with anti-Semitic graffiti (Fox 5)
February 11: Lima, Ohio synagogue reports dozens of bullet holes (JTA)
February 12: Rep. Omar apologizes for anti-Semitic posts (Star Tribune)
February 12: Human Rights Network finds antisemitism more common in Missoula than other parts of Montana (Missoulian)
February 12: Minority Leader, McCarthy rebuffs charges of anti-Semitism in since-deleted attack on Soros, Bloomberg and Steyer (Politico)
February 13: Democratic candidate for open Virginia legislative seat apologizes for anti-Semitic social media posts earlier this decade (Haaretz)
February 13:  Anti-Semitic flyers found at Tufts Hillel (Jewish Journal)
February 15:  NY Mayor calls BDS unacceptable at rally against anti-Semitism (JTA)
February 15: Vice President Pence accuses Iran of Nazi-like anti-Semitism (Reuters)
February 15: Missoula hit with third round of anti-Semitic flyers (NBC Montana)
February 17: Brooklyn Chabad synagogue vandalized during Shabbat meal (Haaretz)
February 18: Trump signs bill which include more money for synagogue security (JTA)
February 19: Ilhan Omar apologizes for twitter remarks to Jewish organizations (JTA)
Februay 19: Farrakhan blames wicked Jews for attempting to break-up the Women's March (JTA)
February 21: Congresswoman Omar Ilhan apologizes to Jewish groups for her tweet and says it is up to the Jewish community to define anti-Semitism (The Hill)
February 21: For fourth time this month anti-Semitic flyers spread in Missoula (Washington Examiner)
February 21: New Special Envoy says President Trump is committed to protecting Jewish community (JTA)
February 21: Sen. Schumer and Sen. Blumenthal on hit list of arrested Coast Guard officer. Blumenthal referred to as "bluemen Jew" (JTA)
February 22: Connecticut State Senate candidate fires his campaign manager after she tweeted an alleged anti-Semitic message about their opponent (WFSB)
February 23: Anti-Semitic graffiti drawn on Queens playground (CBS New York)
February 25: IfNotNow chapter at University of Texas protest IDF speaker at Chabad and argue IDF should not be allowed to speak (JTA)
February 26:  Downtown LA mural raises anti-Semitism concerns (Jewish Journal)
February 26: After incidents United Airlines meets with Orthodox Chamber of Commerce and vows to fight antisemitism (Channel 7)
February 27: Resolution against anti-Semitism passes Stanford University Student Senate after removal of reference to IHRA definition (Stanford Daily)
February 27:  Pittsburgh Presbyterian Seminary conference on racial justice includes anti-Israel presentations and antisemitic tropes (JTA)

Not one of us can rest, be happy, be at home, be at peace with ourselves, until we end hatred and division.  
- John Lewis

March 1: Representative Omar claims she is called anti-Semitic because she is Muslim (Jerusalem Post)
March 1: City University of New York is alleged to have played down issues of anti-Semitism (Jerusalem Post)
March 1: Four years after settling a lawsuit an upstate school district still struggling to counter anti-Semitism (New York Times)
March 1: Representative Omar charged again with anti-Semitism after speaking about the foreign allegiances of supporters of Israel (MPR News)
March 4: Rep. Omar refuses to apologize for foreign allegiance comment and Democrats plan to rebuke her with resolution (Roll Call)
March 4: Rep. Nadler condemns Rep. Jordan for email with dollar sign used for the "S" in Tom Steyer's name (CNBC)
March 5: Newport Beach students build swastika out of red plastic cups and salute it (Washington Post)
March 5: White Alabama teens slur Jews and blacks in video (JTA)
March 5: ADL says white nationalists have upped their activity in neighborhoods and college campuses (JTA)
March 5: Eight staffers fired by US government over Radio/TV Marti broadcast calling George Soros a "multimillionaire Jew" who was the architect of the 2009 recession (JTA)
March 5: Chairman Nadler calls Congressman Jordan's use of "$teyer" as a both an anti-Semitic and an inane attack (Haaretz)
March 5: Democrats delay anti-Semitism resolution to broaden it to include condemnation of other bias as Republicans call for tougher action against Representative Omer (Roll Call)
March 5: Anti-Semitic incidents in Wisconsin on the rise per Jewish Federation of Milwaukee (WISN)
March 6: Chelsea and Boston soccer clubs to play charity match to support "Say No to Anti-Semitism" campaign (Jerusalem Post)
March 6: House Democratic Caucus Chair, Jeffries, calls out Senate Majority Leader, McConnell, for accusing freshman Democrats of anti-Semitism when he never criticizes President Trump for alleged anti-Semitic behavior (The Hill)
March 7: Two swastikas drawn in blood found in Los Angeles park (JTA)
March 7: US House votes to condemn multiple forms of hatred after initial resolution condemning anti-Semitism alone split House Democratic caucus (New York Times)
March 8: Trump says Democratic party is anti-Israel and anti-Jewish (Washington Post)
March 10: Liz Cheney says Democrats are enabling anti-Semitism (The Hill)
March 10: Philadelphia mosque apologizes for antisemitic remarks made by guest imam (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
March 11: Rep. Wasserman Schultz condemns Trump for saying Democrats "hate Jewish people" (South Florida Sun Sentinel)
March 11: Nebraska Governor Ricketts horrified that a former campaign staffer posted anti-Semitic, racist and homophobic material (KETV Omaha)
March 12: Florida legislature bill would define anti-Semitism and prohibit religious discrimination in public schools (Washington Post)
March 13: Sanders spokesman apologizes for dual loyalty comments about American Jewish community (New York Post)
March 13: Swarthmore student government approves boycott Israel resolution (JTA)
March 13: Anti-Semitic graffiti found in Philadelphia subway station (Jewish Exponent)
March 14: Ruth Bader Ginsburg poster defaced with anti-Semitic graffit (Washington Post)
March 15: Pitzer College president says he will ignore faculty vote to end University of Haifa study program (JTA)
March 15: After New Zealand terror attack President Trump says white nationalism is not a widespread threat (Times of Israel)
March 17: Chelsea Clinton told she is responsible for the New Zealand attack by two NYU students because she criticized Rep. Omar (JTA)
Marc 18: Fall River, Massachusetts Jewish Cemetery vandalized with swastikas and other anti-Semitic graffiti (Herald News)
March 19: Little-known presidential candidate, Andrew Yang, campaigns against circumcision (Daily Beast)
March 19: Anti-Semitic flyers found near San Fernando Valley school (Jewish Journal)
March 20: Health food store in Ulster, NY fires employee over anti-Semitic remarks to a Jewish co-worker (JTA)
March 20: Secretary Pompeo decries dark wave of anti-Semitism in Europe and the US (CNN)
March 20: Nazi time capsule assignment sets off charges of anti-Semitism in California high school (ABC7)
March 21: SF State settles anti-Semitism lawsuit (San Francisco Examiner)
March 22: Local highway superintendent accused of anti-Semitic remarks (Hudson Valley One)
March 24: Senate Republicans push bills to react to anti-Semitism and at the same time fracture Democrats on the issue (New York Times)
March 24:  Women's March leader shares posts blaming American Jewish establishment criticisms of Sarsour and Omar as a factor behind Mosque shooting in New Zealand (JTA)
March 24: Brown students pass resolution demanding University divest from Israel (JTA)
March 25: VP Pence at AIPAC says Democratic Party captured by purveyors of anti-Semitism (Times of Israel)
March 25: Pompeo says Labour's record on anti-Semitism is a disgrace (France24) (also see UK)
March 26: Congressman quotes Mein Kampf to attack alleged lies of Trump adversaries (Washington Post)
March 27: Ilhan Omer communications aide claims anti-Semitism is just a right-wing problem (Algemeiner)
March 27: Chabad House in Flagstaff vandalized with swastikas (Algemeiner)
March 27: Democratic speakers at AIPAC decry GOP failure to call out anti-Semitism on the right as well as on the left (Haaretz)
March 28: Facebook and Instagram will ban white nationalist and white supremacist posts (JTA)
March 28: State Department to fund new programs to counter anti-Semitism abroad (Jerusalem Post)
March 28: Anti-Semitic, racist and homophobic graffiti found outside office building housing Oklahoma Democratic party (SF Gate)
March 29: Pitzer College students call for College president to be removed for his decision to refuse to cut ties with Haifa University (Algemeiner)

Thou shall not hate thy brother in thine heart" (Lev. 19:17)


April 1: Fairfax County schools apologizes for showing contest-winning art seen as anti-Semitic (Times of Israel)
April 1: Polish Nationalists protest in NYC against restitution legislation while spreading antisemitic and Holocaust denial messages (see also Poland) (Newsweek)
April 1: Columbia Professor says Zionists are beneficiaries of anti-Semitism and claims Israel carrying out incremental genocide against Palestinians (Jewish Journal)
April 1: Los Angeles youth hockey players and coaches suspended over anti-Semitic video and remarks (Sports Illustrated)
April 2: Jewish groups tracking anti-religious violence as US Justice Department has disbanded group tracking domestic terrorism (JTA)
April 2: Seven liberal Jewish groups join centrist groups in backing new compromise anti-BDS legislation (JTA)
April 2: Anti-Semitic graffiti found in three locations including the Democratic HQ in Norman Oklahoma (New York Times)
April 3: Ohio GOP congressional delegation asks Justice Department to monitor anti-Semitism-something the Department already does (JTA)
April 3: Anti-Semitism charges roil Kingsborough Community College (New York Jewish Week)
April 3: Anti-Semitic flyers found in UC Santa Barbara neighborhood (Jewish Journal)
April 4: Knoxville news anchor makes anti-Semitic slur on air and then apologizes (Knox News)
April 5: Pro-Israel student group decries Columbia Professor comparison of Israel to ISIS (Fox News)
April 6: Trump tells Republican Jews that Democrats are pushing an extreme anti-Semitic agenda (Politico)
April 7: Man in Montana arrested after threatening synagogue and other locations (JTA)
April 8: Former Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, says fighting anti-Semitism is more important than casting blame (Times of Israel)
April 8: Washington state man charged with anti-Semitic bomb plot (The Hill)
April 9: Ilhan Omar calls Stephen Miller a "White Nationalist" and is criticized by GOP critics as anti-Semitic (Washington Post)
April 9: Democratic leader in Florida State Senate takes heat for opposing anti-Semitism bill (Politico)
April 9: Denver school vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti (KDVR)
April 9: ADL finds anti-Semitic posts on two social media platforms associated with the extreme right spike since Trump's elections (The Daily Beast)
April 10: New Mexico café owner faces backlash from alleged anti-Semitic post (KOB)
April 10: Anti-Semitic posters found at University of North Carolina library (News Observer)
April 11: Donald Trump Jr. calls out Rep. Omar and Democratic leadership for supporting anti-Semitism (Newsweek)
April 11: More than twenty religious groups call upon Congress to stop weaponizing anti-Semitism (Cleveland Jewish News)
April 11: Donald Trump Jr. calls out Rep. Omar and Democratic leadership for supporting anti-Semitism (Newsweek)
April 12: Twenty religious groups call for ending the weaponization of anti-Semitism (Times of Israel)
April 13: Orthodox man accuses jailers of anti-Semitic taunts and threats (New York Post)
April 15: Gaza rapper spouts antisemitic comments at conference on Gaza at University of North Carolina (Forbes)
April 15: Trump says Ilhan Omar controls Pelosi (JTA)
April 15: Pelosi makes anti-Semitism on the left the centerpiece of visit to London (JTA)
April 17: Anti-Semitic graffiti found on Vanderbilt University library wall (News Channel 9)
April 17: Pelosi says no taint of anti-Semitism in Democratic party and defends Rep. Omar (JTA)
April 18: NJ school district hit with sixth swastika incident in five months (JTA)
April 20: Anti-Semitic comments at University of California at Berkley sparks backlash from Jewish community (Daily Californian)
April 20: Arkansas university accused of honoring holocaust denier with new scholarship (Times of Israel)
April 21: NYU President skips President's Service Award ceremony, rumored to be due to Students for Justice in Palestine's pick as one of the honorees (JTA)
April 22: Washington state man who had been arrested for posting threats against Jews on Facebook is rearrested after posting more anti-Semitic threats online (JTA)
April 24: Two Alabama legislators compare abortion to the Holocaust in two pieces of legislation (JTA)
April 26: FBI and police investigate twitter threat against NJ Mayor facing backlash over his response to anti-Semitic tweet (NJ.com)
April 26: Pro-Israel students at NYU file a complaint with the US Department of Education over alleged extreme anti-Semitism at the university (Newsweek)
April 26: Southern Indiana councilman apologizes for using the term "Jewed them down" when discussing negotiating a price on a new city truck (Washington Post)
April 26: Jewish student intern at Michigan State Hillel is threatened and police file "ethnic intimidation" charges against 19 year old (Jewish News)
April 26: Trump defends his Charlottesville remarks by praising Robert E. Lee (Times of Israel)
April 27: NY Times apologizes for publishing cartoon in international edition that included antisemitic tropes (The Hill)
April 27: Gunman with assault rifle who opened fire in Chabad Synagogue near San Diego and killed one and wounded three others wrote anti-Semitic manifesto (LA Times)
April 28: In second statement, NYT fully apologizes for anti-Semitic cartoon in international edition (JTA)

Anti-Semitism has no historical, political and certainly no philosophical origins. Anti-Semitism is a disease.
- Daniel Barenboim
--------------------
 
(AP) - Houses of worship around the world, a place of reflection and peace, have been targeted for attack by extremists. Here are some of the deadly assaults over the last decade:
 
Oct. 31, 2010: Al-Qaida in Iraq militants attack Our Lady of Salvation Catholic Church in Baghdad during Sunday night mass, killing 58 people in the deadliest assault targeting Christians since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion there. Al-Qaida in Iraq later became the Islamic State group.
 
Dec. 15, 2010: Two suicide bombers from the Sunni extremist group Jundallah blow themselves up near a mosque in southeastern Iran, including six Revolutionary Guard commanders.
 
July 16, 2010: Jundallah group kills 27 and injures 270 after it carries out a double suicide bombing against another Shiite mosque in southeastern Iran.
 
Aug. 5, 2012: Six members of the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, in Oak Creek, are fatally shot by a white supremacist, Wade Michael Page. Page was shot by a responding officer and later killed himself.
 
Nov. 18, 2014: Two Palestinians using axes, knives and a gun kill four Jewish worshippers and an Israeli police officer in an attack on a Jerusalem synagogue.
 
Jan. 30, 2015: Suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in the Pakistani town of Shikarpur kills 71. Jundullah claims responsibility.
 
March 20, 2015: Islamic State suicide bombers attack a pair of mosques in Yemen's capital, unleashing monstrous blasts that ripped through worshippers and killed 137 people.
 
June 17, 2015: Nine black worshippers including a pastor are killed by Dylann Roof, a 21-year-old white supremacist, after he prayed with them in Charleston, South Carolina. Roof was convicted of federal hate-crime and obstruction-of-religion charges and sentenced to death.
 
Sept. 24, 2015: A suicide bomber strikes a mosque in Yemen's rebel-held capital, killing 25 worshippers during prayers for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.
 
Nov. 12, 2016: Suicide bomber from Islamic State group kills over 50 at the shrine of Shah Noorani, in Pakistan's Baluchistan province.
 
Dec. 11, 2016: Suicide bomber strikes inside a Cairo chapel adjacent to St. Mark's Cathedral, seat of Egypt's ancient Coptic Orthodox Church. The Islamic State group claimed the attack, which killed at least 25 people.
 
Jan. 29, 2017: A gunman killed six men during evening prayers at the Islamic Cultural Centre in Quebec City. Alexandre Bissonnette pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and attempted murder charges and was sentenced to serve 40 years in prison before being eligible for parole.
Feb. 16, 2017: Suicide bomber detonates his explosives vest among the devotees at the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Pakistan's Sindh province, killing 98.
 
April 9, 2017: Twin suicide bombings rock churches in the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria and Tanta, killing at least 45 people. The attack was claimed by the Islamic State group.
 
June 15, 2017: A suicide bomber kills four people at a Shiite mosque in Afghanistan's capital city of Kabul. Among the dead is a leader of Afghanistan's ethnic Hazaras, who are mostly Shiite Muslims.
 
Aug. 1, 2017: A suicide bomber storms into the largest Shiite mosque in Afghanistan's western Herat province, opening fire on worshippers before blowing himself up, killing at least 90 people. Hundreds more were wounded in the attack, which happened during evening prayers.

Aug. 3, 2018: Suicide bombers disguised in burqa robes attack a Shiite mosque in eastern Afghanistan, killing 27 people.
 
Aug. 25, 2017: Militants storm a packed Shiite mosque in Kabul during Friday prayers. The attack ends with at least 28 worshippers killed and 50 wounded, many of them children. Two of the assailants blow themselves up and another two are shot dead by Afghan security forces.
 
Sept. 29, 2017: A suicide bomber blows himself up outside a Shiite mosque in Kabul, killing five. The attack took place as worshippers were leaving the mosque after Friday prayers.
 
Oct. 20, 2017: The Islamic State group claims a suicide bomber attack, killing 31 and wounding 29 people, at a Shiite mosque in Kabul.
 
Nov. 5, 2017: Dressed in black tactical-style gear and armed with an assault weapon, 26-year-old Devin Kelley opened fire at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, killing 26 people and wounding about 20 others.
 
Nov. 24, 2017: Militants kill 311 worshippers in a mosque attack in north Sinai, the deadliest such terrorist attack in Egypt's modern history.
 
Dec. 17, 2017: Islamic State attack on a church in Pakistani city of Quetta kills 16 people.
 
Oct. 27, 2018: A gunman believed to have spewed anti-Semitic slurs and rhetoric on social media entered Tree of Life Congregation synagogue in Pittsburgh and opened fire, killing 11 and wounding six, including four police officers.
 
Jan. 27, 2019: Two suicide attackers detonate two bombs during a Mass in a Roman Catholic cathedral on the largely Muslim island of Jolo in the southern Philippines, killing 23 and wounding about 100 others. Three days later, an attacker hurls a grenade in a mosque in nearby Zamboanga city, killing two religious teachers.
 
March 15, 2019: At least 40 people are killed in an attack at mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch.
 
April 27, 2019: One killed, three wounded in shooting attack at Poway, CA synagogue

A church is burning - Live from NYC 1967 (Simon & Garfunkel)
A church is burning
Live, NYC 1967 (Simon & Garfunkel)

A church is burning
The flames rise higher
Like hands that are praying, aglow in the sky
Like hands that are praying, the fire is saying,
"You can burn down my churches but I shall be free."
Three hooded men through the back roads did creep
Torches in their hands while the village lies asleep
Down to the church where just hours before
Voices were singing and hands were beating
And saying, "I won't be a slave any more."
...A church is more than just timber and stone
And freedom is a dark road when you're walking it alone
But the future is now, and it's time to take a stand
So the lost bells of freedom can ring out in my land.
And a church is burning
The flames rise higher
Like hands that are praying, aglow in the sky
Like hands that are praying, the fire is saying
"You can burn down our churches but I shall be free."
Songwriters: PAUL SIMON
A Church Is Burning lyrics © Paul Simon Music


Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. 
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
St Francis of Assisi

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