Posted: 27 Jan 2021 12:21 PM PST

When Joan Silber was president of Aish HaTorah in the late '90s, the Orthodox Jewish educational organization was working to convert the former Chesterfield Firehouse into a center for Jewish learning.

But the group needed to raise a significant amount of money to pay for the project, which was expected to cost $760,000.

So Rabbi Elazar Grunberger, who led Aish at the time, sought help from a local Jewish woman known for her development skills: Elynor Flegel.

"Elynor, being the wonderful, giving person she always was, just said, 'Sure,' " recalls Silber of the successful project. "She came in and gave us a lot of advice and assistance for our approach to fundraising."

Nevermind that Mrs. Flegel was not an active participant at Aish or that development was what she also did professionally at Webster University. She still donated her time.

"Elynor just jumped in in any way she could to help anybody," said Silber.

Her expertise in fundraising and desire to help others became a known commodity for Jewish and non-Jewish nonprofits and played a pivotal role in developing a number of programs that became mainstays of the St. Louis Jewish community, according to volunteers and Jewish professionals.

Mrs. Flegel died Jan. 18 at age 79 from a rare form of Parkinson's disease.

"It was hard for her to see the underdog, and I think what drove her was trying to help people have an equal playing field," said Lauren Sagel, Mrs. Flegel's daughter.

Mrs. Flegel met her husband, Leslie, at a Jewish Federation of St. Louis singles event in 1960. Sagel recalls that the family would celebrate Shabbat each week with Friday night dinners.

"She was not particularly religious, but I think the connection to the community meant a lot to her from growing up in U. City," said Sagel. "The cultural part of Judaism was important to her. Her family was important to her, and I think she wanted to give us a strong base and the community a strong base."

That desire drove her to serve on the board of what is now the St. Louis Jewish Community Center, where she became the organization's first Cultural Arts chair and a founder of the Jewish Book Festival in 1979, the Light reported. Mrs. Flegel's particular contribution was in launching the festival's annual book sale, said Zelda Sparks, director of arts and culture at the JCC.

"I just think she had a good eye for the way things should look, what would be appealing," said Sparks. "She was really a mover and a shaker at that time and was very active at the J in the cultural arts as a whole."

Mrs. Flegel also contributed to Jewish programs to help the underserved. As a volunteer with National Council of Jewish Women – St. Louis, Mrs. Flegel worked on the Victim Service Council, an initiative to help the victims of crime and abuse.

"Finding solutions to a variety of human problems is not easy, but volunteers such as Elynor Flegel have been able to claim some accomplishments," the Light reported in 1978. "When one victim, a paraplegic as a result of a gunshot wound, was discharged from the hospital with only a mattress to sleep on, Mrs. Flegel combed community resources until she found a suitable bed, then called her own mover and convinced him to deliver and assemble it."

In 1990, Mrs. Flegel chaired a committee for a rally to help in the fundraising for the resettlement of Jews fleeing the Soviet Union for the United States. She also served as vice president of NCJW and as chairwoman of the J's Family Program and Group Services Department.

Fred Steinbach served with Mrs. Flegel on the board of what is now called Jewish Family Services and watched her stewardship of the WINGS program, a partnership with the National Alliance on Mental Illness St. Louis (which Mrs. Flegel also served as president of) to help adults struggling with mental illness and their families. That cause was particularly important to Mrs. Flegel because her brother Randy was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

When WINGS was struggling because of lack of funding and participation, it was a "very trying time" for Mrs. Flegel, Steinbach recalls. But her "passion and time investment in keeping it alive" for a little while longer "were consequential," Steinbach said.

"She was passionate about the causes in which she was involved, and she was very thorough in preparing to talk to donors," Steinbach added.

Amy Rome, the founder of the Rome Group, a consulting firm that assists nonprofits with development, met Mrs. Flegel in the early '80s while the two were participating in the first class of the Coro Women in Leadership program, which aims to help women develop leadership skills. Rome described Mrs. Flegel as her mentor in learning how to approach development.

She was an effective fundraiser because of "her ability to communicate and really her belief in what she was doing. Raising money is about building relationships, but you have to be genuine in terms of whatever it is you are raising money for, and anything she worked on, she was committed to 150 percent," Rome said.

Sagel also thinks that her mom surprised some people.

"She really didn't have to do all of this. She was very pretty; she was very social. And in that time, people were not expecting Jewish women to be doing fundraising, so I think people were impressed and in awe of it," Sagel said.

Even when her health declined because of the Parkinson's disease, Silber recalls, "It never stopped her spirit from moving forward and her optimism for the next day."

Mrs. Flegel is survived by her husband, S. Leslie Flegel, and her children Jason Flegel, Mark Flegel and Lauren Sagel; brother Craig Keyser; and grandchildren Dylan and Brooke Flegel and Graham and Alexa Sagel.

Andrew Yang got it right on BDS - JNS.org

Posted: 31 Jan 2021 04:51 AM PST

(January 31, 2021 / Jewish Journal) We're used to politicians mangling history, whether out of carelessness or partisanship. So it was a breath of fresh air when New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Yang recently shared a powerful historical truth about people who boycott Jews.

Yang has been pilloried by supporters of the BDS movement. But he got it right. "A Yang administration will push back against the BDS movement, which singles out Israel for unfair economic punishment," he wrote in The Forward.

And then came his most controversial—but most important—sentence: "BDS [is] rooted in anti-Semitic thought and history, hearkening back to fascist boycotts of Jewish businesses."

The best known "fascist boycott" against Jews was waged by the government of Nazi Germany, beginning with a one-day nationwide action, on April 1, 1933, shortly after Hitler's rise to power. Throughout the Reich on that day, stormtroopers were stationed at entrances to Jewish stores and offices, and above the doors, they posted a yellow circle—the medieval symbol associating Jews with gold and prostitution. The boycott was intended to demonstrate that the Nazis could readily threaten Jews' economic survival. In subsequent years, the Nazis avidly enforced local boycotts of Jewish-owned businesses across Germany.

Elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe during the same period, anti-Semitic political parties and grassroots movements promoted anti-Jewish boycotts, although generally, they were local initiatives, lacking the imprimatur of government approval. A notable exception was Poland, where, beginning in 1936, Prime Minister Felicjan Skladkowski openly endorsed "economic struggle" against Polish Jews.

Here in the United States, the pro-Nazi German American Bund and the neo-fascist Christian Front organized and aggressively promoted boycotts of Jewish stores. The Friends of the New Germany, from which the Bund evolved, originated the boycott in 1934, establishing a German-American Business League to promote and police it.

In the heavily German American neighborhood of Yorkville, in Upper Manhattan, Jewish businesses "are boycotted quite as thoroughly as in Germany," the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that spring. A Jewish bookseller told the JTA his sales "have fallen off almost one hundred percent." Previously, his business was so successful that there were "frequent robberies." But now, "not even the burglars come anymore."

To intimidate non-Jewish shopkeepers, those who failed to pledge loyalty to the boycott had their front window "marked with large swastikas"; in many cases, "the Hitlerite insignia has been cut into the bay windows of the stores, apparently with a diamond."

Over the next several years, in New York and Boston, the Christian Front, organized by followers of the anti-Semitic Catholic priest Charles Coughlin, distributed guides for shoppers identifying stores not owned by Jews. These guides carried the statement that "Christ Himself" sponsored the anti-Jewish boycott. The Christian Front posted fliers featuring Nazi-style anti-Semitic imagery in subway stations and on shop windows and buildings, urging passersby to boycott Jewish stores and to "Buy Christian." These fliers included genocidal threats, such as "Destroy the Jews!" and "Kill the kike vermin!—Wake up Christians!"

As in Germany, the boycott and the circulation of anti-Semitic propaganda precipitated frequent violent attacks on Jews in the streets and parks of Boston and New York, on Jewish homes and stores, and the desecration of Jewish cemeteries. Commentators referred to these attacks as "mini-pogroms." They reached a peak during World War II but continued for several years after the end of the war.

Obviously, there are many differences between the anti-Jewish boycotts of the 1930s and the BDS campaigns of our own time. Yet we dare not ignore the parallels.

Today's BDS advocates heatedly deny that they are fascists or anti-Semites. They claim they are "only" boycotting Israelis, not Jews. Likewise, advocates of "partial" BDS say they are boycotting "only" Israeli settlers, not residents of Israeli towns within the pre-1967 areas.

If that were true, the BDS movement would boycott Israeli Arabs as well as Israeli Jews. And the "partial boycotters" would target Israeli Arab residents of communities beyond the pre-1967 lines. They would also refrain from boycotting foreign-born Jewish "settlers" who are not Israeli citizens.

Have you ever heard of BDS activists boycotting Israeli Arabs in general, or Israeli Arab residents of settlements, or exempting non-Israeli settlers? We haven't. The reason is simple: They are targeting Jews. And that makes their actions uncomfortably similar to the behavior of the fascists to whom Andrew Yang referred.

Stephen H. Norwood is a professor of history and Judaic studies at the University of Oklahoma; his latest book is "Prologue to Annihilation: Ordinary American and British Jews Challenge the Third Reich."

Rafael Medoff is founding director of The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies; his most recent book is "The Jews Should Keep Quiet: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, and the Holocaust."

This article was first published by the Jewish Journal.

Rabbis hail vaccine for COVID-19, encourage its use - Jewish News of Greater Phoenix

Posted: 08 Jan 2021 12:00 AM PST

For Rabbi Reuven Mann, the question of whether to get vaccinated against COVID-19 has a simple answer: "Everyone must get the vaccine as this will protect him and the people he comes in contact with."

Mann, the founder of Congregation Torat Emet in Phoenix, has been in Israel since the COVID-19 pandemic began. He and his wife received the first injection of the Pfizer vaccine at the end of December.

"According to Judaism one must do everything possible to protect one's life and insure one's health," he said, via email. "We must be grateful to G-d for enabling us to obtain this life-saving treatment as well as to the scientific community that was involved in producing this remedy."

As the U.S. government launched the largest vaccine distribution program in the country's history, most rabbis seem united in support of the rollout to battle the coronavirus pandemic, and stress that vaccination is consistent with Judaism's highest value: preserving life.

Two Orthodox rabbinical bodies, the Orthodox Union and the Rabbinical Council of America, issued a joint statement that there's a Torah obligation to receive the vaccine as soon as it's available.

The vaccines can even be viewed in light of the recent Torah portion about Joseph and his brothers and "the paradox of God's omnipotent involvement in human affairs versus the necessity and reality of human effort, action and achievement," according to Rabbi Yisroel Isaacs, leader of Beth Joseph Congregation and member of the Orthodox Rabbinical Council of Greater Phoenix, via email.

The vaccine is a combination of human skill and talent and God's blessing, he said.

"Protecting oneself is a mitzvah; protecting one's community is a mitzvah. Vaccines allow us to do both," agreed Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz, the president and dean of Valley Beit Midrash, via email. "One should recite two blessings of gratitude at the first vaccination shot — shehechiyanu and ha'tov v'ha'meitiv; and one at the second vaccination shot — gomel."

Other rabbis echoed Yanklowitz's point about preserving and protecting life — both that of the individual and of others.

"You can overturn virtually every law in the Torah to save life, and there's no question that vaccination is overwhelmingly life-saving," said Danny Schiff, a Reform rabbi and foundation scholar at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. "Vaccination does two things — it preserves your life and others. Judaism wants to preserve the well-being of the individual, and the idea is we also have a responsibility to each other."

Rabbi Mindie Snyder, rabbi and chaplain for Sun Health Communities, emphasized the point as well. Rabbinically, she said, vaccinations are important in that they protect life.

"This is a very big deal," she said. "We understand whoever saves one life is considered as if they saved an entire world."

There is less agreement on prioritization and making the vaccine mandatory.

Rabbi Jeremy Schneider believes it should be mandatory. Schneider, spiritual leader of Temple Kol Ami and past president of the Greater Phoenix Board of Rabbis, pointed out that despite his personal belief, individuals have the power to decide whether they will take the vaccine.

"My job is to teach the moral and Jewish position on the science," Schneider said, via email. The government and other institutions have the power of enforcement, and he leaves the ultimate responsibility to them. However, he plans to set a personal example for his congregants by taking the vaccine when he is able.

"But I must also take the time to listen, with empathy and real concern, to those who resist that obligation."

Several praised the decision to prioritize the vaccination of essential workers in health care, agriculture, education, law enforcement, transportation, firefighting, food distribution and sanitation.

"Both the government's guidelines and Jewish law as I interpret it would have us save as many lives as possible," said Rabbi Elliot Dorff, professor of philosophy at American Jewish University in Los Angeles. "I presume … non-health-care essential workers will get the vaccine before the elderly and those with medical conditions because people who stock grocery shelves and do other essential things to enable us to live need to be protected to do their jobs in the name of the communal good. … People can die of starvation as much as from COVID-19."

From both a "purely ethical" and utilitarian perspective, "you vaccinate most the vulnerable first — the elderly in nursing homes," said Rabbi David Wolpe, the religious leader of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, a Conservative synagogue. Wolpe can see the argument, too, for prioritizing "front-line workers who are forced out of their homes day after day."

In Isaacs' view, because the vaccine belongs to the federal government, they are the correct arbiter of how it should be distributed as long as "the criteria are fair and not discriminatory."

He shied away, however, from a personal recommendation. "Rabbis taking positions on medical issues — or physicians taking positions on rabbinic issues — is like mixing milchigs with fleishigs — dairy with meat," he said.

Rabbi Mark Wildes, the founder of Manhattan Jewish Experience who works with Jewish singles in their 20s and 30s in New York, thinks that younger Americans will respond positively to opportunities to get the vaccine.

Rabbi Jordan Brumer agreed. Brumer, the director of Jewish Arizonans on Campus, is excited about the possibility of the vaccine bringing an end to the pandemic as well as the hope it brings to the college students he works with. "We are encouraging all of our students to receive the vaccine at the first possible opportunity," he said, via email.

In addition to caring about older people and wanting "to do the right thing," said Wildes, the young people with whom he works "want to go to work, to play sports, to date, to socialize, and if the vaccine is going to allow that, they are going to be flocking to it."

As the COVID-19 vaccine rollout begins, authorities hope that enough Americans will take the vaccines to achieve herd immunity. While the exact threshold is unknown, experts estimate that between 75% and 85% of Americans will need to be vaccinated for that to be achieved.

By some recent polls, as high a proportion as half of all Americans said they have reservations about taking the vaccine, and more than one poll reported conflicted views about sectors of the Jewish public agreeing to get the vaccine, both in America and Israel.

Some Orthodox health professionals and communal leaders worry that a vocal minority of their community won't heed their guidance. They point to skepticism regarding the vaccine in the overall population because of anti-vaccine sentiments, as well as nervousness with the speed at which the vaccines were developed and the politicization of the virus.

Isaacs agreed, saying he has very little direct contact with what he terms "a small but highly vocal group or fringe group in the Orthodox community that is opposed to vaccines in general and this vaccine in particular." He noted, however, that its views on the vaccine are from an adoption of a general anti-vaxxer platform "rather than one based on Jewish tradition."

Mann is more concerned that people may let their guard down and stop wearing masks because the vaccine makes them feel the danger is past. But although "this has been a long season of suffering for many people due the devastation wrought by this pandemic," he hopes people will stay vigilent.

Still, he's focused on the "light at the end of the tunnel" the vaccines bring after nearly a year of darkness and disease.

"Let us hope that with mass immunizations the dark clouds which hover above us will soon dissipate and we will emerge as a more wise and compassionate society." JN

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Elynor Flegel, 79, prolific fundraiser for charitable causes in St. Louis - St. Louis Jewish Light

Elynor Flegel, 79, prolific fundraiser for charitable causes in St. Louis - St. Louis Jewish Light

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