The Community Security Trust recorded the third highest annual tally of anti-Semitic abuse despite lockdown Anti-Semitic abuse recorded by a Jewish community charity fell last year but the number of incidents remained its third highest annual total. The Community Security Trust (CST) says it recorded 1,668 anti-Semitic incidents in the UK in 2020, down from 1,813 in 2019, but still the third highest total it has ever recorded. Out of the 1,668, 20 were in Elstree & Borehamwood, and 941 in Greater London, with more in Barnet than any other London borough. A senior Rabbi says the national figures are alarming but added Hertsmere, home to one of the largest Jewish populations in the country, is a wonderful place to be Jewish and thanked the authorities and volunteers helping to keep the community safe.
The red-Starbucks-cup, jingles-in-pharmacies, wrapping-paper-raffle holiday season may have ended on Jan. 1, but for the more than five million Americans of Asian descent who celebrate Lunar New Year, the stretch of holidays isn’t quite over. For many, one of the most important holidays of 2021 falls on Friday, Feb. 12 a coincidence some have termed Lunar New Year Shabbat.
Lunar New Year so called because it marks the first new moon of the East Asian traditional lunisolar calendar is traditionally celebrated in China as a 15-day affair, usually beginning with a family feast on New Year’s Eve and ending with the Lantern Festival, which honors deceased ancestors. Although in the U.S., Lunar New Year is often conflated with “Chinese New Year,” the day is also celebrated in other countries – including Singapore and Vietnam.
Among our many focuses at Lookout has been to tell the stories of everyday people who are overcoming COVID-19’s obstacles and dealing with its tragedies. Now, we’re partnering with Event Santa Cruz to bring some of these stories to life through a virtual gathering.
Our free “People in the Pandemic” event is set for 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 24. Like all of us, our panelists Yoso Wellness Spa owner
Jennalee Dahlen, Santa Cruz County EMS medical director
Dr. David Ghilarducci, comedian and events producer
DNA, Watsonville High School counselor and Hospice of Santa Cruz County board member
Daisy Nuñez, and
Local Rabbis Release Community Guidelines for Purim in New Letter
Last Purim, the world was going into lockdown. In Los Angeles and other Jewish communities around the globe, some shuls canceled Purim celebrations while others stayed open. Later on, we discovered that many holiday parties became superspreader events, leading to people contract COVID-19 and even pass away from the illness.
“Last Purim we were still so clueless about COVID, that although we told people they had the option not to attend Purim services, we did not cancel our Purim carnival kids program on Purim night after Megillah,” said Senior Rabbi of Beverly Hills Synagogue Pini Dunner. “It was only a few days later, when the first stories of serious illness and even deaths began to surface in New York and New Jersey, that we decided to shut our doors and close the shul indefinitely. Even then, we imagined it would only be for a few weeks or perhaps a couple of months. We would never have believed that a year
World Jewish Congress and Jewish Council of the Emirates celebrate first-ever International Day of Human Fraternity 04 Feb 2021 share this on
NEW YORK World Jewish Congress (WJC) President Ronald S. Lauder and Jewish Council of the Emirates (JCE) President Ross Kriel join global leaders in marking the inaugural International Day of Human Fraternity, designated by the United Nations as February 4.
Commenting on the significance of the occasion, WJC President Ronald S. Lauder said, “The International Day of Human Fraternity embodies the hope for the future that lies ahead, where there is more love than hate, more peace than war, more brotherhood and sisterhood than sectarian strife. The Document on Human Fraternity, signed by Pope Francis and Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayeb, under the patronage of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, sounded a courageous call for active coexistence.”