The Gulf Connection: Jonathan Ferziger gives a barely totally different view of Sam Zell, the Chicago tycoon and philanthropist who died final week at 81, specializing in his ties to the Gulf in an obituary for eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication The Circuit. “Zell made his fortune shopping for and promoting distressed properties, delighted at being often called ‘the grave dancer.’ His 2007 acquisition for $8.2 billion of the Tribune Co. collapsed a yr later when the media large that owned the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Instances filed for chapter. Born to an Orthodox Jewish household that fled Poland months earlier than he was born, Zell was a agency supporter of Israel and likewise developed an in depth relationship with the royal household in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. In a 2007 profile for The New Yorker, author Connie Bruck described how Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, now president of the United Arab Emirates and often called MBZ, was intrigued by the Chicago investor’s love of danger.” [TheCircuit]
Let’s Discuss About Class: Rabbi Rachel Isaacs describes the eye-opening expertise of turning into a rabbi in a small city in Maine and experiencing class variations for the primary time in an op-ed for the Jewish Telegraphic Company. “In Hebrew, the phrase for dignity is kavod and it shares the identical root with kaved, heavy. Dignity is about how a lot leverage we’ve got — in making a world that provides us what we’d like and brings us into areas with the promise of fullness, respect and company. And the inequitable distribution of this kavod is impacting the flexibility of the American Jewish institution to maintain practical, holy communities equitably nationwide. For a lot of small-town rabbis like myself who journey forwards and backwards recurrently between giant cities and our small-town synagogues, the disparity in providers, luxuries and alternatives we witness between city communities and our house shuls is hanging and infrequently painful… These heroic small-town lay leaders work the equal of unpaid, full-time jobs so that each member of their congregation can have a human hand to carry when life will get actual — throughout instances each of transcendent pleasure and deep misery.” [JTA]
One Day Out of 25,993: In The Washington Publish, David Nakamura profiles the Tree of Life Synagogue because the constructing the place the deadliest antisemitic assault in U.S. historical past is because of be renovated simply because the homicide trial towards the shooter opens. “On a latest chilly morning, Rabbi Jeffrey Myers arrived for a remaining prayer service on the website in Squirrel Hill, a longtime Jewish enclave. It was time to say goodbye to a home of worship that had stood for 71 years… Renovations are slated to start quickly to rework the boxy, concrete construction into a contemporary campus with a glass-topped atrium and an 8,000-square-foot museum devoted to the hazards of antisemitism… On the synagogue ceremony, he sought to elevate up the congregants, referring to the seven a long time the constructing had served the group: ‘We can not, we should not, allow someday out of 25,993 days, to outline us, nor outweigh all the great. Not solely do these honored partitions maintain nice tales, however so do all of you assembled right here right now. And nobody can take that away from us.’” [WaPo]
Sharpening the Golden Metropolis: In J. The Jewish Information of Northern California, Might Mirsky studies on a brand new initiative by two native Jewish males to beautify and enhance the struggling metropolis of San Francisco. “San Francisco hasn’t gotten the perfect press not too long ago. From department shops fleeing downtown to a wave of shoplifting, a lot of the information has been bleak. However two Jews with their hearts firmly in San Francisco wish to make the town a extra joyful, constructive place — they usually’ve raised $2 million to make it occur… Their joint endeavor consists of 5 applications that can kick off this summer season — Metropolis Civic Corps, Clear Up the Metropolis, Undertake-A-Block, Summer time of Music and Paint the Metropolis. All of them are designed to enhance metropolis life in particular methods… ‘That is about on a regular basis San Franciscans doing their half, and we’re not ready round any longer. We’re going to do that as residents.’” [J.]
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