By: Bill Zeeble – KERA News; keranews.org
Passover, one of the most important holidays on the Jewish calendar, it begins Wednesday night. This year, though, things are different, because of COVID-19.
Lasting a week, Passover celebrates the ancient Israelites’ escape from Egypt. Generations of family often gather around the large, symbolic Seder meal, sometimes with friends.
By: JPost Editorial – Jerusalem Post; jpost.com
Passover is a unique holiday, with its message of liberation from slavery and the requirement that the Haggadah be recited to relive the experience of the Exodus in our own time. The commandment that the story be passed from generation to generation illustrates the importance of not merely reading about the historic redemption but also recognizing the adversity that those who witnessed it faced.
The themes of Passover relate to our own time. We remember that many generations throughout history have endured tyranny and that they have come through it. The plagues that befell Egypt may seem distant – bleeding idols or the earth turning to locusts; masses of frogs or hail and fire raining down on earth.
https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Passing-over-coronavirus-this-Passover-623962
By: Brandon Showalter – The Christian Post; christianpost.com
Only 6 percent of Americans possess a biblical worldview, according to a new survey.
The study, which was released last week out of the recently launched Cultural Research Center based at Arizona Christian University, is called the American Worldview Inventory and is the first of what will be an annual report from veteran researcher George Barna, who is the CRC research director.
The survey asked 51 worldview questions that examined both what people believe and how they conduct their lives.
Approximately one-fifth of those who attend evangelical Protestant churches espouse a biblical worldview, as do one-sixth of those who attend charismatic or Pentecostal churches (16%), the survey found. The numbers were much lower for those among mainline Protestant churches, 8 percent, and Catholics, 1 percent.
By: Udi Etsion – C-Tech/Calcalist; calcalisttech.com
It is a horrifying scenario that has already become a reality in some hospitals worldwide: the number of serious or critical coronavirus (Covid-19) cases surpasses that of the available ventilators, leaving doctors to decide which patients have the best chance of survival and letting the rest go untreated.
In an attempt to protect Israel from such a nightmarish scenario, a national emergency team was set up, bringing together experts from the various ministries, different branches of the military, agencies and companies, private players, and research institutes, in an effort to, among other things, help set up a local production line for ventilators.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3805090,00.html
By: Ariel Schalit and Ilan Ben Zion – AP News; ap.com
BNEI BRAK, Israel (AP) — Early this week, the streets of the central Israeli city of Bnei Brak were bustling with shoppers as ultra-Orthodox residents, obeying their religious leaders, ignored pleas to stay home in the face of the coronavirus threat.
By Friday, Bnei Brak had become the country’s worst hot spot and now resembles a ghost town. The military will soon be sending troops in to assist local authorities. One expert estimated that nearly 40% of the city’s population might already have been infected.
The city has become a lightning rod for anger and frustration by some secular Israelis who allege insular Haredi communities — with disproportionately high numbers of confirmed cases — are undermining national efforts to contain the virus.
By: Michael Brown – The Christian Post; christianpost.com
As a religious leader born and raised in New York, I’m appealing to you to reconsider your threats to the synagogues and churches of your city. Your words, sir, were reckless and could actually provoke people of faith to defy you. What on earth prompted you to say what you said?
I’m speaking specifically of your threat to “permanently” close synagogues and churches that refuse to comply with the ban on public gatherings.
Mr. Mayor, what gives you that authority?
Mr. Mayor, who gives you that authority?
https://www.christianpost.com/voices/mayor-de-blasio-you-have-overstepped-your-bounds.html
By: Dov Lipman – Jewish News Syndicate; jns.org
While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and challenger Benny Gantz have agreed to work towards the formation of an emergency unity government to end a bitter political standoff and respond effectively to the coronavirus crisis, negotiations on political appointments as well as government policies are proving difficult.
Several key issues are now placing the signing of a unity agreement in doubt. Likud MK Miki Zohar, a member of Netanyahu’s negotiating team, told JNS that “a unity government is important, but not at all costs.”
https://www.jns.org/netanyahu-gantz-unity-talks-bogging-down-over-key-issues/
In February 2020, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined Israeli television personalities Yinon Magal, Erel Segal, and Shimon Riklin in an impromptu jam session.
Together, they sang Psalm 147:12–13 in its original Hebrew. Netanyahu knew the Psalm by heart and didn’t skip a beat.
https://www.israel365news.com/145268/prime-minister-netanyahu-sings-psalm-147-by-heart-watch/
By: Eliana Rudee – Jewish News Syndicate; jns.org
Israeli universities and institutes—and their affiliated academics, researchers, doctors, scientists and students—are leading the fight against the coronavirus. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, the Technion‒Israel Institute of Technology, Rambam Health Care Campus, Migal Galilee Research Institute and the Sheba Medical Center are each at the forefront of medical technologies and innovation, task forces, methods and vaccines in the making that are working to protect the spread of the COVID-19 virus that has become a global pandemic over the last few months.
https://www.jns.org/israeli-universities-institutes-lead-the-fight-against-coronavirus/
By: Emily Jones – CBN News; cbn.com
JERUSALEM, Israel – An Israeli pharmaceutical company is donating to US hospitals more than 6 million doses of hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug touted by President Donald Trump and others as a potential new treatment for COVID-19 patients.
Teva, a pharmaceutical giant in Israel, has announced it will begin donating millions of hydroxychloroquine sulfate tablets to hospitals across the US starting March 31.
“Immediately upon learning of the potential benefit of hydroxychloroquine, Teva began to assess supply and to urgently acquire additional ingredients to make more product while arranging for all of what we had to be distributed immediately,” said Brendan O’Grady, Teva Executive Vice President North America Commercial, in a statement.