Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on July 9, 2021

BOSTON (JTA) Days after a series of violent acts stunned Greater Boston and threatened its Jewish community, residents are jolted but resolute, vowing to continue taking pride in their Jewish identity.

The latest incident occurred on Thursday, when Chabad Rabbi Shlomo Noginski was stabbed eight times outside of Shaloh House, a Jewish school and synagogue in Brighton, where he teaches.

Less than a week prior, on June 26, in Winthrop, a seaside town just north of Boston, a white supremacist who harbored virulent racist and antisemitic views murdered Air Force veteran Ramona Cooper, 60, and retired state trooper David Green, 68, both African American. The shooting took place near two synagogues and is being investigated as a hate crime.

Both episodes of violence played out during a period of high alert in the area following a June 24 pro-Palestinian protest at the New England regional offices of the Anti-Defamation League in Boston, at which a non-Jewish writer for the Zionist website CAMERA was, according to video, spat at and called a Nazi by protesters. The local Jewish Journal-Massachusetts wrote in an editorial that the ADL encounter and the double murder were both high-profile instances of antisemitism and hate.

All three incidents worried local and national Jewish groups, but it was the attack on Noginski that proved to be the tipping point for many Jewish Bostonians. With only hours of advance notice, hundreds of people gathered Friday morning in Brighton for a rally in support of Noginski, drawing a wide swath of Greater Bostons Jewish community, its allies and scores of elected leaders, police and officials.

Our community is feeling vulnerable, Marc Baker, president of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, said at the rally. And we are feeling angry, wondering whether we can be safe in our own country, and our own cities.

Organized by Shaloh House, CJP, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston and the New England branch of the ADL, the rally was held across the street from the school and synagogue where Noginski was attacked. The Russian-born rabbi, an Israeli citizen and father of 12, was released Friday from the hospital.

Police apprehended the alleged attacker, Khaled Awad, who is being held without bail until a hearing scheduled for July 8. Former friends and college roommates of Awads, including a Jewish roommate, have described him as violent and very antisemitic.

Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins is investigating both the stabbing and the shootings. She has launched a civil rights investigation to determine if the stabbing of Noginski was a hate crime.

Rollins has also sought to alert the Jewish community to the antisemitic leanings of the Winthrop shooter, 28-year-old Nathan Allen, noting that his personal writings revealed racist and antisemitic views, including drawings of swastikas, and that he may have been looking to target Jews in addition to Black people. Allen had no prior criminal record and was killed by police at the scene.

There is no more powerful and hateful a symbol than a swastika, Rollins told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. When we saw that in the writings, in his own hand, he has said who he is. I know its scary to hear, but I feel compelled to tell people there are individuals who hate and want to harm [them].

Details like these have shocked the local Jewish community. Winthrop resident Denise Mahoney, a member of the nondenominational Temple Tifereth Israel, had gone to school with Green, one of the victims, and remained friends in their close-knit town. News of his murder had been devastating, she said.

But attendees at Fridays rally sought to project a resilient face.

The Jewish community is angry, but the Jewish community is united, JCRC Bostons executive director, Jeremy Burton, told the crowd. We demand that we have the right to live. The right to walk in the street. To be visible, or not, to live our lives as Jews, fully and without fear.

His message was reinforced by Rabbi Dan Rodkin, executive director of Shaloh House.

We are not going to sit back, Rodkin said. We will make sure to send a strong message: Evil has no place in America.

Rodkin asked attendees to commit to eight acts of kindness, representing the eight stab wounds inflicted on Noginski.

Noginski himself told the media on Sunday, If people want to see a miracle, they should look at me.

Speaking in Hebrew with a translator, Noginski described his harrowing ordeal in more detail, the Boston Globe reported. He said the armed attacker had been trying to force him into the schools van, leading Noginski to fear that he was being kidnapped. At an opportune moment, Noginski said, he ran across the street to draw the attacker away from the school, where kids were in summer camp.

In recovery, the rabbi said he is doubling down on bringing goodness and light into the world, by teaching and by helping more people. And that will help me heal, and help the entire environment around me, he told reporters.

The Greater Boston area has around 248,000 Jews, and more than a quarter of Jewish households live in Brighton and the contiguous communities of Brookline and Newton, according to the 2015 Greater Boston Jewish population study conducted by the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University.

Yesterdays attack left the rabbi injured and our community shaken, said Bostons acting Mayor Kim Janey. An attack on any member of [our] community is an attack on all of us.

The attack drew support for Noginski and condemnation against antisemitism from many leaders, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Boston Cardinal San Patrick OMalley.

Nina Baron, a 26-year-old Bostonian, was upset by the attack on the rabbi and accompanied her father to the rally. Growing up in a suburb, she didnt have that many concerns about antisemitism, she told JTA at the rally.

This time in America is different for all marginalized groups. But as a Jew, I definitely feel different than I used to, she said.

In the Winthrop case, where there were no Jewish victims, Robert Trestan, director of the New England ADL, said he believes, as Rollins does, that sharing details of the shooters antisemitic leanings is important. What we learn from the investigation may help prevent future attacks, Trestan told JTA.

Trestan, who has seen some of the writings, said they caused him a bit of a shudder, to see the written words of someone who killed two people and likely was ready to kill more for no other reason than the hatred that was in his head. His writing confirms his motive.

While the number of antisemitic incidents in Massachusetts and across New England decreased in 2020, the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, incidents against American Jews nationwide remain historically high, according to the ADL.

Rollins has taken the antisemitic angle of this incident very seriously, according to Josh Schreiber, the rabbinic intern at Tifereth Israel.

She could have very easily downplayed this, he said.

Many Tifereth Israel congregants attended a vigil in support of the victims families, where Schreiber gave the opening remarks.

One of the strongest responses through a Jewish lens is for us to be part of the broader community, he said. Schreiber told JTA the synagogue will receive a grant from the CJP to bolster security.

Mahoney was alarmed when she heard from her son, a transit police officer, that the shooting was fueled by racism and antisemitism.

But she will not heed her sons suggestion that she tuck her two Star of David necklaces inside her shirt to hide her Jewish identity, as some Jews in America have said they are considering doing.

I am not going to allow someones hatred to change my behavior, she said. That would allow his hatred to win.

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Boston Jews rally together after streak of attacks in the area - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

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Posted By admin on July 9, 2021

This First Person article is the experience of Taryn Perelmiter andDarpan Patel, newlyweds living in Montreal's West Island. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please seethe FAQ.

Let's be clear: planning a wedding during a pandemic is not easy. Then again, we never were a couple to take the easiest path. Coming from two different cultures, Jewish and Indian, we had our fair share of differences but we found in ourselves commonalities to bond over. Having faith in who we are, and what we do, has always been the most important thing. We let our love lead the way.

We've known each other for over 10 years, attending high school and college together, where our friendship blossomed into a beautiful relationship. Growing up in the West Island of Montreal, we were fortunate to be exposed to various cultures. Both of us are Montrealers at heart, while holding on to our religious and cultural roots. We were both raised to love others and respect everyone no matter their faith, religion or race. Our curiosity and love for other cultures brought us to where we are now. Married!

Life never really stopped for us when the pandemic started, and we both were at a point in our lives where we were ready to start a new chapter. In order to turn that page, we felt it was time to get married. Planning our wedding during the pandemic required flexibility, quick decision-making and a pinch of faith that everything would fall into place.

Having grown up together, and spentall of our adult lives in constant communication, we knew our wedding would be a melting pot of both cultures. We took the time to learn about the other's ceremony and religious rituals, and we wanted to include everything.

We were surprised by how similar our rituals and marriage customs actually were. The number seven is significant in both cultures, and both marriages take place under a canopy with four pillars signifying the family's home. In Judaism, this canopy is referred to as a chuppah, and in Hinduism it is referred to as a mandap.

That part of the wedding planning was refreshing and brought us closer together. But with daily COVID-19 cases fluctuating, and government regulations constantly changing, we were put to the test. We relied heavily on the support of our families and friends.

More so, we relied on each other and reminded each other why we were doing it all.

We decided to do both a Jewish ceremony and a Hindu ceremony on our wedding day. We were blessed to have 50 guests safely at our wedding and over 200 guests attended virtually! We felt so much love and support on that day and continue to feel it.

Being able to include traditions from both religions felt unifying for both families. Among the many rituals throughout the ceremonies, Darpan stepped on the glass at the end of the Jewish ceremony, and we circled the sacred fire four times during the Hindu ceremony. We incorporated symbols from both religions in the bridal henna and in our Jewish marriage contract.

In the weeks leading up to the wedding, we would check two things daily: the COVID-19 cases in the province and the Montreal Canadiens' playoff schedule. Being crazy Habs fans, we felt the buzz in the city as our team got closer to the Stanley Cup final. As we approached the wedding and realized there was a Habs game on our wedding night, our families and friends knew that we had to find a way to catch the game.

The wedding party brought their hockey jerseys to the wedding and as the wedding day came to an end, we got together to watch the Habs take on the Vegas Golden Knights on our phones.

Our special day combined elements of Hinduism, Judaism and hockey. It was a truly magical day, reflective of our beliefs, values and passions. It was a day where we got to celebrate love and briefly forget the struggles of the pandemic. It was a day that exemplified our faith in each other and in the Habs.

CBC Quebec welcomes your pitches for First Person essays. Please email povquebec@cbc.ca for details.

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Posted By admin on July 9, 2021

Pursuing the Wehrmacht deep into occupied Western Europe during World War II, the U.S. Army's 3rd Armored Division ran into an obstacle in Soissons, France. Soldiers from the hard-charging tank division came across a bridge the Germans had not destroyed, but the Americans feared crossing it in part because of the possibility of mines or sabotage.

Thats when their 44-year-old commander, Maj. Gen. Maurice Rose, approached the bridge. Rose asked if anyone had checked it for signs of sabotage. When his men said no, he crossed it in the face of enemy fire. His men followed, and the pursuit continued.

This is part of the narrative of an extraordinary general who commanded an extraordinary division. Rose was a Jewish-American military commander who won unprecedented victories over an enemy that committed atrocities against Jews in Europe. Under his inspired leadership, his division would achieve a number of firsts during World War II, including becoming the first to cross into Germany and breach the Reichs Siegfried Line (aka the Westwall), and the first to cross the Rhine.

Tragically, its commander would not live to see the end of a war he had helped hasten toward its end. On March 30, 1945, Rose was killed in action outside Paderborn, Germany, the highest-ranking Jewish-American service member killed in Europe during World War II.

Now his incredible role in the campaign across Western Europe is chronicled in a new book by general-turned-author Daniel P. Bolger, The Panzer Killers: The Untold Story of a Fighting General and his Spearhead Tank Divisions Charge into the Third Reich.

Bolger says Rose was clearly a very focused guy, from a Jewish family, following the Nazis quite closely. He did not have time for anything but the mission,he adds.

Bolger, himself a practicing Catholic, embarked on a military career starting in college. He attended The Citadel military academy in South Carolina in the 1970s, which is where he first learned about Rose. Gen. Mark Clark, the former Allied field commander in Italy during World War II, came to speak to a group of cadets that included Bolger. Clark mentioned a general he had not known before the war, but turned out to be a great one Rose.

From then, Bolger relays, he knew he had to learn more. That he did, although between then and writing his book about Rose, he amassed experience and accolades in his 35 years in the U.S. military. He rose to the rank of lieutenant general while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, including in advisory roles, while earning multiple decorations. Today he is a history professor at North Carolina State University and is the author of several other books.

He began researching his latest book a couple years ago, including through the extensive archives of the 3rd Armored Division at the University of Illinois at Champaign.

The book focuses on Roses time commanding the division really where he made his great contributions to the war effort, Bolger explains.

A tough-looking officer

The division was founded in 1941, and before Rose took over it was floundering as was the Allied cause in France after the Normandy landings of 1944. A frustrating conflict ensued in the hedgerows of France, with the Germans seemingly having an edge in their terrifying, technologically advanced Panzer tanks.

Then, several inspired decisions by U.S. commanders led to increasing responsibilities for the man who would ultimately effect a breakthrough: Rose, a veteran of the North African and Sicily campaigns, who had previously served in World War I. Gen. George S. Patton selected him for a prominent leadership role in the days following Normandy. And in late July 1944, VII Corps commander Gen. Joseph Lawton Lightning Joe Collins placed Rose in charge of the 3rd Armored Division.

The book cites one soldier in the division, George Bailey, who called his commander the toughest looking officer I have ever seen. There was not a man in division headquarters who did not fear Rose, he said.

Rose was the son and grandson of rabbis, and his parents immigrated from Russian-controlled Poland to the United States in the late 19th century, changing their surname from Rauss. He was born in Connecticut in 1899, and after going to high school in Denver when his family relocated to Colorado, he joined the Colorado National Guard. He had a complex relationship with his ancestral faith, and listed his religion as Protestant on his Army record.

He married twice and had two children Michael with his first wife, Venice; and Maurice Roderick Reece with his second wife, Virginia. Michael eventually joined the Marines, and went on to serve in Vietnam.

As the new commander of the 3rd Armored Division, Rose had the skill and understanding of how to use modern weapons, Bolger says. He rode on the front lines in a jeep equipped with a radio just like Patton did so he could communicate from the field. He had the ability to inspire soldiers he was the right guy at the right time, he adds.

The Tigers and Panther Panzer tanks were superior to their American counterpart, the Sherman, in some aspects, Bolger says. Yet Rose figured out ways to beat them, as did some of his colleagues. They shot at the side or rear of a Panzer, and employed other means, such as U.S. Air Force support, artillery cannons and engineers working with explosives or tank destroyers.

All these things together were overwhelmingly influential against better German tanks, the author notes. These improved approaches led to breakthrough after breakthrough for the 3rd Armored Division.

Bolger says the division soom picked up the nickname Spearhead. Its what they were in so many attacks: the spearhead. From fighting in Normandy, breaking up the hedgerows, to driving across France, to the spearhead into the German Westwall.

There were some bumps along the way. Rose received a dressing-down from the equally hard-charging VII Corps commander, Lightning Joe Collins, for being too aggressive. And the Germans could strike back on occasion, which happened with the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. Yet this led to another achievement for the division, as it collapsed the German bulge from the northern side.

From there, the Spearhead Division went into Germany again, and set another first by crossing the Rhine. By this time, the Americans were accumulating ample evidence of Nazi atrocities.

Everybody knew hard-core Nazis shot their prisoners, especially SS troops, Bolger says. It was not a surprise. Rose was fighting in North Africa and Sicily. He and his soldiers knew this. The real shock was coming across a fact that first came out as a rumor. On the Western front, The Germans, the Nazis, did most of their extermination work, most of their slave labor work, in the Reich itself.

The 3rd Armored Division liberated 85 prisoners from a Cologne jail that was ostensibly for political prisoners. There were certainly Jewish people who were not criminals, not burglars, Bolger recounts. They were rounded up and put in a [state] prison.

Meanwhile, the retreating Germans brought other prisoners eastward with them. Rose and his division kept marching in that direction, past the Westwall and the feared fortifications called the Dragons Teeth.

As the general continued pushing forward, he twice engaged in unexpected confrontations with enemy forces at close range. In modern warfare, Bolger notes, Face-to-face combat, seeing your enemy in uniform, is not typical.

Rose survived the first occasion, shooting a German opponent up close. A few days later, however, on March 30, 1945, he was killed near Paderborn. His death resulted in a war crimes investigation.

Surprising discovery

After Roses death, the Jewish-American press publicized his religious identity, which surprised colleagues in the military. Americas Jewish community embraced Maurice Rose in death, Bolger writes in the book, adding, He became the martyred Jewish general, slain by vicious Nazis.

Two well-meaning chaplains ensured that his gravesite was marked by a Star of David. Yet the Army changed it to a cross because Rose had identified himself as Protestant on his military record. This is how his grave in the Netherlands remains today, according to the book.

Multiple buildings bear his name, including Army barracks in Connecticut and a hospital in Denver. There are also Army barracks in Germany named after him; the soldiers stationed there included a draftee called Elvis Presley.

Nevertheless, Rose is less remembered than colleagues such as Patton. Bolger attributes this to multiple factors. He cites the momentous events that occurred after Rose was killed in action from the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the surrender of Germany and Japan. He also wonders whether Roses colleagues did not wish to encourage his type of aggressive leadership. He also speculates about the role of antisemitism in the U.S. Army.

We have to mention it, Bolger says. His peers didnt know Rose was Jewish. It was different after he was killed in action. The Jewish-American press knew and immediately started writing about it.

The U.S. Army at the time, Bolger notes, was not overtly antisemitic, but he certainly would have been treated very differently if Rose had been perceived as Jewish.

Bolgers biography restores the achievements of a Jewish general who helped hasten the end of the Third Reich including by getting his men to cross that bridge. Rose saw it as doing his job, no big deal about it, Bolger says. He said, Anybody check the bridge? No? OK, Ill go out and do it. They followed his example.

The Panzer Killers: The Untold Story of a Fighting General and his Spearhead Tank Divisions Charge into the Third Reich, by Daniel P. Bolger, is published by Dutton Caliber, priced $30.

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The forgotten American-Jewish war hero who went toe to toe with the Nazis - Haaretz

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Posted By admin on July 9, 2021

The world is becoming increasingly polarized. Conflicting ideologies are pulling humanity apart and our collective common ground seems to be shrinking.

The same holds true for the Jewish people. Multiple rifts widen with each passing year and unity remains elusive.

Yet there is much we can agree on. The sanctity of human life and the quest for human dignity and social justice play a central role in the Jewish worldview. This is our common denominator and starting point for an effective philanthropic agenda.

For generations, remarkable Jewish leaders have propelled humankind forward by discovering cures for diseases, advancing causes of freedom and human rights, creating cultural masterpieces, and developing technology to improve society.

The Genesis Prize seeks to amplify and leverage the influence and reach of highly-accomplished, prominent Jewish contemporaries extraordinary Laureates capable of making a difference through personal example and high-impact philanthropy.

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In 2018, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg traveled to Israel to receive the Genesis Lifetime Achievement Award. In accepting the honor, she said, The Genesis Prize is much more than an award. It is a catalyst for change.

A powerful measure of change is its impact on human lives. Consider these examples (names have been changed to protect privacy):

Ron, a man in Ontario who struggled to find a place in society after release from prison, received free training to become a successful carpenter and a peer counselor for others.

The lives of these individuals along with tens of thousands of others have been positively impacted by Genesis Prize philanthropy. Many have heard about our extraordinary Laureates; fewer know about The Genesis Prize Foundations (GPFs) extensive grantmaking and its global impact.

In just eight years, the Prize has leveraged the annual $1 million award into philanthropic initiatives totaling $45 million, with grants going to 197 nonprofit programs in 31 countries, directly impacting the lives of tens of thousands of people.

The Prize is often called The Jewish Nobel by the media. It is a flattering description for such a young initiative. Yet, our long-term aspiration is to be the Prize of the Jewish People an open democratic platform powered by broad participation of Jews from all around the world.

Last year we changed the nomination and selection process to give greater voice to the global Jewish community. A discreet committee-driven process has been transformed into a global election online voting that engaged 3.5 million Jews from six continents, resulting in 40,000 nominations and 200,000 votes among seven finalists. Steven Spielberg received the most votes and was selected as the 2021 Genesis Prize Laureate by the Prize Committee. Continuing the tradition, Spielberg donated his entire $1 million prize award along with a matching $1 million donation made jointly with Kate Capshaw to organizations working in pursuit of social and economic justice in the United States.

While todays Jewish world appears more divided than ever, Jewish tradition calls for us to coalesce around the pursuit of justice and to help the most vulnerable among us.

In Tel-Aviv, Justice Ginsburg said, Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time. Join us as we catalyze positive change one precious life at time. By coming together around this goal, we can strengthen our common identity and find meaning in a complex and conflict-ridden world.

Stan Polovets is the Chairman and Co-Founder of The Genesis Prize Foundation.

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From 'The Jewish Nobel' to the prize of the Jewish people - The Jerusalem Post

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Posted By admin on July 9, 2021

Among the Greek actors who take part in the film are Vassilis Karampoulas (left) and Angeliki Papoulia.

The first question I wanted to pose to Orestis Andreadakis when he spoke to me of his project The City and the City was how the history of Thessalonikis Jewish community can be linked to the bicentennial of the Greek Revolution, which is the theme of this years Thessaloniki Documentary Festival.

In celebrating the 200 years since the 1821 Revolution, we must create an honest national identity by dealing with major national traumas. These traumas are our ghosts. They exist so long as we exist: the National Schism, the Asia Minor Catastrophe, the Pontic genocide, the Civil War, the dictatorship, the Cyprus tragedy, the elimination of the Greek-Jewish community of Thessaloniki. Some of these we handled bravely and some we healed, some we simply forgot, but most are still here. At the beginning we underestimated them, then we overdramatized them, then we felt wronged and finally we resigned all hope.

This is how it went with the trauma of the elimination of the Greek Jews: We underestimated it, we hid it, we attributed its causes to other invisible enemies and to religious reasons and then we agreed that its none of our business. But the era when national narratives were based on myths and made-up traditions is long past, as is the era of the wrongful usage of these false narratives. This bicentennial marks the beginning of the new era, the period of real trauma-management, says the festivals artistic director.

The film titled The City and the City, created by Syllas Tzoumerkas and Christos Passalis, will be presented for the first time Thursday and Friday (starting at 9 p.m.) in the form of a three-screen installation at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in southern Athens.

We were shown an excerpt for the purposes of this piece.

Why two cities? Is there a specific symbolism?

The title is literal, there is no symbolism. Each city has, at its core, the marks of those cultures and people who inhabited it in the past. This is also the case in Thessaloniki, which has existed for centuries. In todays city there coexist the Roman, the Byzantine, the Ottoman and the Jewish cities. As regards memory, this is carried on by the people, who either accept or reject the truths derived from the events, says Passalis.

Events and marks. The film places people from times past in the city; we see them laugh, cry, dance, flirt and then be imprisoned and humiliated. One could say these are the ghosts of an entire community, the most populous community until the early 20th century, lost forever. The films creators admit this was not an easy production, but the story had to be told.

We want to show the painful story of the events that took place in Thessaloniki in the last century. The city lost a unique opportunity to retain its multicultural character and extraversion, says Tzoumerkas.

Passalis talks about the historical aspect of the film: The way we structured the film is a different approach to history. It reverses many established traditions of the history genre. Above all, it is frank and open. It dares to touch the wound. It is time this horrific event became part of our collective consciousness.

The two directors are using an experimental approach to the narrative and to the aesthetics. In The City and the City myth, documentary and the essay-film coexist and feed off of each other, producing dynamic results. In reality, the narration in the film follows simple and provocative rules, which can be easily understood and followed, adds Tzoumerkas.

One could say that their approach to the film is targeted at younger audiences that have little to do with history books; however, the creators are not bound by age groups. I certainly dont think that an older audience necessarily has a better grasp of history. This is one of our films themes: our tragic relationship with history, for generations, especially when it comes to the events that shaped the Jewish community of Thessaloniki, notes Tzoumerkas. Passalis adds, Our historical knowledge on this matter is poor regardless of generation or age group.

Andreadakis said this in closing: Pre-war Thessaloniki was a model city. Not everything was perfect, of course. There were religious and political disputes. But this variety created a rich city, economically, culturally and politically. After this pandemic, I feel like we need such cities.

Lack of remembrance

Beyond this film, the festival honors Jewish memory in its catalogue. History professor Giorgos Antoniou says: Since 1912, when Thessaloniki was incorporated into the Greek state, the city has been moving so fast. There were 1912, 1917, 1923, 1931 and of course 1941 years that set the peoples and communities of this city into an anxious and perpetual state of motion. Changes were radical and no one could comprehend them as they happened. Hundreds left for Athens in the first months of the occupation, fleeing to the south in the hope of escaping the Nazi threat. The citys relative calm made them complacent, to the point that they returned to Thessaloniki a few months before the tragic events that destroyed the Jewish community.

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The Thessaloniki of Jewish memory - Kathimerini English Edition

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Posted By admin on July 9, 2021

Canadas oppressive residential schools for indigenous children are in the news now because of the discovery of mass graves at two different sites, containing the bodies of children who died out of neglect or worse at the notorious institutions. Fom 1883 to 1996, anywhere from 10,000 to 50,000 children were separated from their families, physically and emotionally abused and forbidden from speaking their native languages, in a process of cultural erasure.

Canadas indigenous peoples are demanding a reckoning,and, in many cases,reparationsfor people who, like Native Americans and African Americans in this country, are still struggling with the effects of displacement and discrimination.

Whenever the idea ofreparationscomes up, usually in the context of slavery, even well-meaning people tend to roll their eyes.Critics ofreparationssee them as an unearned entitlements, or blunt instruments that would reward rich and poor people alike, or as simply too expensive. Throwing money at the problem as one critic has put it is a quick fix, when deep structural reforms are needed.

Too often missing in these debates are the voices of a people who have seen reparations in action, and have a close to 70-year history of seeing how they function in the real world. I am talking, of course, about Jews.

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Israel and Holocaust survivors have benefited or at least been made partially whole by an extensive program ofrestitution that Germany underwent starting soon after the horrors of World War II. It was controversial in Israel too Menachem Begin was a bitter critic but opponents came around. Israel got cash at a critical time in its development, and survivors many from families that never recovered from the murder and plunder of the Nazi era continue to receive much-needed support in their old age. Since 1952, the Claims Conference has distributed more than $80 billion in reparations.

Germany, meanwhile, found a path back into the community of nations. Instead of suppressing its guilt, Germany forced its institutions and people alike to confront what was perpetrated and allowed in the name of German nationalism. Money is an expression of values, and the money Germany has allocated forreparationsis a crucial expression of its commitment to face the past.

In ayear-old Facebook post, Guy Raz, the host of How I Built This and other popular podcasts, holds up the German example to explain how America might confront its slave-owning past, especially over the complaints of people who say they dont bear responsibility for something done either by their ancestors or previous generations of Americans to whom they are unrelated.

He recalls how Willy Brandt, then Germanys chancellor, visited Poland in 1970 and fell to his knees at the Warsaw Ghetto memorial. Brandts gesture was a small but powerfully symbolic part of Germanys national program of truth and reconciliation, and, writes Raz, the average German knows and understands the details and legacy of the mass murder and persecution their forbears committed.

As a boy in the early 1980s, I remember my parents had friends in their 40s (close to my age today) who had numbers tattooed on their arms. Holocaust survivors, he writes. They were young and vibrant. I remember that. And by that time, their trauma had been recognized by much of the world. It didnt change their pain and the nightmares of their lived experiences but also they knew that their suffering had been acknowledged. That matters.

The money Germany has allocated forreparationsis a crucial expression of its commitment to face the past.

By contrast, in the US, we have monuments to men who fought a war to preserve the institutionalized terrorization and enslavement of African Americans. Every day, millions of African Americans in cities throughout the US pass those statues. Its not just a reminder of their oppression. But a reminder of their countrys failure to reckon with the past.

Raz is talking about symbolic restitution, but reparations are not just aboutstatues.Ta-Nehisi Coatess famous essay, The Case forReparations, re-opened a national conversation about the economic injustices done to Blacks, not just during slavery but in the decades that followed and continuing to the present day. As Germany understood, words and gestures are important, but so is concrete action. Victims of repression need to be made physically as well as spiritually whole.

Jews understand this better than almost anyone. We have so much to contribute to this conversation, and no excuse for sitting it out.

Andrew Silow-Carroll (@SilowCarroll) is the editor in chief of The Jewish Week. Subscribe to his Sunday newsletter here.

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Posted By admin on July 9, 2021

Yoni Netanyahu, the famed hero of the Entebbe operation, was killed in action 45 years ago on July 4. Benjamin Netanyahus older brother was named Jonathan (Yonatan) and is usually remembered as Yoni. He died fighting anti-Israel terrorists on July 4, 1976, just as the worlds oldest democracy celebrated its Bicentennial. Yoni died in a heroic effort which successfully freed more than 100 hijacked Jewish hostages in Entebbe, Uganda.

Americas commemoration of liberty shared the worlds headlines with Israels celebration of the liberation of the hostages.

The daring of Israels commandos captured the worlds imagination like no other anti-terrorism action in history. Books and movies recall the Entebbe rescue but theres more to the story. Much more.

It is not widely known that Yoni Netanyahu was a hero long before he commanded the Entebbe operation. He played a key role in many other crucial Israeli security operations exhibiting courage and valor in the most dangerous of circumstances. He was a living example to the worlds statesman that terrorism can be beaten if the nations of the world have the will to fight back.

Yoni was born in New York into a family of dedicated Zionists who greeted the news of the establishment of Israel by packing up and moving there in 1948. He returned to the U.S. in 1963 where his father, a distinguished Jewish studies scholar, Benzion Netanyahu, (1910-2012), accepted a professorship in Philadelphia.

After graduating high school in a suburb Philadelphia in 1964, Yoni returned to Israel to join the army, and it was not long before he had worked his way up to the leadership of an elite paratrooper unit.

The mid-1960s was a time of growing danger for Israel. The Palestine Liberation Organization, established in 1964 for the purpose of liberating all of Palestine from the Israelis, had begun mounting terrorist attacks across Israels borders and those were precarious borders indeed. In those days, before the 1967 war, Israel was just 9 miles wide at its strategic midsection, and all of Israelis major cities were within striking distance of Yasser Arafats terrorists.

Yoni did not fear the possibility of losing his life in the war to protect Israel from its enemies.

Death does not frighten me, he wrote to a friend. I do not fear it because I attribute little to a life without purpose. And if it is necessary for me to lay down my life to attain an important goal, I will do so willingly.

The path that led to Yonis renown within Israels commando ranks may have begun in 1971 battling the Black September Organization, founded by Arafats Fatah faction. One of Black Septembers first attacks was the assassination of Jordans Prime Minister Wasfi Tal. One of the assassins earned a permanent place in the history of savagery by drinking their victims blood in full view of photographers.

In 1972, a Black September unit carried out the murder of 11 Israeli athletes at Munichs Olympic Village.

Yoni was a member of a commando unit sent the night of April 19, 1973, to Beirut to attack the planners of the Munich Massacre.

Israeli commandos landed on a Lebanese beach and slipped into Beirut. Yoni and his unit made their way to the apartment of Black September leader Muhammad Youssef Al-Najjar (Abu Youssef). He had not been originally assigned to the mission; Yoni volunteered.

The last to leave the apartment, Yoni grabbed a satchel of papers just as Lebanese police jeeps arrived. The papers contained operational plans for the PLOs terrorist network throughout Israel. Yonis discovery undoubtedly saved hundreds of lives.

Details of another example of Yonis heroism are to be found in Moshe Dayans autobiography Story of My Life. Dayan recalls how Yoni suffered a serious wound in the Six-Day War and yet had returned to his army unit and fought valiantly in the Yom Kippur War, despite his permanent injuries.

Yoni and his unit stalked and killed more than 40 Syrian commandos who had landed behind our lines, wrote Dayan.

After that, Yoni was responsible for an extraordinary mission that rescued Lt. Col. Yossi Ben Hanan from behind enemy lines. Again, Yoni volunteered. He had overheard a radio transmission about a severely injured tank officer and led his men on foot, braving a nonstop artillery barrage.

Recalling the Ben Hanan rescue, Dayan wrote: I do not know how many young men there are like Yoni. But, I am convinced there are enough to ensure that Israel can meet the grim tests which face her in the future.

Dayans memoirs were published before the Entebbe operation. Yonis last name is not revealed by Dayan in the book. His portrayal of Yoni seems visionary in retrospect.

Self Portrait of a Hero is a must-read; it contains Yonis letters to family and friends from 1963, when he first entered high school in the Philadelphia suburbs, to just days before the rescue of hostages at Entebbe. His intellect, patriotism, compassion, dedication to duty and leadership are all on full display, amplifying the loss of someone who had just turned 30.

The book has had a profound effect on its readers for decades. If you have not yet read it, do yourself a favor and get a copy. You too will be forever changed by it.

Moshe Phillips is national director of Herut North Americas U.S. division.

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Yoni Netanyahu: A Hero's Story Detroit Jewish News - The Jewish News - The Jewish News

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Posted By admin on July 9, 2021

Samuel Hayon, a Venezuelan living in Miami, was shocked when he went to Miamis Jackson Memorial Hospital to try and get the COVID-19 shot in February.

I just ran into the entire Hebraica Israeli! he said, referring to Caracass Jewish community.

Hayon had noticed a trend that would only grow in the coming weeks and months. With Central and Latin American countries unable to meet demand for coronavirus vaccines for their citizens stymied by local bureaucracies or larger political hurdles Jews have taken matters into their own hands, traveling to the U.S. to get a shot difficult to acquire at home.

Many non-Jewish Latin Americans have done the same, relying on U.S. relatives and friends and their deeds to U.S. properties to smooth the way and sometimes drawing the ire of Americans and people in their home countries. Mexican TV host Juan Jos Origel, who is not Jewish, was widely slammed online in January after he tweeted his gratitude after receiving a vaccine in Florida, well before most Americans had the opportunity to be vaccinated.

By Hector Vivas / GETTY stri...

A woman receives a COVID vaccine.

Though some Jewish vaccine tourists who have been able to get a vaccine in the U.S. are dual citizens, for others, getting the shot meant bending local residency rules. Jewish vaccine tourists have reported falsifying leases, or adding their names to a friends utility bills to comply with proof of residency requirements to sign up for the shot. Many have said, though, that once at the vaccination site, they were not asked for proof of residency.

In the U.S., many locales, now flush with vaccines, have dropped residency requirements. And some cities are even encouraging vaccine tourism from foreign nationals to boost their economies. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, for example, in late May proposed a program to offer the shot to tourists at popular sites such as Time Square and the Brooklyn Bridge. Were going to take care of you. Were going to make sure you get vaccinated while youre here with us, he said at a press conference.

But that welcome is not offered universally in the U.S. And for residents to the south, many still grapple with the knowledge that many in their home countries will resent that they have the means to travel for a potentially lifesaving shot.

Latin and Central American Jews have traveled to American cities including Los Angeles, San Antonio and Tampa for a few nights, returned home, and then made their way back to the U.S. three to four weeks later for the second dose of the vaccine. They share tips, sometimes through WhatsApp groups, on signing up for appointments and about which vaccines are offered where.

The very first people I heard of getting the vaccine in the U.S. were from Mexico, said Ceci Kerbel, 61, a dual citizen who traveled from her home in San Jose, Costa Rica, to Miami to get the vaccine in April. Property she and her husband own in the U.S. allowed her to supply a required address when she signed up for the shot. There were lots of signs that said that if you didnt have proof of an appointment then you shouldnt even stand in line, she said.

Some vaccine tourists are hesitant to talk about how they were able to get their shots, for fear they would be judged for accessing it before others have the chance. A 33-year-old Jewish man from Bogota, who traveled to Orlando in April, agreed to talk about his experience on condition of anonymity.

I didnt share that I got vaccinated with my office, he said of his trip to Orlando in April, before all Americans were able to get the vaccine. The coronavirus has hit the country hard, and supplies are still limited, contributing to social unrest and mass protests.

He also feels uncomfortable sharing that he got the Pfizer vaccine while the elderly in Colombia have been getting the Sinovac vaccine, which has proved less effective than the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines used in the U.S.

Almost all of his Jewish friends have made the same trip with the same purpose, said the Colombian, who got a tip to try to get vaccinated in Orlando from a friend in Panama and made his vaccine trip with his wife into a mini-vacation as well, visiting friends who helped provide him with an American address.

Ezra Jinich, an 18-year-old high school senior who also lives in Bogota and is a dual American citizen, has decided not to tell his friends that he got vaccinated in the U.S. People dont want to be open about whether theyve gotten vaccinated because theyre scared of rumors spreading about how they took advantage of the system, he said. Jinich and his twin sister were able to get the vaccine in New Jersey while visiting colleges in early February.

Other vaccine tourists shared their pangs of conscience over their decision to travel for a shot.

I felt a type of shame and guilt of being rich and white, of being able to skip ahead in my countrys vaccination process, said Denise Abush, a 34-year old in Mexico City, who got her vaccine in St. Petersburg, Fla., where her family has long had a summer home. I felt like this was an example of neocolonial inequalities and I was hesitant to engage in that, she said.

Yet, as the days passed and Abush felt increasingly certain that the Mexican government would not be able to vaccinate her age group until the winter, she started to feel less guilty.

I arrived at the conclusion that its neither good nor bad, she said of her opportunity to obtain the vaccine in the U.S. She now says the decision to travel abroad to get vaccinated should be a totally private, personal issue, and that it is pragmatic to take advantage of the surplus of American vaccines.

Its part of a more complicated framework, she said. Everybody in my position would probably do it if they could.

Others in the Jewish and Latin American communities have decided to be vocal on how they got their vaccines in the U.S., and to encourage family and friends to do the same.

Miriam Weiser, a 52-year-old educator in Mexico City, says it was at the insistence of her friends that prompted her to figure out a way to get the vaccine. Your health comes first! Take your health seriously! she said they told her.

In February, before the Mexican government initiated its own vaccination program, Weiser was doubtful as to whether the government would be able to provide citizens with the vaccine before the end of the year. But some of her friends and relatives in Mexico had already been vaccinated in Dallas, San Diego and Las Vegas.

At first, Weiser planned to fly to San Antonio, rent a car, and make the five-hour drive to Pecos, Texas, the only place she was able to get an appointment with her family from abroad. In March, her daughter found appointments in Miami, so they jumped on the next flight.

She got vaccinated, and was able to spend Passover with her mother, who lives in Miami.

It worked out perfectly, she said.

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With vaccines scarce at home, Central and Latin America Jews journey to the US - Forward

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Posted By admin on July 9, 2021

Botanical artist Laurie Tennent has had a lifelong passion for the art of capturing images. The Birmingham native, who attended the College for Creative Studies in Detroit and received a bachelor of fine arts degree in photography, has had her work featured in public and private art galleries around the world.

With her photography on display through October at City Bloom: Birmingham, a 3-mile outdoor installation along the Rouge River Trail that runs through Booth Park, Quarton Lake and Linden Park, the all botanical-themed exhibit is just one of many creative projects Tennent, soon to be 60, has in the works.

I really love historical botanical drawings and Dutch paintings, she says of the two key influences on her style. Theyre really rich and very dark in the background.

For Tennents botanical photography in particular, where flowers pop in color against similarly dark backgrounds, she calls her twist on these two styles a contemporary botanical illustration.

In using photography as the medium, the images are classic in their composition, she explains, but theyre presented in a very contemporary, sleek contrast with metal frame to the edge, so they almost appear like a painting on canvas.

Its this distinctive, dramatic presentation of her work that has drawn people to Tennents photography for decades. After graduation, she began to build her now-renowned career by working in local art galleries. I really learned a lot about the business of handling artists and also what it took for artists to get their work into galleries, she says. I learned how the galleries worked with their artists to promote their careers.

Inspired to launch her own gallery, Tennent took these important lessons with her as she opened Eton Street Gallery in Birmingham. I featured the finer work of commercial photographers all over the country, she explains.

This gave commercial photographers a chance to showcase their work, which Tennent says many of these artists didnt have a chance to do. There were a lot of great car photographers in Detroit, and they had all this great personal work that no one ever saw, she recalls as an example, alongside architectural photographers.

Yet Tennent found that showcasing these works alone couldnt support the art gallery in keeping the space open. Already experienced in the business of commercial photography, Tennent joined the industry and began to do catalog work.

She took photos for specialty retailers like J. Crew and Crate & Barrel, plus Somerset Mall and various print magazines. The commercial photography arm of her multifaceted business became one of its biggest assets, an area she has now worked in for more than 30 years.

Yet working in the commercial photography sector meant Tennent was regularly traveling. She also photographed weddings and bar and bat mitzvahs, making her a household name in Metro Detroits Jewish community. At one point, though, Tennent found herself working seven days a week to photograph the events, balancing raising a family with her blossoming career.

Picking Botanicals

Then, nine years ago, Tennent was diagnosed with breast cancer, which forced her to slow down and take time to heal. It was during her recovery that she rediscovered her love for botanical art and made it one of the core building blocks of her career.

I realized being at home, how healing it was for me to be back in the garden, Tennent recalls. I really wanted to get back to my photography and my series that I created over the years on botanicals.

She took walks, developed her own garden at home and traveled to different botanical gardens around the country. One botanical garden in Arizona featured glass designs in a garden, which made Tennent realize what she wanted to do with her work.

It was absolutely amazing, she recalls. I wanted to get this type of work off the gallery walls and into the garden, where people can really appreciate it back in its natural setting.

Tennent developed a marketing plan to showcase botanical artwork in gardens around the country. She partnered with botanists and different garden clubs to collect interesting botanical species that she could photograph in her studio. Yet, there was one challenge she had to solve.

In order to print these pieces to be in a garden setting, I had to experiment with a lot of materials, Tennent says. I came to print them on aluminum so that they are weather-resistant. This method of printing, she explains, allows botanical art shows (like City Bloom: Birmingham) to operate during all seasons.

City Bloom: Birmingham is the continuation of a traveling botanical art installation that Tennent partners with different collectors and exhibits to create. She says its appearance in Metro Detroit was the perfect timing, as it gave people a chance to not only get out of the house and walk along the trail but also provided a COVID-safe activity that was both inspirational and fun.

Created in partnership with the city of Birmingham and the Robert Kidd Gallery, the 3-mile trail features Tennents botanical photographs printed on weather-resistant materials that are tucked alongside trees, flowers and bushes. It brings it back to nature, she explains.

Yet, Tennents passion for botanical art doesnt stop there. Shes also partnered with Daffodils 4 Detroit, an organization that aims to plant millions of daffodils throughout the city. As perennial flowers, daffodils would grow back year after year, showering Detroit in splashes of yellow.

To support the effort, Tennent has launched a Daffodils 4 Detroit collection that features daffodil-themed and inspired pieces like serving trays, notebooks, pencil pouches and even scarves and masks.

Daffodils 4 Detroit is a really interesting project that wants to plant a daffodil for every person in the city, Tennent says.

Im giving back money from the line of products that I created for that charity. Its an uplifting sight to see the daffodils around the city.

Additionally, Tennent is an advocate of Alzheimers disease support groups. Earlier this spring, she partnered with Neiman Marcus and the Alzheimers Association for their 2021 Spring Soiree, a shopping event that raises money for the association. There, Laurie signed copies of her book BOTANICALS: Intimate Portraits.

For the artist, it was an important mission: her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother all died with early onset dementia by age 72.

Now, as she continues to give back to the community in numerous ways, Tennent also runs her current Birmingham gallery (Laurie Tennent Botanicals) while she plans a trip to Tuscany, Italy, in September for a photography workshop. Shes also teaching photography classes at Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, Cranbrook and in her own studio.

I really am passionate about my work helping other people, Tennent says.

If you can do something beautiful that other people love, and may bring not only beauty to their home, but to help a good cause, that is a huge importance for me.

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Photographer Brings Joy Through Botanical Art The Jewish News - The Jewish News

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Posted By admin on July 9, 2021

Andrew Getraer says the college campus has been, for as long as Ive been at Hillel, the fount of antisemitism in America. (Sabrina Szteinbaum Photography via JTA.org)

By Ben Sales

As he ends his tenure as the director of the largest Hillel in the country after 20 years in the post, Andrew Getraer says Jews at Rutgers University face a reality out of Dickens: the best of times and the worst of times.

Jewish life at the school, New Jerseys flagship university, is thriving. There are 6,000 Jews on campus, and its known as a destination for students seeking a vibrant Jewish community with a range of services, religious communities and clubs.

But its also been a tough year. Rutgers students learned remotely for an entire year, disconnected from the protective bubble of campus that, even at a big state school, still feels more intimate and insulated than the outside world. And to Getraer, the spike in antisemitic incidents that accompanied last months conflict in Israel and Gaza demonstrated the dangers of the left-wing antisemitism that he sees on campus.

We have incredible, vibrant Jewish life on campus like probably has never been seen before in American history, he said. Theres more Torah learning, theres more Israel celebration, theres more Jewish community than ever. But, he added, theres also more antisemitism than weve had in generations.

Though anti-Israel activity has existed for decades at Rutgers, Getraer says its more common now.

As if to put a fine point on it, a week after the conflict ended, the outgoing chancellor of Rutgersissued a condemnation of antisemitism then apologized for the condemnationafter the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine complained.

Conflict at the university over Israel has continued. In May and June, unions representing full- and part-time lecturers at the universityissued statements categorizing Israels actions as apartheidand calling for the American Federation of Teachers to divest itself of all Israeli bonds. This prompted a sharp rebuke from U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat, who wrote an open letter to the schools president imploring him to speak out against this hate-filled misinformation campaign and rhetoric.

Getraer is retiring, effective July 1, for personal reasons: His mother died unexpectedly in the past year, and his youngest child graduated from high school. He had made the decision before the chancellors dueling apologies.

But his final year was difficult due to a vitriolic Israel debate that he said became worse due to COVID. When students are on campus, debating face to face, he said, they are more likely to tone down their language and be relatively immune to the broader debate raging over Israel and Palestine on social media. When their only connection to each other is online, he said, the campus debate and the larger one on social media become one and the same.

What happens with digital communication is youre not on campus anymore [and] the whole world is flooding your bedroom, Getraer said. Especially during COVID, youre not on campus, youre not sitting there with your friends necessarily, or in community. You cant come to Hillel and see whats happening or come and get the sustenance of being part of the community. Youre just isolated, and that flood of hatred, vitriol, that we all saw in May is coming unfiltered into your life.

The adjustments that came with virtual learning underscored how Getraers job has changed since he arrived on campus in 2001. Back then, student volunteers would stuff Jewish students physical mailboxes with flyers about Hillel events. A whiteboard outside Hillel also would notify them about upcoming programs.

Now Getraer understands that students dont even check their email, and Hillel tries to get their attention via sundry social media platforms and texting. Modes of communication have multiplied so much that he sees students going back to what they used to do: find out about events via word of mouth. At a school as big as Rutgers, Getraer believes many of his Jewish students remain unaware of campus controversies over Israel and antisemitism, and that many of them may not even have known about the outcry over the chancellors letters.

Getraer isnt the only one to worry about Israel on campus. In recent years and decades, a range of groups have sprung up to lavish attention, funding and legal support on pro-Israel student activists. In 2019, the activism reached the highest levels of government, when President Donald Trumps executive order on antisemitism facilitated federal civil rights complaints about some anti-Israel activity on campus.

That activism also contributes to another debate that has raged across American Jewry for years: whether the most dangerous antisemitism comes from the right or left. Those who are more concerned about right-wing antisemitism have noted that the attackers at the synagogues in Pittsburgh and Poway were far-right extremists. Those who have sounded the alarm about left-wing antisemitism have frequently pointed to campus anti-Zionist activism as evidence for their concerns.

Getraer falls squarely in that camp, telling the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the college campus has been, for as long as Ive been at Hillel, the fount of antisemitism in America.

What I have seen in the last couple years, especially from some of the more progressive Jewish students, is that they have been ostracized or asked to prove themselves, he said. If theyre pro-Israel, progressive Zionists, they are ostracized from their progressive spaces not always, but thats a real dynamic that occurs. Ive seen that firsthand on campus.

Because of that, Getraer said, he supports the umbrella group Hillel Internationals guidelines on Israel, which prohibit Hillels from partnering with anti-Zionist groups.

The issue of this generation is antisemitism, and antisemitism in America is driven, the vast majority of it is driven, by anti-Zionism, he said. And if Hillel is going to support college students in this generation, it needs to focus on supporting them in that environment, where we are helping them to stand up against and recognize anti-Zionism and antisemitism.

But Getraer adds that those currents dont affect most Jewish students on campus.

On the one hand the problems are real, the outrages are true and the issues should be addressed, he said. On the other hand, its easy to look at an event that occurs on a campus that is offensive or outrageous and believe that every single student walking on that campus is under attack and in fear, which is not true.

When Jewish students return to Rutgers for the fall, Getraer said, theyll still be able to lead a secure and active Jewish life.

The Jewish community needs to be a little more nimble than it is, he said. We have a lot of Jewish organizations that dont call out antisemitism as strongly as they should and as clearly as they should, or make excuses for it. And then we have a lot of organizations that create a fearful environment through hyperbole, which is not productive for anyone.

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Longtime Rutgers' Hillel Director Leaving Post Worried About Jewish Life There - Jewish Exponent

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