Those we lost in 2020: Remembering the rabbis, pioneers and innovators
Merlijn Doomernik
Meijer and Tedje van der Sluis during the filming of a 2018 documentary film about their marriage. Tedje died April 11, 2020, of the coronavirus.
(JTA) - There s no way to tally all those we lost in 2020, a year when we mourned even our ability to carry out time-tested rituals of grief.
Among those who died this year were some of the Jewish world s most famous and influential pillars in a range of industries, realms of thought and areas of activism - from the pioneer jurist Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the moral thought leader Rabbi Jonathan Sacks to the Modern Orthodox rabbi Norman Lamm to the influential LGBTQ activist Larry Kramer.
A monster of our making: Rabbi Efrem Goldberg calls for a new approach to shıdduchim
Photos: Coco Productions
It’s a time-honored part of the shidduch process to investigate a prospect’s personality, family background, and history before meeting in person.
But over the years, the “information gathering” has taken new, disturbing proportions. Attempts to clarify relevant information have morphed into efforts to hunt down the slightest flaw or blemish. And along the way, we’ve transformed the shidduch process from a journey of discovery to a skewed funhouse mirror that denies one side’s shortcomings or struggles while magnifying those of others to grotesque proportions.
The 5 Towns Jewish Times
December 28, 2020
(JTA) There’s no way to tally all whom we lost in 2020, a year when we mourned even our ability to carry out time-tested rituals of grief.
Among those who died this year were some of the Jewish world’s most famous and influential pillars in a range of industries, realms of thought and areas of activism from pioneer jurist Ruth Bader Ginsburg to moral thought leader Rabbi Jonathan Sacks to Orthodox rabbi Norman Lamm to influential LGBTQ activist Larry Kramer.
But many of the people whose deaths tell the story of 2020 were not widely known, except among the people who loved them and the communities they enriched.
8 Memorable Jewish Quotes from 2020
Select quotes from a tumultuous year.
2020 was filled with anguish, misery and loss – and also with moments of giving and hope. Here are eight Jewish quotes from this tumultuous year.
On Reaching Out and Helping Others
With the pandemic upending life for millions of people, communities came together like never before to help and support one another. In Pikesville, Maryland – as in countless other Jewish communities around the world – Jews organized community programs to shop for those who were sheltering in place and could not go into stores. Rabbi Shmuel Silber, leader of Congregation Toras Chaim in Pikesville, Maryland, summed up his community’s ethos:
Those we lost in 2020: Remembering the rabbis, pioneers, innovators and family members December 28, 2020 11:46 am Clockwise from top left: Rabbi Dovid Feinstein, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Kirk Douglas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Catie Lazarus. (Getty Images; photo design by Grace Yagel)
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(JTA) There’s no way to tally all whom we lost in 2020, a year when we mourned even our ability to carry out time-tested rituals of grief.
Among those who died this year were some of the Jewish world’s most famous and influential pillars in a range of industries, realms of thought and areas of activism from the pioneer jurist Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the moral thought leader Rabbi Jonathan Sacks to the Modern Orthodox rabbi Norman Lamm to the influential LGBTQ activist Larry Kramer.