The Wall Street Journal - 07.04.2020

A2| Tuesday, April 7, 2020 ***** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

U.S. WATCH

FLORIDA

Jobless-Claim System

Bolstered Amid Influx

Gov. Ron DeSantis said the

state’s unemployment system

should now be able to handle

the crush of applicants it is re-

ceiving as workers lose their

jobs because of the coronavirus

outbreak.

He said Monday that the

computer system’s capacity has

been increased to handle

120,000 simultaneous connec-

tions, about double the peak us-

age in recent weeks. By Tuesday,

750 additional state employees

will be trained to handle and

process phone calls.

Private call centers are also

being contracted to provide addi-

tional service. Last week, 3.

million calls were made to the

department, 50% more than all

of last year.

More than 520,000 Floridians

have applied for unemployment

since March 15, compared with

326,000 last year as a whole.

—Associated Press

SPACE

Supermoon Will Be

In Full Glow Tuesday

A supermoon rises in the sky

this week, looking to be the big-

gest and brightest of the year.

The supermoon—which is a

full moon that comes closer to

the Earth than usual—will be

221,855 miles away at its fullest

Tuesday night, making it appear

larger and more brilliant.

“Use this as an opportunity

to not physically distance your-

self, but emotionally connect

with something that is physi-

cally far from us,” said scientist

Noah Petro of NASA’s Goddard

Space Flight Center in Maryland.

—Associated Press

OKLAHOMA

Governor Gets New

Powers Temporarily

The Oklahoma Legislature

granted new powers to the gov-

ernor to respond to the corona-

virus pandemic.

The House and Senate met in

special session Monday and ap-

proved the resolution under the

never-before-used Catastrophic

Health Emergency Act, which

gives Gov. Kevin Stitt the au-

thority to temporary suspend

laws and regulations that inter-

fere with the state’s ability to

respond to the pandemic.

It also gives the governor the

authority to redirect state em-

ployees and other resources, in-

cluding up to $50 million state

funds, from one agency to an-

other, among other things.

Those entering the Capitol on

Monday had their temperature

checked, and most House and

Senate members wore masks

and gloves as they filed onto the

floor in groups of 10 or fewer to

cast their votes. Some members

in the House also voted by

proxy, a move authorized under

new rules approved last month.

—Associated Press

TEXAS

Man’s Body Found

On Grounds of Capitol

A man’s lifeless body was

found Monday morning on the

grounds of the Texas state Capi-

tol in Austin.

Paramedics pronounced the

man dead at the scene, outside

the Texas Workforce Commis-

sion building. The Texas Depart-

ment of Public Safety didn’t

identify the man or say what

caused his death. The Texas

Rangers are investigating.

—Associated Press

camera angles, they’ll never

know.”

Louis Nayman, a 73-year-old

retired union organizer in Del-

ray Beach, Fla., had his family

run a test last week. There will

be about a dozen people at his

virtual table, in Florida, Mary-

land and New York, and they

learned their normally impro-

visational style won’t exactly

work. So they set about parcel-

ing out as much as possible in

advance. One daughter, a

schoolteacher, is in charge of

all technology. Everyone else is

in charge of the Hebrew. Com-

mentary, though usually en-

couraged, will be kept to a

minimum.

As it was for Moses scram-

bling out of Egypt, time is of

the essence. Many families’ Se-

ders last between two and

three hours, including the re-

telling of the Passover story,

the actual meal and all the dis-

cussion in between. Zoom, for

those who don’t have access to

a paid account, caps meetings

at 40 minutes.

“The 40-minute time limit

on Zoom is the existential cri-

sis right now of Jews,” said Al-

ana Newhouse, editor of the

Jewish online magazine Tablet

and a new Haggada. “The idea

they would be limited in how

much they would be able to

say and talk feels potentially

like a bridge too far.”

After fielding a deluge of

questions from nervous first-

time hosts, Tablet magazine

introduced its own daily video

tutorials that were appropri-

ately dubbed Seder Academy.

Even some Orthodox rabbis,

who normally wouldn’t con-

done using electricity on holi-

days and the Sabbath, are

digital in response to the virus,

giving rabbis at least one les-

son.

“You can’t have everyone

sing at the same time or read

at the same time because

there’s a lag,” said Rabbi Don

Cashman, of B’nai Sholom Re-

form Congregation in Albany,

N.Y., who held a seminar for

congregants on how to host a

Zoom Seder. The seminar was

on Zoom.

What doesn’t change is the

Haggada, essentially an an-

cient script for Passover. Even

the word Seder literally trans-

lates to “order.” Parts are split

up between readers. The most

frequently ignored piece of the

Seder is now everyone’s favor-

ite: Urchatz, the washing of

the hands. As it turns out, the

recommended 20 seconds of

hand-washing matches up ex-

actly with one verse and the

chorus of the Passover song,

“Dayeinu.”

The responsibility of reading

the Four Questions normally

falls to the youngest person at

the table. But with generations

kept apart by social distancing,

youngest becomes a relative

term. Mr. Malina joked his fa-

ther could claim the honors for

the first time in 70 years as the

youngest physically at his own

table.

He might have to wait only

24 hours to do it again. Seders

are often held on the first two

nights of the eight-day holiday,

which could come in handy in

case of technical glitches on

night one. Mr. Nayman, how-

ever, is considering another

option.

“Maybe we’ll just play the

recording of the first night,”

he said.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

(USPS 664-880) (Eastern Edition ISSN 0099-9660)

(Central Edition ISSN 1092-0935) (Western Edition ISSN 0193-2241)

Editorial and publication headquarters:1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y. 10036

Published daily except Sundays and general legal holidays.

Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y., and other mailing offices.

Postmaster: Send address changes to The Wall Street Journal, 200 Burnett Rd., Chicopee, MA 01020.

All Advertising published in The Wall Street Journal is subject to the applicable rate card, copies of which

are available from the Advertising Services Department, Dow Jones & Co. Inc., 1211 Avenue of the

Americas, New York, N.Y. 10036. The Journal reserves the right not to accept an advertiser’s order. Only

publication of an advertisement shall constitute finalacceptance of the advertiser’s order.

Letters to the Editor:Fax: 212-416-2891; email: [email protected]

Need assistance with your subscription?

By web: customercenter.wsj.com; By email: [email protected]

By phone: 1-800-JOURNAL (1-800-568-7625)

Reprints & licensing:

By email: [email protected] | By phone: 1-800-843-

WSJ back issues and framed pages:wsjshop.com

Our newspapers are 100% sourced from sustainably certified mills.

GOT A TIP FOR US? SUBMIT IT AT WSJ.COM/TIPS

Hana Cowart mixes matzo dough with her daughter while watching a presentation by Congregation

B’nai Israel of St. Petersburg, Fla. Below, Rabbi Josh Stanton of East End Temple in New York.

FROM TOP: SCOTT KEELER/TAMPA BAY TIMES/ZUMA PRESS; HANNAH STAMPLEMAN

Voting in Wisconsin will

proceed as scheduled on Tues-

day, after conservative majori-

ties on the federal and state

supreme courts blocked Demo-

cratic efforts to extend ballot-

ing for days or weeks to reduce

public gatherings during the

coronavirus pandemic.

Late Monday, the U.S. Su-

preme Court by a 5-4 vote

overturned lower court orders

extending by six days the dead-

line for mailing absentee bal-

lots. The high court’s action

came shortly after the Wiscon-

sin Supreme Court invalidated

an executive order by Gov.

Tony Evers rescheduling the

election to June 9.

Both cases saw all conserva-

tive justices side with Republi-

cans who were seeking to

maintain voting on Tuesday,

while all liberal justices agreed

with Democratic arguments to

extend balloting in response to

the contagion.

The rulings mean Wisconsin

is set to buck the trend in

other states; more than a

dozen have postponed elec-

tions to comply with public-

health recommendations to

limit contact between individu-

als during the pandemic. Polls

have shown former Vice Presi-

dent Joe Biden leading in the

state’s presidential primary.

Local and state races are on

the ballot as well.

State Republican leaders ap-

plauded the rulings and

pointed out that voters have

requested over a million absen-

tee ballots. “This prudent ac-

tion by the United States Su-

preme Court addresses our

concerns over ballot security in

tomorrow’s election,” Wiscon-

sin Senate Majority Leader

Scott Fitzgerald and Assembly

Speaker Robin Vos said in a

statement.

Gov. Evers, a Democrat, said

that allowing the election to

proceed goes against the ad-

vice of public-health experts.

“Tomorrow in Wisconsin, thou-

sands will wake up and have to

BYALEXACORSE

Court Rejects Wisconsin Vote Delay

Republicans won a challenge to the governor’s order to move Tuesday’s election to June 9. Above, a polling site in Waukesha, Wis.

SCOTT TRINDL/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Iowa’s governor recom-

mended on March 15 that

schools close, and schools

statewide followed the recom-

mendation. A graphic with an

Exchange article Saturday

about how the coronavirus af-

fected businesses during

March incorrectly said that

Iowa’s schools remained open.

CORRECTIONS

AMPLIFICATIONS

Readers can alert The Wall Street

Journal to any errors in news articles

by [email protected]

by calling 888-410-2667.

U.S. NEWS

singalongs and large amounts

of horseradish. It took 10

plagues to create the epic

story behind the Seder. It took

one more to make that Seder

completelymeshuga.

“We are called each year to

make this story of freedom

connect with people,” said

Rabbi Josh Stanton, who leads

East End Temple in New York

City. “This year, it’s going to

take a lot more planning.”

The challenges are the 2020

equivalent of building the pyr-

amids. Grandparents have to

learn how to use platforms like

Zoom. Everyone has to figure

out whose turn it is to read

from the Haggada, the Pass-

over book with songs and

prayers. Everyone needs to lo-

cate the mute button.

And in the same way their

ancestors made do with cakes

of unleavened bread long ago

in the Passover story, Jews in

2020 are making the most of

their current situation.

Actor Joshua Malina, who

starred in “The West Wing,” a

TV show entirely based on

close talking and walking

within 6 feet of co-workers,

said there may be advantages

to a more socially distanced

affair. He hopes to control the

microphone, giving him the

divine power to silence his

relatives. He also thinks he

can do something that his

parents would never allow at

their Seder: use plastic cut-

lery.

“I would not do that in the

presence of my folks,” Mr. Ma-

lina said. “But with the proper

Continued from Page One

Bubbe Has

Entered the

Meeting

choose between exercising

their right to vote and staying

healthy and safe,” he said.

Last week, a federal judge in

Madison ordered election offi-

cials to accept absentee ballots

received through April 13.

Monday’s Supreme Court order

allows ballots received through

April 13 to be counted, but only

if they were postmarked by

Tuesday, April 7.

Results won’t be released

until April 13 because that part

of the lower court’s order re-

mains in effect, a spokesman

for the Wisconsin Elections

Commission said.

Wisconsin’s Republican-con-

trolled Legislature rebuffed ef-

forts to reschedule the elec-

tion.

“The wisdom of that deci-

sion is not the question before

the Court. The question before

the Court is a narrow, techni-

cal question about the absen-

tee ballot process,” the Su-

preme Court’s unsigned

opinion said. The majority

noted that the Democratic

plaintiffs hadn’t asked the dis-

trict court for that specific

remedy, and that changing

election rules under such cir-

cumstances was unwarranted.

The majority comprised

Chief Justice John Roberts and

Justices Clarence Thomas,

Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and

Brett Kavanaugh.

The dissent, by Justice Ruth

Bader Ginsburg, noted that the

pandemic had prompted a

surge in absentee ballot appli-

cations, creating backlogs in

election offices struggling to

mail them out in time.

Earlier in Madison, a 4-

state Supreme Court sided

with the Legislature, which had

appealed to the justices after

Gov. Evers issued his emer-

gency order earlier Monday.

Gov. Evers, in a brief to the

court, depicted an election sys-

tem in near-breakdown: Poll-

workers were refusing to show

up, forcing officials to consoli-

date polling stations and creat-

ing even larger gatherings for

the virus to spread.

WASHINGTON—The Trump

administration branded a Rus-

sian white supremacist group

and its top members as global

terrorists on Monday, making

use of a tool normally used to

target radical Islamist groups

overseas.

The designation named the

Russian Imperial Movement, or

RIM, a Russia-based organiza-

tion with ties to European and

U.S.-based white supremacists,

as special designated global

terrorists. the State Depart-

ment said. Three senior RIM

members also were designated.

The State Department said

the designation aimed to curb

a global rise in attacks linked

to white supremacists who

target religious and ethnic mi-

nority groups. It was the first

time a white supremacist

group has been designated as

a SDGT, it said in a statement.

“This group has innocent

blood on its hands,” top U.S.

counterterrorism envoy Na-

than Sales told reporters on

Monday, linking RIM to terror-

ist incidents in Sweden.

RIM provided the training

to carry out attacks targeting

a far-left group and migrant

communities in Sweden, Mr.

Sales said. RIM, which is

banned in Russia, couldn’t be

reached for comment.

Lawmakers and academics

have been calling on the

Trump administration to do

more to combat the rise of do-

mestic extremism, following a

surge in hate crimes targeting

religious and ethnic minorities.

Mr. Sales declined to com-

ment on reported connections

between RIM and white su-

premacists in the U.S. But Rus-

sian extremist groups appear

to have inspired at least some

support from right-wing

groups in the U.S.

Matthew Heimbach, an or-

ganizer of the “Unite the Right”

rally in Charlottesville, Va., in

2017 previously has praised

Russian right-wing groups, in-

cluding RIM. A lawyer for Mr.

Heimbach didn’t respond to a

request for comment.

The State Department ac-

tion Monday labels RIM as a

specially designated global

terrorist, which under an exec-

utive order blocks any trans-

actions or property interests

the group or its principals may

have under U.S. jurisdiction.

A specially designated global

terrorist differs somewhat

from a foreign terrorist organi-

zation, which under U.S. law

may not be supported in any

material way by any U.S. entity

or individual. Also, receiving

training from such groups

would be considered a crime.

Seamus Hughes, deputy di-

rector of George Washington

University’s Program on Ex-

tremism, said the move is un-

likely to have significant im-

pact in the U.S.

“There is not a large cadre

of known RIM supporters in the

U.S. so on a practical level, the

effect of the designation will

have more importance overseas

in terms of stopping the flow of

funding and such,” he said.

A report co-written by

George Washington University

and the Anti-Defamation

League concluded a new domes-

tic terrorism statute is needed

to help address the challenges

posed by such groups.

BYJESSICADONATI

Russian Group

Draws Terror Label

The U.S. aims to

curb a global rise in

attacks linked to

white supremacists.

making special exemptions.

Rabbis across the world

have similarly spent recent

weeks teaching their con-

gregants the finer points of

both the Talmud and video-

chat etiquette. Rabbi Stanton

opened up his Seder to the

community and expects more

than 100 people in e-atten-

dance. The response was so

overwhelming that his syna-

gogue had to send out detailed

instructions. One sentence

merited underlining: “Please

start by muting your own au-

dio.”

Shabbat services for the

past several weeks have gone

Virtual bread

wsj_ 20200407 _a 002 _p 2 jw 098000 _ 5 _a 00200 _ 2 ________xa 2020 .crop.pdf 1 07 - Apr- 20 06 : 08 : 04