Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on January 31, 2020

In recent weeks, after realizing that the Knesset would never grant him immunity in the corruption cases against him, Benjamin Netanyahu expressed a degree of satisfaction with the fact that he would be tried in the Jerusalem District Court rather than in Tel Aviv.

Netanyahu seems to believe he would fare better in a Jerusalem court, where more judges are religious and/or right-wing, than in Tel Aviv. The Basic Law on the Government says a prime minister will be tried by a three-judge panel in Jerusalem. So Netanyahu at least has achieved this goal.

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According to one political figure, when he recently asked Netanyahu why it was so important to him to be tried in Jerusalem, the prime minister said that in Jerusalem the judges go to synagogue, in Tel Aviv they go to the philharmonic.

This quote reflects the mindset of a prime minister of Jerusalem, as it were, who sees the State of Tel Aviv with its leftists in academia and the media as his greatest domestic enemy.

Netanyahu is right regarding those three judges in Jerusalem. The rate of kippa-wearing judges is higher in the capital than in Tel Aviv, and its likely that one or more of them will try his case. In general, Jerusalem is a religious, right-wing city. The right-ultra-Orthodox bloc won more than 70 percent support there in the last election, while in Tel Aviv the result was the opposite.

Is Netanyahu right to assume that identity politics will determine his legal situation? Maybe the lesson will be the same as in the trial of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who sat in the dock both in Jerusalem and in Tel Aviv.

In 2009, a few months after offering the Palestinians a far-reaching peace arrangement, Olmert was tried before three judges in Jerusalem: the courts president, Musia Arad, and judges Jacob Zaban and Moshe Sobel. Pundits assumed that the former prime minister would face a harsh panel, noting that Arad had been on the panel that sent Shas Arye Dery to prison for corruption. Zaban, meanwhile, had convicted Shlomo Benizri, another former cabinet member from Shas, and sentenced him to prison. (In 2015, Dery became a cabinet member once again.)

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Followers of the judges comments to the defendant and key witnesses believed that the panel would convict Olmert in the cash envelopes case, the double-billing Rishon Tours case and the Investment Center conflict-of-interest case. But in July 2012, the former prime minister was acquitted of two of the main charges against him.

Olmert was also on trial in Tel Aviv for bribery and faced Judge David Rosen. At first, legal experts predicted that Olmert would be acquitted. They noted Rosens lenient record with senior officials; he had acquitted former ministers Yaakov Neeman and Avigdor Kahalani.

The impression that Olmert would be acquitted strengthened when, in the early sessions, Rosen showed hostility toward someone who had turned states evidence in the case, Shmuel Dechner. Rosen even hinted to defense attorney Roy Blecher about a happy end for the former prime minister: Many defendants would like to trade places with you guys in the amount and intensity of the evidence.

But Rosen didnt acquit Olmert. He convicted him of taking bribes, sentenced him to six years and added scathing comments in the verdict. (In the end, Olmert served around 16 months.) Olmerts legal saga shows that predicting the trial results based on the judges identity, origin or imagined political orientation is like playing roulette.

According to a senior prosecutor, if a ballot box had been placed in the Jerusalem prosecutors office before Netanyahu became a suspect, he and the right wing would have won big. Yet this is the same prosecutors office whose people vigorously pushed Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit and then-State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan to speed up the investigation in the cases against Netanyahu, based on serious suspicions of criminality. The team of prosecutors who sought Netanyahus indictment consisted of several kippa wearers.

So when Netanyahu faces the three Jerusalem judges, even if some of them share his worldview, its doubtful whether this will affect their decision.

The only way Netanyahu can avoid trial is to reach a plea deal. But people who have spoken to him say he completely dismisses this option. He continues to claim he is being persecuted, as he did in his police interviews.

A wacky conspiracy, he described the suspicions in the Yedioth Ahronoth favorable-news-for-favors case. In a similar case involving the Walla news site of the Bezeq telecom company, Netanyahu said he had received an enema from the main shareholder.

People who have spoken to Mendelblit believe that the door to a plea deal is closed. Netanyahu accused the attorney general of giving in to extortion by Nitzan and senior prosecutor Liat Ben Ari, and of taking part in an attempted coup by framing Netanyahu. Thus Mendelblit is convinced that the only option is to try Netanyahu in court.

The public interest in this case makes it imperative not to have a plea deal and to have the court decide on the basis of the evidence, the attorney general said recently, according to someone present at the meeting.

It will be interesting to see if Netanyahu and Mendelblit remain entrenched in their positions to the bitter end.

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Netanyahu is glad his court will be in Jerusalem, where the judges go to synagogue - Haaretz

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Posted By admin on January 31, 2020

A new wave of a popular email scam has hit the Bay Area, with scammers posing as local rabbis to extort gift cards from the unsuspecting. At least a eight local synagogues have been affected.

The scamstarts with an email sent from an address that looks very similar to a particular rabbis email address. The fake email is sent to some of the rabbis congregants, and it usually asks for a donation of online gift cards, a simple way for a con artist to grab a small bit of cash.

Somebody is impersonating the rabbi and preying on peoples sincerity and good faith, said Gordon Gladstone, executive director of San Franciscos Congregation Sherith Israel, one of the synagogues that was hit.

The same scam prompted the Federal Trade Commission to issue a warning in July 2019 to synagogues, mosques and churches. The recent wave seems to have started on the East Coast and made its way across the country. Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, where 11 people were killed by a gunman in 2018, was affected last week.

Among other Bay Area synagogues targeted were Congregation Beth Shalom in Napa; Congregation Shaar Zahav in San Francisco; Congregation Emeth in Morgan Hill; Congregation Beth Jacob in Oakland; Congregation Bnai Israel in Sacramento; and Congregation Beth Israel and Congregation Netivot Shalom in Berkeley.

I think that it happened last night, because I had a bunch of emails in my inbox this morning, Shaar Zahav Rabbi Mychel Copeland said today. Early this morning she sent a message to congregants from the synagogues main email address, warning them not to buy gift cards. She said many congregants had reached out to her.

People were worried, and they wanted to hear if I knew, she said.

Rabbi Chai Levy of Berkeleys Congregation Netivot Shalom had an incident last week when an email went out from an address similar to hers, asking for eBay gift cards for women hospitalized with cancer. She said the people who received it werent fooled, mostly because of the halting grammar and strange capitalization.

Hello How Are You?I Need An Assistance From You?Please Let Me Know If You Get This,Shalom,Rabbi Chai

An email reply to someone who responded to the first message read:

I just need to get eBay gift card today for some women going through cancer at the hospital but i cant do that right now because of my busy schedule. Can you get it from any store around you possibly now or online? And I will pay you back later in cash or check.

It just didnt look like it was written by me, Levy said.

Thats one of the main ways people can avoid being taken in by scams like this. If something seems off, stop and take a second look, Gladstone said.

Theres a lot coming at you, and its easy to get confused, he said. This is very much in the frame of social engineering, a term for scams that use natural human inclinations (like the desire to be generous or trusting) as a tool to manipulate.

Gladstone said the people who have received the emails are usually those whose email addresses are listed on the synagogue website in some capacity, such as committee work.

But Levy said emails were sent to congregants who werent listed, and even to nonmembers.

I cant figure out how the people doing the phishing or the computers doing the phishing were getting peoples email addresses, she said.

Rabbis and synagogue staff have been letting each other know through informal channels that the scam is active, and proactively alerting their congregants.

The FTC asks anyone who mistakenly paid a scammer with a gift card to report it to the card company as soon as possible, and at ftc.gov/complaint.

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Email 'phishing' scam targets Bay Area rabbis and their congregants - The Jewish News of Northern California

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Posted By admin on January 31, 2020

Red paint was found on the facade of a synagogue in Finland in what some fear may have been an anti-Semitic incident, JTA reported on Wednesday.

The speckles and blotches of paint were found on the synagogue of Turku, which is situated 70 miles west of the capital Helsinki, on Sunday, according to the report.

The vandalism may have taken place on Saturday. The synagogue was not vandalized with any hateful messages or icons.

Finnish President Sauli Niinist called the incident very disturbing.

Meanwhile, News Now Finland reported that police in the southern city of Tampere are looking into an incident at the citys railway station involving a gathering of neo-Nazis who reportedly burned an Israeli flag at a rally.

Anti-Semitic assaults and vandalism are very rare in Finland, where a few hundred Jews reside.

An anti-Semitic incident was reported in Finland in 2015, when the posters of a Jewish MP were vandalized with swastikas in Helsinki.

According to a survey published in November, about one in four Europeans harbor pernicious and pervasive attitudes toward Jews.

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Red paint found on synagogue in Finland - Arutz Sheva

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Posted By admin on January 31, 2020

By now, most people know that not counting Israel, there are more Jewish people in New York City than anywhere else in the world. Wikipedia tells us that somewhere between 12 percent and 13 percent of New Yorks population is Jewish. As an American Jew, I was raised with pride in my religion although my parents hardly ever stepped into a synagogue, unlike the parents of my wife, who resided for most of their lives in upstate Hudson, New York. My twin brother and I were both bar mitzvahed in New Yorks Stephen Wise Free Synagogue. The fact that my parents fiercely identified as Jews and were quick to despise anti-Semitic individuals and rhetoric put them squarely in the middle of the Jewish population in this country where, far and away, most people of Jewish descent do not see themselves as religious Jews.

There are many myths about American Jews including that they dont drink or beat their wives and they all have money. In truth, some Jews run counter to the mythology. Nevertheless, there are some cultural norms that exist among Jews. Like many of the Asian populations in this country, education is part of the familial expectation among people of Jewish descent. While not all go to college, many do. All of this goes to help explain the current spate of anti-Semitism that we see on the news every day. To his credit, Gov. Cuomo has astutely added more cops to guard and patrol Jewish religious institutions and Jewish neighborhoods.

Part of the problem involves the charge of anti-Semitism against those who criticize the state of Israel. Im a pretty good example of this. I have some very negative feelings about Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu, his close relationship with Donald Trump, and his unwise moves when it comes to expanding Israeli territory. While I am hardly in sympathy with those who talk about pushing Israel into the sea, I just think that the man has unnecessarily alienated major parts of the world and its leaders. That said, when I hear people putting down Israel or the Jews who support Israel, my hackles go up. I do not think that Jewish people are unique in this. Many Catholics that I know are appalled at the abuses that have come to light in the Catholic church, yet they dont like people taking shots at their church.

Now we have this spate of anti-Semitic horrors. We are talking about madmen who think it is their duty to kill Jews. We certainly had seen this before, and it has always been so as this virus-like sickness infects people. Painting swastikas on buildings or pushing over gravestones are just a few of the manifestations of this sickness. While we describe all of this as terrifying, it really does amount to a few mentally ill people who are motivated by Donald Trump-type hate. So while we station police outside of synagogues and Jewish institutions, we are not dealing with the systemic disease that infects the minds of the vulnerable. Of course, when Trump suggested that there were very good people on both sides in the Charlottesville riots, he was giving the green light to anti-Semites to go ahead with their heinous activities.

My wife and her colleagues in Great Barrington started the first regular curriculum for high school students on the Holocaust. It has certainly been highly imitated and copied, but such exposure wont stop a mentally ill person from doing what comes naturally. So often these bad actors are imitating what they heard at home. In fact, as part of her dissertation research, my wife asked her students whether they had ever heard an anti-Semitic remark in their homes. The results were terrifying. As the musical South Pacific suggested, Youve got to be carefully taught.

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Alan Chartock: On being Jewish | - theberkshireedge.com

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Posted By admin on January 31, 2020

The vandalism of a Racine synagogue in September is helping shine a light on The Base, which the FBI described as a "white, racially motivated extremist group." The FBI made seven arrests this month across four states, including Yousef Barasneh, 22, of Oak Creek, who is under house arrest. He is linked to The Base and charged with conspiracy to violate citizens' rights in connection with the synagogue vandalism. "It's sinister. It's sinister. And I would say that the Jewish community is on edge. We're not the only ones. But the community is on edge," said Elana Kahn, of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation.The federation tracks incidents of anti-Semitism in the area, including groups like The Base. The trend is alarming."Since 2015, every year (there's been) a significant increase in the number of incidents," Kahn said. Anti-Semitic incidents are up 300 percent in the past four years. The FBI said The Base even leafletted Marquette University in June looking, for more members.Marquette University told WISN 12 News it was unable to substantiate that flyers were actually distributed on campus, but said they "condemn the spread of hateful rhetoric anywhere.""The Base, part of their whole goal, is to not just let things evolve and lead to this race war, but to hasten the race war, and encourage people to be active shooters and to vandalize Jewish synagogues like we saw in Racine," Kahn said. According to court records, the group was founded in July 2018 and is using historic acts of intolerance as dark inspiration. "This is a young group that has a local chapter. They've said, 'OK all of you who are already extremists, let's get to work.' So I think we should totally be alarmed. I think the biggest danger is that we stop being alarmed," Kahn said.

The vandalism of a Racine synagogue in September is helping shine a light on The Base, which the FBI described as a "white, racially motivated extremist group."

The FBI made seven arrests this month across four states, including Yousef Barasneh, 22, of Oak Creek, who is under house arrest.

He is linked to The Base and charged with conspiracy to violate citizens' rights in connection with the synagogue vandalism.

"It's sinister. It's sinister. And I would say that the Jewish community is on edge. We're not the only ones. But the community is on edge," said Elana Kahn, of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation.

The federation tracks incidents of anti-Semitism in the area, including groups like The Base. The trend is alarming.

"Since 2015, every year (there's been) a significant increase in the number of incidents," Kahn said.

Anti-Semitic incidents are up 300 percent in the past four years.

The FBI said The Base even leafletted Marquette University in June looking, for more members.

Marquette University told WISN 12 News it was unable to substantiate that flyers were actually distributed on campus, but said they "condemn the spread of hateful rhetoric anywhere."

"The Base, part of their whole goal, is to not just let things evolve and lead to this race war, but to hasten the race war, and encourage people to be active shooters and to vandalize Jewish synagogues like we saw in Racine," Kahn said.

According to court records, the group was founded in July 2018 and is using historic acts of intolerance as dark inspiration.

"This is a young group that has a local chapter. They've said, 'OK all of you who are already extremists, let's get to work.' So I think we should totally be alarmed. I think the biggest danger is that we stop being alarmed," Kahn said.

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White nationalist group, The Base, on Wisconsin investigators' radar - WISN Milwaukee

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Posted By admin on January 31, 2020

Rabbi Moshe Hauer Will Succeed Allen Fagin, Who Will Retire Later This Year

NEW YORK Rabbi Moshe Hauer, the senior rabbi of Bnai Jacob Shaarei Zion Congregation in Baltimore, will become the executive vice president of the Orthodox Union (OU), the nations oldest and largest umbrella organization for the North American Orthodox Jewish community, following the retirement of Allen Fagin later this year.

Rabbi Hauer has built his synagogue into one of the most dynamic centers for prayer and learning in Baltimore during a 25-year career. He is active in local communal leadership in many areas, with an emphasis on education, children at risk and social service organizations serving the Jewish community. His commitment to the OU has been longstanding, delivering frequent keynotes and lectures at major OU events and conferences. He has been a leading source of rabbinic guidance to both OU lay and professional leadership and to other pulpit rabbis around the country.

Fagin notified the OUs executive committee last year that he planned to retire in the Fall of 2020. The committee then created a comprehensive succession planning process that led to the conclusion that the best direction for the OU going forward was to bifurcate the professional leadership role. As a result, the next executive vice president would be a rabbinic leader to lead its communal-oriented efforts and to serve as the professional religious and policy leader of the organization. A second person will serve as the senior professional officer, functioning like a chief executive officer. A search is underway for an experienced business executive to fill that position.

Rabbi Hauer is one of North Americas foremost contemporary Torah thinkers and rabbinic leaders who is most qualified to be our next executive vice president in our new formulation. His leadership will be key to the continuation of the OUs increasing role in meeting the significant material and spiritual challenges facing the Orthodox community and elevating its religious experience by ensuring the accessibility of Torah knowledge and halachic observance to the broadest range of the American Jewish community, said Orthodox Union President Moishe Bane.

In 2014, the lay leadership of the OU urged Allen Fagin, then a lay leader himself, to assume the EVP role. He agreed to accommodate the request albeit for only a brief period of time but has generously extended his tenure for more than six years, said Bane. Allen has served as a transformative professional leader, growing the organization in creative and impactful ways. His vision has not only significantly expanded the OUs reach and effectiveness, but also under his guidance and leadership the OU has evolved into an impressively professional and disciplined institution. For many years to come, successors to Allen will be the beneficiaries of his incredible achievements.

I am humbled by the opportunity to work with the exceptional lay and professional leadership of the OU and our communitys synagogues in this new capacity. I look forward to working with Allen through this transition and developing a vision and specific plans later in the year, said Rabbi Hauer.

The past five plus years have been tremendously fulfilling. We were able to double the OU budget and significantly expand our programs and services in areas of key communal needs that have positively affected every corner of the Orthodox community. We have an outstanding team of professionals and lay leaders who give of themselves daily to help klal Yisroel and I am enormously grateful for their help and support. I am so pleased that Rabbi Hauer has been chosen for this new role and I am confident he will be an outstanding leader for the organization, said Fagin.

In addition to his synagogue, Rabbi Hauer serves as a trustee of The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore and is a member of the national council of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). He is a member of the Rabbinical Council-Vaad HaRabbonim of Baltimore and the Rabbinical Council of America. Rabbi Hauer received his rabbinic ordination, doctor of Talmudic law and bachelor of Talmud law degrees from Ner Israel in Baltimore. He received a masters of science degree from the Whiting School of Engineering of Johns Hopkins University.

Founded in 1898, the Orthodox Union, (OU), serves as the voice of American Orthodox Jewry, with over 400 congregations in its synagogue network. As the umbrella organization for American Orthodox Jewry, the OU is at the forefront of advocacy work on both state and federal levels, outreach to Jewish teens and young professionals through NCSY, Israel Free Spirit Birthright, Yachad and OU Press, among many other divisions and programs.

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Baltimore Rabbi Chosen as Next Executive Vice President of the Orthodox Union - Orthodox Union

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Posted By admin on January 31, 2020

CANVEY ISLAND, England (JTA) This scruffy-looking town on the mouth of the Thames River is known for its oysters, sea breeze and the nativism of its residents.

Its also home to one of Europes fastest-growing communities of haredi Orthodox Jews, who make up 1% of the local population just four years after the first families moved from London.

A whopping 72 percent of Canvey Islands constituency of Castle Point voted for Brexit in the 2016 referendum 21 points above the national result and the third most pro-Brexit of the United Kingdoms 650 constituencies.

Brexit, the United Kingdoms anguished pullout from the European Union, is becoming reality this week. It has toppled two cabinets before its achievement became the core policy of the Conservative Partys prime minister, Boris Johnson.

Brexits proponents say it will restore British sovereignty from the EU, which they perceive as increasingly encroaching on domestic issues. Opponents say it is both rooted in and amplifying xenophobia, as well as financially hazardous.

Wherever the truth lies, a pro-Brexit bastion like Canvey Island hardly seems like the most intuitive place for haredi Jews to settle down.

Yet thats exactly what Joel Friedman, a 33-year-old father of seven from London, and a handful of his friends did in 2016, when they planted the seed for what has rapidly grown into a community of 76 families who could not afford the housing prices in nearby London.

When Friedman presented his plan to members of his community in the heavily haredi London neighborhood of Stamford Hill, the reactions he encountered ranged from dismissiveness to shock, he told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Some people told us, Dont go there, theyre all racists there, theyre all for Brexit, he recalled. (Friedman added he believed that haredi Jews who care about Brexit are as split on the issue as other involved members of the general population.)

Despite some minor incidents involving anti-Semitism, walking around Canvey Island its not an island at all while wearing the clothes of haredi Jews is absolutely safe, Friedman said. We have excellent neighborly relations.

Tony Eaton stands outside his Canvey Island home, Dec. 13, 2019. (Cnaan Liphshiz)

Tony Eaton, who lives next door to several Jewish families, generally concurred phrasing it with British understatement.

Theyre not worse than anyone else you might want as your neighbor, he said. They keep to themselves, mind their own business, and so do we, really, added Eaton, who voted for the Conservatives and supported getting Brexit done.

Anti-Semitic incidents were due to young quarrelsome men, often drunk, rather than any organized ideological group or opposition to Jewish presence, several members of the local Jewish community said in interviews with JTA.

Eaton is one of many white, English baby boomers who moved sometime after the 1970s from London to Essex, the county to which Canvey Island belongs. Just like the haredim, the baby boomers came to improve their quality of life and for affordable housing.

But many of them also were eager to leave behind the increasingly multicultural metropolis of London, which began seeing an influx of immigrants from Asia, Africa and other parts of Europe about 50 years ago.

The so-called white flight to Canvey Island may explain why the center-right Conservative Party has won here in all but one election since 1983.

As in the United States, haredi Jews in the United Kingdom seem to vote overwhelmingly for right-wing parties, and Canvey Islands political orientation has helped its new arrivals feel at home.

Were conservative, theyre conservative, Jacob Gross, a father of six who is in charge of security for Canvey Islands Jewish community, said of the towns Jewish and non-Jewish contingents. Despite our differences, theres a worldview that we share.

Politics, though, were not what brought the Jews to Canvey Island, which has about 40,000 residents and 16,000 houses.

Back in northern London, which is about an hours drive from Canvey Island, Friedman was living in a rented home with three bedrooms worth well over a million pounds, or $1.3 million a sum that is wholly unaffordable to most haredi families and double what such a property costs in Canvey Island.

Even those who do have the money cant buy a house there because theres such a shortage, said Gross, who supports Brexit even though it caused his outdoor toy business to tank.

Jacob Gross, right, speaks to a Canvey Island resident outside the towns synagogue, Dec. 13, 2019. (Cnaan Liphshiz)

Uncertainty around Brexit caused the British pound to weaken against the dollar, hurting his profits, he said.

But Brexit is still the right thing to do for this country, he said.

Friedman and Gross were members of a group of activists who decided to band together and establish a new community in a more affordable market that is still near London.

This overflow from Stamford Hill reflects a major demographic development in British Jewry. Haredim are projected to become that minoritys largest group by 2031, according to a 2015 report by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research. That year, haredi births accounted for 47 percent of all Jewish births.

The non-haredi Jewish birthrate in the United Kingdom is 1.98 children per woman, only slightly above the national average, according to the report. Haredim typically have at least four children and a much smaller rate of assimilation.

The beating heart of the Jewish community of Canvey Island is the yeshiva, the local name for a Jewish community center built inside a former school. The yeshiva is located about a mile north of the city center, with its suburban strip mall and shoulderless, patchy roads whose sidewalks are often cluttered with merchandise belonging to the areas many small construction firms and body shops.

The community center has a kosher convenience store, a synagogue and an events hall that is by far the prettiest space in the otherwise decaying building. There are also classrooms for the communitys approximately 350 children.

Jacob Gross at the yeshiva and synagogue in the London areas Canvey Island, Dec. 13, 2019. (Cnaan Liphshiz)

On Shabbat afternoon, many haredi children play on the quiet streets bordering the yeshiva.

Officially, the children are all home-schooled. Canvey Island does not have a Jewish school, an amenity whose establishment would require considerable red tape and government oversight. Several haredi schools are facing closure for their alleged failure to teach sex education, evolution and other core requirements.

In practice, the yeshiva compound functions as a gender-segregated school, although the classes are called clubs. The place also has a mikvah, a ritual bath. Canvey Island, however, does not have a rabbi. The community is still looking for a suitable candidate, Gross said.

Last month, a fire damaged part of the yeshiva center: One of the students forgot to extinguish the Hanukkah menorah. The blaze was extinguished quickly and caused minor damage to the center, Friedman said.

The Jewish Community of Canvey Island, a registered charity that represents the Jewish population, arranged for swimming lessons at a nearby pool. Different time slots were set aside for boys and girls, Friedman noted.

Life is great for the children here, said a haredi resident who moved to Canvey Island and identified himself only as Shaul. They can play outside, leave their bikes unlocked. Its a totally different world to London.

Jewish children play in Canvey Island, Dec. 13, 2019. (Cnaan Liphshiz)

Shaul, his wife and five children moved from Stamford Hill three years ago. They were living in a two-room apartment, he said. I just love the sea breeze, he said on a sunny afternoon last month.

To be sure, Canvey Island is one of several locales in the United Kingdom where haredi communities from London have settled in recent years in search of affordable housing.

Theres Manchester, situated 180 miles north of London, and Gateshead, a haredi town of 8,000 residents located a further 100 miles northward.

But in the London area, Canvey Island is one of a kind.

People can still work there and live here, Friedman said. They can still remain part of family life in Stamford Hill.

His community operates four daily shuttle buses to northern London.

With more Jews expressing an interest in moving to Canvey Island, the local Jewish community has taken precautions to avoid this trend of driving up market prices, Gross said.

Theres a committee. Theres a strict limit on how much we allow newcomers to bid, Gross said.

Supply is rooted in local baby boomers reaching retirement age and selling assets in Canvey Island to buy smaller apartments now that their children have moved out, Friedman explained.

It means there is availability, he said, and room to grow.

The post In a Brexit bastion near London, a growing Orthodox community springs to life appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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In a Brexit bastion near London, a growing Orthodox community springs to life - Cleveland Jewish News

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Posted By admin on January 31, 2020

(JTA) Despite a rise in anti-Semitic violencein recent years, the proportion of Americans holding intensely anti-Semitic views remains small, according to a new poll.

The poll, conducted by the Anti-Defamation League and published Wednesday, asked 11 questions of U.S. adults regarding traditional anti-Semitic stereotypes, using a protocol the organization developed more than 50 years ago.

While 61 percent of respondents said they agreed with one or more of the stereotypes, only 11 percent said they believed in a majority of them. That number is consistent with the ADLs surveys over the past 25 years.

Our research finds that this uptick [in anti-Semitic violence] is being caused not by a change in attitudes among most Americans, said ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt in a statement. Rather, more of the millions of Americans holding anti-Semitic views are feeling emboldened to act on their hate.

The poll found that many Americans do believe in certain longstanding anti-Jewish stereotypes, even though few subscribed to most of the beliefs:

The survey also found that large majorities of Americans have positive feelings toward Jews, and that a majority is very or somewhat concerned about violence against Jews.

And the survey found that small percentages of Americans hold anti-Israel views:

The survey interviewed 800 U.S. adults in October 2019, with a margin of error of 3.5%.

A 2019 ADL poll of 9,000 Europeans found that a quarter subscribed to most of the stereotypes and that anti-Semitic attitudes are on the rise in several countries.

The post ADL poll: Anti-Semitic violence is on the rise in America but anti-Semitic attitudes are not appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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ADL poll: Anti-Semitic violence is on the rise in America but anti-Semitic attitudes are not - Cleveland Jewish News

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Posted By admin on January 31, 2020

Michael Balanoff is president/CEO of the Jewish Federation of Central New York. He also is a member of InterFaith Works of CNYs Round Table of Faith Leaders, to whom he delivered these remarks in January.

By Michael Balanoff | Special to Syracuse.com

Anti-Semitism is the worlds oldest hate. At the same time, anti-Semitism is a reliable bellwether of the moral health of a nation. When anti-Semitism appears and spreads, it signals that something is very wrong. Currently, in the United States of America, according to the Anti-Defamation League, assault, harassment and vandalism against Jews are at near-historic levels.

The danger of anti-Semitism, for those who are not Jews, is that it endangers everyone. The hate that begins with Jews never ends with Jews. Hitler killed 6 million Jews, but he also killed 6 million other people: Catholics, Roma, the disabled, Slavs, Ukrainians, Russians, Afro-Germans, Freemasons; the list goes on and on.

German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemoller, who initially supported Hitler, turned against him when he experienced the Nazification of German Protestant churches. He captured the dangers of not opposing anti-Semitism in a confessional prose poem:

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for meAnd there was no one left to speak for me.

This is why we need to stand together, speak out together, fight hatred together. Jews cannot fight anti-Semitism alone. The victim cannot cure the crime. We need and appreciate friends who will stand with us and help lead the fight.

As the faith leaders of our community, it is essential that you affirm the belief that all humankind is made in Gods image. We may have different theological positions, different metaphysical views, different understandings of the pathways to enlightenment, but we all share basic ethical commitments, including compassion and concern for and connection with other people. Thus our faiths compel us to speak up, to defend truth, to celebrate both our diversity and our common humanity, to be a voice for those in need and to seek the common good.

All major world religions share a belief in community, because community provides group cohesion and identity, as well as a way for rituals and traditions to be passed down from generation to generation. Today, in our Central New York community, whatever our faith tradition, we must act to preserve the ability of all people to live in freedom in their communities, to maintain their identity, to observe their faith, and to be safe and secure in their homes, schools, places of work and places of worship, whatever their beliefs.

People of faith must act together to promote religious and cultural understanding and eliminate religious and racial prejudice through education, dialogue and social action. I urge you with the utmost passion and urgency to help put an end to the hatred of the other.

People look to their faith leaders to provide moral guidance. This is perhaps your most unique and critical role. As the faith leaders of our community, it falls to you to inspire people unequivocally and conspicuously to act to eradicate anti-Semitism from society, along with all other forms of religious, ethnic and racial hatred.

I, therefore, call upon you our faith leaders, people of God, exemplars of morality, of values and ethics to remember, there is no them. There is only us.

Let us teach what is right, condemn what is wrong, and speak out for justice and decency.

Also in Opinion: 5 reasons to be concerned about Second Amendment sanctuaries (Commentary)

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Come together to defeat anti-Semitism, the worlds oldest hate (Commentary) - syracuse.com

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Posted By admin on January 31, 2020

As a trial lawyer at Walter Haverfield LLP in Cleveland, Jamie Price represents clients in situations from business disputes to trust and estate litigation.

Though her work can be complex, Price said her inspiration to become a lawyer was simple: she wanted to help others.

But, I was unsure whether I wanted to be a lawyer or go into the medical/scientific field like my dad, Price recalled. It wasnt until college, after taking sociology and political science courses and volunteering with a social justice nonprofit that I realized that I could best help others and live out my passion by becoming a lawyer.

Price is also involved with the Anti-Defamation League and the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Associations Ethics and Professionalism committee.

CJN: What drew you to trial and litigation law?

Price: I was drawn to litigation and becoming a trial lawyer because going to trial can be the best way to help clients and vindicate those who are wrongly accused. I also enjoy being in the courtroom and having to think on my feet.

CJN: How did you get involved with the ADL?

Price: I have always been passionate about social justice, particularly working to combat bias and bigotry. This is in large part due to the values instilled in me by my parents and growing up in a very small Jewish community in Alabama where I saw so many instances of anti-Semitism and racism.

After moving to Cleveland for law school, I decided I wanted to get involved with a social justice-related nonprofit that not only provided educational programming to help combat racism and anti-Semitism, but also worked in the civil rights arena. ADL fit, and continues to fit, perfectly.

CJN: How do you use your law and professional skills with the bar associations ethics and professionalism committee?

Price: I spent years defending lawyers in legal malpractice lawsuits and in grievance proceedings. I saw firsthand the importance of the Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct that governs lawyers behavior and how detrimental one mistake or violation could have on a career. I therefore decided to get involved with the committee to help educate other attorneys on the importance of the rules and provide practical insight into how they apply.

CJN: Where does Judaism fit in? What role does it play?

Price: The basic tenets and values of Judaism, particularly tikkun olam and treating others (how) you want to be treated, shape how I try to live my life, both personally and professionally. It also provides me with a sense of community and tradition.

Along with her busy schedule both in and out of the courtroom, Price said both professional and volunteer activities help her be more rounded.

I believe it is important to live a healthy and balanced life, she explained. While I enjoy my work as a lawyer, I have many other interests that I want to pursue. I also value spending time with friends and family. Additionally, taking time for myself, whether to volunteer, exercise, or see friends and family, allows me to be better and more focused in my career.

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Jamie Price / Walter Haverfield LLP - Cleveland Jewish News

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