Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on June 27, 2017

A primer on the 50-year war that has divided Diaspora Jewry and Israel's religious hegemony

Its the second holiest site in Judaism. Nearly every tourist coming to Israel visits it. Israeli army units swear their allegiance in front of it. And lately, it seems that Israelis and U.S. Jews cant stop fighting about how Jews can pray there. So whats all the fuss about?

What is the Western Wall?

The Western Wall was never part of the Temple Mount, where the ancient holy places of worship for Jews stood. It is believed to be a remnant of the retaining wall that supported the esplanade built by King Herod in the first century B.C.E., holding up his reconstruction of the Second Temple.

But ever since the Ottomans conquered Jerusalem in 1516 and non-Muslims were forbidden from ascending to the Temple Mount itself, the Wall became the worlds foremost destination for Jewish pilgrimage and prayer.

Who made the controversial decisions about who can pray at the Wall?

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Until 1967, there were no rules regarding worship. For the Jews who were able to access the site, any gender separation was strictly voluntary. But 50 years ago, in 1967, Israel regained control of the Old City and the Wall during the Six-Day War.

As soon as the Western Wall was captured, the houses in front of it were demolished and the Western Wall Plaza was created to accommodate the flood of worshippers. The Chief Rabbinate immediately launched a political battle for control of the site. They were worried that if the site was managed by the Religious Services Ministry or the National Parks Authority, it would be treated as a tourist and archaeological attraction, not as a synagogue.

The Rabbinate won that fight. Ever since, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation has maintained the site under the rules of an ultra-Orthodox synagogue, with a presiding rabbi who makes sure that all prayer there conforms to Orthodox rules. This means separating men and women with a high fence and forbidding women to pray in loud voices with accessories restricted to men in Orthodox Judaism, such as kippot, tallitot [prayer shawls] and a Torah scroll.

When did the trouble start?

From the very beginning, Reform and Conservative Jews who wanted to pray together at the Wall were unhappy with the restrictions but little was done to challenge the rules. Then, in 1988, a group of English-speaking women from the United States, Canada and England came to Israel to attend the first International Jewish Feminist Conference. When the group went to the Western Wall and tried to read from the Torah as a group in the womens section, they were attacked by angry ultra-Orthodox bystanders. Israeli feminists who witnessed the incident, including both Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews, committed to praying at the Wall on the eve of every new month in the Jewish calendar with a Torah, tefillin [phylacteries] and tallitot. The group Women of the Wall was born.

And so began an endless procession and much foot-dragging of court cases, appeals, special commissions, fiery Knesset debates over the issue of Western Wall prayer, restricting and outlawing at various junctures womens right to pray as they choose.

Wasnt there a compromise?

In 2003, an attempt was made by Israels Supreme Court to resolve the ongoing crisis triggered by the Women of the Wall and complaints from non-Orthodox movements by permitting womens and mixed-gender prayer at Robinsons Arch an archaeological park situated at the southern end of the Wall. It was completely separate from the main Western Wall Plaza, with a separate entrance from the main plaza and only accessible when the archaeological park was open. The space has been a popular location for Reform and Conservative Bar and Bat Mitzvah services, and a later compromise leaves it accessible beyond the parks opening hours.

Still, the Robinsons Arch solution proved unsuccessful. No one has been satisfied with the limited access to the Wall that Robinsons Arch provides and the numerous limitations imposed by the archaeological park, which lacks the visibility and accessibility of the main prayer plazas.

When did U.S. Jews become so upset about it and get involved in the fight?

In 2009, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation demanded that the police stop Women of the Walls prayer service and a young Israeli medical student, Nofrat Frenkel, was arrested, questioned and charged with illegally wearing a tallit at the Western Wall. The next year, Anat Hoffman one of the groups founders and today the leader of the organization was arrested for carrying a Torah to the site. After being questioned for five hours, Hoffman was released from police custody and banned from the Wall for 30 days.

Shocked by the images of praying women being dragged from the Kotel, the struggle of the Women of the Wall galvanized women, and men, in Reform and Conservative congregations overseas. They were already unhappy with their inability to worship at the Wall like they do in their own synagogues, and the actions of the Israel Police infuriated them.

Because so many more Diaspora Jews are affiliated with non-Orthodox movements than Israeli Jews particularly in the United States the issue has resonated in overseas Jewish communities to a greater extent than it has in Israel. Beginning in 2010-2011, solidarity events for Women of the Wall became widespread in Reform and Conservative communities, and many U.S. congregations make a point of joining Women of the Wall when they visit Israel.

The group itself has become institutionally tied to the Reform movement. Hoffman is both the executive director of the Reform movements Israel Religious Action Center and director of Women of the Wall.

Why are Diaspora Jews so furious at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu?

Under pressure from both sides the U.S. Jewish leadership abroad and ultra-Orthodox political parties in his government at home in 2012 Netanyahu charged Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky with exploring a compromise instead of having one dictated by the courts (whom Women of the Wall, backed by the Diaspora Jewish movements, continued to turn to in their struggle). Later, he brought then-Cabinet Secretary Avichai Mendelblit into the process to negotiate with all of the sides and come up with a plan.

After an agonizingly protracted four-year process, on January 31, 2016, the Israeli government approved a plan it was believed everyone could live with.

There would be a new, expanded egalitarian prayer space in the Robinsons Arch area, with visible, easy access points that would put their dignity and status on an equal footing with the ultra-Orthodox spaces. Netanyahu hailed the decision as a fair and creative solution, and the Women of the Wall and non-Orthodox movements celebrated.

But their celebrations were premature: Implementation of the plan has been stymied by the ultra-Orthodox parties on whom Netanyahus governing coalition depends.

And the ultra-Orthodox parties werent only satisfied with delaying the plan - they were concerned as long as it was on the books, the courts would have grounds to force the governments hand and make the egalitarian space happen.

Thats when, in a surprise move on June 25, the ultra-Orthodox parties pressured Netanyahus government into nixing the plan altogether. That move has infuriated top American Jewish leaders, who feel Netanyahu has slapped them in the face. The top executive of the Jewish Agency the main vehicle of support by Diaspora Jews for Israel has said it will now reevaluate its relationship with the Israeli government.

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Israel's Western Wall Crisis: Why Jews Are Fighting With Each Other Over the Jewish Holy Site, Explained - Haaretz

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Posted By richards on June 27, 2017

PewAs Gay Pride month draws toward a close, a new poll by the Pew Research Center suggests the fight over same-sex marriage in the United States is over. This is not Roe v. Wade 2.0.

Sixty-two percent of Americans support legal recognition for married gay couples, while only 32 percent opposed, according to the latest poll numbers gathered earlier in June. Gay marriage and homosexuality itself does not represent the cultural divide it used to and is becoming "normalized" in the eyes of most Americans.

It's worth remembering majority support for same-sex marriage recognition surpassed opposition for the first time in 2011. This shift has taken place over just six years.

Pew notes that demographic groups historically more opposed to same-sex marriage have shifted significantly. For the first time a majority of baby boomers support legal recognition. Over the past two years, support for recognition among African Americans has increased from 39 percent to 51 percent. Support from younger white evangelical Christians has jumped from 29 percent to 47 percent in just a year.

In terms of the political fight over who "owns" the LGBT vote, it's worth noting what's going on with Republicans. For the first time, opposition to legal recognition among Republicans and Republican leaners has dropped below the majority. It's nearly split now47 percent favor recognition while 48 percent oppose it.

That shift in the political winds is very important in terms of how elements of the LGBT movement are attempting to tie it to "The Resistance" and reinforce the idea that the real LGBT political movement leans to the left.

The end result this year has been a purging of actual LGBT people from pride marches for not holding the right views or for beinginterestingly enoughmembers of disfavored groups. A gay supporter of President Donald Trump became a national news story because a pride parade in Charlotte, North Carolina, is refusing to let him participate.

In cities like Minneapolis and Washington, D.C., protesters attempted to block police participation in the parade, in some sort of attempt to draw attention to police abuse. In Chicago, people said they were told they could not wave flags displaying the Star of David and express their Jewish heritage within the parade because it made others uncomfortable.

In each of these cases, people are trying to purge other LGBT participants for reasons that have little to do directly with the gay community. Trying to ban the police was particularly loathsome (and you could tell from responses to the behavior in the media coverage), given that gay people have both been fighting for years to get police to treat them with respect and to serve as openly gay police officers. The political roots of gay pride are deeply embedded in stopping police violence targeting gay people. That's what the Stonewall Riots were about!

There's something particularly narcissistic about trying to purge your adversaries from your sight by denying them participation in these events and thinking that this is a useful response. There is nothing about purging police from a march that's going to improve the relationship between police and minority communities. Purging Jewish flags is not going to do a single thing to improve the relationship between Israel and Palestine.

That support for gay marriage has so dramatically increased is a direct reflection of the value of participation, not of purging and segregation. LGBT people are increasingly visible in all communities (not just urban enclaves), and the realization that gay marriage helps strengthen families and social stability has undoubtedly contributed to the dramatic drop in resistance to gay relationships.

Activists might want to keep that in mind before trying to deliberately boot people out of the movement.

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More Americans Support Same-Sex Marriage Than Ever - Reason (blog)

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Posted By admin on June 27, 2017

Israeli politicians rushed to condemn their governments decision Sunday to freezea plan promoting pluralistic prayer at the Western Wall.

Voices from across the political spectrum, including members of the governing coalition, criticized the vote by the Cabinetas a recklessaffront to American Jewry. They warned it could weaken the communitys support for Israel.

Canceling the deal constitutes a severe blow to the unity of the Jewish people and communities as well as the relationship between Israel and Diaspora Jewry, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in a statement.

However, as in the past, such concerns were not enough to affect policy: An overwhelming majority of the Cabinet voted in favor of freezing the plan. Amid the outcry, haredi Orthodox politicians celebrated another success in preserving the powers and privileges granted to their community by the state.

When Israel approved the Western Wall plan in January 2016, it was widely hailed as a historic compromise between non-Orthodox and Orthodox Jews. The Reform and Conservative Jewish movements, the multi-denominational Women of the Wall prayer group and the haredi Western Wall rabbi negotiated the plan over several years.

They agreed to significantly upgrade the egalitarian prayer space at the southern end of the Western Wall plaza and allow leaders of the Reform and Conservative Jewish movements to manage it. In exchange, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation would maintain control of the main prayer section. Women of the Wall, which for nearly two decades has protested limitations on prayer rites in the womens section of the familiar Western Wall plaza, wouldmove to the expanded space, known as Robinsons Arch.

But when the plan was made public, haredi leaders decried the concessions to what they sawas illegitimate forms of Judaism, and Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, who heads the Heritage Foundation, quickly withdrew his support. The haredi political parties have since pushed the government to scrap the plan entirely, which it came just short of doing Sunday.

Among the Cabinet ministers, only Lieberman, the head of the hawkish Yisrael Beinteinu party, and Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, a member of the ruling Likud, voted againstthe freeze.In announcing the decision, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had appointed Likud Minister Tzachi Hanegbiand Cabinet Secretary Tzachi Braverman to draft a new plan for the site.He said construction on the pluralisticprayer section would continue uninterrupted.

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the head of the Reform movement and a vocal advocate of the plan, called the governments decision an unconscionable insult to the majority of world Jewry.

The stranglehold that the Chief Rabbinate and the ultra-Orthodox parts have on Israel and the enfranchisement of the majority of Jews in Israel and the world must and will be ended, he said Sunday in a statement. We are assessing all next steps.

Tzipi Livni, a prominent lawmaker in the opposition Zionist Union political coalition,took to Facebook to explain why Israeli Jews should be concernedabout the feelings of their American counterparts when it comes to prayer at the Western Wall and a new bill that would require the state to recognize only conversions completed under the auspices of the haredi-dominated Chief Rabbinate.

Why do we care about Jewish Israelis from the Western Wall and the Conversion Law? Because it is important to us that Israel remain the state of the Jewish people and that Judaism be what connects us and not what divides us, Livni said Sunday in a post.

The cancellation of the Western Wall arrangement and the new conversion law tear the Jewish people apart. The prime minister of the Jewish people divides them for the purpose of political survival, and gives the ultra-Orthodox parties a monopoly over the Judaism of all of us.

Shuki Friedman, the head of religion and state research at the Israel Democracy Institute think tank in Jerusalem, saidmany Israelis resent theinfluence that haredi leaders exert over state institutions. But, he said, most people do not prioritize issues of religion and state, nor do they embrace liberal forms of Judaism.

Unfortunately, this isnt something that will shake up Israeli politics. The storm is mostly in the media, Friedman told JTA. Generally speaking,the Reform and Conservative movements have failed in Israel, and the public isnt really concerned about them. Therefore, mainstream politicians arent going to challenge the haredim on an issue like the Western Wall.

Meanwhile, he said, the haredi political partieshave an almost singular focus on protecting their narrow interests. That makes them useful to forming and maintaining governing coalitions, butat the cost of accommodating those interests.

Health Minister Yaakov Litzman of the haredi United Torah Judaism party welcomed the Cabinet decision as a victory over liberal Jews.

This decision sends a clear message to the entire world that Reform Judaism has no access to or recognition at the Western Wall, he said Sunday in a statement. I thank the rabbi of the Western Wall, Shmuel Rabinowitz, and the chief rabbis of Israel. To their merit we were able to sanctify Gods name.

Also Sunday, government ministers approved a bill that would require the state to recognize only conversions conducted under the auspices of the Chief Rabbinate. The conversion bill, drafted last month by Interior Minster Ayreh Deri, head of the haredi Shas party, apparently aims to circumvent a March 2016 Supreme Court ruling that allowed those who undergo private Orthodox conversions in Israel to become citizens under the Law of Return.

Since helping to form the current government in 2015, haredi politicians have rolled back various efforts to reform the relationship between synagogue and state many of them enacted under the previous government, which did not include them.

In November 2015, the Knesset postponed and watered down a law that would have ended the traditional exemption from military conscription for most haredi men. And in July 2016, Education Minister Naftali Bennett assumed the authority to ignore a law slashing statefunding for haredi schools that do not teach math and English.State funding for yeshivas has reached record highs three different times under the current government.

However, some Israelis are mounting challenges to the religious status quo outside of the Knesset. The Cabinets decision came on the day of a High Court of Justice deadline for the state to respond to petitions on its failure to implement the Western Wall plan and build the pluralistic prayer space. How the court would react to the freeze was unclear.

Also, in an unprecedented move, the semi-official Jewish Agencyissued a resolution on Monday calling on the government to reverse its decision, saying the movewas un-Zionist.

We deplore the decision of the [Government of Israel] which contradicts the vision and dream of Herzl, Ben-Gurion and Jabotinsky and the spirit of the Zionist movement and Israel as a national home for the entire Jewish people and the Kotel as a unifying symbol for Jews around the world, said the resolution, which the agencysboard of governors passed unanimously.

Theodor Herzl, David Ben-Gurion and Zeev Jabotinskywere perhaps the most important Zionistleaders of the 20th century.

We declare that we cannot and will not allow this to happen. We call on the GOI to understand the gravity of its steps and accordingly reverse its course of action, the resolution continued.

Stuart Eizenstat,the formerU.S. ambassador to the European Union, was at the Cabinet meeting Sunday beforethe vote to freeze the Western Wall plan. He presented a report by the think tank he co-chairs, the Jewish People Policy Institute, that urged the government to promote Jewish pluralism, in part to ensure the continued support of American Jewry.

While dismayed bythe ministers decision, Eizenstatsaid he felt his message was heard.

Ive beendoing this for many years, and Ive never seen a meeting that lasted so long nor one that had such a spirited debate, he told JTA. There was tremendous engagement on our point by nearly all the minsters. It was clear they took it seriously.

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Decaying relations with Diaspora yield bold words in Israel, but little action - Jewish Journal

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Posted By simmons on June 27, 2017

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (AP/Steven Senne)

(AP/Steven Senne)

Facebook will not block Holocaust-denying content on its platform in countries where it remains legal, saying it is merely the expression of an opinion.

Facebook willcontinue to allow Holocaust-denying content on its platform in countries where Holocaust denial is legal, a Facebook executive announced.

Israels NRG news reported Monday that Facebooks head of policy in Israel, Jordana Cutler, in a letter to Member of Knesset (MK) Uri Maklev, wrote that Holocaust denial is illegal in Israel, and therefore such content is blocked for Israeli users as well as in other countries where it is illegal. However,where Holocaust denial ispermitted, the social media platform will not block the content.

In the letter toMaklev, chairman of the Knessets committee on Science and Technology, Cutler explainedthat Facebooks policy is to follow the lead of local governments and law, and that Holocaust denial will be available in several countries, even though it is disturbing content.

Facebook opposes many opinions expressed on its platform, she said.Furthermore, while Holocaust denial is based on lies, Facebook enables a discourse that could refute these historical fallacies.

Cutler believesthat removing Holocaust-denying content, as well as content that mocksthe Holocaust or glorifies its perpetrators,is not a good solution to the problem. In some cases, instead of the removing and censoring of content, exposure and the condemnation of the lies and the narrow-mindedness are more significant to promoting the truth, she asserted.

She also pointed out that Facebook does remove hate content, threats and Nazi symbols.

Maklev said he refused to accept such a stance.

By: World Israel News Staff

FacebookHolocaust denialMaklevSocial media

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Facebook Refuses to Block Holocaust Denial - World Israel News

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Posted By simmons on June 27, 2017

briskets_and_blunts/Instagram

Mohammed Sarsour with his boss, Sruli Edelman, an Ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jew.

What happens when the brother of a staunchly anti-Israel activist works at a wildly popular kosher barbecue joint?

At first, nothing.

Then last week, The Jewish Week reported that the The Jewish Defense Organization (JDO) a vigilante ultra-Orthodox group committed to rooting out and fighting anti-Semitism was handing out fliers telling members of the Crown Heights community to avoid Izzys BBQ because Mohammed Sarsour, brother of anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour, works there.

But who is Mohammed Sarsour? And what, if anything, does he have to do with his sisters politics?

Not much, it seems, if we take his Instagram feed at face value. Unlike his sister, hes not particularly religious. Hes married to a Dominican woman named Dayana, who doesnt wear a hijab (as Linda Sarsour does), preferring body-con dresses and low-cut tops. In one Instagram post, theyre holding a bottle of tequila.

Mohammed Sarsour poses with his wife Dayana

Mohammed Sarsour has a love of nice cars and a penchant for smoking marijuana, hence his Instagram handle briskets_and_blunts.

He apparently dreams of the good life: There are videos of him on yachts and next to fancy cars, with a heaping dose of inspirational quotes peppered in-between. He frequently quotes a wealthy entrepreneur-slash-advice guru named Gary Veynerchuk.

Its unclear if he is anti-Israel or anti-Zionist like his sister, but he certainly seems comfortable working around major Zionists. Although Lubavitch hasidim are not the most Zionist hasidic sect (that distinction would go to Gerrer hasidim), they are very pro-Israel. The owner, Sruli Edelman, who is shown reacting playfully to Mohammed Sarsours antics in Instagram videos, is Lubavitch. There are videos of Sarsour hamming it up for customers, dancing to Hasidic pop singer Benny Friedman as he works, while Benny Friedman himself films with his phone. In a video of a colleague singing funny versions of national anthems, Sarsour stands by as a colleague sings Hatikvah, Israels National Anthem, before requesting the American national anthem.

Mohammed with his boss, Sruli Edelman, who is a Hasidic Jew, after winning Brisket King NYC.

So, is the concern over his alleged allegiance warranted?

He posted about his sister when she got arrested during a protest, and indicated support of her efforts.

Yet in his day-to-day life, as illustrated on Instagram, he seems more concerned with being the best pit master in kosher barbecue and getting high than in politics.

Michelle Honig is the food intern of the Forward. Find her on Instagram and Twitter.

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Is An Anti-Israel Activist Working At Izzy's Kosher BBQ? - Forward

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Posted By simmons on June 27, 2017

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - Born into one of New York's most gender-segregated societies, Yisrael Stein was one of 13 kids in a Hasidic Jewish family. Today she goes by Abby. Five years ago she left the Williamsburg sect. Her road is long and complicated, but her attitude is optimistic and inspiring.

"When I was nine I had a prayer, I would pray to God that I would wake up as a girl," she said.

Abby first remembers associating as female at 4. As she grew up, Abby continued struggling with her identity. But her community had no room for gender dysphoria.

"I didn't even know LGBTQ people exist," Abby said.

Instead, she immersed herself in Jewish studies. She spent 10-hour days learning the Talmud and Torah and prayed three times a day. In her late teens, it was time for an arranged marriage.

Abby was married in 2010 at age 18. In 2012, Abby's wife got pregnant. A child on the way became a catalyst to confront a secret she'd harbored her entire life.

"That's when it didn't work anymore, trying to figure out my identity and trying to ignore gender, when I'm passing on -- I'm having the next generation that I have to raise with these gender things," Abby said.

Abby left the only world she knew. The English language was just as foreign as everything else in modern society. About two years ago, Abby came out to her parents as transgender.

"My father told me not to talk to my mother at all and sadly he is the one in control," Abby said. She is still in touch with her son who is now 5.

Abby found family in the LGBTQ community. The 25-year-old now works to help others struggling with gender identity.

She is a student at Columbia University and hopes to one day have a career in public policy.

"I choose tofocus on the positive in life, and there is so much," Abby said. "Am I going to say it's always easy? No, it's not, but I'm doing my best."

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Transgender woman's journey from Hasidim to a new life - Fox5NY

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Posted By richards on June 27, 2017

Jewish Chronicle

Don't write off the Ashkenazim Jewish Chronicle Judaism is a Middle Eastern religion again, with Israel now the engine of our world religion. In these pages, on June 9, Ben Judah said: Sephardic and Mizrahi Judaism is, in the greatest sweep of Jewish history, the mainstream. Ashkenazi Judaism was ... With Western Wall deal quashed, ultra-Orthodox lawmakers lambaste Reform JudaismThe Times of Israel all 17 news articles »

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Don't write off the Ashkenazim - Jewish Chronicle

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Posted By richards on June 27, 2017

PokerStars wants to become part of Indias booming poker market and its already making moves to gain a foothold as soon as possible.

Amaya CEO Rafi Ashkenazi sees an opportunity to get into India early and capitalize on the countrys growing love for the game. (Image: GamblingIntelligence.com)

Since Nagaland became the first state in India to pass a law that explicitly gave the green light to online poker operators, several sites have started popping up. India is now allowing states to legalize online games of skill after a ruling in Indias Supreme Court in December.

Khelo365 was the first to be licensed under the Nagaland Prohibition of Gambling and Promotion and Regulation of Online Games of Skill law of 2015.

Other sites have gradually followed and now Amayas CEO Rafi Ashkenazi has said he wants to make sure PokerStars is in on the action. Outlining his plan in the companys annual meeting on June 21, Ashkenazi told shareholders that he has a team working to put a deal in place as soon as possible.

Under the terms of Nagalands new iGaming law, an online poker site must be owned by a person or entity incorporated in India. Moreover, the sites servers and those in charge of making decisions must be based in India.

Because Amaya is a Canadian company with headquarters soon to be located in Toronto, it cant go it alone in India but can partner with an already licensed operator. Based on this, Amayas COO, Guy Templer, is now working on a structure that would link PokerStars products with one of the countrys established brands.

Ashkenazi said such a deal could be completed at some point in late 2017.

With a population of about 1.2 billion, India is the second-most populous country in the world (behind China).

If PokerStars can establish itself in India, even just starting with Nagaland, one of 29 Indian states, it would be in on the ground floor in a market that analysts have suggested could easily be worth $150 million within a few years.

Over the last 12 months, poker has caught the attention of the mainstream media in India. Thanks to events such as the Poker Sports League, the game has now become an aspirational pursuit among Indias younger generation.

A recent article in the Indian Express titled A Career Path Called Poker profiled Madan Kumar, who left his job in the corporate world to become a professional poker player. By pushing the skill angle and the ways poker can be a vehicle for earning money, students, office workers and business owners are now taking up the game.

Positioning poker as an aspirational sport isnt necessarily unique to India, but it does seem to be driving the industry forward. While this might sit in contrast to PokerStars recent marketing campaigns focusing on the recreational aspects of poker, its an angle Stars knows well.

When online poker first started to boom in the US and beyond, skill and learning to become a better player were very much part of the narrative at PokerStars and other major sites. Although Indias recent affinity towards poker might not spark another global sensation, its clearly a market looking to grow and PokerStars wants to be a part of it.

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PokerStars Sets Sites on India as New Skill Game Law Lets Online Poker Take Flight - CardsChat.com

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Posted By richards on June 27, 2017

HomeAnalysisAnti-Defamation League Disappointed By Supreme Court Decision That Weakens Wall Between Church and State

June 26, 2017 Press Analysis, Commentary

New York, NY(ENEWSPF)June 26, 2017. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today expressed disappointment with the U.S. Supreme Courts decision in Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer, which held that Missouris decision to exclude houses of worship, including Trinity Lutheran, from a program that provided direct grants to pay for playground resurfacing materials was unconstitutional discrimination against religion.

ADL had joined an amicus brief, with seven other groups, defending Missouris decision not to provide direct aid to a church because it violated its own no-aid state constitutional provision.

Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO, issued the following statement:

Justice Sotomayors dissent got it right this case is about much more than a state program to use recycled tires to resurface a playground. Maintaining the separation between church and state has been a hallmark of American democracy since our country was founded. Although the decision is narrowly focused, the U.S. Supreme Court appears to have taken a disturbing step back from this commitment today.

We will continue to maintain that compelling taxpayers to fund religious institutions with which they are not affiliated conflicts with core constitutional principles. Allowing churches and other religious groups to compete for direct government funds is bad for religion. States should not be in the religiously divisive business of choosing who, from among diverse houses of worship, should receive public dollars. Such a process also invites government oversight of internal operations of houses of worship and religious groups.

We are also disappointed that the court gave insufficient deference to Missouris constitutional no-aid clause, which is similar to those in 38 other state constitutions. These constitutional provisions serve significant government interests leaving the support of churches to church members, while also protecting houses of worship against discrimination and interference from the government.

Other organizations signing the brief included Americans United for Separation of Church and State; Central Conference of American Rabbis; Hadassah, the Womens Zionist Foundation of America, Interfaith Alliance Foundation, Jewish Social Policy Action Network, Union for Reform Judaism, and Women of Reform Judaism.

Source: http://adl.org

Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer

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Anti-Defamation League Disappointed By Supreme Court Decision That Weakens Wall Between Church and State - eNews Park Forest

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Posted By simmons on June 27, 2017

NEW YORK The National Home Furnishings Industrys chapter of the Anti-Defamation League, the fundraising leader among all ADL groups raised more than $800,000 at its annual dinner here earlier this month.

This years event honored three icons of the furniture industry, Jena Hall, president, Jena Hall Designs; Jerry Epperson, partner at Mann, Armistead & Epperson; and Todd Wanek, president and CEO of Ashley Furniture Inds.

He went on to note that in 2016 instances of antisemitism rose 34% over the prior year and that in the first quarter of this year there was an 86% increase in such instances over the same period of 2016.

He added, however, that even in the face of such instances I feel hope thats something has been awakened. Across the country there is a new spirit of community. We need to lean in to this spirit.

Everybody has a story about being an American, she said. Cherish your heritage. Tell it to your children; keep that alive.

He went on to thank his wife of 47 years, Kathy: The wonderful woman who gave up her career in medicine to give me the best children anyone could ask for.

Whether it is your job or your family life, you have to bring passion, he said. Thank you for being a part of our family. Were very proud to be associated with ADL.

Im Bill McLoughlin, Chief Content Officer at Furniture Today. In the 25 plus years Ive covered retail the thing Ive enjoyed most is the people; hearing their stories, learning about their companies and sharing insights on the business. Through this blog I hope to continue that dialogue. Sometimes you may agree with me, sometimes not. But its my hope you will find a fresh perspective and perhaps an idea or two that helps improve your business. I welcome your comments and look forward to a long and productive dialogue.

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ADL furniture chapter honors Epperson, Hall, Wanek - Furniture Today

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