Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on March 7, 2017

Stuart Wright has two tattoos, writes Sam Charles of The Chicago News: one says "Jesus is love" and the other is a swastika. This educated accountant from the suburbs was arrested late February and charged with a hate crime after someone smashed the window of a downtown synagogue and stuck swastikas on the doors.

Wright graduated from Hinsdale Central High School in 2003 and went on to the University of Iowa. He later received a masters degree in accounting from DePaul University.

According to Wrights LinkedIn profile, he worked as an accountant for four companies between June 2012 and September 2015. He became a certified public accountant in 2013 and his license is valid until September 2018, according to state records.

Property records show Wrights father a retired investment banker owns a five-bedroom, six-bathroom house with a three-car garage in west suburban Oak Brook. It has been for sale since February 2016 with a price tag of nearly $1.5 million.

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A man wearing a shark costume robbed a gas station in Christchurch, New Zealand. The shark and his accomplice were armed with a knife and a hammer. They robbed the store of a haul of confectionery, aka candy. From Newshub: The store attendants have been offered Victim Support counselling. Police searched the area but failed []

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Synagogue vandalism suspect is accountant with a master's degree ... - Boing Boing

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Posted By richards on March 7, 2017

Northtown Automotive Cos. plans to convert a synagogue on Getzville Road in Amherst into administrative offices and an employee training center and to lease 300 parking spaces at the site to the nearby Dent Neurologic Institute.

The auto dealership revealed new details about its initial redevelopment plans for the property as the Amherst Town Board on Monday voted 4-1 to approve the rezoning that's required before the congregation at Temple Beth Tzedek can sell its longtime home.

The temple and the dealership have been in talks for months over a sale of the 9-acre property at 621 Getzville Road,off Sheridan Drive, next to the Youngmann Expressway. Temple Beth Tzedek is seeking to sell the property because it has merged withanother congregation, B'nai Shalom, which has a synagogue on North Forest Road, south of West Klein Road.

The merged congregation is holding services at both locations, on Getzville Road and on North Forest Road, until the sale of the Getzville Road property goes through, a synagogue representative previously said.

Eventually, the Temple Beth Tzedek congregation will move to North Forest Road and use the proceeds from the sale of the Getzville Road site to pay for an expansion of the existing synagogue there. The parties have not revealed the sale price.

Northtown had not said much about its plans for the property.

That's because the dealership had not yet put together a long-term plan for the site, according to Sean W. Hopkins, Northtown's attorney.

The Town Board had voted at its Feb. 6 meeting to adjourn the rezoning request until it received more information from Northtown about its plans for the site. Hopkins sought to address that concern in his letter.

An attorney for the synagogue, Steven B. Bengart, also wrote to the town to seek its support for the rezoning.In his letter, Bengart said the sale would place the property back onto the tax rolls, since it previously was exempt from property taxes because it was owned by a religious organization.

Hopkins said the dealership would take over and renovate the temple building on the property for administrative and training offices.Northtown also would create and lease a parking lot with 300 spaces for Dent Neurologic Group, although some of the spaces would be located in a strip in the back of the dealership's existing property at 3890 Sheridan Drive. The medical practice would have a 10-year lease.

The parking would sit between the former temple, to the west, and Northtown Kia, Mazda and Subaru, to the east, at 3890 Sheridan. Dent Neurologic Institute sits just to the east at 3980 Sheridan, where parking spaces are at a premium.

"The 300 spots are going to do wonders to the parking problem we've been experiencing at Dent Tower," said Deputy Supervisor Steven D. Sanders. "How they were able to build what they built back there without enough parking, I don't know."

Currently, many Dent employees park across Sheridan Drive at Excelsior Orthopaedics or on town roads, which Sanders said was "detrimental" to the neighborhood.

"I think this is going to be a vast improvement by cutting down on people crossing Sheridan Drive," he said.

Council Member Deborah Bruch Bucki cast the sole vote against the rezoning, saying she preferred to wait two weeks until the board's next meeting to have time to review additional correspondence received Monday about the project.

News Staff Reporter Joseph Popiolkowski contributed to this report.

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Posted By richards on March 7, 2017

CHESHIRE Temple Beth David officials say they are prepared in the event a threat is made toward the synagogue.

Kim Math, the synagogues president, said threats and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries across the country have been frightening.

I dont remember ever in my lifetime seeing such a rash of antisemitic behavior, she said. When you grow up in religious school, youre taught about it, you learn about the Holocaust, different types of behaviors, different types of discrimination.

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To actually see it first hand so intensely, its a little scary, she added.

Since early January, Jewish Community Centers and institutions around the country, including area centers in West Hartford and Woodbridge, have received more than 100 bomb threats in multiple waves. As recently as Tuesday, four centers and a day school in New York, Maryland, Florida, Wisconsin and Oregon received threats.

The Anti-Defamation League said it also received bomb threats at its offices in Boston, New York, Atlanta and Washington D.C. Tuesday. The organization has called on President Donald Trump and lawmakers to take action.

This is not normal. We will not be deterred or intimated, Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement.

Jewish cemeteries have also been vandalized. In February, about 150 headstones were damaged or tipped at a cemetery outside St. Louis. A similar incident also occurred at a cemetery in Philadelphia.

Math said the synagogue is prepared if a threat were to be called in. She declined to disclose specific steps the synagogue has taken.

We have resources were pulling from to ensure that we have adequate plans in case there is a credible threat made, she said.

Temple Beth David was established in 1968 and moved into its current building, 3 Main St., a short time later. The synagogue serves about 200 families.

Rabbi Ilene Bogosian said police notified the synagogue and increased patrols around the building after a threat was made in January against the Jewish Community Center of New Haven in Woodbridge. The community center also alerted other area synagogues as a precaution.

That was a very reassuring thing, Bogosian said.

Bogosian said the best way to combat threats and vandalism is to contact authorities.

The constant threat, its so disruptive of communities, she said. This is something of another dimension. Sometimes theres nothing much you can say, except call your local law enforcement and have them attend to the mater. I dont think these are people you can talk to.

Math said members of the synagogue feel safe despite the ongoing threats.

We feel fairly safe here, Math said.

blipiner@record-journal.com 203-317-2444 Twitter: @BryanLipiner

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Posted By richards on March 7, 2017

MASON CITY | Alan Steckman, the president of the Jewish congregation in Mason City, received a startling message on his voice mail Sunday.

The caller said, "We gonna spray your sh---y synagoguein pigs blood. Watch the f------ out."

"It was unnerving to hear it," said Steckman.

He said when no one is at the synagogue to answer the phone, and calls are automatically forwarded to his home phone. He and his wife Sharon were out of town Saturday but listened to themessage when they returned home Sunday.

He said he is not normally paranoid but the call bothered him in light of anti-Semitic actions that have taken place elsewhere in the country.

"I've been here 30 years. I've never had a threat like this,"said Steckman.

He reported the incident to Mason City police.

The Adas Israel Synagogue is at 620 N. Adams Ave. Steckman said attendance at weekly services is usually 10-12and includes a family from Charles City, a man from Dowsand three Christians.

Michael Libbie of Des Moines, spiritual leader of Adas Israel, said,"In light of so many hate crimes going on in the U.S., we do take things like this seriously.

Alan Steckman, the president of the Jewish congregation in Mason City, talks about the message left on the synagogue voicemail on Sunday.

Alan Steckman, the president of the Jewish congregation in Mason City, talks about the message left on the synagogue voicemail on Sunday.

"Ihave been coming to Mason City to conduct services for the past 29 years. We usually have services once a month on Friday night and then have Bible study on Saturday. I also do weddings and funerals forthem.

"The really interesting thing about this is that I am coming to Mason City this Friday. We are studying the Book of Esther and the Festival of Purim.It is the study of Jews being targeted for destruction and the rising up against evil for all time."

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Posted By richards on March 7, 2017

This is a very charming and quite a "feel good" film. It is about many things: a close-knit, earthy, easy-going, but pious Sephardic community in Jerusalem; delicious Sephardic foods that look so tasty the viewer wants to reach over and take something. The film is about loving wive and loving husbands--and about the collapse of the women's balcony in their shul which destroys their Torah, plunges the Rabbi's wife into a coma, and the Rabbi into madness.

Despite this catastrophe, the film is a comedy. And, this is not all that the film is about.

The film presents a clash between an Ashkenazi rabbi (Rabbi David)--a young, good-looking, but rather harsh zealot--and a group of vibrant, traditional, kind-hearted and perhaps overly idealized Sephardic women whose balcony is now gone. In the absence of their regular Rabbi Menashe, Rabbi David supervises the repairs; he constructs a small and crowded cage for the effervescent women, rather than their old, open, and spacious balcony.

With the money that the women have themselves raised for a new balcony, Rabbi David instead commissions a new Torah. Clearly, both are needed. He praises the women as the Torah--and thus, preaches that women do not need the Torah or Torah study. But he wants them to rebel against the traditions of their mothers and dress more modestly, and follow new religious rules at home.

Rabbi David has picked the wrong group of women to tyrannize. These women are quite happy with their religious and communal lives and do not wish to change them.

Rabbi David seems to exert an almost hypnotic control over their hapless husbands who are mourning their rabbi (whose hand they kiss when they see him) but who has temporarily lost his mind.

The battle is on. The women banish their husbands; they protest and demonstrate outside Rabbi David's yeshiva. Without giving away the ending, let me say that the Sephardic women--and young love--win this battle.

The acting is superb (Abraham Celektar, Igal Naor, Evelin Hagoel, Aviv Alush, Assaf Ben Shimon), as is the music (Ahuva Ozeri), direction (Emil Ben Shimon), and cinematography. Menemsha Films distributes this film in the United States.

This is good, light entertainment for very troubled times.

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Posted By richards on March 7, 2017

A CLASSROOM awaits its pupils.. (photo credit:MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)

The Jerusalem District Court ruled to impose regional registration for two haredi (ultra-Orthodox) high schools for girls in the city of Elad this week, striking a blow against the discrimination of Sephardi haredi girls in Ashkenazi haredi schools.

The regional registration solution is designed to eliminate the de facto quotas of 20% or 30% imposed by Ashkenazi haredi schools for Sephardi girls, according to activists.

This problem has occurred repeatedly in many Ashkenazi haredi girls schools around the country, including in Elad, and stems from racist motives, activists claim.

In the 2014/2015 school year, the Education Ministry, then under the direction of former Yesh Atid MK Shai Piron, intervened in the registration process due to a recurrence of the issue.

Following a legal petition by the Noar Kahalacha activist group, the situation was eventually resolved for that particular year in an agreement between the Education Ministry and the Elad Municipal Authority, which included a stipulation that regional registration be used for the 2016/2017 school year and onward.

This agreement was given the imprimatur of a court decision, but Noar Kahalacha found that regional registration had not been used despite this assurance and filed a motion with the courts to find the Elad Municipality in contempt of court.

That motion was granted on Monday, and Judge Nava Ben-Or ordered the Elad Municipal Authority to publish notices declaring that registration for the two high schools will be done on a regional basis for the 2017/2018 school year and onward.

She also ordered the Elad Municipal Authority to pay a NIS 1,000 fine for every day it fails to publish this notice.

The injustice done by the Elad Municipal Authority and the girls high schools in Elad has come to an end. We welcome this precedent of regional registration, and Interior Minister Arye Deri is now obligated to fulfill his promise to implement regional registration around the country, Noar Kahalacha said in response.

Haredi political leaders were swift to denounce the ruling.

Elad Mayor Israel Porush said that the ruling directly contradicts the explicit instructions of the most senior rabbis, to whom we will turn for directions as [to] how to act.

Senior United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni echoed Porushs comments, saying the events marked a disgraceful day for the state.

The people who determine issues such as regional registration are the leading rabbis, and in no way are they determined by some frustrated guy who wants the court to make the decision, he told the BHadrei Haredim website, in reference to Noar Kahalacha director Yoav Laloum.

This undermines all the agreements of the haredi education system. It wont happen, we all stand behind Mayor Israel Porush and the court will not determine where regional registration will and will not happen, he declared. If the court determines things in our education system, tomorrow the courts will determine what will be taught and what [will] not, and who the teachers will be. The courts cannot interfere on issues relating to our education.

The root of the problem stems from a perception within the Sephardi haredi community that the Ashkenazi haredi schools are better, more prestigious and will lead to better life opportunities within the haredi world.

Although some Sephardi girls are accepted into the Ashkenazi schools, it is often the daughters of well-connected Sephardi families, be it to a national or local politician, prominent rabbi or a donor to the schools.

Some of the brightest Sephardi girls are also accepted, creating an impression that the Sephardi institutions are indeed second class.

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Posted By richards on March 7, 2017

Rabbi Yona Metzger. (photo credit:MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)

On February 23, the Jerusalem District Court rejected former chief Ashkenazi rabbi Yonah Metzgers plea bargain and extended his prison sentence, for fraud and bribery, to four-and-a-half years.

Also, he will pay a fine of NIS 5 million for tax evasion. These crimes were committed while Metzger served as chief rabbi and the judge noted that Metzger should have been a model for exemplary behavior as a religious and spiritual leader. Instead, he joins too many Israeli political leaders as an example of corruption, criminal behavior, overreaching greed and arrogance.

Rabbi Metzger is the first former chief rabbi to go to prison. Sadly, I am not surprised as I served on the Commission to Appoint Dayanim as the Israel Bar Associations representative during Metzgers tenure as chief rabbi.

In December 2004, a year after he was elected chief rabbi, attorney-general Mani Mazuz (currently a Supreme Court justice) ordered a police investigation into complaints of fraud and bribery. In May 2005, the investigation was completed and it was recommended that Rabbi Metzger be charged. Immediately after the publication of the police recommendation, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court demanding Metzger withdraw from sitting as a dayan (religious court judge) in the Rabbinic Court of Appeals as well as from participation in the meetings of the Commission to Appoint Dayanim. In June 2005 Metzger agreed to cease work as a dayan and a member of the commission.

In April 2006, attorney-general Mazuz published a 40-page document summarizing his decision to close the case against Rabbi Metzger because of insufficient evidence.

However, Mazuz pointed out that Metzgers actions and failure to be truthful during the investigation raised serious questions about his suitability to serve in the prestigious office of chief rabbi. Mazuz concluded that Metzger was unfit morally and spiritually for the post and therefore should resign. Legislation creating the Chief Rabbinate did not provide for the removal of a sitting chief rabbi, but Mazuz argued that if Metzger refused to step down, the justice minister could convene the Commission to Appoint Dayanim to consider ending his role as a dayan.

Since Metzger indeed refused to resign, I found myself, alongside my colleagues on the commission, part of a jury tasked with determining whether Metzger was fit to serve as a dayan. I took my new role very seriously and spent many days reviewing the case records, including the police investigation and the attorney-generals recommendations.

While Rabbi Metzger did not appear before the commission to give testimony, his highly respected criminal lawyer, Prof. David Libai, appeared on his behalf. Since both Libai and I are graduates of the University of Chicago, I was particularly proud of his eloquent and masterful presentation. However, his responses to questions I raised were not convincing.

I found the prosecutors arguments far more powerful, especially in light of Metzgers behavior prior to being elected chief rabbi as well as afterwards. We were reminded that in the late 1990s, Metzger was a candidate for the position of chief rabbi of Tel Aviv. At that time several complaints as to his suitability were brought to the voting body and several Orthodox leaders testified. Written opinions by leading religious scholars argued that Metzger was unfit for the post. In 1998, thenchief rabbi Bakshi Doron and his colleagues found Metzgers responses to the complaints evasive and contradictory. Before completion of their investigation, however, Metzger sent a letter withdrawing his candidacy. Therefore the investigation was closed.

After Metzger was elected chief Ashkenazi rabbi of Israel in 2003, Rabbi Doron wrote the following: It never occurred to me that Metzger had the chutzpah to submit his candidacy to be elected chief rabbi of Israel after he agreed to withdraw his candidacy to the post of chief rabbi of Tel Aviv.

Apparently the questions I posed during the commissions hearings became known in the religious establishment and there was concern that I might vote to remove Rabbi Metzger. Leading rabbis, most of whom I respected for their scholarship and integrity, began to call me and argue that Metzger should not be removed under any circumstances.

When I replied that the evidence of his criminal behavior was compelling, they claimed that removing a chief rabbi would set a dangerous precedent. As an observant woman, mother, wife, grandmother, lawyer and Israeli citizen, I was shocked and saddened by the response of these spiritual leaders.

In February 2008, my colleagues on the commission voted to retain Metzger as a dayan. I wrote a dissenting opinion, arguing that he was morally, ethically and halachically unfit to serve.

In 2013, during the last year of his tenure, a new criminal investigation into his activities while serving as chief rabbi was begun. Criminal charges were brought against him and he pleaded guilty in January 2017.

This sad and shameful story raises several questions: Why was Metzger allowed to become a candidate for chief rabbi of Israel given his background? How and why was Metzger elected to the position of chief rabbi? It is no secret that selection of a chief rabbi is highly political, and there are those who claim Metzger was chosen by Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) leaders to weaken the position of chief rabbi. Whether that claim is true or not, it is clear that he has brought deep shame and public disdain on the office of the Chief Rabbinate. Perhaps the real question is: why does Israel need chief rabbis today? The author is a womens rights lawyer based in Jerusalem. Elected by the Israel Bar Association in December 2002 to be its representative on the Commission to Appoint Dayanim, she was the only woman on the commission at that time and was reelected to a second term in December 2005, serving until January, 2009.

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Posted By richards on March 7, 2017

My time as a college student involved decision making. My Jewish observance was no exception. I had grown up in a traditional Conservative Jewish home. My four sisters and I attended Hebrew school beginning at age four through the eighth grade, and celebrated our bnot mitzvah. I attended Shabbat services several times a month and learned to read Hebrew, lead prayers, and take an active role in synagogue life. We had lots of Jewish friends in the neighborhood and at public school. At home, we kept kosher, enjoyed Friday evening Shabbat dinners, Passover seders, a sukkah in our backyard and candle lighting each night of Chanukah. At college, most of my classmates were not Jewish and I was anxious to fit into my new environment. Should I attend synagogue? Continue keeping kosher? Go to class on the High Holidays? While I was not alone in my questioning, my fellow Jewish students and I approached these questions differently. I was uncertain what role Judaism would play in my life in this new, unfamiliar environment.

These 30-year-old memories from my college days returned to me as I read the recently released study, Chabad on Campus, by Brandeis University professor Mark Rosen. Rosen and his colleagues set to learn about Chabad on Campus International (www.chabad.edu), an organization with over 200 full-time centers nationwide. Led by Orthodox rabbis and their wives trained by the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, Chabad on Campus centers seek to be a home away from home for Jews on campus and offer a wealth of social, educational, and spiritual programs.

Rosen et al. find that few students served by Chabad on Campus are raised Orthodox. Most students first come to Chabad for the meals, served on Shabbat and during the week, and the socializing. The rabbis and rebbetzins directing these Chabad on Campus centers are warm and welcoming, regardless of the students level of Jewish observance or frequency of attendance at Chabad functions. No one is turned away nor is anyone charged dues or fees for their participation.

Rosen and his colleagues found that Chabad has a lasting impact on college students. Those taking part are more likely to express a stronger Jewish identity and participate in Jewish rituals later in life at higher rates compared to non-participating Jewish students. The greatest impact is experienced among those raised Reform or culturally Jewish compared with those raised in a more traditional Jewish environment. It is rare for students taking part in Chabad on Campus activities to change denominations, although a large percentage of students maintain contact with Chabad co-directors after graduation.

Why would Orthodox rabbis and rebbetzins, themselves raised in Orthodox homes and often in Orthodox communities with active synagogues, whose parents are rabbis and rebbetzins, move to college campuses where nearly all of the people with whom they will interact possess no such qualities?

I learned the answer when I read Sue Fishkoffs The Rebbes Army: Inside the World of Chabad-Lubavitch (Schocken Press, 2005). Fishkoff notes that the Chabad movement emphasizes outreach to Jews through their emissaries, many of whom end up on college campuses serving Jewish college students. Chabad emissaries, driven by a deep love and concern for their fellow Jew, anchor themselves into the college communities that they serve.

I have served as the UCF Chabad faculty adviser since its inception 10 years ago, in early 2007. I came into the role when Rabbi Sholom Dubov (co-director, Chabad of Greater Orlando), called to ask if I would meet with his friends, Rabbi Chaim and Rebbetzin Rivkie Lipskier, who had recently moved to town to found a Chabad on Campus center near the UCF campus.

As UCF is the second largest university in the U.S ., it enrolls one of the largest Jewish student populations in the nation. Founding a Chabad on Campus center would be a monumental undertaking.

Like many students served by the Lipskiers, I came to work with them even though I lacked an Orthodox background, and questioned whether I could support them as my approach to Judaism was so different from theirs. Yet the Lipskiers and I developed a strong friendship over the last decade. Our bond goes deeper than just being the Chabad at UCF faculty adviser. Their kindness, hospitality, and charisma is magnetic, and their drive to connect with Jewish students is admirable. They ensure that every student they cross paths with is in good spirits. They will even deliver chicken soup to a student with a cold just ask.

My observation of how the Lipskiers manage their outreach to primarily non-Orthodox students reflects Professor Rosens findings. Shabbat, holiday and festival observance at their home and elsewhere is provided to hundreds of students (even if it means hosting 770 students for Shabbat dinner in a large tent on the UCF Memory Mall after which they walk the six miles home). As well, the Lipskiers are regular fixtures on campus. They distribute literature, smiles, and kosher treats in front of the Student Union on Wednesdays, offer kosher food to passersby while tailgating on weekday football game days, offer classes while serving Pasta and Parsha lunch on campus, and join the larger Orlando community for the Mega Challah Bake. The Lipskiers support secular student efforts as well. Thanks to their ubiquitous presence on Facebook, I have learned that they will spend their late Saturday nights after Shabbat supporting Childrens Miracle Network dance marathoners struggling to stay on their feet or attending UCF home football games.

The Chabad on Campus study reveals that such efforts matter to the future of Jewish life in the United States. At a time when studies such as the 2013 Pew Research Center Portrait of Jewish Americans show that the percentage of Jews identifying as no religion is much higher among younger Jews (32 percent among those born since 1980) than older Jews (7 percent among those born 1927 and before), the Chabad on Campus study shows that Chabad plays an important role in reversing that trend. Rosen and his colleagues find that, despite what appears to be an odd combination of Orthodox couples living and working near secular college campuses and reaching out to young Jews who are questioning their own Jewish identity and practice, Chabad presence on college campuses achieves a positive effect with lasting results.

Terri Susan Fine, Ph.D. is professor of political science at the University of Central Florida. She teaches courses on American politics, religion and politics, civil rights, political psychology and women and politics. She is the recipient of 10 teaching awards and four professional service awards. Her publications have appeared in several academic journals and books. In the Jewish community she has twice been awarded the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlandos Community Relations Awards. She is currently serving as a consultant to the Florida Department of Education Task Force on Holocaust Education to support the development of middle school civics resource materials focusing on Holocaust education.

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Posted By simmons on March 7, 2017

Richard D. Heideman. (photo credit:Courtesy)

The American Zionist Movement (AZM) on Monday elected international lawyer Richard D. Heideman as its new president, at the organization's Biennial Assembly in New York.

The New York-based AZM is the umbrella organization of some 20 Zionist groups in the US, and serves as the American affiliate of the World Zionist Organization.

Heideman is one of the foremost legal experts on fighting the BDS movement and pursuing legal actions on behalf of victims of terrorism in courts around the world. He also serves as the chairman of the Israel Forever Foundation and honorary president of Bnai Brith International.

Heideman launched his tenure at AZM with an agenda to improve attitudes towards Israel and Zionism in North America.

Zionism Forward is my vision as AZM President. It is not about redefining Zionism, it is about reenergizing Zionism, he said in his inaugural speech. We must return to the basics of Zionism, that which unites us all in this hall here today, and make it relevant to our families, our communities, our synagogues, our schools and beyond.

I call upon each of you and the organizations you lead consisting of perhaps millions of people in the American Jewish community in your way and through your leadership to join with me to work together, hand in hand, in the spirit of unity, solidarity and pride, to accept the task of rebuilding the good name of Israel, the good name of the Jewish people and the good name of Zionism, he urged his audience.

Heideman also spoke about practical steps that must be taken in order to achieve this, beginning with a conference to combat those who seek to demonize Israel and Zionism.

Our students must be equipped with the knowledge and confidence to defend Israels honor in the face of slander, Heideman explained. While Iran and its allies may fantasize over a World Without Zionism, we must strive for a World With Zionism, an ideology and cause to be celebrated.

Heideman also discussed the United States upcoming decision over whether to extend funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) after its current mandate ends on June 30, 2017. He said that UNRWA has interfered with Israels efforts to build a safe and peaceful country for all of the people residing within her borders and her efforts towards regional peace, development and security and called for presenting truth, evidence and proposing solutions.

Heideman succeeds Rabbi Vernon Kurtz, of Chicago, Illinois and was installed into office by Seymour D. Reich, Past Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Past President of Bnai Brith International and Past President of the American Zionist Movement.

Herbert Block was announced as AZM's new Executive Director, succeeding Karen Rubinstein, who was named Executive Director Emeritus. Block was formerly Assistant Executive Vice President of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) from 1999 to 2015, where he was responsible for the Government Affairs and Property Restitution portfolios for JDC.

The AZM Assembly included numerous discussions about Zionism and the State of Israel and its relevance to American Jewry, with Jewish and Zionist organizational leaders, diplomats, academics and religious leaders speaking on panels such as Why Zionism is not a four-letter word, Talking about Israel: How to conduct an inclusive conversation. Israel: Center, partner or theme park and Effective Responses to Anti-Semitism, Anti-Israelism and Anti-Zionism.

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Posted By admin on March 7, 2017

Im afraid to say it out loud sometimes because its become a bad word of late. I believe in Israels right to exist and its necessity. I put great faith in the Jewish right to self-determination and have a deep love for the State of Israel. This makes me a Zionist.

On Thursday, Feb. 16, the well-known political scientist and Israel critic Norman Finkelstein repeatedly equated Zionism with ethnic cleansing. He called Zionism a denial of historical truth and compared Zionist endeavors to Stalins.

But the Palestinian population in both Israel and the Palestinian Territories has increased eightfold since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. If the Palestinian population of the region has swelled since Israels conception, Zionism cannot possibly espouse ethnic cleansing.

Zionism, instead, is the Jewish movement for self-determination. The founders of the State of Israel were Zionists, but they did not enshrine rights for only one group of people. On the contrary, the Israeli Declaration of Independence states that Israel will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants [and] it will be based on freedom, justice and peace. Israel has sometimes erred on its path, but the Zionism described in the nations founding document has nothing to do with the ethnic cleansing that Finkelstein mentioned.

In fact, many famous figures are proud to be Zionists, like Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel. He decried genocide a form of ethnic cleansing itself but was also unfaltering in his Zionism, finding no conflict between the two. Like Wiesel, I see no contradiction between Zionism and my values of human rights. I believe in Israels founding ideology, and like many others, see it as a movement of freedom, justice and peace.

In that vein, I realize that many, on campus and elsewhere, may disagree with my views. But instead of charging all Zionists with ethnic cleansing, I invite you to engage a Zionist in conversation. You will find that many of us are liberals, peacemakers, and warriors for human rights. Ask a proponent of the ideology why they continue to adhere to it. It may be that they find Israels existence necessary; it also may be, however, that they find Zionism good and just, even though Finkelstein might disagree.

Leora Eisenberg is a freshman from Eagan, Minn. She can be reached at leorae@princeton.edu.

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I am a Zionist. - The Daily Princetonian

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