Page 30 - Jewish News_January 2020

30A January 2020 JEWISH INTEREST

Wasserman Schultz: Restore rights of Holocaust-era

insurance policy beneficiaries

ashington, D.C. – Novem- not to enhance the profit margins for “Preventing Holocaust survivors on to this unjust enrichment is an of-
ber 25, 2019 – U.S. Rep. the insurance companies,” Wasserman and their families from collecting on fensive re-victimization that cannot be
WDebbie Wasserman Schultz Schultz said. “This legislation would documented policies is truly outra- allowed to stand,” Wasserman Schultz
(FL-23) has filed bipartisan legislation provide the critically important finan- geous and cruel, but allowing these said.
to restore the rights of Holocaust-era cial support to these victims who were global insurance corporations to hold
insurance beneficiaries to help recover forced to endure the worst that human-
billions in unclaimed payments left ity has inflicted on a people.” K’zohar Ha-Ivrit
behind amid the chaos and destruction The Holocaust Insurance Account-
after World War II. ability Act of 2019 was introduced Fri- Parasha – Portion
Due to federal court rulings and a day by Wasserman Schultz and U.S.
failure by insurance companies to ad- Rep. Lee Zeldin (NY-1). A Senate com- By Dr. Rachel Zohar Dulin
equately publish the names of recipi- panion bill was recently introduced by
ents and pay these claims, 97 percent Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Sen. he word parasha (pl. parashot) reinstated the reading of Torah in pub-
of the approximately 800,000 policies Jacky Rosen (D-NV). Specifically, the is an important term in Jewish lic already in the Persian era at the
held in 1938 have yet to be honored. Wasserman Schultz and Zeldin legisla- Tparlance. Parasha (also known return to Zion (537 B.C.E). The Mish-
The insurers’ unreasonable demands tion would: as sidra), refers to a selection from the nah, too, requires reading portions of
that death certificates and original pol- ‹ Validate state laws requiring insur- Torah that is read at every Shabbat ser- the Torah, only here the custom was to
icy paperwork be produced is all but ers to publish policy holder infor- vice throughout read the Text in Hebrew and in transla-
impossible for survivors who, at the mation the year. tion as well (B’rakhot 8a). The Baby-
time, had just survived death camps, ‹ Establish a federal cause of action In essence, lonian Jewry set the order of parashot
forced relocations, torture and death in U.S. courts to ensure Holocaust 54 parashot are to be read, which became the norm.
marches. survivors and heirs have access to read throughout Maimonides solidified a systematic or-
“Victims of the Holocaust and U.S. courts the year, but the der to the reading, an order followed to
their families should be compensated ‹ Provide a 10-year period of time number is flexible this day (Mishneh Torah 8).
for unpaid policies that were specifi- for cases to be brought after the to allow readings It is not surprising that the verb
cally set aside for times of trouble – date of enactment on special oc- parash and the noun parasha are at
casions, such as the center of many idioms and terms in
Dr. Rachel Dulin holidays and dur- Hebrew. We will mention but a few.
The term perush la-Torah means
ing leap years. Reading the parasha
SERVING THE JEWISH
L’Dor COMMUNITY injects a biblical context to the service ‘an interpretation of the Torah,’ such
as perush Rashi, for example. The
SINCE 1978
and, as such, makes the Torah an inte-
Charter Members of
term bim-pho-rsh is a strong expres-
gral part of our Jewish ritual life. In-
Temple Sinai
deed, the Torah is an etz chayim, “a tree
sion of ‘an explicit and clear message,’
V’Dor Selling of life for those who uphold her,” and whereas lo mit-pa-resh be-kah-lut lit-
every parasha is like a branch of this
erally ‘cannot be explained easily’ and
conveys the exact opposite. As for the
precious tree.
Real Estate to
Why do we call the selection para-
word parasha, we should mention the
Every Generation
sha?
The word parasha has several term parashat ha-sha-vu-ah, the ‘read-
ing portion for the week.’ Also, the
meanings in Hebrew depending upon terms parashat d’ra-khim, literally
Selling the “Sarasota Lifestyle”... context. Parasha can mean ‘chapter,’ ‘the crossroads,’ and parashat ma-yim,
meaning ‘a water shed,’ come to mind.
‘section,’ ‘portion,’ as well as ‘his-
be it Downtown, Waterfront, tory,’ ‘annals,’ ‘explanation,’ ‘affair,’ Last, but not least, we will mention the
Golf or other Residential Communities ‘episode’ and ‘case.’ The reason for the idiom eruv par-shi-yot, which literally
means ‘misplacement of biblical vers-
multiple meanings for parasha lies in
the fact that the word is derived from es or chapters,’ and implies confusion
the verb parash, which also has sev- and muddle.
ollier Group eral meanings. The verb parash means khim, the crossroads of a New Year,
As we all stand on parashat d’ra-
THE
‘separate,’ ‘keep aloof,’ ‘abstain’ and
‘retire.’ Some scholars believe that the I wish all our readers a healthy and
Janis Collier, REALTOR ® verbs ‘divide,’ ‘clarify’ and ‘interpret’ peaceful year. May we take the time to
941.313.1212 are also based in the same stem. glance periodically at parashat ha-sha-
JanisCollier@michaelsaunders.com Parasha, then, means a ‘portion’ vua, the biblical reading of the week,
Mary Collier, REALTOR ® or ‘section.’ Some might argue that and may the perush given to it by the
Ron Collier, REALTOR ® the division into smaller portions of sages enrich our days.
the large Text was done for the sake Happy New Year 2020.
PLEASE CONSIDER US FOR YOUR REFERRALS... THEY WILL BE TREATED LIKE FAMILY. of clarification, as small parashot of Dr. Rachel Zohar Dulin is a professor
Make Your Next “Smart Move” contact The Collier Group today readings are easier to absorb and com- of biblical literature at Spertus Col-
prehend. Tradition has it that reading lege in Chicago, and a retired adjunct
1605 Main Street, Suite 101
Sarasota, FL 34236 from the Text began as early as Mo- professor of Hebrew and Bible at New
941.951.6660 ses’ time (Dtr. 31:10-13). According College in Sarasota.
to the Book of Nehemiah (ch 8), Ezra

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