Kesher Talk

August. How are French Jews handling the heat? Their community goes on vacation in August, too.

". . . the rabbis are all away on holiday, and they haven't left replacements," he said. "Outside of Paris it's even worse. There's nobody around in Orleans and Tours, and people are dying." As for the ritual cleansing of the bodies after death, known as taharah, B'Chiri said the Consistoire was coping, "but there's nobody around to say Sh'ma Yisrael, or light candles."

The Consistoire may have to call rabbis back from vacation, B'Chiri said. "What can you do when the Consistoire itself has practically shut down for the summer?" . . . An operator at the United Jewish Social Funds, the umbrella welfare and educational organization of French Jews, said, "There's virtually no one here." At L'Ose Medical, one of the oldest Jewish medical institutions in Paris, a recorded message said the building was closed until today.

posted by Judith @ 8/27/2003 07:14:07 PM