Stephen Miller, a top adviser to President Donald Trump, is insisting his grandmother did not die of the coronavirus, despite a death certificate that states otherwise.
A White House statement acknowledged that Ruth Glosser, who died at 97 in Southern California, was diagnosed with Covid-19 in March, but “passed away in July, so that timeline does not add up at all.”
Miller’s maternal uncle, David Glosser, who has criticized Miller in the past for crafting Trump’s restrictive immigration policies, announced his mother’s death on Facebook, Mother Jones reported Thursday. He said in the post she died of “the late effects of COVID 19.”
The White House has come under fire for mishandling the pandemic response. On Thursday, the number of infected in the United States hit 4 million. The death toll tops 141,000.
Mother Jones asked the White House for a response.
“This is categorically false, and a disgusting use of so-called journalism when the family deserves privacy to mourn the loss of a loved one,” the White House said. “His grandmother did not pass away from COVID. She was diagnosed with COVID in March and passed away in July, so that timeline does not add up at all. His grandmother died peacefully in her sleep from old age. I would hope that you would choose not to go down this road.”
Mother Jones presented the White House with her death certificate, which listed “respiratory arrest” and Covid-19 as “a condition leading” to the cause of death.
The White House doubled down, saying Ruth Glosser had recovered from a “mild” case of Covid-19 in March. David Glosser told the liberal online news site that she never recovered.
Some 34 immigrants from Ethiopia arrived in Israel, bringing to 269 the total of Ethiopians to make aliyah since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
The new olim who arrived early Thursday morning were immediately placed in isolation as a requirement to prevent the possible spread of Covid-19, Haaretz reported.
They are among 400 members of the Falash Mura community, who claim Jewish heritage and were approved for immigration in April.
Forty-three Ethiopian immigrants arrived at the time. The rest of the arrivals were put on hold due to the coronavirus crisis.
Meanwhile, 73 Ethiopian immigrants arrived on a flight at the end of March. And another group of 119 arrived in mid-May.
Foreign students planning to begin their studies in Israel this fall will be permitted to enter the country despite coronavirus restrictions that ban non-citizens.
The approval to enter the country applies to students studying in academic institutions, yeshivas, the Masa program, women’s seminaries, Naale programs, high school programs and pre-army programs, according to the report.
The students must go into quarantine for the first 14 days after their arrival. Non-citizens have been prevented from entering Israel since mid-March.
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri said in a statement reported by The Jerusalem Post that “we have been making great efforts to maintain a routine under the limits of the coronavirus era.”
Abraham Foxman, the former national director of the Anti-Defamation League, is coming out of retirement with an ambitious goal: to raise $28 million to feed Holocaust survivors during the pandemic, JTA reports.
Foxman will lead the national initiative for the Met Council, the social service agency and the largest distributor of kosher food to New Yorkers living in poverty. Since early April, the organization has been delivering groceries to more than 1,200 Holocaust survivors every week through a partnership with Uber.
But with the number of Holocaust survivors in the United States estimated to be around 75,000, that’s not enough. So now the organization is trying to raise enough money to feed 10,000 survivors for a year in New York and across the country.
Foxman said he didn’t anticipate taking on a new project at 80. But with time running out to help survivors, he felt it was too important to pass up.
“This has to be a priority because the lifespan of the people we’re talking about is shortening,” he said. “I think we should have done more, and we’re doing it now.”
Streaming
The Orthodox Union’s three-part series for parents of teenagers on “Pandemic Parenting” concludes with “Calm Amid Corona,” on Monday, July 27, at 8:30 p.m. Kristen M. Roye, PsyD., Clinical Director at Destinations for Teens, and Rabbi Dov Rosenbluth, LMFT, Director of Guidance and 11th grade Rebbe at YULA, will discuss “Substance Abuse 101: Talking About Drugs and Alcohol With Your Teen.”
The Jewish Theological Seminary’s series with its faculty and fellows continues with “Israel’s Prophets as Innovators During Crisis,” on Monday, July 27, 1:00-2:15 p.m. Dr. Amy Kalmanofsky, Dean of Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies and the Gershon Kekst Graduate School and Blanche and Romie Shapiro Professor of Bible will discuss the prophets as social and political change-makers and theological mavericks. The Zoom link for this session will be in the confirmation email that you will receive after you register here.
The Inaugural YCT Climate Conference, the first event of its kind to emerge from Orthodox institutions, will be held this Sunday, July 26, 9 a.m. to 11:15 a.m., under the auspices of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah and PORAT (People for Orthdodox Renaissance and Torah). The goals of the conference include educating people in the basic facts of the climate crisis, considering the place Torah plays in the conversation, and empowering people to advocate for the climate together with their communities. Registration is here.
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research presents a seven-week educational course, A Seat at the Table: A Journey Into Jewish Food. Purveyors of Jewish fare and culture lead a exploration into the Ashkenazi Jewish experience, and its modern culinary renaissance.
B’Yachad Together: Spirited by American Jewish University presents Holocaust Reflections, framing Tisha B’Av through the lens of the Holocaust. Rick Richman, AJU’s resident scholar and the author of “Racing Against History: The 1940 Campaign for a Jewish Army to Fight Hitler” and Dr. Michael Berenbaum discuss the Jewish response at the start of the darkest chapter in Jewish history – and its current relevance. Monday, July 27, 9 a.m.
