As a service to the congregation, every five years, The Shofar reminds the congregation to participate in tashlich, the symbolic ritual of casting away one’s sins by throwing crumbs of bread into a body of water. Some people have been known to ask what kind of bread crumbs they should throw. Herewith…

for ordinary sins, white bread

for exotic sins, French bread

for dark sins, pumpernickel

for complex sins, multi-grain

for tasteless sins, rice cakes

for sins of indecision, waffles

for sins committed in haste, matza

for sins under 18 minutes, Shmurah matza

for sins of chutzpah, fresh bread

for committing arson, toast

for committing auto theft, caraway

for being ill-tempered, sourdough

for silliness, nut bread

for not giving full value, shortbread

for excessive use of irony, rye bread

for telling bad jokes, corn bread

for hardening arteries, jelly doughnuts

for being money hungry, enriched bread

for war mongering, Kaiser rolls

for immodest dressing, tarts

for causing injury to others, tortes

for davening off tune, flat bread

for being holier than thou, bagels

for unfairly upbraiding another, challah

for trashing the environment, dumplings

for sins of pride, puff pastry

for sins of the righteous, angel food cake

for selling your soul, devil’s food cake

for substance abuse, stoned wheat

for heavy drugs, poppy seed

for petty larceny, stollen

for timidity, milk toast

for risking one’s life unnecessarily, hero

for being hyper-critical, pancakes

for political skullduggery, Bismarks

for over eating, stuffing bread

for gambling, fortune cookies

for abrasiveness, grits

for being snappish, gingerbread

for impetuosity, quick bread

for negligent slip ups, banana bread

for dropping in without warning, popovers

 

The British Government has given the go-ahead for architect David Adjaye to build a national memorial to the victim of the Holocaust. The structure will be sited next to the Houses of Parliament in London.

The plan for the memorial calls for 23 large bronze sculptures, with the spaces in between meant to commemorate the Jewish communities devastated by the Holocaust in 22 countries. The site will also include an underground educational center. “The Memorial and Learning Center will allow everyone to reflect, remember, and honor those who suffered and died, and to educate future generations in antisemitism,” said Robert Jenrick, the U.K.’s communities secretary.

The learning center beneath the site will educate visitors about the Holocaust, as well as subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.

Construction is slated to begin later this year, and will be completed by 2025. The U.K. Government is contributing $105 million to build the memorial, and an additional $35 million has been raised through donations. The government will also give supplemental funding to cover the costs of running the site, and to ensure that entry remains free.

“There will be something uniquely powerful about locating a memorial to the Holocaust right next to the center of the U.K.’s democracy,” president  of the Board of British Jews Marie van der Zyl said in a statement.

A historical register of Jewish burials from the modern-day Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca was among the artifacts seized and recovered by authorities in New York, who plan to return the items to their communities of origin, according to an article in The New York Times on July 26.

Jacqualyn Kasulis, the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement that the items were “illegally confiscated during the Holocaust” and contain “priceless historical information.” Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn described 17 Jewish funeral scrolls, manuscripts and other records, as having been taken from Jewish communities in Romania, Hungary, Ukraine and Slovakia during World War II.

The items had been offered for sale by Kestenbaum & Company, an auction house in Brooklyn that specializes in Judaica, the authorities said. Daniel E. Kestenbaum, the auction house’s chairman, said that the company supported the actions of the U.S. attorney’s office to resolve the problem.

Israel’s largest and fanciest designer mall, with a piazza built as a replica of the famous Venetian Resort in Las Vegas, has opened outside Ma’aleh Adumim near Jerusalem. The new DCity mall includes 200 storefronts, restaurants, a luxury hotel, and an artificial indoor sky spread over 150,000 square meters. More than a billion shekels have been invested in the mall, which was designed by architect Gadi Halperin. DCity is owned by the Kass Investment Group. A covered amusement park called Magic Kass, with about 40 installations, will open next to the mall soon. A free bus line to and from Jerusalem runs every 20 minutes.

NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) is predicting a 60% chance of an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season in 2021, a 30% chance of a near-normal season, and a 10% chance of a below-normal season.

For 2021, a likely range of 13 to 20 named storms (winds of 39 mph or higher), of which 6 to 10 could become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or higher), including 3 to 5 major hurricanes (category 3, 4 or 5, with winds of 111 mph or higher) is expected. NOAA provides these ranges with a 70% confidence level. The Atlantic hurricane season extends through Nov. 30.

Tropical storm and hurricane names in the Atlantic basin for 2021 are Ana, Bill, Claudette, Danny, Elsa, Fred, Grace, Henri, Ida, Julian, Kate, Larry, Mindy, Nicholas, Odette, Peter, Rose, Sam, Teresa, Victor, Wanda. (May we never reach Wanda, Baruch Ha Shem, but if we do, let all to come treat us as did Henri.)

The United Arab Emirates opened its embassy in Tel Aviv on July 14. Attending the ceremony were recently sworn-in President Isaac Herzog of Israel and the UAE’s ambassador to Israel, Mohamed Al Khaja.

The embassy is located in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange building, and its opening followed the inauguration of Israel’s embassy in the UAE last month.

Greeting the crowd in Arabic and Hebrew, the UAE ambassador described the opening of the embassy as “an important milestone” marking “a significant point in the vision of the Abraham Accords” and cooperation between the two nations. The Abraham Accords, signed last year, aimed to normalize relations between Israel, each of the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain.

Herzog, who was sworn in as Israel’s 11th president the week before, expressed gratitude for being able to take part in such a historic event at the start of his tenure, and alluded to the possibility of more regional peace agreements.