Need to Know for Oct. 9

October 9, 2018 JMORE Staff

Rudy Giuliani in Washington, D.C., May 30, 2018. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Rabbi Fink appeals to synagogue members, Rudy Giuliani retweets Soros ‘anti-Christ’ tweet and more

Rabbi Fink update

In a letter emailed to a large group of supporters over the weekend, Rabbi Steven M. Fink, Temple Oheb Shalom’s spiritual leader for the past 19 years, called on members to vote against removing him from the pulpit at a special Oct. 21 congregational meeting. “I can no longer sit back and allow what is left of my reputation to be destroyed,” Rabbi Fink wrote. “I am writing to you now, against the wishes of the Temple leadership, to urge you to attend this meeting and vote ‘NO.’” On Aug. 22 and Sept. 26, the Pikesville temple’s board of trustees voted unanimously to begin termination proceedings against Rabbi Fink due to allegations of sexual misconduct and ethical violations. The vote came in the wake of an Aug. 20 vote by the Central Conference of American Rabbis’ ethics committee to suspend Rabbi Fink from the rabbinate due to the alleged violations. (The CCAR is the Reform movement’s national rabbinic leadership organization.)

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Senator Joseph Tydings dies

Former U.S. Senator for Maryland Joseph Tydings has passed away, according to Governor Larry Hogan. Gov. Hogan tweeted out Oct. 8, “The First Lady and I are saddened to hear of the passing of Senator Joseph Tydings. In his many years serving Marylanders, Senator Tydings made an undeniable impact on our state’s history and future. Please join us in praying for his family,” according to WJZ-TV. Tydings, an Army veteran, was Democratic member of the United States Senate from 1965 to 1971. He also served in the Maryland House of Delegates and as U.S. Attorney for Maryland.

Rudy Giuliani retweets tweet calling George Soros the ‘anti-Christ’

The “George Soros-is-behind-the-anti-Kavanaugh-protests” theory seems to be gaining steam rather than dying out. On Oct. 6, Rudy Giuliani — former New York City mayor and current lawyer for President Donald Trump — retweeted a tweet calling George Soros the “anti-Christ.” The original tweet also suggested that Soros’ assets should be frozen. Then on Oct. 7, The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by Asra Q. Nomani titled “George Soros’s March on Washington” arguing that “while most demonstrators are not paid for their efforts, the [anti-Kavanaugh] protests at the Capitol Oct. 6, and the ones that have included stalking lawmakers inside and outside their offices, are organized by groups of which Mr. Soros is an important patron.” This all of course follows Trump’s inflammatory tweet from Oct. 5 insinuating that Soros helped pay for the fierce protests in D.C. against Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court on Oct. 6. Trump also called the protesters “#Troublemakers.”

19 swastikas painted on walls of Virginia JCC

Some 19 swastikas were spray painted on the walls of a Jewish Community Center in Virginia. The vandalism was discovered on Oct. 6 at the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia, in Fairfax, Va. Surveillance video shows a man wearing dark clothes spraying the building at about 4:30 a.m., Fairfax police told the Washington Post. “As many of us recognize, these acts do not represent the community around the J or the community in Northern Virginia,” Fairfax JCC Executive Director Jeff Dannick and JCC Board President David Yaffe, said in a statement. “The J as a whole, and particularly through the focused efforts of our Committee for a Just and Caring Community, will continue to participate as a positive force in both the Jewish and wider communities,” they also said. It is the second suspected hate crime against the Fairfax JCC in the last 18 months. In April 2017 “Hitler was right,” swastikas and the SS symbol were found spray-painted on the exterior of the JCC building. A nearby church also was vandalized. Dylan M. Mahone, 20, was arrested and charged with hate-related offenses in the incident. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, said in a tweet showing a photo of the vandalized JCC that “An insidious rise in hateful actions and anti-Semitism is happening in Virginia and across the country. We must meet it with fierce condemnation and an over-abundance of love and unity. We cannot allow hate to fester.”–JTA

Dr. Harriette Wimms: “I feel like this really is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for folks in the Baltimore-Washington area.” (Handout photo)

The Divine Feminine

From Oct. 12-14, a group of scholars, activists and artists will gather at Kol HaLev Synagogue and Church of the Holy Comforter in Lutherville and the Waldorf School of Baltimore for a spiritual workshop, retreat and musical concert. Among the leaders of the three-day gathering – titled “She is the Tree of Life: A Weekend Immersion into the Divine Feminine and Cultivating Joy” — will be Rabbi Jill Hammer, director of spiritual education at the Academy for Jewish Religion in Yonkers, N.Y., and Jewish educator/performer Shoshana Jedwab. Jmore recently spoke with Dr. Harriette E. Wimms, the event’s organizer. A clinical psychologist and adjunct professor at Towson University who lives in Mount Washington, Dr. Wimms is a Chizuk Amuno congregant and self-described “black queer Jew” with more than a decade of experience in social justice and volunteer work.

Read the interview: Weekend Gathering to Explore the Divine Feminine in Judaism

Meet-up, eat-up and drink-up with Jmore at our JBiz networking event on Nov. 7 at Renaissance Fine Arts in Cross Keys. For more information and to get tickets, go to jmoreliving.com/jbizmeetup

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