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Boston Globe
5 days ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
For the evicted congregation, Touro Synagogue was never just a building
Eight years later, my daughter led a service for her bat mitzvah in front of the ark as a stream of sunlight illuminated this significant moment. Surrounded by family, friends and congregants, my husband and I blessed our daughter, longing for her future well-being. On that day, I understood how deeply the building had woven itself into my own family history and connected us to the shared Jewish experiences of previous generations. Since April, our services have taken place without any of the splendor of this historic home. After Advertisement Our eviction wasn't a surprise but no less disgraceful. Two congregations have laid claim to Touro — my congregation, which has operated there for more than a century, and Congregation Shearith Israel, which supported Touro's founding from its home in New York City. It is beyond comprehension to understand how a congregation so far removed, geographically and relationally, could make such a consequential decision about a place they have never truly known, all the while removing the very soul that existed there. The ruling leaves our thriving Jewish congregation ripped from its roots. Though we have been a responsible tenant, we have also been Touro's beating heart, sustaining it spiritually, financially, and communally through generations of devotion and presence. No matter It's true that the soul of Touro, and of Jeshuat Israel, was never in its bricks. It was, and is, in the people. But the soul, however, like congregants, is interconnected with a physical space to dwell in, to act through, to make meaning tangible. Many of the 100-plus members have known this much longer than I have. Rita, now 92 years old, as a young woman courted her husband, Aaron, from the Touro balcony and later became both the first female congregant and the first woman to serve as CJI president in 1999. Advertisement Yaakov, following five generations of celebrations and milestones on both sides of his family at Touro Synagogue, is to have his bar mitzvah this year on the heels of his father and great ancestors. Having been embraced by this community, I have seen firsthand how much it means to the Jews of Newport: I know the young girls who chanted Torah for the first time at Touro last year. I know their grandparents who wiped tears from their eyes as they watched. I know the pride of Mr. Josephson and Mrs. Davis who told our children stories from their own childhoods. I know the dedication of Ron, our security guard. I know our rabbi who, since he arrived, has been integrating traditions of our Spanish-Portuguese origins into our Jewish practices. And I know the heartbreak we all feel now. A Jewish concept explains that the soul, the neshama, is not just the engine of life; it also embodies its meaning and purpose and it uses the physical body to fulfill this mission. This partnership of spiritual and physical is essential. In the same vein, there exists a bond between a building of worship and its congregation. When congregations relocate for their own practical or spiritual purposes, breaking that bond can be generative. But ripping the bond apart without a congregation's consent creates a spiritual dislocation and a profound disruption of wholeness. I wish that my fellow New Yorkers who brought this lawsuit could know for themselves what it means to be Jewish in Newport. It's not passive. It's not inherited without effort. It's personal. It requires presence. It requires each of us to actively sustain a community that is small but mighty, rich in heart and history. And that we have. CJI has faithfully preserved both this historic building and the vibrant community within it, with unwavering dedication and care. Advertisement The tragedy lies in the belief that this new situation serves the collective Jews of Newport. As Jeshuat Israel meets across the street, at the historic Levi Gale House with windows that directly overlook Touro, it weighs heavily to think of the unnecessary action that led to this schism between Jews and a grueling legal process that reduced a centuries-old relationship and a web of historical documents into a simplified landlord-tenant framework. Yes, we have been invited to CSI's Touro services. But it is a profound insult to our legacy and current membership to have been given an ultimatum to accept that in order to keep using the space that has sustained us, we must allow the operations of our community to be dictated by outsiders. We remain a functioning community with places to worship, programs to run, and members to support. We will continue to do what we've always done: sustain Jewish life, in and around Newport County, with heart, dignity, and the deep, enduring knowledge that our legacy is not something that can be taken; only lived. A building does not define a Jewish community, but to deny that our spiritual spaces embody memory, spirit, and identity is to erase what makes them sacred. Let this moment be recorded for what it is — a profound loss of a living bond. Molly R. Goldman is a member of Congregation Jeshuat Israel.
IOL News
14-05-2025
- IOL News
Spain and Portugal's blackout: A wake-up call for energy policy makers
The Spanish-Portuguese blackout was not a cyberattack. It was not sabotage. It was the inevitable result of excessive intermittency: too much variability overwhelmed high-voltage transmission control. Image: .File. If we are serious about securing a resilient, sustainable future, we must learn the right lessons — and fast. Intermittent Renewables: An Engineering Challenge, Not a Silver Bullet Over the past decade, Iberia has significantly expanded its renewable generation capacity, adding vast amounts of wind and solar to the grid. Yet behind the headlines, one unavoidable fact remains: Renewable energy is intermittent by nature — and storage technologies remain prohibitively expensive, inefficient, or geographically constrained. Without sufficient storage, the inherent variability of renewables injects instability into the grid. Modern grids are designed to balance predictable flows, not to absorb infinite volatility without consequence. The Forgotten Fundamentals of Electricity: Synchronization and Stability Electricity is not merely generated — it must flow through high-voltage grids to reach consumers. For this to happen seamlessly, different segments of the grid must be synchronized, operating at a standardized frequency (50 Hz in Europe). Large traditional power plants — through their rotating generators — stabilize the system, keeping grids "in sync." When variability increases beyond manageable thresholds, phase mismatch and frequency drift occur, compromising the ability to safely connect grids. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ High-Voltage Transmission Lines: The Invisible Backbone Electricity is transmitted across high-voltage lines — typically operating at 220 kV, 310 kV, or 400 kV for intra-country and inter-regional networks within the EU. These lines have strict operational tolerances: voltage can fluctuate by about ±7–8% without serious issues, and frequency must remain within ±1% — meaning European grids must stay tightly locked between 49.5–50.5 Hz. If either parameter breaches safe limits, automatic protection systems disconnect the affected lines to prevent catastrophic cascades — which is precisely what unfolded in April. What Happened in Iberia: A Technological Reality Check The Spanish-Portuguese blackout was not a cyberattack. It was not sabotage. It was the inevitable result of excessive intermittency: too much variability overwhelmed high-voltage transmission control. Grid synchronization was lost, forcing emergency disconnection from the broader ENTSO-E European grid. Supply collapsed, leading to widespread blackouts. The event exposed what energy engineers have warned about for years: when intermittent energy sources dominate without dispatchable backup, system stability cannot be guaranteed. The Hidden Threshold: How Much Intermittency Is Too Much? Industry experts have long recognized a critical rule of thumb: once intermittent sources approach ~33% of total grid capacity, balancing becomes exponentially harder — unless a grid has hyper-dispatchable backup generation. Norway is often cited as a "100% renewable" success story — but this is a profound misunderstanding. Norway's baseload is 100% hydropower — the most dispatchable, controllable form of generation known to man. Solar- and wind-heavy grids without such dispatchable anchors are a different reality entirely. Narratives vs. Reality: When Politics Overrules Engineering It is telling that initial speculation from officials in Spain pointed toward cyberattacks rather than examining the obvious technical causes. Such deflections are born of political incentives to shield the prevailing narrative: that wind and solar alone can deliver energy security without compromise. But reality remains stubborn: physics does not negotiate. When engineering limits are ignored, systems fail — regardless of political agendas. Yesterday's blackout forced even the most ardent narrative defenders to acknowledge the truth: excessive variability, poorly backed by dispatchable capacity, crippled the Iberian grid. Where We Go From Here: A Call for Engineering-Led Policy This event must serve as a wake-up call. Engineers, system architects, and real specialists must reclaim their voice in energy policy debates. Technology reality must drive policy — not the other way around. Blind overreliance on intermittent renewables without investing in grid stability is a strategic error. Europe must diversify its energy mix intelligently — and that includes a massive reinvestment in nuclear power as a cornerstone of clean, dispatchable baseload. Europe has no future without going back to nuclear. Policymakers in countries like Germany — who shut down nuclear following an absurd decision by ignorant policymakers (some also allege massive corruption) — should reflect carefully. Spain, too, should recognize it was fortunate this blackout did not occur during the scorching peak of summer, when grid failure could have turned catastrophic. Final ThoughtEnergy security is not a political slogan. It is an engineering reality — and it must be treated as such. How do we realign energy policy with engineering reality — ensuring security, sustainability, and resilience — without falling prey to ideological shortcuts?I look forward to your perspectives. Dr Adrian Blanck is an International Energy Executive skilled at solving complex issues at local and regional level. General management, performance improvement and stakeholder engagement for value creation with Shell, Elf, Total and Saudi Aramco. Management consultant and board-level advisor in Europe and MENA with Accenture. 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