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ABC News
42 minutes ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Jewish activists accused of eroding centuries of tradition at Jerusalem's holiest sites
It was just after 7:30am, before the hot summer sun started beating down on Jerusalem, when Yehuda Glick arrived in the Old City. The right-wing rabbi and former politician brimmed with excitement and enthusiasm. He walked through security checkpoints and climbed the wooden and metal ramp leading to one of Jerusalem's holiest sites, shaking hands with Israeli police as he went on his way. "Watch this," he told the ABC, before leaning over the edge of the bridge and yelling at Jews praying at the Western Wall below. "Stop worshipping the Golden Calf," he bellowed, invoking the biblical story of the Israelites idolising a false god, suggesting they should not pray there. "Come and pray on Zion." Yehuda Glick wanted them to join him as he walked into the Temple Mount, which is referred to by Muslims as the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Jews over the centuries have avoided visiting the area on the south-eastern corner of Jerusalem's Old City, because of the ruling of rabbis that has forbidden approaching what is considered the site of the Holy of Holies. Not Mr Glick. He has spent decades pushing to overturn rules about entering the site. "You see how big this place is — it's the size of 20 football stadiums," Mr Glick said. "It's extremely big and there's enough room for everybody." And he is getting his way. "I feel like 2,000 years of Jews on my shoulders who were longing for the privilege, for the honour of standing here," Mr Glick said. With nationalist fervour in Israel growing in the wake of the war in Gaza, and right-wing politicians within the Netanyahu government aggressively pushing a Messianic agenda, people like Yehuda Glick are gaining freedoms on the Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa compound in ways never seen before. It is an extremely provocative move for the Muslim population, and has fuelled accusations that decades-old agreements have been undermined. Palestinian authorities say more than 33,000 Jewish extremists have "invaded" the site since the beginning of 2025. Called the Temple Mount by Jews and Christians and referred to by Muslims as the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, it is an important holy site for the world's three Abrahamic religions. Jews believe it is the location of two temples — the second of which was destroyed almost 2,000 years ago by the Romans. The temple's Western Wall is considered to be all that remains, and is one of the most significant places of prayer for Jewish people. Christians believe it is the site where Jesus Christ regularly visited and taught. For Muslims, this is where the Prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven, after his night journey from Mecca. At the centre of the Al-Aqsa compound, on the spot where Muslims believe the Prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven, sits the Dome of the Rock. The restrictions on worship at the Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa compound were enshrined in the 1994 peace treaty between Israel and Jordan. In the bilateral agreement that ended the war between the two countries, it said that even though non-Muslims were entitled to visit the site, the right to pray was reserved for Muslims only. The precinct is administered by the Jerusalem Waqf — an organisation appointed and funded by the Jordanian government and King, which managed the site before and after Israel captured the Old City and East Jerusalem in the 1967 war. Since the occupation of East Jerusalem, security of the site has been controlled by Israeli authorities, with police posted at each entrance to the precinct and restricting access to the venue. But the Muslim authorities are concerned about an encroachment that will lead to the division of the site ahead of a full Jewish takeover. "It's a mosque for Muslim prayers only … and not for sharing," a spokesman for the Jerusalem Waqf, Muhammad Al-Ashab, told the ABC. He said the situation had been deteriorating over the past two decades, but there had been a marked change in recent months. Much of that has been driven by Israel's controversial far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, who has oversight of the police. Under his watch, restrictions on Jewish worship at the Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa Mosque compound have been relaxed. "This is, of course, against the normal situation or the status quo since 1967, that the Israeli government itself accepted when Jerusalem city and the Al-Aqsa Mosque was occupied," Mr Al-Ashab said. Until 2000, non-Muslims, including Jews, could only visit the holy site by purchasing a ticket from the Waqf. All that changed following the provocative visit of then-Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon, surrounded by hundreds of Israeli security personnel — a move that sparked an outburst of violence known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada. Since then, the Muslim authorities have lost, to their dismay, control over the entrance of non-Muslims. They describe the unwanted and uncoordinated visits of Jewish activists as "break-ins" and "raids" accompanied by Israeli police. "We consider incursion into the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque to be a change to the historical and legal situation, the status quo that has existed for a long time," Mr Al-Ashab said. Israeli authorities have also banned some Waqf staff from entering the compound for months at a time, taking issue with their actions within the site. Just last week, the grand mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine, Muhammad Hussein, was detained by Israeli forces and banned from accessing the compound. "[The order] says that my presence in the Al-Aqsa Mosque poses a security threat to the public in the Al-Aqsa Mosque," he said. "This, of course, I reject categorically. "It is illegal for the occupying force to expel the local population … from where they pray or live. This is contrary to humanitarian and international law." The Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa Mosque compound has long been a flashpoint in the relationship between Palestinians and Israelis. Just one example is the fortnight of fighting in 2021 after Israeli police stormed the compound. Tear gas, stun grenades and rubber-coated bullets were fired after Israeli authorities accused Palestinians of throwing rocks. In response, Hamas in Gaza fired rockets into Israel, prompting retaliatory strikes in the occupied territory. In the end, 13 Israelis and 260 Palestinians were killed. Mr Glick survived an assassination attempt in 2014, which he said was prompted by his campaigning. "A gentleman came over to me, said to me: 'You're an enemy of Al-Aqsa'," Mr Glick said. "And he point-blank shot four bullets to the centre of my heart." Israeli police accused Mutaz Hijazi, a Palestinian man who had been a former prisoner and an alleged member of Islamic Jihad, of the attack. Hijazi was shot dead by police, who claimed he opened fire on them when they tried to arrest him at his Jerusalem home — something his family reportedly denied. In the past, hard-line Jews have been arrested for harassing and attacking Muslim worshippers near the compound, while Palestinians have also been arrested in clashes with Jews in the area. When the "status quo" was being enforced, Jews could be detained for mouthing the words of prayers inside the precinct, and prayer cloaks and texts were banned. Religious items remain prohibited, although the ABC saw one man draped in a shawl in the precinct. When the ABC followed Mr Glick to the site, it was clear to see that the situation had changed dramatically — all under the watchful gaze of police officers. "I would say, in the presence of the present minister of National Security, Mr Itamar Ben-Gvir, it's become already official that people pray here, that people dance here, people sing here," Mr Glick said. "There's an effort, a major effort by the Israeli police and by the Israeli authorities to, on the one hand, allow freedom of worship for everybody and at the same time make sure there's no friction." It was clear, however, that "friction" was in the eye of the beholder. The ABC saw police moving on a group of young Palestinians as the Jewish worshippers approached the steps of the Dome of the Rock — not only telling them to get out of the way, but kicking them out of the complex altogether. And for all Mr Glick's rhetoric about peaceful coexistence, Al-Aqsa's Muslim custodians are furious about the changes and argue prayer is being used as a proxy for a takeover of the compound. It is no coincidence that the shift in policy has happened as Itamar Ben-Gvir has gained power and influence within the Netanyahu government. He regularly visits the Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa compound and has publicised his trips on his social media channels. It has inspired others to follow in his footsteps. While police have allowed them to enter the precinct, they have stopped some from taking animals such as goats, used for ritual sacrifice, into the area. Extremists have boasted about their plans for the restoration of a Jewish temple on the site, even going so far as to post AI-generated videos showing the destruction of Al-Aqsa. The Netanyahu government insists the "status quo" remains, but onlookers say the behaviour of police and the conduct of Jewish worshippers has raised questions about that claim. Traditional Jewish leaders believe the Temple Mount is intrinsic to their faith, but they insist people should not pray there. "In each community, in each people, in each group, there are the margins of the society that make very extreme statements," rabbi of the Western Wall Shmuel Rabinovich told the ABC. "I tell them the vast majority of the rabbis of Israel have forbidden the ascension on the Temple Mount; I convey to them this message. "Some of them have other rabbis that have another opinion — it causes me pain." Rabbi Rabinovich said it was against Jewish law, or Halacha, to enter the site — in particular, to approach the Dome of the Rock. But he argued Muslim anger at Jews entering the precinct was not appropriate. "When we came back here [Jerusalem's Old City] in 1967, we opened this place to everyone," he said. "The Western Wall is ours — Muslims can come here, Christians can come here, anyone can come here, if you feel that this place is yours, you don't prevent others from visiting. The fact that the Muslims don't let the Jews pray there does not give them a badge of honour. "Therefore, I believe that it is not the Muslims that should prevent Jews from ascending the Temple Mount. The fact that Jews should not enter the Temple Mount, I think they are forbidden from entering because of religion and because of the Halacha." Despite that assertion, it is rare to see Muslims in the Western Wall plaza. The Palestinian Authority was furious that Mr Glick entered the site, particularly how close he got to the Dome of the Rock, issuing a fiery statement in response. "Glick is considered to be one of the most prominent symbols of religious extremism," the authority's Jerusalem governorate said in a statement. "This raid coincides with a clear escalation witnessed at the Al-Aqsa Mosque," it added, alleging that Jewish weddings had taken place inside the mosque with Israeli police protection. It blamed Mr Ben-Gvir for the situation, saying he had given the "green light" to the escalation. "The number of settlers who have broken into the Al-Aqsa Mosque since the beginning of 2025 has reached about 33,634, in a serious increase in terms of numbers and patterns," the governorate said. It issued a warning that the situation could deteriorate even further in early August, around the Jewish holiday of Tish'a B'Av, which marks the destruction of the Jewish temples.
Forbes
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
How Real-Life Tragedy Inspired Jewish Thriller ‘Guns & Moses'
Mark Feuerstein as Rabbi Mo Zaltzman in 'Guns & Moses' Your average orthodox rabbi on the street is more likely to be holding a pair of teffilin than he is a gun. That same rabbi is more likely to eat a pound of bacon than he is to solve a murder. Okay, maybe the bacon thing is a bit hyperbolic, but the rest of the argument still stands: Jewish clergymen don't fit into the traditional badass action hero archetype. Filmmaker Salvador Litvak hopes to change all that with his neo-Western thriller, Guns & Moses (in theaters everywhere this Friday; click here for tickets). 'Hollywood has been all too quick to either show dead Jews in the Holocaust or shticky, nebbishy Jews, which I enjoy,' says Litvak, whom you may know better as Accidental Talmudist. 'I love Seinfeld and Larry David … and Adam Sandler. I love those comedies. But that's not the limit of Jewish experience, God knows." Despite its cheeky title, the project — which Litvak wrote alongside his wife and Pictures From The Fringe producing partner, Nina — 'was always meant to be a proper thriller with a lot of action in it,' explains the director. 'We really did a deep dive on the genre. We watched a thriller a day for two years, six days a week (we didn't watch one on Shabbos)." Set in the fictional California town of High Desert, the movie centers around Moses 'Mo' Zaltzman (Mark Feuerstein; Royal Pains), a local Chabad rabbi who gradually decides to solve the murder of philanthropist and solar energy magnate Alan Rosner (Dermot Mulroney; My Best Friends's Wedding) after the man is publicly gunned down at a community event. Everyone, including the town's sympathetic mayor, Donavon Kirk (Neal McDonough; Captain America: The First Avenger), is more than ready to chalk the murder up to anti-Semitism and lay the blame at the feet of a young neo-Nazi named Clay Gibbons (Jackson Dunne; Brightburn), but Rabbi Mo isn't so sure. Refusing to let the possibly innocent young man take the fall, he begins his own investigation and finds himself becoming equal parts private detective and lone ranger. In his search for justice on the frontier, however, Rabbi Mo unknowingly wades into the center of a lethal conspiracy tied to a shady land deal. And as the bodies start to pile up, the good rabbi and his spouse, Hindy (Alona Tal; Burn Notice), must learn to protect themselves for the sake of their family and congregants, one of whom is a Holocaust survivor (Christopher Lloyd; Back to the Future). 'I feel like this movie is a bit Chinatown meets The Chosen,' says Feuerstein. '[Getting] to play Rabbi Mo, who morphs and evolves into someone who's not afraid to protect himself, was an honor. I'm thrilled to be a part of changing that image.' Before accepting the role, Feuerstein sat down to discuss the character over a classic Hollywood power lunch, albeit with an authentically Jewish twist: the business meeting took place in the Litvaks' backyard, inside their a sukkah. Once the actor was officially on board, he began to grow a beard and shadow real-world Chabad rabbis. 'They're so loving and full of ruach, spirit and generosity,' he notes, admitting that while the facial hair was 'itchy AF, there's nothing I wouldn't do for this movie and this character." The idea for the script was partially inspired by the 2019 shooting at a Chabad-run synagogue in the San Diego suburb of Poway that left one dead and three injured (the perpetrator received two consecutive life sentences). Litvak ended up interviewing the synagogue's rabbi, Yisroel Goldstein, who lost a finger in the attack, but not his faith. 'I got to know him and then watched him become a national figure in the ensuing days, calling for mitzvahs,' recalls the writer-director. 'Calling for Jews and all people to do good deeds, to make something good and meaningful come in the wake of this tragedy. I was very moved by that, and that really became the core for Guns & Moses.' 'We have a character who quotes Rabbi Hillel and says, 'In a place where there is no man, be the man.' That lesson, that message, is not specific to the Jewish community,' agrees Feuerstein. 'That is [applicable] to all of us, and we need more of that in the world now … in a time where people are so wont to find the easiest answer in their silos on social media, rather than do the work, not accept misinformation, but figure out the answers for themselves. I think Rabbi Mo is a great example for intellectual curiosity, emotional curiosity, and human connection.' McDonough, a devout Catholic who founded the faith-based McDonough Company production banner alongside his wife, Ruve, says he's always on the lookout for religious-tinted projects with an uplifting message. Joining Guns & Moses was 'a no-brainer,' he affirms. 'Whether you're Christian, Jewish, Muslim, agnostic, or Buddhist — I don't care what it is. I like to be part of films where people go to the cinema and are called out to be better after they leave. A better husband, a better father, a better co-worker, a better child of God." 'Films that used to address those kinds of questions were often a little bit syrupy and cloying,' continues Litvak. 'There's a quality level that was acceptable that some would say was not up to the level of Hollywood. I would say those days are over. There's a very sophisticated machinery that's now engaged to make films that address big questions of faith at the very highest levels with the stars, with the performances, with the cinematography, with the production value that really challenge people. And we're very proud to be part of that new wave … You look at Kingdom Story Company, and what they've done with Jesus Revolution and House of David, which is like Lord of the Rings-level. It's just good, high-level filmmaking.' Salvador Litvak At the same time, the filmmaker hoped to make a contemporary Western/thriller redolent of genre touchstones such as Howard Hawks's Rio Bravo and Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest. 'I want to be inspired by the greats, I want to try and live up to them,' he says. 'We may fall short, but what we're going for is scenes and performances and story that's iconic and that operates at that level." To that end, he filmed a majority of Guns & Moses in Santa Clarita — where many Western-themed endeavors across film and television have been shot — and sought to create dynamic set pieces at memorable locations like the Mojave Solar Project facility, which serves as the backdrop for a tense sequence in which Rabbi Mo evades a masked assassin. '[It was] strongly influenced by the Mount Rushmore scene [in North by Northwest,' reveals Litvak, later going on to add: 'No one's ever seen anything like it with those 200-yard-long parabolic troughs. I mean, it really is something out of a James Bond movie and I think just gives so much production value.' While he knew 'a movie about Jews under attack who fight back would always be relevant,' Litvak could not foresee just how topical the film would become in the wake of the October 7 terror attack in Israel (the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust) and the anti-Jewish rhetoric and crimes that have become rampant ever since. 'We've been searching for our friends and we have found them in unexpected and unlikely places, and specifically in the Christian community," says Feuerstein. "So regardless of the world and politics, I just want to say how genuine it was, this connection between Neal, Sal, and I throughout this project. Neal did bring 200% of himself to this movie, but it's also a tribute to Neal that he lent his specific brand of faith to this movie, which is not of that same brand, and yet gave it with all his heart.' McDonough concludes: 'Really good families root for each other, and that's the thing missing in the landscape right now, in the whole world. We forget to root for each other. We forget we're actually brothers and sisters through God. It doesn't matter your race, creed, religion. Movies like this make you think, 'Hmm, can I be better as a child of God to a certain type of people that I don't really understand or know very well? Maybe that's my fault because I don't understand or know them very well. Maybe I am bigoted Maybe I am racist. How can I get over these things to be a better brother and sister for everyone else on the planet?'' Guns & Moses arrives in theaters nationwide this Friday, July 18. Click here for tickets!
Telegraph
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
‘We told jokes in the camps' – but is Jewish comedy doomed?
It begins, like so many conversations about Jewishness, with a joke. An imam, a priest, a vicar and a rabbi are playing cards for money when the police burst in. Each man is asked if he has been gambling; each swears in turn on a holy text that he has not. All except for the rabbi, who says to his accuser: 'Seriously, you don't really think I am gambling all alone?' The French-Jewish sociologist Michel Wieviorka overheard a rabbi tell this joke to his fellow French religious leaders at a conference on assisted dying in France. All four men were friends, but the joke left Wieviorka uneasy. 'Because in the joke, the Jew is the only one who avoids perjuring himself,' he says. 'He's no longer a victim. And he exhibits no solidarity for the others, only cunning. It's a joke that cuts itself off from a certain universalism, which is troubling for the Jewish community.' Prompted by this encounter, Wieviorka has written a book called The Last Jewish Joke, which argues that the great Jewish comic tradition – one that historically appeals to empathy through gentle self-mockery – is in danger of dying out. His book is both an homage to that humour, which he sees as rich in generosity, absurdity and self-ironising asides, and the story of its evolution through the 20th century, jumping from the shtetl to Hollywood to France to Britain and beyond. Wieviorka also believes that the space for Jewish joke-telling is under threat – from a combination of increased hostility towards Israel, growing ignorance about the Holocaust, and the rise of other ethnic groups pleading a victimhood that Wieviorka argues was once historically Jewish. 'For centuries, there has always been room for humour in the Jewish experience, even in the most appalling situations,' he says. 'Even the Torah is full of humour. But I fear the Jewish jokes I know and love are struggling to exist.' So, is he right? As the old joke goes, ask two Jews and you get three opinions. 'It's true that Jewish culture tends to find comedy in carrying the worries of the world on our shoulders,' says the Welsh-Jewish stand-up Bennett Arron. 'I have this joke I tell when people ask me if Jews drink alcohol. I say, 'Yes, we are allowed to, but we often don't. Firstly because it takes away valuable eating time. And secondly because when you drink, you forget all your troubles. But our troubles are all we have.' Yet increasingly I find that people respond by saying, 'Well, others have got it worse.' There's a sense that empathy [for the Jewish condition] is being eroded.' Others, however, reject what they see as a narrow view of Jewish wit. 'Jewish comedy is sometimes about victimhood, but often it's about a state of mind,' says the Jewish comedian and author David Baddiel. 'If people are turning away from the idea of Jews as victims of history – which, by the way, they always have – then I'd argue there was only ever a brief window where people accepted that [kind of humour] in the first place... I wouldn't want to write jokes that position Jews as victims and invite sympathy. As a Jewish comedian, you are trying to invite people [to realise] that my experience as a Jew is part of the human experience, it's not over there and nothing to do with you.' Ask most Jews what constitutes Jewish humour in the first place and (on this at least) they agree: it's about finding light in the dark. 'It's always been used as a way of speaking truth to power,' says the Orthodox Jewish stand-up Rachel Creeger. 'If they're laughing, you can say anything. We told jokes under persecution, in the shtetls, in the ghettos, in the camps. Humour has a physical impact on the body, raising endorphins, giving the joke-teller a dopamine hit. For a culture like ours, this is definitely part of our survival.' Historically, this humour in Britain has occupied a marginal position. It overlaps with our comic sensibilities in its instincts for self-deprecation, but diverges in motive: British humour tends to be more apologetic and tied up with class anxiety. And Jewish humour has nothing like the centrality here that it enjoys in America. As Baddiel notes, 'The American sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm can do a whole episode in which Larry [David], trying to get in with some very religious Jews, eats some non-kosher food from a plate, is caught doing it, and has to bury the plate for three days in his garden to cleanse it.' He continues: 'No one says, 'Larry, nobody will understand this because it's too Jewish,' because there's an assumption in American comedy that the language of comedy will include Jewishness. That's not the case in the UK.' Certainly, when Robert Popper was writing Friday Night Dinner, Channel 4's long-running and much-loved sitcom about a Jewish family (starring Tamsin Greig and the late Paul Ritter), his producers asked him, perhaps with a touch of nerves, just how Jewish the show was going to be. 'To which my answer was, well, as Jewish as I am,' Popper says. 'Which was to say, we're normal people, so get used to it. I mainly saw Friday Night Dinner as being about a specific family, inspired by my own, rather than about a generic Jewish one. And I saw it as very different to what we used to get with Jewish stories on TV, when you had Yiddish violin music over the lighting of the Shabbat candles and Maureen Lipman saying 'oy vey, oy vey'.' As a result, many viewers watched Friday Night Dinner without realising the show was Jewish at all: or, if they did realise, they didn't regard the Jewishness as its defining feature. 'I was out in Soho after the first season came out,' says Tracy-Ann Oberman (who plays Auntie Val), 'and this Islamic cleric came running up to me. He said, 'I love it! It's just like my family.' I think there's a universality in Jewish humour that speaks to the absurdity of the human condition, which is something we can all recognise.' Nor does she see this quality as being under threat, as Wieviorka fears; in fact, she believes it's enjoying a resurgence. 'Given that comedy has changed so much in the past 20 years, with people becoming more and more scared about what they can say, I think Jewish humour has fared better than most other types. Jewish humour is not about punching down, but about observational wit and storytelling.' That Friday Night Dinner did not announce its Jewishness perhaps reflects a certain tentativeness that Jewish people have long felt about their relationship to Britain's broader culture. 'We live in a time when all minorities, not just ethnic ones, have been encouraged to own their minority and not be in the closet, and this is all to the good,' says Baddiel. 'But Jews find it very difficult to do that, particularly now, and that includes being openly funny about being Jewish.' Yet this argument isn't borne out by today's thriving Jewish stand-up circuit – which was non-existent when Baddiel was starting out 30 years ago. 'Over the past 15 years, I've seen a huge growth in the number of comedians who have been public about their Jewish heritage and use it in their material,' says Creeger, who runs the UK's only regular Jewish comedy night, at the north London venue JW3. 'It feels like there's an understanding now that Jewish comedy is something positive and engaging. There's an awareness that it has status in the US as a genre, which helps. And where previous generations were often advised to keep a low profile about their ethnic and cultural identity – some even changed names – now, this is far less common.' However, Creeger also agrees that Jewish comedy is under pressure in an era that, as Wieviorka puts it, is 'not a time for smiling or laughing, or for the Jewish jokes that it was once possible to share with others'. In fact, she thinks, 'Jewish comedians have gone in one of two directions recently. They've either become much more expressive of their identity, on and off stage, or removed it almost entirely from their material. There's definitely an external expectation of being seen to be 'the right kind of Jew': one who conforms to the widely held and loudly shouted views. There isn't a great deal of knowledge or understanding of the rich diversity in Jewish history, thought and opinion, and this means that labels get placed on Jewish people without nuance or critical thinking.' She herself has openly experienced anti-Semitism as a stand-up, including one instance when she came on after an act that had made reference to the Middle East. 'I've had a gig where some of the crowd literally turned their backs at the reveal of my Jewish identity,' she says. 'It's a real problem when [other comedians include] ideas that are not factually correct, or include tropes and stereotypes.' 'I've lost a lot of comedian friends, sadly, over the past few years: people who, if I've made a comment about anti-Semitism, yawn and say change the subject, we've heard it all before,' adds Bennett Arron, whose forthcoming Edinburgh show, I Regret This Already, is about precisely this scenario. And yet he doesn't see anti-Semitic attitudes as a threat to Jewish comedy itself. 'Jewish humour has always been about trying to adapt to changing circumstances. It's a coping mechanism. A way of fighting back verbally rather than physically.' None of this is sounding as though the great Jewish comic tradition is approaching extinction. 'By definition, there cannot be a last Jewish joke because a Jewish joke is nothing else,' says the great comic novelist Howard Jacobson. ''The last Jewish joke' is an oxymoron. The black finality of things is what every Jewish joke confronts. The harder things get for Jews, the more jokes we tell. They are our survival strategy, the only victory we know.'
Indian Express
26-06-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
‘A double blow': Imports of dry fruits hit, traders in Khari Baoli tackle challenges
Also by Shreyashi Gupta The traders in Khari Baoli in Old Delhi, one of India's oldest markets, stare at uncertain times. The imports of dry fruits from Iran have been hit amid escalating geopolitical conflict in West Asia. This latest blow comes at a time merchants are navigating a setback triggered by the closure of the Attari-Wagah border following tensions between India and Pakistan after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. Sharing his plight, Sudhir Jaggi, President of the Sarve Vyapar Mandal of the Khari Baoli market, said, 'First, the Attari-Wagah border was shut down… so goods from Afghanistan completely stopped coming in. And on top of that, this issue with Iran has happened — it's like a double blow. We have no idea what's going to happen next. The Afghanistan route has been shut for a while, and there's still no clarity. ' He added that the market is deprived of new foreign stock of dry fruits. 'Abhi to maal nahi aa raha, jo maal India mein tha wahi bik raha hai. Iran se dry fruits container se maal aata hai sea se, seedhe ports aur phir humare godowns mein utaarte hai, uske baad hum apni requirements ke hisaab se uska distribution karte hai. Abhi maal to kahi se bhi nahi aa raha (Right now, no new stock is coming in — only what's already in India is being sold. Dry fruits from Iran come by sea, directly to the ports, and then to our godowns. From there, we distribute it as per our requirements. At the moment, nothing is coming in from anywhere),' he said. The heightened tensions in West Asia have contributed to a surge in the prices of dry fruit imported from Iran. Jaggi highlighted that almond prices have increased by Rs 400-450 per kilo, whereas pistachio prices have increased by Rs 300 per kilo and now stand at over Rs 1,000 per kilo. Hari Om, a trader, said, 'Varieties of dates like Kimia, Mariam, Zahedi, Rabbi, and Irani, which are imported from Iran, are witnessing a surge in prices in the market.' Kimia Date boxes, which were earlier priced at Rs. 250 per kilo, are now being sold at Rs 400 per kilo, in the market. 'Even some medicinal herbs like Salam Mishri used in Ayurveda medicines are imported from Iran, and their price has also significantly increased,' said Sunny Kashyap, a trader selling dry fruits and medicinal herbs. Commenting on the crisis, Chandni Chowk MP and BJP leader Praveen Khandelwal said, 'The ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel has naturally had an impact on traders in the Khari Baoli market. Prices of dates, saffron, and other spices imported from Iran may likely rise due to disrupted supply chains and increased freight costs.' He added that the government is taking all necessary steps to keep a check on the prices. Despite the setback, Rajan Bhargava, president, Khari Baoli Traders' Association, remains optimistic. 'There was a slight impact on the goods that used to come directly from Iran, but there was already stock here. Now that the war is set to end, the supply will hopefully resume,' he said. (Anushka Srivastava and Shreyashi Gupta are interns with The Indian Express)
Associated Press
19-06-2025
- General
- Associated Press
Rabbi Walter Isaac addresses the topic of Hebrew Israelites in course for Jewish Spiritual Leaders Institute
Rabbi Walter Isaac presents course on Afro-Jews, Colonization and the Modern Fight for Emancipation for the Jewish Spiritual Leaders' Institute 'Rabbi Isaac is a specialist in Africana philosophy, Jewish philosophy, intercultural student affairs and university campus dialogue.'— Rabbi Steven Blane NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, June 19, 2025 / / -- Rabbi Walter Isaac presented a course on Afro-Jews, Colonization and the Modern Fight for Emancipation for the Jewish Spiritual Leaders' Institute on May 21st. The current two cohorts of Rabbinic students were enthralled to hear about the history of American Hebrew communities of color. The Jewish Spiritual Leaders' Institute is a progressive program for Jewish professionals who are called to become Jewish clergy. The program focuses on offering its students pragmatic rabbinics and current topics that resonate with the modern Jew. Walter R. Isaac, PhD is a rabbi and scholar who researches the African influences on Atlantic world Jewish history and culture. For three decades he has worked as an advocate for marginalized communities, including Hebrew/Israelites, LGBTQ persons and victims of urban violence. Dr. Isaac's writings can be found in scholarly publications such as Contending Modernities, Violence in American Society, the Journal of the Middle East and Africa, Black Existentialism, and a seminal article on Afro-Jewish Studies in the Blackwell Companion to African-American Studies. He is currently an Assistant Teaching Professor of Africana Studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Rabbi Isaac is currently the President of the Olaudah Equiano Institute, a nonprofit organization promoting human rights and educating the public about Jewish diversity. ABOUT SIM SHALOM AND JSLI Sim Shalom is an interactive online Jewish Universalist synagogue which is liberal in thought and traditional in liturgy. Created in 2009 by Rabbi Steven Blane on Manhattan's Upper West Side, Sim Shalom offers a means of connecting the unconnected. Rabbi Blane and Associate Rabbis lead accessible Shabbat services every Friday night using a virtual interface and additionally Sim Shalom provides online education programs, Jazz concerts, conversion and life-cycle ceremonies along with weeknight services at 7:00PM EST. Rabbi Blane is also the founder and director of the Jewish Spiritual Leaders' Institute, the online professional rabbinical program and of the Union of Jewish Universalist Communities, Sim Shalom, a non profit 501 © (3) tax-exempt organization, nurtures a Jewish connection through its mission of innovative services, creative education and dynamic outreach to the global community. For more information visit the website or call 201-338-0165. Carole Kivett Jewish Spiritual Leaders Institute/Sim Shalom +1 201-338-0165 email us here Legal Disclaimer: EIN Presswire provides this news content 'as is' without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
