Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By simmons on May 20, 2017

vg9y+4=?IpOYf&*Mk7c;FmiA?S,:8!#g 4a|s1Qcs2p e7w(r-M!J5sn|8}#L*[6ZxT:(kX`-Y'=k4 @}1z[;W?^'FOT71+OfM*o@0y?C2B %IL~b8PpP pP`p~VBf1:Tv2!7?k,S4I#$Mb?q&?}W_ac='@_O.lszlu]V1 TN S++;!_f{xP. Du'-OyD_[4.j>ieR]Ob2U8E-uo3B'lFDd1Th;cv[;Xj>D.q;@>;n*'% '|Kt#v@]Syh]Tl_$ttPX^33/[)@GTU728B#FkJ>'u,1qEK$>0rmu_+o}9/tmw}U1"lj3L~!'J{L>GSgX7C63Q@4G4$PqiQz}m;5c)IN^&oiVF/[^Ckn W(Tli5p;5 jws%=5PMGmdMN{k t M;XmSH+BwHD` @( NqvKklOVy1/eH}/t$`_.,PTy3LyjRegdg3r0UZ(Tqz&i}^vR8P/'^/,KEvvTL s_iG?Djw;^WL:Tcgx}`^$AY}0 nT0kNa{r|KSr*s.q7} b/3OOv*I+H`'mtsE3B$gdpf,tIc?17[tu/ts=W#

ve"Ly gUoe}s"Y=8;D_'1EZ ;6LzGz_ hy~X%mg|2jiE1 3&^iIo|B_ I(|txw~,?8-SQe%t&P>{.Slk,Q@j^K-6m ;&NPuj4eP$*KMN= OlykOxK4B zg4`0*Z 0^ E9W`Eq1r;W@(69zr9x@X2t{-fLLs{t@Xf"7J7VP?Jt;*y!2]CRfqs,CQU#KYD,|krYCd3bIs]=Fe~*E(=*4j.K2^Yz&-&VjL,SLFMgc5[(RdKmoW[W7brf hC2XSTzY=fy0Kb't[fe'3"|:Tj)0d,Z&z6|oO,9)|ey"U9W;W3Ud9!KeSr& ;P?cppBz ^6 RH0g2UfvTBb} J~fBa95Rva%'# 5dB;YEn4VvlZ~bM`?P R> X)/.h|:E,9^!W~2;~9V n^&e* Ou7?1nwXHY>I36FS'qQ9JN3qC=h_&K7(NGl=`'LK

7ye* #[#/7hCkqdUZff3AI,Jf^iNc+_NPw]&=:fuInZR"Hxf4ULco)LvRRs8w%swYYdCJ(#`-u>_&h7>@J=%sL&9ie~#Y2&|'Ec` ~(Lq;H>%3beU X^Z31tx]BKkH[u/0m#@jWX={[])&2tt5%K'r#] zhjmP57WXxE.+DHUjUS>ScCL7kt[{JDU!~#7js71o}iqjg= '~joD@Vnr5T?+#9Z:BK~a$v)JzXHtA=pL$k dC}Z ]Z+%+5]Rh,Wpu,SQAn^6^&6XZ|A8T7={:HoiiFV{-Z;;)Y*eD'f2s84~BENqz.eFpMp:x`ub-q?{3vRg8d]]dg2qCaUWGRb*"~fj#F,NRn=N# AX>C}mEM|N)nv=:9x}~6hxTA7NN_O~ UQN;'of)%# kk(C9A3W[8xa[mY`1jDI7sz+?X77>CiNu::;NZZ!cy]fwS6{Avk_|etCkD"poA&Fi^H86mf(5A)@ddzf482>)U'yk:r-$^g$wwbnN!I98j J |E0r:7w"~[VR5Z*E;Y*^}&,4Nm{ T{QXqtN#i]CQ;372-rBj;P2):/6 Y8:AgIyBz0Y'9eC!nV#g5|HAhUfI"C1H_.rvXjp~N)pe62cSi!'QWzum;X?XwD>"JM]=&?b&c XG1S)p~R-LbTnzuzYCe+WSJ''B~eERvZGSh|{o?n8vTcKxJZJhzEC^J[S6;}Rn&,HZ4 0=Z^[c9@uf:AvP1q'nTtn;[&TR!{q2q 0 _#thHa^7b>=:>H)>1"y`LH,,CxnS.6ZHs)Kv4cj(KZ|hH`/Pbf#57,,-ah9u6+R!ZXna seU'K8*p#km)Dj-RPJLWgYp6px),ar-SO}LMS%gr! .nv$[wFH%%B$jWLmU ,9X3nKVvPu&Yp_ U +1,cV`4k&gC6J Uv3H1;>p%Q`u~3% ZViS|v}K:V)pM>N{y3xc~ nz}+?Os (PcA 4`ZlbDlfl-e.M&*LTv?.=9L Mr"oFmac

zZqKLL,&Re$L!*rv?_@CL7D;5Gs OPha:#Y$|VZdp:8l~2@l,D>gL!=c,>|[&2+Cl-X+)$y5%osHp)hNTXAy*w]prb"u8kGqu=/J@Xf wl6@>P5h=IfT~F0=m@6fe W2G>-)ZueYu*8pN/pO8y#z^x!>=>8b9ES.Z y2O:Yzk2L#^P|ebS fyp{QsIE9Q lNR|aCDGWaV~T4!R@'}h{'OmR1`aM-9iTONBfA}$xHqK9'C1m_GLWU*r_">-e/W!@_i{x=K0j%vB EHa1#H j&0F}%Bw1E?E=x80)%~X@HD%b)M17Rag{Mh#@!e{~oO!!+y'7!hiBSy1k#SOsp2PCFy"i`"]AHD.g {:X,`O0BR>@G]+E6GF^ RiVe _(6[u:2y| HzC'x`]n/3{Aw/@-OVu)] y'!wD&Ya fvCs%C={X AWTR6yg-4(CD(dz^m>Va}i X8 .>$Er8B2qk3>g.YW4y3laYIs* i6V@ne{5 !$ A8Z:A13P;Ji~R}&m;e$A7{7]K(Nt;=+Kw MFD!o0nyg*;TSM'+#B:v@oL ci&g>iH(&DFppbs{P"do_$0hsJ6NaF-YkU@F'~d%8cs#Q[U~GnJ Lo@}6J,Iz+"1 CupB^Z=X_q)PqKrnxuE0'^?~3G :W43}>eW7Ec7pd#)*& g|XJa ZE3?jvn$)HA'n9|fj~)JOY6Ns/nHjhTl%+i:NVnR%pBqU-n&m'jd0~Z3% zb0]h9Ngg,=[+w^P vGWh;:&bR;cU1]BC*Q2kL|yr_!t.Ij`"=Jx*B&)g)4hhwZ/(Tu#?FV|n=2{{;njb]fiX%Pr{tezd U;NHkwI,nSn!4!/1 Z,A3m?0j?L3-HAZb^t;W?x35 z6J/jqjFw{ke1}!=TKe36 7qiQK:rPT5zf0BPK` "T3>?W[?UK?AKAX*;TMwyX.]wh*~T Q7/O;n{@wziV.:SwL!3'7p|qvGYks+>PXgMj]!1w1N{.v,3`{zFTm4;oi.?^L}{3'cn5=i(fjG}Y"5*^-` by%Av4$wI}/"e2|)Ks+ w?z9A#M+\|:5NB]n&jd&u2wg"rb/{}+rEX( F0WFm5H(],@e'Q@`9CLowJEaL,zj/[l2b,Tl` wgpE0Cnvir5C&g7eS+z (e='zYo,U23ED#uqJ}k*`D[UUmk*C(t`gYQeN5d9*Q |!Eq_E;t1hBXCt~vbn154n81gXZ@yYvT4J7: >UXz!QJlgQm>32iQ$3%p,l+/Cm-6'S[+j=k lXL 5p,(K~-ny jILFL?fU9ZI y"J*MY=1*s*ffmU.=m+BT@^t

LQ$6"yF)a|f%i?/^orO|:gEF`G?&'?*eoL>h1Z{9a{.-it( d caWY~[MheA+T!.[[O KVt~[U5S&_3GL}cy$78ebo4D* ai[)PJ!Eg6iWV!)*eMX|G9U$,)169P.XmW41/rt M;y4J33&{4@+hf>8Lm0~.1f->;IRjT?Xms+2@u"2`DL;Mz Dd g)JN!q{{{[pi) moVn[WkYdM~ 6M#L](sYgu4I%F)e#$+Yrar8Rz0qk.{b3nz3%kp&02z#Ms$JRp58RM[/HDV_PQ%8["[OBA 2BP),@j}{+jK$I+ ~pyO+M[-lgl4 Q.>/ON9VW:I_H-x&3[s h[.y2zzW*J|JgB;%%P^O'M4;*0N62+eL@9X]6UeGO&)^E"X@Cee,caaq:5`qka{ H&u~2,:>{|J>bm_% /8;z8Czqm(%1,cF1zAP9{2~$e6Q0*wDgFy4dA`M ef$!Ff@'>(o4K8F-e{M]/L46`9pv4 Uz/&qs,h)3G7lIRE9c tL~x^i9il2:/B'M6gi`w@?~4'K(fK4M-r^Rx`3N}Q?agD8ydpA >l9AJH Al2uj$r,K~ |%v*RA:CV~j" # 4m4+9Y?)RIs#Js6z^H4C|!*m1Wk $vSk.dkDZ_Q=?z)3lO1 T/i:>qD%SI@,bIGd=*"JFPQ|098D%_ml;a<(f1_1s%#fs/GV|3)^'Vwx=9b<@!ceu#Q(Z-saI%[CwHYKgTmqyv+"#*mVnygdw~s -4'*Y8ED!XcyZjt4h!JzY]s+7MMs].6ZsMc Y>:zk^Wl4==~zJs= 9*}[iL9X?h 2@/Ye&eBOv;&kKg; tasg8,n;{b%TllbN;tw*.wSV `XC8.o-b{j.&Lmp/fbvW+h5f'A 7}///O6B"a*R~Buv$Vz f%W5Y^s(is8tZ7*fY+Y$~@ZmNUk)`zO*:(D& KER5TEC#J B`I_M#rQQdJHrKeRlc7$PqLY.we)#ZO2Sq#>aW.O9!X~("fc;8/C.Xri5YI(8dYh)2"bT4i!oFI,3qDB.i,35b|N_+i7[HE""2f4i Mx:q/ar/~).e}q!-C] :Wh;>U xc.y&h^"2ld^NL*EWWD[?4 ]nDEG, 5_XjF2_lD-i^EGFV`,8L.cp".jgprc90gK` gj:b 0 _cW#IKVKjyS~jx8HN#StU !4,D-rq'bWj+F6& c9*^`:{mx *|IJ)5G vA34ji{2;0od,[CF v1KZ}RPi3Za 'ksBg[`@X}UO4^b2=hX3R1kz^`()i6*Ah:2G7&cW_8cH,.t^4?W,b4r0R%Rd.V6T9Szb0yOlfG'#k1j?,Q}BD[$=LbXIY1+`!Q`~,JN@U;8*)#NGzaT`!s ^yIQ}!lDd1i@W|%W[A|<)'Rq9ntpI-4xoJLsd3_@{P( z)I(l]HMR0cnOdkQ5xULYC|vWD 7BIG"}`jB(=7CGZ]%E{bLCX _qGz;fM-0s9"{|XX^V9zh5?tTgGz3yC[I7ys9hxKn,FAI}etJNG[k:Av)3e&7YkvU#H -9JmI-@0PCqBu f(w.x@+ & <1fN1^06W#j &jy}EG~yB_t,~g`%|Qqqx$8$W8(G3aq]5LIo'8?Fs`]NH8R0raN1I14x`Tb? hJTK>To-OS9`1>@G@8j6KG@{?^_[$ eA>(J)aQ,i&*d?oU'.>pi!I5kr'MogkRxXy[^&_%g @`(31Wv'cep/ =0sv'wn>%~1(T++u-f=.)KF'`Wby6&=,k8E;v;(uf?0%Z)eH aS%%bx1W_0K i:Dk:T `bQ90=];(o#-|&S> "M2MH/X "F7nzMyz[gS:WPMX49@Z& nuO[BO#z$q:jW&i}aBhU'm4 O (g/z^xz 8KV0R^f<+5 8=-m?{XLq?X|E$H+a6Ie!$e$8V89bGT,GN"5!TC}oX^eQ [ q!&e9Xcg4sW9j'BwEbkZ*[HW~Z-]o.SeAT}Xvb3RW~b(|5"T41 $v6L.fd~AbhWnB*#yxovoHOc"Gb`C" ?jgv42&1bYXf~T5IO$#DOqJ=$guvs:9tCr@:nA33SEP(YT!`[ZcTpy MV|(nx<5R*sh[kyv;G*wwM {d`5s](~ivfn#YkMP}KUFdEM*Ab1:|ffW-S t; 5rbju0Z-)YzNt^S8++{Y/C}6D"WJII){oC'}LPw(_NJO9x)eT6 Bu]l}Rb5 P]Qu2cMt@!RBJz`]u6* `geTbo-#e8;s=0G n=Jiv&b6,Fxi%lIme7e!P 3_)xGc=uzxeksnZCtj<6k]xTq9nvrrxHimL!P&I9rv~|sqyK/d |jA'*j#WEJ NgMjx%Z{ q?hKj)QjW 6*WV!8>{Cun

More here:

Boy, 14, cuffed for sparking fierce Manhattan synagogue blaze - New York Daily News

Category: Synagogue | Comments Off on Boy, 14, cuffed for sparking fierce Manhattan synagogue blaze – New York Daily News
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 20, 2017

It is not being investigated as a bias crime, according to a report

May 17, 2017 11:59 AM

A 14-year-old boy has been arrested in connection with the 3-alarm fire that destroyed the historic Beth Hamedrash Hagadol Synagogueon Manhattans Lower East Side on Sunday night. Heres what we know:

The New York Post isreporting that the suspectwho has been charged with arson and whose identity has not been released because he is a minorwas arrested Tuesday night at his home, which is located near the synagogue.

Police began to suspect the fire may have been intentionally set when they reviewed surveillance footage and saw what appeared to be three teens running away from the building shortly after the fire began.

Cops busted him after speaking to one or more of his friends who were present at the time the fire was set, and implicated him as the person who started the blaze, police sources said.

The people who provided that information told cops that their friend acted aloneeven though they accompanied the suspect into the abandoned temple, sources said.

This morning ABC7 reportedthat detectives have the names of the suspects two friends who were also spotted in the surveillance footage. This news source has also reported that although the fire occurred in what was once a house of worship, it was not investigated as a bias crime.

The suspect is expected to be arraigned at Manhattan Family Court later today.We will update this post with any further details.

Previous:Historic New York City Temple Burns Down

Zoe Miller is Tablet's editorial intern. Follow her on Twitter here.

Excerpt from:

A 14-year-old boy has been arrested in connection with the 3-alarm fire that destroyed the historic Beth Hamedrash ... - Tablet Magazine

Category: Synagogue | Comments Off on A 14-year-old boy has been arrested in connection with the 3-alarm fire that destroyed the historic Beth Hamedrash … – Tablet Magazine
Tags:

Posted By simmons on May 20, 2017

Gotham Gold: Daniel Halfon, who put together the new album, once worked at New York?s Shearith Israel.

New Yorks oldest synagogue is having a hard time erecting a new building, as community groups on the Upper West Side file suit against a city agency to stop Shearith Israels planned expansion.

According to the suit filed against New Yorks Board of Standards and Appeals a body which oversees zoning issues the agency only allowed the nine-story building to go forward because its a institutionally biased administrative body which regularly rules in favor of real estate developers.

Shearith Israels building would be the tallest mid-block structure on West 70th Street, and requires special permit from the city.

Controversially, the building will contain a community center and classes on the bottom floors, and expensive condos with park views on the top.

The neighborhood groups that filed the suit have claimed that Shearith Israel is committing a fraud by using the need for more congregational space as an excuse to rake in money through pricey real estate sales.

Shearith Israel was founded by Portuguese and Spanish immigrants to New York in the late 1600s, and is now led by Rabbi Meir Soloveichik.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at solomon@forward.com or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

See more here:

Neighbors Sue NYC Agency Over UWS Synagogue Expansion - Forward

Category: Synagogue | Comments Off on Neighbors Sue NYC Agency Over UWS Synagogue Expansion – Forward
Tags:

Posted By richards on May 20, 2017

Lil Nugs

May 18, 2017 By Jenna Marotta

Police revealed that they arrested 14-year-old David Diaz for Sundays fire at the Beth Hamedrash Hagadol synagogue. [NY Post]

Though unconfirmed, the Ace Hotel group is reportedly eyeing 225 Bowery for a 200-room getaway that could open next year. [Bowery Boogie]

Bushwick gastropub Central Station will close at the end of the week for an indeterminate length of time. [Bushwick Daily]

Local chain of indoor rock climbing gyms, Steep Rock Bouldering, will reportedly open its first Brooklyn location, on Quay Street, before summer ends. [DNA Info]

Preview the private garden that will soon be accessible to residents at One Manhattan Square, the high-rise at the intersection of Cherry and South Streets. [Wall Street Journal]

Tonight at Hearth in the East Village, D.C.-area chef Aaron Silverman will serve six dishes from his Michelin-starred eatery, Roses Luxury. [Eater NY]

Essex Street Markets yearly block party returns Saturday afternoon from noon to 5 p.m. [EV Grieve]

This weekend Greenpoint will host both Thick Skin A Bad Tattoo Roast Show and Taco Takedown 2017. [Greenpointers]

Read this article:

Teen Arrested for Synagogue Fire; Central Station Might Shutter This Weekend - Bedford + Bowery

Category: Synagogue | Comments Off on Teen Arrested for Synagogue Fire; Central Station Might Shutter This Weekend – Bedford + Bowery
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 20, 2017

The Villager

14-year-old arrested in Norfolk synagogue blaze | The Villager ... The Villager Thursday's New York Post coverage of the arrest of a suspect in Sunday's fire that destroyed the landmarked Beth Hamedrash Hagadol synagogue on the Lower ... and more »

Originally posted here:

14-year-old arrested in Norfolk synagogue blaze | The Villager ... - The Villager

Category: Synagogue | Comments Off on 14-year-old arrested in Norfolk synagogue blaze | The Villager … – The Villager
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 20, 2017

Those who have visited both Sephardic and Ashkenazic batei knesset know that there are some differences in their content and style. While the core is the same there are some noticeable differences. What about a get, a Jewish divorce document? Are there differences between a Sephardic get and an Ashkenazic get? If so, are they significant?

The short answer is that there are differences. Hacham Ovadia Yosef insisted that a get be done in accordance with Sephardic custom for a separating Sephardic couple. Hacham Ovadia was so insistent on this that as a young dayan (rabbinic judge) he even returned a get sent to him from Cincinnati by the venerable Rav Eliezer Silver, then the head of the Agudath HaRabbanim of the United States and Canada (as recorded in Teshuvot Yabia Omer). The young Rav Ovadia Yosef standing up and holding firm against this grand elder of the American rabbinate was no small matter. Rav Silver had written an Ashkenazic get for a Sephardic couple.

Hacham Ovadia took this matter very seriously. He relates (also in Teshuvot Yabia Omer) that he even resigned from the Petah Tikvah when his Ashkenazic colleagues refused to conclude a get conducted in accordance with Sephardic custom for a Sephardic couple. Hacham Ovadia returned to his seat on the court after he was issued an apology.

Finally, in Tamuz 5753 (July 1993), when Rav Yosef certified me to administer gittin, he issued me a stern warning to oversee gittin for Sephardic Jews in accordance with Sephardic practice. Hacham Ovadias firm insistence still resounds in my ear.

The differences, though, are relatively minor. The core process remains the same. Many of the differences lie in regard to style of transliteration of foreign names into Hebrew characters (all of the persons names are mentioned in a get, no matter the language from which the name stems). For example, Sephardim use a gimel with a slash to signify the letter J, whereas Ashkenazic Jews use either a combination of the letters daled zayin or daled zayin shin.

Other differences concern the shape of the letters written in the get. Ashkenazic Jews follow the specifications of the Beit Yosef whereas Sephardic Jews follow that of the Ari HaKadosh (Rav Yitzchak Luria). Some of the letters, such as the ayin and tzadi, are written differently according to these two approaches. Hacham Ovadia, though, in Teshuvot Yabia Omer notes that both of these scripts enjoy halachic validity.

Finally, the text of the Sephardic get differs slightly from the Ashkenazic get. For example, the word piturin, from the phrase get piturin (meaning document of termination; this is Targum Onkelos version of the Torah phrase Sefer Keritut), is written with the letter yod after the letter peh in a Sephardic get, but is omitted in an Ashkenazic get.

Despite the variety differences between the Sephardic and Ashkenazic get, one thing is absolutely clearthe differences are subtle and nuanced. The fundamentals remain the same.

The implications of this insight are profound. First, it bears witness to both Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews punctiliously preserving the mesorah (tradition). Despite a millennium of vast geographic separation between the two groups, when the communities reunited in the past 70 years we have found that we have remained in essence the same. The legacy that prior generations have bequeathed us must, as told in the Choni HaMaagel story (Taanit 19), be preserved by our generation for the future. Just as our forbearers steadfastly hewed to the mesorah, so must we.

Perhaps even more significant, the fact that the Sephardic and Ashkenazic gittin are nearly identical means that an Ashkenazic get is kosher for a Sephardic Jew and vice versa. This, in turn, is what permits Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews marriage to one another. Had either group deviated from the mesorah, our Gittin would be invalid according to the others standards and each would have, heaven forfend, regarded the other as illegitimate.

Sephardim and Ashkenazim do indeed slightly vary in their respective practices. However, in the bigger picture, these differences amount only to small variations on a much larger and grander theme. We remain am echad, one nation, following Hashem and His holy Torah, which binds us and maintains us as a nation, unified in our commitment to our beloved Creator.

By Rabbi Haim Jachter

Rabbi Haim Jachter is the spiritual leader of Congregation Shaarei Orah, the Sephardic Congregation of Teaneck. He also serves as a Rebbe at Torah Academy of Bergen County and a Dayan on the Beth Din of Elizabeth.

Link:

Sephardic and Ashkenazic Gittin: A Comparison - Jewish Link of New Jersey

Category: Sephardic | Comments Off on Sephardic and Ashkenazic Gittin: A Comparison – Jewish Link of New Jersey
Tags:

Posted By richards on May 20, 2017

Israel Hayom

Sisters expelled from Jerusalem return after 69 years Israel Hayom Sisters return to Four Sephardic Synagogues, where they hid for two weeks following Jordan's conquest of the Jewish Quarter in 1948 The Four Sephardic Synagogues were destroyed by the Jordanians and restored by Israel following the city's reunification.

Read more here:

Sisters expelled from Jerusalem return after 69 years - Israel Hayom

Category: Sephardic | Comments Off on Sisters expelled from Jerusalem return after 69 years – Israel Hayom
Tags:

Posted By richards on May 20, 2017

Patch.com

Temple Sinai Hosts Cantor Shemesh & Friends Concert Patch.com From Temple Sinai: Music, a universal language which bridges differences will create an exciting melodic journey from Sephardic to Ashkenazic Jewish Music at this year's Cantor Shemesh & Friends concert on Sunday, June 11th, at 3PM at Temple Sinai of ...

Go here to read the rest:

Temple Sinai Hosts Cantor Shemesh & Friends Concert - Patch.com

Category: Sephardic | Comments Off on Temple Sinai Hosts Cantor Shemesh & Friends Concert – Patch.com
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 19, 2017

The following is an edited excerpt of a speech given by Senator Linda Frum to the Senate Committee on Human Rights on May 10, to present her legislation to enact Canadian Jewish Heritage Month.

As a member of Canadas proud Jewish community, I am delighted to have had the privilege to have sponsored Senate Public Bill S-232, An Act Respecting Canadian Jewish Heritage Month, the result of a bipartisan, bicameral effort to formalize, in law, a time each year to celebrate the contributions of the Jewish community to Canada.

It is apropos that this bill is being studied in the Senate during the month of May, a month that is meaningful to the Jewish community. Since 2006, when it was enacted by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by former president George W. Bush, the month of May has been recognized by the U.S. government as the time to celebrate the contributions of the American Jewish community.

In his remarks celebrating Jewish Heritage Month in 2010, then-U.S. president Barack Obama said:

This month is a chance for Americans of every faith to appreciate the contributions of the Jewish People throughout our history often in the face of unspeakable discrimination and adversity. For hundreds of years, Jewish Americans have fought heroically in battle and inspired us to pursue peace.

Theyve built our cities, cured our sick. Theyve paved the way in the sciences and the law, in our politics and in the arts. They remain our leaders, our teachers, our neighbours and our friends.

Across the United States, you will find a wide range of activities during Jewish Heritage Month, from lectures at the Library of Congress and National Archives, to cooking classes and Klezmer music performances throughout the country.

In Ontario, Jewish Heritage Month was established in 2012 and is also celebrated in the month of May.

Since its adoption, Jewish Heritage Month has received widespread support among citizens, community organizations and local governments throughout Ontario.

For example, a photo exhibit showcasing Jewish life in Canada is on display at the city hall in Vaughan, Ont., for the duration of this month. In Toronto, the annual Jewish Film Festival is held during Jewish Heritage Month to celebrate and appreciate Jewish filmmaking from around the world.

May is also the month that Israel celebrates one of its more joyful public holidays, Yom Haatzmaut, or Israeli Independence Day.

And soon, we hope, with the passage of Bill S-232, Canada will also have a national Jewish Heritage Month of its own.

By establishing Jewish Heritage Month in law, Parliament will be signalling to Canadians that this month is to be recognized each and every year. In light of the recent report by Bnai Brith stating that anti-Semitic incidents in Canada last year were the highest on record, this official embrace of the Jewish People and the Jewish culture by Canadians can only help to promote the values of tolerance, acceptance and inclusion.

Another advantage of enshrining this month formally in law, is that it gives community organizations the lead time they need to plan events.

The European Association for the Preservation and Promotion of Jewish Culture and Heritage hosts Jewish heritage week throughout Europe each year, which brings over 120,000 visitors to the many events that take place throughout the continent. One of the keys to their success is that they are able to plan the events and inform stakeholders far in advance.

Having that lead time is especially helpful because the Jewish community has contributed to this country in so many ways and there is thus so much to discuss and celebrate.

The earliest Jewish settlers arrived in Canada in 1768, but it was not until the end of the 19th century that Jews arrived here in any significant numbers.

Most Jewish refugees came to Canada with nothing other than a sincere desire to build a safer, more prosperous future for their children, and to embrace the country that so openly embraced them.

Fleeing pogroms and anti-Semitism, primarily in Russia and eastern Europe, Jewish exiles settled across Canada, from coast to coast. In fact, the two oldest synagogues in Canada are in Sydney, N.S., and Victoria.

Another significant wave of Jewish refugees arrived in Canada after World War II, when Montreal became home to the third-largest population of Holocaust refugees in the world. In total, Canada accepted 40,000 Holocaust survivors.

Today, Canada is home to nearly 400,000 Jewish people, the fourth largest Jewish population in the world, after Israel, the United States and France.

To properly measure the immense and diverse contributions that have been made by Jewish Canadians to our society, we would have to survey nearly every aspect of human endeavour be it in academia, the law, politics, medicine, business, philanthropy, science, art, entertainment, even food.

It is my hope that with the establishment of Canadian Jewish Heritage Month, all Canadians, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, will have the opportunity to better understand the culture and history of Jewish Canadians, as well as to celebrate the integral role that the Jewish community has played in shaping Canada into one of the very best countries in the world in which to live.

Linda Frum is a Conservative senator from Ontario.

Read the original:

The case for Jewish Heritage Month - Canadian Jewish News (blog)

Category: Jewish Heritage Month | Comments Off on The case for Jewish Heritage Month – Canadian Jewish News (blog)
Tags:

Posted By simmons on May 19, 2017

Jeff Goldberg/Esto

Religious Liberty sculpture in front of the National Museum of American Jewish History.

(JTA)-Only one religious group in the U.S. has a federally proclaimed month celebrating their history: the Jews. In 2006, President George W. Bushofficially declared May as Jewish American Heritage Month.

Yet Jewish American Heritage Month, or JAHM, hardly seems a priority-not in the government, not in the media, not even withinthe Jewish community. There is not a single paid employee working to organize the commemoration, and neither the federal government nor anyJewish organizations or foundations are funding its operations. (By contrast, for example, the organization that coordinates Women's History Month lists fourstaff membersand 16sponsors.)

"To tell you the truth, I'm very disappointed,"said Marcia Zerivitz, who was one of the driving forces behind lobbying Congress to establish the month. "We have struggled to get any money to do much of anything."

The current annual budget forJAHMis about$10,000 and consists entirely of individual donations, according to Ivy Barsky, the director of the National Museum of American Jewish History and a member of the JAHM advisory committee.

"It's its own tiny little 501C3, all with people who run their own institutions volunteering some time to work on JAHM," Barskytold JTA. "So like any of these things, until it has a dedicated staff person, it's always going to be a little patched together."

Barsky hopes to change that. Her Philadelphia museum recently took over as JAHM'spublic face and organizer from the American Jewish Archives. She hopes that with the museum's support, the heritage month can raise its profile both within and outside the Jewish community.

"One of the original goals of Jewish American Heritage Month that we haven't necessarily realized as well as we'd like is teaching the non-Jewish world in America about the contributions of American Jewry to this country,"Barsky said.

The museum is providing some financial and staff support, but Barskyhopesto obtainfunding from corporationsand foundations. Manischewitz has served as a sponsor, promoting JAHM on its products, and Empire Kosher Poultry provided funding, but the two kosher food producers are no longer doing so.

Educating the wider American public was the goal of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who in 2005 introduced legislation in Congress to establish the month with the late Sen. Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican at the time (he later switched parties) and also Jewish.

"If you educated and raised awareness about contributions throughout American history all over the country, it would make people more familiar with the Jewish community and our people and hopefully impact a reduction of anti-Semitism and intolerance,"Wasserman Schultztold JTA about the inspiration for the legislation.

Shemanaged to get 250 Democrats and Republicans to sign on as co-sponsors for the bill, which the House passed unanimously. Zerivitz had lobbied for the month to be in January, to coincide with Florida Jewish History Month, but it was changed to May toconcur with Jewish Heritage Week, which President Jimmy Carter proclaimed in 1980.

Following the resolution's passage in the Senate,George W. Bush proclaimed the month. Itwas observed for the first time in 2006.

Wasserman Schultz, whoresignedas head of the Democratic National Committee last year following an email leak that suggested the organization was biased against presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, recalled the joy she felt upon the heritage month's proclamation.

"It was exhilarating. It was the first legislation that I passed as a member of Congress, and I'm the first Jewish woman to represent Florida in Congress, so it was very significant for me personally," she said, citing experiences with anti-Semitism both in New York, where she grew up, and in Florida.

But has the legislationlived up to its expectations?

While calling the month "still a work in progress," Wasserman Schultz said she is "very satisfied with how it's been celebrated."

However, Jonathan Sarna, a professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University, disagrees. At the time of the proclamation, "there was considerable excitement," but JAHM has yet to live up to its potential, he said.

"So much money is spent on Jewish education in the United States that the fact that we have not been able to harness this golden opportunity given to us by the government, and really develop a month that would affect every American Jew, is a sign of the disorganization that we've seen-ultimately it's a sign of a problem," Sarna told JTA.

JAHM's websitelists17 events this month, most of them hosted by local groups, including a poetry reading organized by a social justice group in Connecticut and an event about Jews and jazz at a Florida library.The Library of Congress, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and the Jewish Community Relations Council of San Francisco are each hosting one event, and the National Museum of Jewish History is hosting two events.

"Every Jewish newspaper and media outlet should be focused on American Jewish history during that month," Sarnasaid. "Programming materials should be sent to every rabbi, every synagogue. Synagogues should be encouraged to have a speaker dealing with American Jewish history."

To be sure, JAHM celebrationshave had some highlights over the years

In 2010, President Barack Obamahostedthe first Jewish American Heritage Month reception at the White House with such Jewish luminaries as Sandy Koufax and musician Regina Spektor, but the programwas cutin 2013 due to the budget sequester. Also in2010, Jewish-American astronaut Garret Reismanbroughtthe original proclamation with him aboard the Atlantis space shuttle.

Jewish groups, however, have been hesitant to commit money to the commemoration.

"I would think that all these national [Jewish] organizations would get behind it, but everyone is struggling for funding," said Zerivitz, who is on the JAHM board.

"[The] Holocaust gets the emotions going in the American Jewish community, and Holocaust things are much easier to fund than American Jewish history things," she added.

Barsky said she looks to more prominent national commemorations for inspiration.

"We hope we'll be able to fundraise and get some great attention for Jewish American Heritage Month, so that this can grow into something a little more akin to Women's History Month in March or African-American History Month in February," she said. "We've definitely got a vision for making it pretty big."

Sarna also is optimistic about JAHM's future.

"This is a lot easier than making peace in the Middle East, believe me," he said.

Visit link:

Did you know that May is Jewish American Heritage Month ... - Heritage Florida Jewish News

Category: Jewish Heritage Month | Comments Off on Did you know that May is Jewish American Heritage Month … – Heritage Florida Jewish News
Tags: