Gordis: “Why are so many of us – rabbis, backpackers, politicians, with their recklessness during a pandemic – willing to endanger the extraordinary Jewish life we’ve built here?”

Posted on March 26, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

TIMES OF ISRAEL
‘We will guard and protect you’: Our forgotten promise to Israel
by Daniel Gordis
March 23, 2020

Twenty-something years ago, after a year’s sabbatical in Israel, when we had decided that we were going to stay and make Aliyah, it came time to tell my colleagues in the States. One of them, a committed Zionist, sounded perplexed and said, “You know, Israel’s about to go into a recession.” Of all their responses, that’s the only one that I still recall, because it struck me as so utterly absurd. Israel was actually not about to go into a recession, but that was the least of it. What left me speechless was the implication that people move to Israel because Israel should serve them. READ MORE

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A way for Highland Parkers to pitch in

Posted on March 26, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

As all kinds of businesses across America struggle with our new normal (for now anyway) many of us are looking for ways to help. Here’s an idea for my community of Highland Parkers. The list below contains links to many of Highland Park’s locally-owned restaurants. We want them to be around when our present situation resolves. In the meantime, consider taking out food and purchasing gift cards that you can use down the road. 

Abigail’s Bistro
Arrivadolce Gelato & Coffee Bar
Backyard Grill
Baker Boys
Beelows
Bella Via Ristorante
BBQ Pit
Bluegrass
Breadsmith
Cafe Dacha
Chez Benoit Bistro
Coffee Speaks
Country Kitchen
Goodies Etc
Happi Sushi
Highland Pop
Hot Tamales
Jade Cafe
La Casa de Isaac & Moishe
Little Szechwan
Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria
Love’s Highland Park
Max’s Deli
Michael’s Grill & Salad Bar
New York Slices
Norton’s
Once Upon A Bagel
Panera Bread
Phoenicia
Potbelly Sandwich Works
Piero’s Pizza
Ravinia Brewing Co.
Ruby of Siam
Salt Creek Tacos
Shaevitz Kosher Market
Sushi Badaya
Sushi Kushi Too
Sweet Home Gelato
That Little French Guy
True Juice
Vin Chicago
Walker Brothers
Yummy Bowl

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“If not for the cruel, heartless actions of the Iranian regime, ex-FBI agent Robert Levinson would be alive and home with us today”

Posted on March 22, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

JERUSALEM POST
American Robert Levinson, held by Iran, believed to be dead
by Seth J. Frantzman
March 26, 2020

Robert Levinson, an American illegally held by the Iranian regime, is believed to have died, his family wrote in a statement posted Wednesday afternoon. “We received received information from US officials that has led both them and us to conclude that our wonderful husband and father died while in Iranian custody.” His death is not believed to be connected to coronavirus, which has spread in Iran. It apparently took place before the virus threat there in February. “It is impossible to describe our pain. Our family will spend the rest of our lives without the most amazing man we have ever known,” wrote the family in the heart-wrenching letter. READ MORE

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“Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz tells German daily “Bild” that it was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that shook him out of his complacency, urging him to “do something” to contain the epidemic”

Posted on March 22, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

JNS
Austrian leader ‘thanks God’ for Netanyahu’s advice on coronavirus
by Netta Bar
March 22, 2020

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday during an interview with the German newspaper Bild, saying it was the Israeli leader that had called his attention to the dangers of what would go on to become the global coronavirus pandemic. There was great concern in Austria, said Kurz, because the nation shared a border with Italy and had witnessed the “collapse” of Italy’s health-care system. The Austrian chancellor said he “thanked God” for a conversation he had with Netanyahu, in which the Israeli leader warned him that he was not taking seriously enough the effect that coronavirus would have on Europe, and urged him to “wake up and do something.” READ MORE

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“Netanyahu called the decision to entrust the work of the committee to representatives of the Joint Arab List a “disgrace”

Posted on March 22, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

ISRAEL HAYOM (by agreement with JNS)
Arab List now heading committee that handles victims of terror
by Zeev Klein , Gideon Allon , Daniel Siryoti , Danielle Roth-Avneri
March 25, 2020

The Joint Arab List has been assigned the temporary Knesset Labor, Welfare, and Health Committee – a committee whose responsibilities include a number of security-related matters having to do with the treatment of wounded Israel Defense Forces veterans and victims of terrorism. In recent years, the committee – in its permanent configuration – has overseen the regulation of compensation for wounded IDF soldiers and veterans; as well as medical and income benefits for IDF soldiers, members of the Israel Police, and the Israeli Prison Service. READ MORE

TIMES OF ISRAEL In bombshell, Yuli Edelstein resigns to avoid calling vote on new speaker Likud MK quits rather than adhere to High Court order to hold vote on his replacement, says justices ‘undermining democracy’; move means vote on new speaker delayed to next week

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Brooklyn: “At funerals, people no longer shoveling dirt on their loved one’s casket—no one, including the gravediggers, were allowed to touch the shovels”

Posted on March 22, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

TABLET MAG
America’s Largest Population of Holocaust Survivors Is Endangered by the Coronavirus as Crown Heights and Borough Park Shut Down
by Armin Rosen
March 24, 2020

…Closing a synagogue is no small matter—even in the darkest moments of World War II it was sometimes still possible to find a minyan. Dovid said that locals got over their resistance as soon as they began receiving WhatsApp messages asking them to recite tehilim for COVID-19 patients they personally knew. “This got real very quickly,” he said. “There’s nobody serious saying no, we need to keep the shuls open.” If anything, Chabad Hasidim were looking for precedents that would justify such an extreme step. On WhatsApp, some were recalling Menachem Mendel of Horodok, who recorded the closure of shuls during a plague in Tiberias in the 1700s. READ MORE

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“A further glance at the signatories reveals that at least 20 are socialists, reflecting their parties’ frequent significant incitement against Israel and sympathy for the repressive, corrupt, anti-democratic, and murderous Palestinian leadership”

Posted on March 22, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

BEGIN-SADAT CENTER FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES
50 European Political Has-Beens Oppose Trump’s Peace Plan
by Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld
March 23, 2020

Fifty former senior European politicians have published a letter against the Trump peace plan in the Guardian. Many signatories can be characterized as veteran anti-Israeli inciters. Some can even be labeled antisemites. All have held positions in countries where antisemitism is endemic. In 2019, even before the Trump plan was published, a similar letter was published by former EU officials…Many of the signatories can be characterized as veteran anti-Israel inciters. If one applies the most common definition of antisemitism, that of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, some can even be labeled antisemites. All the signatories have held positions in countries where antisemitism is endemic. READ MORE

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“Employment Service says new applications slowing after ebbing of initial wave of layoffs in travel, service industries, but more expected as pandemic affects other industries”

Posted on March 22, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

TIMES OF ISRAEL
Israel’s jobless rate surges to 16.5% as virus puts 500,000 out of work
by Staff
March 22, 2020

The unemployment rate in Israel has skyrocketed to 16.5 percent, with over 500,000 people losing their jobs since the start of March, the Employment Service said Sunday. The unemployment rate was 3.6% in the fourth quarter of last year, according to the Bank of Israel. Many Israeli businesses have been forced to put their staffs on unpaid leave or lay people off as regulations closing borders and restricting movement have obliterated tourism and service industries, leading to thousands of people per day applying for unemployment benefits. READ MORE

JPOST ‘1 mil. Israelis with coronavirus is conservative,’ disease expert says Infectious disease specialist says percentage of Israelis infected with coronavirus is growing

ARUTZ SHEVA Why Israel’s corona crisis is spinning out of control Israel’s healthcare system is underfunded, understaffed, and lagging behind in crucial areas.

ISRAEL HAYOM Gov’t exploring voiced-based corona testing technology Defense Ministry seeks to develop new methods to test for the coronavirus – including a voice-recognition app that might be able to facilitate home-diagnosis of initial symptoms.

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Soros: “For defending themselves, the Jews are getting what they deserve”

Posted on March 22, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

AMERICAN THINKER
Soros’ Anti-Israel Funding
by Rachel Ehrenfeld
March 22, 2020

George Soros seems to have developed a special dislike of the State of Israel. He has rewritten Middle Eastern history to better jibe with his idea of the “poignant and difficult case” of “victims turning perpetrators.” Soros, much like the virulent anti-Semitic graphic daily propaganda in Arab, Palestinian, and Iranian newspapers, has been comparing Israel’s self-defense against repeated attempts of annihilation by Islamist/Arab terrorists to Nazi atrocities. The successful defense against terrorism, especially preemptive actions, is never appropriate in Soros’ book. READ MORE

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“The failure of the Chinese Communist Party to protect the world from COVID-19 is likely to reverse China’s recent gains in power and prestige”

Posted on March 22, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

THE AMERICAN INTEREST
The Geopolitics of the Coronavirus
by Michael Mandelbaum
March 24, 2020

Throughout history, great wars have overturned the international order, making and breaking entire countries and their political systems while increasing the power and status of some and reducing those of others. Modern weaponry has become far too powerful to permit conflicts on the scale, for example, of the two world wars of the last century, but in this century a variant has appeared: global crises. The one that began in 2008, with the near-meltdown of the American financial system leading to the deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression, boosted the confidence, increased the aggressiveness, enhanced the international stature, and generally accelerated the rise of China. The present crisis, the direct result of the coronavirus pandemic that began in China, could reverse those gains. READ MORE

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