Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on May 30, 2024

Steve Cozen (Courtesy of Cozen OConnor)

Steve Cozen is a Jewish American success story. He founded the Cozen OConnor Law Firm and built it into a national entity with more than 850 lawyers and 32 offices.

These are the types of stories that the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History likes to tell. So, its perhaps not surprising that Cozen supports the museum. Cozen OConnor and Sandra and Steve Cozen are listed as presenting hosts for the Weitzmans June 6 gala at the Philadelphia Marriott.

That means they both contributed more than $150,000.

For his support, the lifelong Philadelphian will receive the inaugural Only in America Humanitarian Award.

Its a little overwhelming, Cozen said.

The 84-year-old talked about how deep his Jewish and American identities run.

Jewish

Cozens parents emphasized Jewish values, especially ldor vdor, according to the Har Zion Temple in Penn Valley member.

The future lawyer went to Hebrew school, got confirmed and even dreamed of becoming a hazzan. He also sat for Shabbat dinner with his family and attended holiday services with his father and grandfathers in South and West Philadelphia.

We loved and enjoyed the liturgy, he said.

Cozen and his wife have three daughters and seven grandchildren. Cozen said the family sits for Shabbat dinner more often than they did during his childhood.

Our tradition has gotten stronger, he said.

Outside the home, the lawyer serves on the boards for the Weitzman and the USC Shoah Foundation Institute.

Its giving back without expectation, Cozen said. You do these things because you recognize and realize that relationships are the most important thing in life.

American

Heres Cozen in his own words on America:

The Jewish people have been unable to assimilate into any society for 3,000 years. In America, we were able to assimilate to a degree. And we were also able to realize the benefits of freedom.

Cozen himself has realized those benefits with the growth of his law firm.

Could I have done that in some other country? I doubt it, he said.

He has also participated in what he describes as the mechanisms that run our society. The lawyer serves on the Kimmel Centers presidents council and on the board for the University of Pennsylvanias Carey Law School. He made a gift to Penn Law that established the Stephen A. Cozen Professorship of Law.

America gave him the opportunity to hopefully add some good works to our society, he said.

Im eternally grateful for that, he added.

Cozen believes the Only in America motto, the title of the gala, is what the museum is all about.

Its making it clear that the Jewish people in America have made tremendous inroads to assimilation and success which they could only have done in America, and every other ethnic group has that same ability and right to do it, he said.

Thats why Cozen is motivated to support the museum. He believes in a specific vision for the Weitzmans future.

Its a vision which is based on three strategic pillars: combating antisemitism, becoming a national and local center for Jewish life and culture and presenting a reimagined core exhibition, he said.

The museum filed for bankruptcy in 2020 and had to close due to COVID. Since then, it has gotten financial and political support from shoe designer Stuart Weitzman (its namesake), U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and Cozen, among others. There are more than 200 donors who pledged at least $1,000 listed on the museums gala invitation.

At the same time, the museums leaders and backers are still trying to figure out how to get people back in for visits. Cozen wants to see a combination of school field trips, tourist trips and big events such as the 2023 talk by Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, who led his Colleyville, Texas, congregation through a 2022 hostage crisis.

Weve gotten hundreds and hundreds of people to attend those events, Cozen said. Its giving a constant stream of Judaism for learning to the community.

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Steve Cozen to Be Honored by Weitzman Museum - Jewish Exponent

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Posted By admin on May 30, 2024

More than 10 years ago, I attended a college friends wedding in New York City.

My friend is Muslim, her husband Jewish. They were married under a Jewish wedding canopy made from the grooms bar mitzvah prayer shawl which, his mother announced to the assembled guests, had been made in India, the brides parents country of origin. The bride wore a red wedding sari. The grooms mother read and explained the seven blessings of a Jewish wedding; the brides mother read from the Quran and then provided an English translation.

The bride and groom sipped from the same cup of wine, as one does at a Jewish wedding. But knowing that I was writing about her wedding for my book on interfaith marriages, the bride pulled me aside in between the ceremony and the photos. They had replaced the traditional wine with white grape juice, she told me nonalcoholic in deference to the fact that she is Muslim; white out of fear of staining the wedding finery before the photos.

My friends interfaith wedding might seem unusual, but it is part of the American Jewish normal. Approximately 42% of married Jews have a spouse who is not Jewish. Among American Jews who have gotten married since 2010, that percentage rises to 61%.

Many advocates for interfaith families prefer not to call these marriages between Jews and non-Jews, because that term defines people by what they are not erasing their own vibrant religious and cultural heritage. There is great diversity in whom Jews marry. Most spouses come from Christian backgrounds, given the demographics of the United States, but Christianity itself is very diverse. Others marry Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists or people from any number of other religious traditions.

In my research on interfaith families, Ive seen ceremonies combine traditions in a wide array of ways.

Sometimes the Jewish wedding canopy, called a chuppah, is simply a beautiful piece of cloth, or combined with floral arrangements. Often, though, it represents family traditions. A bride or groom might use the same chuppah as their parents, use a family prayer shawl, or have a chuppah that combines fabric from both of their mothers wedding dresses.

At interfaith ceremonies, the chuppah is often a way to weave another culture into the wedding. When Jews marry people from India be they Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist or even another Jew they will sometimes use a sari or a shawl with distinctively Indian embroidery to make the wedding canopy.

Another couple that I wrote about in Beyond Chrismukkah, a book based on my research on Jewish-Christian families, made the chuppah out of an African American story quilt that they then hung over their bed, with the intent that they would add a square for every year of their marriage. The last square that they added depicts two people standing together: her pregnant and him beaming. They laughingly told me that life got busy after the baby was born, and they are now over two decades behind.

Still another bride and groom made a chuppah decorated with symbols, some of which represented them as individuals, and others narrating what brought them together as a couple. Their design included a Star of David for him and a flaming chalice, the symbol of the Unitarian Universalist Association, for her, and then the love of books and hiking that they shared.

While many rabbis are not allowed to formally co-officiate with clergy from other religions at weddings, some are able to do so.

Other rabbis allow another clergy person to offer a reading or take another role in the ceremony sometimes to picturesque effect. At one wedding, a Catholic Franciscan friar offered a blessing in his brown robe and sandals, standing under a chuppah next to a rabbi wrapped in a Jewish prayer shawl.

No matter who performs the ceremony, couples often find creative ways to incorporate their traditions into the wedding day. Many pull readings from both of their traditions: some meaningful commentary on marriage, or even the famous biblical verse I Corinthians 13: Love is patient, love is kind. Jewish-Hindu couples may pair the seven Jewish wedding blessings with the seven steps taken in a Hindu wedding.

Some couples have a Jewish ceremony but make other parts of their heritage a central part of the celebration: inviting a Christian relative to say grace before the supper, for example, or greeting guests at the reception venue with a Hindu aarti, in which one of the hosts will wave trays of lighted lamps in front of the guests to show them honor, respect and blessing. Often, families will include food from the non-Jewish culture, whether its elaborate Italian American dinners or Chinese wedding banquets.

Other interfaith couples will surround their Jewish wedding day with traditions from the non-Jewish culture. For instance, Jewish brides traditionally visit a ritual bath called a mikveh before their weddings. Some brides in Jewish-Hindu interfaith weddings follow the trip to the mikveh with a mehendi party and ladies sangeet: a night of henna painting and singing.

Not everything is fun and easy in the world of interfaith weddings. More and more rabbis in the more liberal Reform, Reconstructionist and Renewal movements perform interfaith ceremonies. In August 2023, however, the Conservative movement reaffirmed its ban on Conservative rabbis performing interfaith marriages.

During my research on interfaith families, couples told me many, many stories about their weddings even though, in the end, I was not really writing about weddings. Sometimes, the stories were hard. One brides childhood rabbi refused to perform the ceremony, angering her parents so much that they quit their synagogue of 30 years. Some couples expressed pain about grandparents or aunts and uncles who skipped the ceremony. In one case, a woman expressed relief that her father had died before her nephew announced his engagement. She was glad that her father never said to his grandson what he had said to her when she fell in love with a Protestant.

Overall, however, most peoples weddings were happy memories that offered hints to the interfaith lives and household that they would go on to create together.

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For American Jews, interfaith weddings are a new normal and creatively weave both traditions together - The Conversation

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Posted By admin on May 30, 2024

When Ive heard people talk about what their favorite Jewish movies are, I tend to hear the same answers like Fiddler on the Roof, Barbra Streisands Yentl, or one of Steven Spielbergs best movies, Schindlers List. While these choices are an excellent way to introduce the public to Jewish cinema, there are still so many Jewish films that not only center on living through the Holocaust but on Judaism life in general. Here are my five picks for underrated Jewish movies that deserve to be seen by a large audience.

The biographical drama film The Diary of Anne Frank tells the true story of fear and hope during one of the worst events to face Jewish people. Based on Anne Franks book that stayed with us, Anne Frank, her family, and the van Daans hid in an annex above Otto Franks business during World War II to avoid being discovered by the Nazis.

This film adaptation did an excellent job expanding the small space the characters are in to make their surroundings look like their whole world. Audiences watching will see the complications Anne Frank, Peter van Daan, and Margot Frank go through growing up as teenagers all while having to hide away from the world. We also cant help but feel the fear and terror many Jews felt during this time that one sudden move or sound could risk their discovery.

Shelley Winters was a real standout for the larger-than-life personality she put into Petronella van Daan and Joseph Schildkraut who reprised his role of Otto from the stage version. The Diary of Anne Frank will show audiences that, while horror may exist outside the walls of your shelter, theres hope as long as you have a loving family with you through it all.

You know Liev Schreiber for starring in one of the best Showtime series Ray Donovan, but his directorial and screenwriting debut came with Everything is Illuminated. Based on the Jonathan Safran Foer novel, Elijah Wood, who you may know for playing Frodo in the cast of Lord of the Rings, plays an American Jew with a habit of collecting things to travel to the Ukraine to visit the woman who saved his grandfather during the Holocaust.

The biographical comedy-drama mixes a perfect blend of humor and drama. The most humorous parts come from the films standout actor Eugene Htz. The screen time the Russian translator character shared with Elijah Wood was hilarious with his characters fascination with American culture and constantly mispronouncing American phrases. Everything is Illuminated also hits you hard, not only for the heartbreaking flashback scenes of the Holocaust, but the theme of how our personal history shapes our identity and the importance of staying true to who we are.

Based on Chaim Potoks best-selling novel, The Chosen is another great movie that highlights Jewish-American history. Set in 1944 Brooklyn, a friendship is struck between a Modern Orthodox Jewish teenager and an ultra-orthodox Hasidic teenager. While these two Jewish teens come from different sects, they find common ground in each other through their journey of self-discovery.

Audiences will love seeing the strong bond between Reuven and Danny. Youll see from beginning to end the impact the two had on each other. The Chosen also offers a good glimpse into how the Hasidic community works in terms of their clothes, holiday celebrations, romantic relationships, and even their views on when Israel was on the verge of becoming a Jewish state. This movie is perfect for those who love coming-of-age stories and stories of friendship.

Broadway fans may already know The Bands Visit because of the Tony Award-winning stage musical. However, this great Broadway musical was based on a movie filmed in Israel about band members of the Egyptian police force who find themselves lost in the wrong town. Theyre welcomed by a small restaurant owner who decides to take the band members in for the night.

In the Jewish religion, theres an important value called hachnasat orchim which means welcoming guests. This is exactly what Dina does for the lost band members welcoming them into her home and showing them a good time. She also tries to relate to the bands lead member, Tawfiq, through their shared love of Arab music and movies, bringing the two cultures together.

Though emotional moments come from the scenes of Dina and Tawfiq, there are also comedic moments that are most memorable for the other characters like during the roller skating rink when one band member learns how to make romantic advances towards a sad girl who's there. While The Bands Visit may have a general story, its nonetheless a feel-good movie to help audiences get to know Israel and the Jewish people who live there.

For fans with an interest in Israeli culture and feminism, The Womens Balcony is the perfect film to watch. During a bar mitzvah ceremony taking place at an Israeli synagogue, the balcony where the women observe collapses. As the women of the congregation fight for the rebuilding of the womens balcony, the men, with the addition of a new rabbi, describe the tragic events as divine intervention that women dont belong at temple services.

The Womens Balcony does an excellent job showing important traditions observed in Judaism like bar mitzvah ceremonies, Torah reading, and the Passover seder. It also highlights the importance of women having a voice and standing as one which represents another value of Jewish unity called Klal Yisrael.

These underappreciated Jewish films may not be the talk of the town 24/7, but theyre worthy of attention and a big audience. They all share stories of what Jewish people went through during the turmoil of World War II and present-day issues. The most important lesson taught through all five of these Jewish movies is that unity and love are whats most important even when times are tough.

Except for The Diary of Anne Frank, you can watch the above movies on your Amazon Prime subscription.

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5 Jewish Movies That Deserve More Attention - CinemaBlend

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Posted By admin on May 30, 2024

By Farley Weiss

There are increasing signs that the Jewish vote may be shifting away from the Democrats. A poll taken of New York voters in February showed that 53% of Jewish voters intend to vote for Donald Trump in November.

A Bulwark article this month reported that Jewish donors appear to be moving toward the Republicans due to President Joe Bidens troubling policies on the Israel-Hamas war.

While there is a paucity of additional surveys on how Jews intend to vote in November, a Pew survey taken in February found that 89% of American Jews favor Israel in its war against Hamas. Unsurprisingly, this is the highest percentage of any American ethnic group.

These results are consistent with an August 2019 finding by Gallup senior scientist Frank Newport, who stated, My recent review of the available data shows that about nine in 10 American Jews are more sympathetic to Israel than to the Palestinians. (That compares to about six in 10 of all Americans.)

Additionally, 95% of Jews have favorable views of Israel, while 10% have favorable views of the Palestinian Authority significantly more pro-Israel than the overall national averages of 71% favorable views of Israel and 21% favorable views of the Palestinian Authority.

Moreover, despite the predictions of many pollsters, an exit poll taken on election day 2020 in Florida showed that Trump won 41% of the states Jewish vote. In 2016, exit polls showed Trump winning only 24%.

Biden has taken stances that are offensive to many Jewish voters. Besides holding up military aid to Israel, his administration has failed to protect Jewish college students from the recent massive rise in campus antisemitism. The president was also painfully slow to condemn campus antisemitism publicly.

He has also unfairly criticized Israels meticulous military operations in Gaza and opposed an Israel Defense Forces incursion into Rafah. The remaining hostages (including five Americans) are likely being held in Rafah and the last four Hamas battalions are stationed there. A Rafah operation is essential to Israels victory. Yet Biden even applauded a speech at Morehouse College calling for an immediate cease-fire.

In contrast, Trump has made it clear that he fully supports an Israeli operation in Rafah and an Israeli victory over Hamas. Trump also has a solid track record on Jewish issues. He moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, ended aid to the Palestinian Authority, brokered the 2020 Abraham Accords assassinated Irans arch-terrorist military officer Qassem Soleimani and placed heavy sanctions on Iran.

I was at the White House when Trump signed an executive order that made Jews a protected group under Title VI. This gave the Justice Department the tools necessary to defend Jewish students on campus. Attorney Alan Dershowitz called it the most important action against antisemitism taken by any U.S. president.

Trump has condemned the universities that refuse to enforce their own codes of conduct against antisemites. He has indicated that he will rescind the student visas of antisemitic demonstrators who are foreign students.

There is also evidence of history: In 1976, Jimmy Carter received 71% of the Jewish vote. He came to be seen as hostile to Israel and, as a result, his Jewish support dropped to 45% in 1980. This helped give Ronald Reagan the presidency.

President George H.W. Bush received 35% of the Jewish vote in 1988, but when he refused to give Israel loan guarantees to help it absorb a million Soviet Jews, Bushs share of the Jewish vote dropped to 12%. Barack Obama received 78% of the Jewish vote in 2007 but by 2012 he was seen as irretrievably hostile to Israel. His share of the Jewish vote dropped to 69% in 2012.

Biden may have thought that visiting Israel immediately after Oct. 7 was enough to win over the Jewish vote. Carter thought the same after he helped broker the Israel-Egypt peace treaty. Bush probably felt so, too, after winning the 1991 Gulf War. They were both wrong. Biden may be as well, and it could lead him to defeat in November.

Farley Weiss is chairman of the Israel Heritage Foundation and former president of the National Council of Young Israel.

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Is the Jewish Vote Going Republican? - Washington Jewish Week

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Posted By admin on May 30, 2024

(May 28, 2024 / JNS)

As we sit comfortably in our American homes, enjoying the freedoms and opportunities afforded to us by this great nation, it is difficult to imagine that we, as Jews, could be facing a situation reminiscent of the dire circumstances encountered by our ancestors in Eastern Europe during the 1930s. Yet the continued unsettling rise in antisemitism across the globe and here in the United States compels us to ask: Are we the Jews of the 1930s? While it is true that we are not experiencing the horrors that led to the Holocaust, the alarming parallels between the past and present warrant our undivided attention and action. Oct. 7 should have been a new line in the sand for all 16 million Jews worldwide. The awful turn of events castigating the Jews as the bad guy in this fight should have set off alarms for all of us.

In the 1930s, Jews in Eastern Europe faced escalating hostility, institutionalized discrimination and violent pogroms. They were scapegoated for economic woes and societal ills, leading to widespread persecution and eventual genocide. Today, we see a disturbing resurgence of antisemitism, characterized by hate crimes, vandalism of synagogues and Jewish institutions, and virulent rhetoric both online and in public discourse. While our circumstances are not yet as severe as those of our ancestors, the signs of rising antisemitism are unmistakable. The activities taking place on college campuses alone should cause us all considerable alarm.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, antisemitic incidents in the United States have been increasing at an alarming rate. In 2023, the ADL reported a record 8,873 antisemitic incidents, including assault, harassment and vandalisma 140% increase from the previous year. These incidents are not isolated to fringe elements but are permeating mainstream society, with public figures and celebrities sometimes perpetuating harmful stereotypes and conspiracy theories.

In the 1930s, Jews in Eastern Europe were similarly subjected to a growing wave of antisemitism that was normalized and eventually institutionalized by Nazi ideology. The publics tacit acceptance and, in many cases, active participation in the scapegoating of Jews laid the groundwork for the atrocities that followed. Today, we must be vigilant in recognizing that the normalization of antisemitism in any form is a dangerous precursor to more severe persecution.

The economic turmoil of the Great Depression in the 1930s provided fertile ground for antisemitic scapegoating. Jews were blamed for economic hardships, financial crises and societal decline, leading to increased marginalization and violence. In contemporary America, we see echoes of this dangerous rhetoric. Jews are often blamed for various societal issuesfrom economic inequality to political corruption, despite their significant contributions to society.

Conspiracy theories, such as those propagated by the QAnon movement, often target Jews, portraying them as part of a shadowy cabal controlling global events. These baseless accusations fuel hatred and division much like the anti-Jewish propaganda of the 1930s. The persistence of such narratives indicates a troubling continuity in the use of Jews as scapegoats for broader societal anxieties. When factored in with the hatred stemming from the far left, Jews have a difficult time staying out of both the literal and figurative crosshairs.

In the 1930s, Jews faced institutional discrimination that restricted their access to education, employment and political participation. This systemic marginalization reinforced their outsider status and made them vulnerable to further persecution. While Jews in America today enjoy legal protections and opportunities, there are instances where institutional bias still exists. Discrimination in hiring practices, educational opportunities and social acceptance can subtly perpetuate a sense of exclusion.

Furthermore, the resurgence of nationalist and populist movements often brings with it a dangerous undercurrent of antisemitism. Politicians and public figures who traffic in xenophobia and bigotry contribute to an environment where antisemitic attitudes can flourish. It is essential that we recognize and challenge these trends to prevent the kind of institutional discrimination that characterized the 1930s.

One of the most pernicious aspects of the antisemitism of the 1930s was the cultural and social isolation imposed on Jews. They were segregated from broader society, barred from certain professions, and excluded from social and cultural life. This isolation made it easier for dehumanizing myths to take root and for violence to be justified.

In contemporary America, Jews are not subjected to the same overt segregation, but there are subtler forms of social exclusion and cultural isolation. Antisemitic tropes and stereotypes in media and popular culture can perpetuate harmful images of Jews as outsiders or others. Such cultural marginalization can contribute to a sense of vulnerability and alienation among Jewish communities. This type of bigotry and hatred is not tolerated against other ethnic groups.

What is transpiring across the Diaspora on college campuses, by college administrators and professors, and in virtually every other segment of society should both frighten and anger every living Jew. We were seeing random acts of violence that have now turned to an everyday occurrence against Jews of all types. If you dare to show that you are a Jew, be prepared to be physically assaulted while bystanders watch and do nothing.

Part of a larger struggle against all forms of bigotry

One of the tragic lessons of the 1930s is that many Jews did not fully recognize the danger they were in until it was too late. Complacency and a desire to believe in the fundamental goodness of their neighbors led many to ignore the warning signs of escalating antisemitism. Today, we must not make the same mistake. While we are not facing the same level of immediate threat, the increasing frequency and intensity of antisemitic incidents should serve as a wake-up call.

It is essential that we remain vigilant and proactive in addressing antisemitism in all its forms.

This means supporting organizations that fight hatred; educating ourselves and others about the history and consequences of antisemitism; and standing in solidarity with other marginalized communities facing discrimination. We must also hold our political leaders accountable, demanding that they condemn antisemitism unequivocally, and take tangible and actionable concrete steps to protect Jewish communities.

In our post-Oct. 7 world and with Israel continuously castigated as both the bad guy and the oppressor, we must be diligent in how we approach everything: the medias dangerous portrayal of events, the anti-Israel venom masked as Israel needs a new leader, and the partnership by and between those against us who are at best strange bedfellows. When everyone has a hatred of Jews, its easy to make that a rallying cry and join forces.

In response to the rising tide of antisemitism, we must take steps to empower ourselves and our communities. This includes promoting self-defense and preparedness, as well as fostering a strong sense of Jewish identity and solidarity. By standing together and refusing to be intimidated, we can ensure that our communities remain resilient in the face of hatred.

We must also work to build alliances with other minority groups and advocate for broader social justice. The fight against antisemitism is part of the larger struggle against all forms of bigotry and discrimination. By supporting each other and working together, we can create a society that is more just, inclusive and resistant to the forces of hate.

As we reflect on the similarities between our current situation and that of Jews in the 1930s, it is clear that we must not ignore the warning signs. While we are not yet facing the same level of threat, the rise in antisemitism in America and around the world is a cause for serious concern. By remaining vigilant, educating ourselves and others, and taking proactive steps to combat hatred, we can prevent history from repeating itself. We owe it to ourselves, our ancestors and future generations to ensure that we are not the Jews of the 1930s, but rather a community that learned from the past and stood up against bigotry and intolerance in all its forms. We said Never Again, and now its time to make actions speak louder than words.

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Are we the Jews of the 1930s? - JNS.org - JNS.org

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Posted By admin on May 30, 2024

A Montreal Jewish school at a synagogue was shot at over Monday night, local Jewish community groups announced, marking the second shooting attack on a Canadian Jewish school in a week and the fourth in Montreal since the October 7 Massacre.

A bullet struck the door of the Belz School at the Young Israel of Montreal synagogue, resulting in no injuries, the Jewish Community Council of Montreal (JCC) said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Montreal Police are investigating the incident and assured the Federation Combined Jewish Appeal and Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs Quebec that there would be an increased police presence at all Montreal Jewish schools.

"While, we do not have any knowledge of a specific threat against the Jewish community, we remind everyone to maintain vigilance," Federation CJA and CIJAQC said in a joint statement on Wednesday.

The JCC said it had repeatedly called on Canadian authorities to take action but had been ignored, and that municipal, provincial, and federal leadership had let them down. The Jewish community group asked for the federal government to make changes to security funding programs so that smaller institutions are able to implement security measures.

"There is no excuse for not having an increased police presence in our community," said the JCC.

"We are calling for a rapid and comprehensive response by the government of Canada, the Quebec government and the city of Montreal so that Jewish Montrealers can once again feel safe walking to school, attending synagogue, and going about their daily lives," said the JCC. "Ever since the heinous terrorist attacks by Hamas on October 7 we have witnessed a frightening rise in antisemitism as well as drive-by attacks on our institutions."

Bnai Brith Canada said on X on Wednesday that it was outraged by the latest shooting, and demanded an immediate response from leaders at all levels.

"The incitement that has created an environment in which such diabolical acts can so readily occur must end and the safety and security of Canada's Jewish communities must be ensured," said Bnai Brith Canada.

CIJAQC and Federation CJA called for decisive action by Montreal Mayor Valrie Plante to put an end to an atmosphere of permissiveness toward antisemitism in the city.

"Mayor Plante referred to Montreal as this 'peaceful town,' but this is not the Montreal anyone wants to live in," said the Jewish groups. "We call on all citizens of good faith to raise their voices against the relentless hatred, intimidation, and fear mongering on our streets and campuses over a conflict that is taking place thousands of miles away; it must be stopped. Order must be returned to the streets of Montreal."

Plante said on social media on Wednesday that antisemitism had no place in Montreal and that it was unacceptable that a Jewish school had again been targeted. She expressed confidence that the Montreal Police would again find the culprit.

Abdirazak Mahdi Ahmed, 20, had been arrested last Wednesday for shooting at the Yeshiva Gedola school on Deacon on November 12. On November 9, bullets had struck the doors of the same school and the nearby United Talmud Torahs of Montreal.

Outremont MP Rachel Bendayan said on social media in response to the additional shooting in her riding that "this must stop. This is not who we are."

"Disgusted that another Jewish school has been the target of a shooting. Relieved that no one was hurt, but Im thinking of the parents and community members in Montreal who must be incredibly shaken," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday. "This is antisemitism, plain and simple and we will not let it win."

Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre responded on Wednesday by demanding that Trudeau's government take action to protect Canada's Jewish citizens.

"The second shooting at a Jewish school in a week," said Poilievre. "We are witnessing a terrifying escalation of antisemitism in this country."

Two men had opened fire on a North York Jewish girls school on Saturday before dawn, causing no injuries but leaving bullet holes in the building. Police have still not caught the men who fired at the Bais Chaya Mushka Elementary School.

On Monday, City councilors and Ontario and federal parliamentary representatives visited the school to show solidarity with the Jewish community.

Toronto City Councilor James Pasternak said on X that they would "continue to fight for safety bubble zones to protect faith-based schools and institutions from hate."

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Canada sees second shooting at Jewish school in a week - The Jerusalem Post

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Posted By admin on May 30, 2024

WASHINGTON (VINnews) To close out Maya month-long focus on Jewish contributions to the fabric of American lifeCongress commemorated Jewish American Heritage Month with their annual celebratory tribute honoring two pillars of the American Jewish community: Malcolm Hoenlein and Eric Gertler.

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We are saluting two remarkable individuals whose dedication to service and advocacy has left an indelible mark not only on our nation but also on the Jewish community in the United States and beyond was the refrain heard throughout the 2 hour plus program featuring a bipartisan array of whos who in national affairs.

Members of Congress from both parties attended the event, expressing their support for the Jewish community and achievements and delivered remarks. Members included: Senators Sherrod Brown, Ben Cardin, Cory Booker, Richard Blumenthal, John Hickenlooper, Tim Kaine, James Lankford, James Risch, Pete Ricketts, Jacky Rosen, Jeanne Shaheen, Brian Schatz, Ron Wyden, Representatives Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Brad Schneider.

Malcolm Hoenlein has spent decades in Jewish leadership on the front lines in countless issues that impact world Jewry. Mr. Hoenlein has traveled the world, meeting with world leaders and Jewish communities, coupled with his extensive speaking engagements across the United States and abroad on international relations, Israel and Middle East Affairs, and the American Jewish community, have established him as a true luminary in Jewish leadership. Hoenleins outstanding work for decades as the Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and as the founding Executive Director of the Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry has made Hoenleins name synonymous with Jewish leadership.

Equally deserving of admiration is Eric Gertler, whose dedication to public service and contributions to the Jewish community has been nothing short of exemplary. Gertler serves as the Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. News & World Report, and his leadership has been instrumental in shaping the discourse on global affairs. His active involvement in various boards, including the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School, Tel Aviv University, and Hebrew University underscores his commitment to advancing education and fostering international cooperation.

Additionally, his role as Chairman of the American-Israel Friendship League exemplifies his unwavering dedication to solidifying relations between the US and Israel.

We are here to celebrate both extraordinary men not only for their accomplishments but also to acknowledge their impact as leaders in their respective communities said Greg Rosenbaum, program chairman in his closing remarks.

(Photo and Video Credit: Lenchevsky Images)

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Congress Commemorates Jewish American Heritage Month By Honoring Malcolm Hoenlein and Eric Gertler (VIDEO & ... - VINNews

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Posted By admin on May 30, 2024

Shira Waldman, a mother of four, is demanding action from the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board amid a rise in anti-Jewish hate.

Shira Waldman, a mother of four, is demanding action from the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board amid a rise in anti-Jewish hate. (Rachelle Elsiufi/CBC)

Some Jewish parents are demandingaction from Ottawa's largest school board, saying it hasfailed to protect their children from increased anti-Jewish incidents in schools since the start of Israel's war in Gaza.

"The kids are all afraid to identify as Jewish," said Shira Waldman, a mother of four, around an Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) meeting Tuesday night."It's the most horrible thing a parent could ever imagine."

The number of hate-related incidents reported to police in Ottawa rose nearly 20 per cent in 2023, withJewish people and 2SLGBTQ+peoplethe most-targeted groups.

The number of these hate-related incidents against Muslimsincreased 160 per cent from the previous year.

Waldman said the hatred and discrimination began in 2018 while her eldest child wasin high school.

"Kids would throw pennies on the floor and say 'You are a Jew, pick it up.' Drawing swastikas on the desk, saluting Hitler," she recalled.

Her kids were taunted about gas and Jews in science class, she said.

"The horrible thing is that our family did survive the Holocaust where many family members did die in the gas chambers at Auschwitz," she said.

"These are deeply hurtful generational traumatic events pain that we carry with us."

Seven delegations spoke out about the wide range of bullying and harassment Jewish students faced in todays climate at a Tuesday evening meeting. (Rachelle Elsiufi/CBC)

She saidher children had so many negative experiences at the board's John McCrae Secondary School that she applied for a cross-boundary transfer for her youngest kid.

"It's not just one school,it's every school," she insisted.

Training, clarity onantisemitism

Waldman was one of dozens of parentsat Tuesday evening'sboard meeting.

Seven delegationsspoke about the wide range of bullying and harassment Jewish students face.

Leah Freedhoff,a Grade 11 student at Sir Robert Borden High School, saidanti-Jewish hatewas already at an unreasonably high level in public schools before the Hamas-ledattack on southernIsraeli communities on Oct. 7.

That attack killedaround 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, with militants seizing more than 250 hostages some since freed and some since killed.

More than 36,000 Palestinians have since been killed in Israel's offensive, Gaza's health ministry says, and about a million more people have been displaced.

Since Oct. 7, Freedhoff said hate has become "untenable."

"I report the countless times we are verbally harassed in the halls and on social media by other students [and] we are told that nothing can be done. Or worse, we are told that it is not antisemitism," she said Tuesday night.

Grade 11 student Leah Freedhoff wants the school board to adopt a working definition of antisemitism to combat the hate. (OCDSB/Zoom)

Freedhoff said she has gone to her teachers and principals but they aren't trainedhow to deal with this type of hate, so"they just don't know what to do," she said.

"They aren't able to really classify what's happening as antisemitism it's because we don't have a definition of what antisemitism is and because they aren't trained."

Freedhoff wants the school board to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance'sworking definition of antisemitism, which Canada adapted in 2019, to help createa safe school environment for Jewish students.

She saidit includes clear examples of antisemitism, such as [not] holding Jewish people collectively responsible for the actions of the Israeli government.

Pino Buffone, the board's director of education, admits the board is on a "learning journey" when it comes to defining antisemitism.

"It is a work in progress for us," he told the delegation.

"We will continue to work at it and we'll continue to reach out to community partners that are trusted for us in providing us great advice on this very difficult time globally, but locally as well."

He added the board is also working ona better tracking mechanism forinstances of hate that occurinside schools.

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Jewish public school families demand change to fight rise in hate - Yahoo News Canada

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Posted By admin on May 30, 2024

Editor's note: Here at The Daily, we encourage our readers to submit guest editorials and letters to be featured in our Opinion section. We welcome all voices to contribute positively to campus conversations. Our submission guidelines can be found here.

President Cauces May 15 statement on the encampment in the Quad, insensitively released on Nakba Day, as well as the one released two days later, marginalized Palestinian students and all students speaking up for Palestinian human rights including the many Jewish students, staff, and faculty that participated in the protest and supported its demands while weaponizing antisemitism to repress peaceful student-led protest of the universitys financial ties to the genocide unfolding in Gaza.

The Presidents statements raise the question: are only some Jewish students worthy of safety on UW campus?

Claiming in broad strokes that the encampment is antisemitic is not only counterfactual, but invalidates the existence of the Jewish students, staff, and faculty that support Palestinian liberation. Those of us enacting our values of Tikkun Olam (Hebrew for repairing the world) by raising our voices against grave injustice and loss of life cannot live, learn and work without fear on campus when UWs actions amplify the national effort to conflate criticism of the Israeli government and Zionism with antisemitism. University leaders who only recognize some Jews as worthy of protection invalidate our Jewish identity while weaponizing it to suppress speech supporting Palestinian rights. This puts many marginalized members of the university community, including Jewish members, in danger and creates a shield behind which the university continues its tacit support for a state that is enacting genocidal policies and practices.

We, the undersigned, are Jews reasserting our voices, our values, and our existence within the UW community. Shabbat services were held every Friday evening in the encampment, belying the idea that Jewish students did not feel safe there. Is feeling uncomfortable the same as actually being in danger? Is that feeling of safety and comfort contingent on a students political views? Is it right to prioritize the safety and comfort of Jewish students who support Israels actions above others? This erasure of Jewish identity does a disservice to the inclusive community that the administration purports to support and itself could be described as antisemitic.

Given that the university held one of its focus groups for the antisemitism task force at Hillel UW, an off-campus chapter of a national organization that is steadfastly committed to the support of Israel and will not partner with, house, or host organizations, groups, or speakers that as a matter of policy or practice support [the] boycott of, divestment from, or sanctions against the state of Israel, it is clear that the university has decided which Jewish members of our community have legitimate claims to safety and which do not. Calling for healing in the face of a continuing genocide is deeply hypocritical, and invalidates the justifiable anger and fear of the Palestinian, Muslim and Arab students, faculty, and staff most directly impacted.

The attached letter, which was signed by nearly 300 Jewish students, staff, faculty and alumni of the university and local Jewish community members, was written in support of the student encampment before the events of the last few weeks. We submitted this letter to the president and university administration in an effort to combat the erasure of our perspective and the continued weaponization of our Jewish identity. To date, we have not received any response nor an acknowledgment from the university; we hope to receive one soon.

Sincerely,

A Wagner, Student

Abraham Flaxman, Faculty

Alana McGovern, Student

Alex Henry, Student

Alys Weinbaum, Faculty

Amelia Fruzzetti, Alum

Andrea Marcos, Staff & Alum

Anna Feit, Student

Anna Reed, Staff & Alum

August Rivers, Student

Carolina Hohl, Student

Charlie Cade, Student

C. Berger, Staff

Dan Berger, Faculty

Dana Barnett, Incoming Student

Deborah Nemens, Staff & Alum

Eden Shore, Alum

Elyanah Posner, Student

Emily Grayson, Alum

Erin McElroy, Faculty

Ethan Nowack, Alum

Eva Cherniavsky, Faculty

Gabriela Indivero, Student

Greta Treistman, Alum

Hannah Gallagher, Student

Hannah Katz, Student

Henry Noble, Student

Jade Minzlaff, Student

Jason Groves, Faculty

Jen Greenstein, Alum

Jenna Udren, Staff & Alum

Jessica C. Trupin, Staff & Alum

Joie Waxler, Staff & Alum

Joseph Temes, Student

Julianna Alson, Staff

Lauren Berliner, Faculty

Ledah Kaplan-Wilcox, Student

Maya Hahn, Alum

Melissa Diamond, Student

Neal Koblitz, Faculty

Nell Gross, Alum & Staff

Nicolaas Barr, Faculty, Staff, & Alum

Nicole Minkoff, Staff

Nina Galanter, Student

Noelani Yonahara Stewart, Alum

Pascal Diamond, Student

Rebecca Gross, Alum

Roger Lippman, Alum

Samantha Gilbert-Janizek, Student

Sara Caplan, Student

Sarah Potter, Alum

Sarah-Ahava Ezra Fernndez, Student

Shelby Handler, Alum

Stacey Prince, Alum

Stephanie Clare, Faculty

Susan Glenn, Faculty

Wendy Eisheva Somerson, Alum

Zachary Zimmerman, Alum

Zo Bermet, Staff

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Statement of Jewish staff, faculty and students regarding UW President Cauce's response to the Palestinian Solidarity ... - Dailyuw

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Posted By admin on May 30, 2024

Army 1st Lt. Nathan Baskind receives a final salute during a dignified recovery of remains ceremony at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center chapel in Germany on Tuesday, May 28, 2024. U.S. Army and German honor guard members paid their respects to Baskind, whose remains were recently recovered from a World War II mass grave in France and identified by a team of experts. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)

LANDSTUHL, Germany The remains of a Jewish-American soldier who died in 1944 and was buried with Nazis in a mass grave in occupied France were given to U.S. officials Tuesday during a transfer ceremony at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.

The case of Army 1st Lt. Nathan Baskind, 28, marks only the second time that a group outside the Defense Department has identified a missing U.S. service member.

The German War Grave Commission in 2023 partnered with two American organizations, the PFC Lawrence Gordon Foundation and Operation Benjamin, to disinter and identify Baskinds remains, which had first been co-mingled in a mass grave in Cherbourg.

I am profoundly thankful for the extraordinary lengths that all of those groups have gone to do the unbelievable, Baskinds great-niece, Samantha Baskind, said by phone Thursday. The burial will be a beautiful day for my uncle.

A resident of Pittsburgh, Baskind survived D-Day but died in a German air force hospital the same day in late June 1944 that he was ambushed and briefly taken prisoner. He was buried with others who perished at the facility.

The remains of U.S. Army 1st Lt. Nathan Baskind, a Jewish-American buried with Nazis in a mass grave, were transferred to U.S. custody during a ceremony at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center chapel in Germany on Tuesday, May 28, 2024. (Jed Henry)

Baskind was a platoon commander assigned to the 899th Tank Destroyer Battalion. According to his personnel file, he and another soldier were performing reconnaissance on a road junction south of Cherbourg on June 23 when they were ambushed.

The other soldier, who thought Baskind had died, was seriously wounded but made it back to the unit, the file states. Baskind was reportedly taken to the German military hospital, where he succumbed to his wounds.

After the war, the Germans filed a death and burial report for Baskind, a Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency statement said May 10. The report said he had died while being treated in an air force hospital at Cherbourg. He was buried in a local military cemetery.

In 1957, the German War Grave Commission, the Volksbund, disinterred remains of what it believed to be 24 Germans from a mass grave in Cherbourg, the DPAA statement said. There, they found items belonging to Baskind.

The name of U.S. Army 1st Lt. Nathan Baskind can be seen in the upper left corner of a tablet marking a mass grave at the Marigny German War Cemetery in Thereval, France. (Jed Henry)

His name was put on a plaque when all the remains were reinterred in another mass grave at the Marigny German War Cemetery in Thereval, 40 miles south.

Baskinds burial site was a well-known secret among tour guides and researchers operating in the area, said Jed Henry, director of the PFC Lawrence Gordon Foundation, which ultimately identified Baskinds remains.

The move to disinter and identify Baskind began to pick up steam last year after another U.S.-based nonprofit, Operation Benjamin, successfully lobbied the German ambassador to Israel.

The Germans chose to work with the Gordon Foundation and not the U.S. government because they had no open line of communication with DPAA and were familiar with Henry, who had helped them identify Army Pfc. Lawrence Gordon in 2014, Arne Schrader, Volksbund director of war graves services, said at the ceremony.

Members of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command honor guard stand next to the remains and an enlarged photograph of Army 1st Lt. Nathan Baskind during a dignified recovery of remains ceremony at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center chapel in Germany on Tuesday, May 28, 2024. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)

The remains of U.S. Army 1st Lt. Nathan Baskind are placed in a hearse Tuesday, May 28, 2024, following a dignified recovery of remains ceremony at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center chapel in Germany. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)

Henry helped the French and Germans identify Gordon, who was buried as an unknown in a German cemetery in France, after the U.S. government refused to participate.

Henry believes the Germans chose to work with him on Baskind because they were pressing to complete the task quickly.

They wanted this done by D-Day, Henry said. DPAA is never going to get results that fast.

In a response Tuesday to a request for comment, a DPAA spokeswoman didnt specifically address Henrys remarks.

Henry enlisted a team of specialists, including an anthropologist, a forensic odontologist and DNA firm Bode Technology.

In December, they disinterred 52 sets of remains from the consolidated mass grave at the Marigny German War Cemetery. The grave contained the 24 sets of remains from the original site in Cherbourg.

A team of specialists contracted by the PFC Lawrence Gordon Foundation disinters remains from a mass grave at the Marigny German War Cemetery in Thereval, France, in December 2023. (Jed Henry)

A team of specialists contracted by the PFC Lawrence Gordon Foundation disinters remains from a mass grave at the Marigny German War Cemetery in Thereval, France, in December 2023. The grave contained remains that were later identified as those of U.S. Army 1st Lt. Nathan Baskind. (Jed Henry)

No skulls were found in the grave, and although the remains were severely degraded, Bode identified a femur and a humerus using DNA comparison.

DPAA accepted the ID on March 8, the statement said. In all, the identification took three months and cost around $50,000, which was paid for by Operation Benjamin.

On Tuesday, Baskinds remains were carried into the base chapel with a folded American flag resting on top. They were handed over to Army mortuary affairs.

Air Force Capt. Levy Pekar, a Jewish chaplain with the 86th Airlift Wing, provided an invocation while German and U.S. service members looked on. The remains were then carried to a waiting hearse.

For 80 years, he hasnt been laid to rest, Operation Benjamin chief historian Shalom Lamm said after the ceremony. It was just a matter of finding that needle in the haystack. Gods hand is in this one.

Baskind will be reburied on June 23 at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer.

Stars and Stripes reporter Jennifer H. Svan contributed to this report.

Manfred Hofmeyer, a retired German army brigadier general and board member of the German War Graves Commission, carries a box containing the remains of Army 1st Lt. Nathan Baskind into the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center chapel in Germany on May 28, 2024. The Germans turned over the remains to Army mortuary affairs officials at a dignified recovery of remains ceremony. Baskind will be reburied next month in Colleville-sur-Mer, France. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)

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Jewish-American GI found in mass grave with Nazis handed over to US - Stars and Stripes

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