Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on November 21, 2020

This article was published on the 1995 bulletin of the St. Ives Association in Jerusalem in Hebrew after the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, who was killed on November 4, 1995 by Yigal Amir, after Rabin initiated the Oslo Peace Accords. It was translated into English by Ofra Yeshua-Lyth and is reprinted with permission from the author.

The flash of shots that pierced Yitzhak Rabins body shed a cold and cruel light upon the abyss opened as a result of the clash of social and political forces whose mutual contradiction reached its climax with this murder the contradiction between democracy on the one hand, and a Jewish state on the other. This deep contradiction has existed in Israeli society at least since the founding of the state of Israel. The Zionist movement, agent in the settlement process here in the East, attempting to turn the various ethnic groups that adhere to the Jewish religion into one nation, could not find any other cohesion for its purpose except for that very religion. Thus, Zionism created the Gordian knot between religion and state and rendered a special status to the practitioners of that religion and especially to those who find their livelihood in it.

These social and political elements received perpetual nurture from all Israeli governments. Not only the settler-colonists and their rabbis, but a thick layer of sacristans namely kosher-legitimacy supervisors, officials of religious councils, religious judges, butchers, rabbis in towns, kibbutzim, settler-colonies and institutions, all being paid their salaries not by the actual believers but especially by the secular crowds tax money. This parasitic layer consists of tens of thousands of people whose religious studies are their artisanship, including yeshiva students and mystics who specialize in cursing secular citizens. The Zionist left, in its support of the apartheid mentality of a Jewish state, lost any ability to struggle towards the separation of religion and state and for the democratization of Israeli society. Thus it, too, is responsible for nurturing this parasitic layer and for the intensification of Jewish fundamentalism.

The contradictions in Israeli society were exacerbated after the conquests of 1967, when the states leaders decided to prevent any chance of Palestinian sovereignty in the occupied Territories. To this end, these areas had to be populated by Jews, just as in pre-1948 Palestine. The human resources of the Zionist left had already dwindled, just like its spiritual ones, and the need arose to find new social forces. Gush Emunim, a neocolonial-messianic trend, was most suitable for this purpose, and enjoyed massive support of all Israeli governments in order to found about 150 new settler-colonies in the newly acquired occupied territories. The settler-colonists became an integral part of the security system and the tip of its spear for oppressing Palestinians. However, after the Gulf War the U.S. succeeded in pressuring Israel to act towards stabilizing a new order in the Middle East. The quick about-face carried out by the Israeli oppression system towards this new order was very partial and in fact consisted only of its head. Thus, the executor of the new order in the Middle East was assassinated by a member of the old order. The murderer, bound both to messianic fundamentalism and to the security system when he served as a combat infantry soldier, gladly carrying out Rabins orders at the time to Break their bones! opposed the later change according to which Arafat would now be responsible for breaking Palestinian bones on behalf of Israeli security. The tail of the Israeli oppression system, like the tail of a gigantic monster that includes both the settler-colonists and loyal transferists, now gave its head a lethal blow.

The shots that killed Rabin were in fact aimed at the heart of democracy. The campaign of incitement and de-legitimization against Rabin leaned upon those growing layers of Israeli society, not only on right-wing factions. The fact that Rabin was willing to rely on a democratic majority that included Arab citizens of the state in order to retain the Jewish nature of the state through an agreement with Arafat doomed him with those racists who had regarded him as a democrat.

Naturally, these were not the opening shots of a civil war they merely exposed its hidden existence: Rabin is the last victim so far, in a long line of victims Arabs murdered by Jewish settler-colonists, people murdered by the Jewish underground, Arab workers who were shot, and Emil Grunzweig (Jewish Israeli peace activist murdered during a demonstration).

Note that like most apartheid supporters, the organizers of the demonstration where Rabin was assassinated accepted the basic assumptions of the Zionist right regarding the illegitimacy of Rabins leaning on the support of Palestinian citizens of Israel. Thus the head of the demonstrations organizing committee prevented Arab mayor of Nazareth, Ramzi Jaraisi, from delivering a speech on this occasion. Ironically, while Rabin thought his plan to preserve a Jewish state by controlling the most area with the least Arabs would grant him the support of the settler-colonists, they regarded him as a traitor. Rabin and the Israeli secret service did not conceive of the possibility that a Jew would assassinate the Prime Minister, because like separation supporters they believed the lie disseminated by Jewish fundamentalists about the sanctity of Jewish blood.

The sorrow that is now being expressed by the Judea and Samaria Council members, yeshiva students and various transferists is a hypocritical political guise. It is totally obvious to them that all their power and monetary resources are derived from the very fog concealing the abyss that lies between a Jewish state and a democratic one. Exposing this abyss would clearly mobilize the supporters of democracy against them.

The key question now is whether the country holds strong enough forces to counteract the fake consensus, and struggle towards a democratic solution of the national question. Any other way would be a mere attempt to maintain these contradictions until the next blow-up.

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The anniversary of Rabin's assassination and its significance - Mondoweiss

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Posted By admin on November 19, 2020

Think about the Jews you know both in the diaspora and in Israel.

Now, among them, do you know a diaspora Jew whose relationship with Israel has become tainted by Israels politics or policy decisions specifically Israels treatment of the Palestinians or non-Orthodox Jews?

What about an Israeli who couldnt care less about what diaspora Jews think, since they are certain diaspora Jews will be gone in a generation due to intermarriage and assimilation?

Im going to go out on a limb and assume you know someone who fits each description.

And thats the problem.

Today, Jews in Israel and the diaspora are speaking past each other. We are focused on the areas of disagreement, misalignment and frustration. Each of us is unwilling to accept the other if they dont share our opinions on politics or identity. We are willing to disassociate ourselves from the entire body politic of the other simply because we dont see eye-to-eye.

But when have the Jews ever agreed with each other?

Did Joseph and his brothers get along? Did the Sadducees and Pharisees agree? Did the Maccabees embrace the Hellenized Jews? Did the students of Hillel and Shammai light Hanukkah candles together? Did the soldiers of the Haganah lay down their guns when facing Irgun soldiers?

In case you were wondering, the answer is NO! Jews have always had deep disagreements, yet we have not only managed to survive as a people, but woven those divergent strands deep into our shared identity.

Thats why its time to reimagine diaspora-Israel relations. Its time for Jewish peoplehood to grow up. Its time for Zionism to evolve to its next phase: Zionism 3.0.

Why 3.0?

Because Zionism 1.0 was the pre-1948 Zionism of theory, of the pioneers, of Theodor Herzl, Ahad Haam and Rav Kook. It was the Zionism of creating a sovereign Jewish state where Jews could be safe and live without fear of pogroms or Nazis.

Then in 1948, Zionism evolved to its next phase. Zionism 2.0 was the Zionism of reality, of the builders like David Ben-Gurion, and A. D. Gordon. Israels existence was threatened by its neighbors and a vital piece of its survival was diaspora support. Zionism 2.0 was defined by the rich American uncle the notion that those in the diaspora who didnt make aliyah were obligated to support those who did. It was the Zionism of diaspora negation; the thinking that the Jewish future lies only in Israel, and those in the diaspora were somehow lesser Jews.

But now, for the first time ever in Jewish history, we have two strong, independent, thriving centers of Jewish life: in Israel and in the West, primarily in North America. We have different characteristics, but we are both flourishing. And now we depend on each other in new ways, and can enrich each other in new ways. So the model must evolve to Zionism 3.0, the next phase of Zionist ideology.

We must recognize that Jews in both places add to the other not just for security, but with each others spiritual and cultural contributions, as well. We cant let political frameworks dictate the nature of our relationship, but must use our shared sense of peoplehood and our common destiny to frame our relationship.

The Z3 Project strives to do just that by embracing three central principles:

1. Unity not uniformity. We aim to honor our differences while working for the oneness of the Jewish people.2. Engaging as equal partners. We bring together Israelis and diaspora Jews to build our common future.3. Diversity of voices. We convene Zionists of differing backgrounds and perspectives across the political and religious spectrums.

For the last five years, weve hosted a full-day conference at the Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto thats attracted more than 1,000 people at a time to engage in this conversation.

This year, we are making the experience available to people all over the world by moving to a 100 percent virtual experience over the week of Hanukkah, from Dec. 10 to Dec. 17, and inviting JCCs around the globe to participate.

This innovative online experiment is so much more than just a web conference. Thanks to the partnership of JCCA and JCC Global, more than 30 JCCs will bring Z3 to their own communities.

Each day during Hanukkah, we will have a couple hours of programming that starts with a marquee speaker followed by a panel of experts. Throughout the program, we will stream articles and videos full of rich information about the panel topic and ask participants to delve into their thoughts. Then each community will break out and host its own localized discussion. Most exciting of all, the week will culminate with every attendee casting a vote on which deserving nonprofits will receive support from the pool fund created by registration fees. It will be the worlds largest Jewish giving circle!

This is an exercise in active participation. We are done with passive teleconference calls where we just watch interesting speakers. Help us reimagine diaspora-Israel relations together by taking the first step and joining us at Z3Project.org.

The Z3 Project and all who participate this year are putting our money where our mouths are, working collectively to move Zionism and peoplehood to the next level.

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Zionism 3.0: Time to step it up on Israel-diaspora issues J. - The Jewish News of Northern California

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Posted By admin on November 19, 2020

Rapper Ice Cube will be a headline speaker at the annual gala of the Zionist Organization of America the nations oldest pro-Israel organization after he was called out for sharing anti-Semitic images on social media earlier this year.

I gotta say it was a good day when my friend Cube readily and happily agreed to speak at our ZOA Gala, ZOA president Morton Klein said in a statement, quoting one of the rappers best known hits.

The 51-year-old activist and Klein forged a friendship after Cube was accused of anti-Semitism in June when he shared a string of images and memes amplifying anti-Jewish tropes including a Star of David enveloping a black cube.

Klein reached out to Cube in July and the pair had a two-hour conversation where they both disavowed racism, Klein said in a tweet.

We both grew up poor in Black hoods. Cube told me he thanked Jews for starting NAACP, many Black schools & fighting for Black civil rights, Klein wrote.

Cube told me he supports condemning Black & all antisemitism & I condemned all racism, he added.

The rapper, whose real name OShea Jackson, helped President Trump develop his $500 million Platinum Plan to invest in black communities across the country, and recently met with White House adviser Jared Kushner to discuss black empowerment.

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Ice Cube to speak at Zionist Organization of America gala - New York Post

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Posted By admin on November 19, 2020

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When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You are talking anti-Semitism! Martin Luther King Jr.

For years now, it has been open season on Jewish students at many college campuses in the United States and in Europe. And although the deep anti-Semitism that permeated the Labour party has taught many in the United Kingdom that anti-Semitism comes from the political left, American Jews still view the greatest risk of anti-Semitism as coming from the right. Then there is a small group that argues this left-wing hatred is somehow not anti-Semitic.

A 2014 survey of Jewish university students revealed that 54% of the Jewish students in the United States and 51% of those in the United Kingdom were personally subject to or witnessed firsthand anti-Semitism. This figure sadly makes sense given that for over 20 years in America, Jews have been on a per capita basis the most targeted group for hate crimes, including numerous assaults and murders of visible Jews in the greater New York area this past year. Many of these attacks have been perpetrated by people who neither adhere to nor are influenced by neo-Nazi ideologies, the suspects in the attack on a Jersey City kosher supermarket in December 2019, for example, were identified as followers of the Black Hebrew Israelite movement.

While many of these anti-Semitic incidents occur on college campuses, they rarely receive any public attention. But when they do, the typical response from many on the political and academic left is that their hate is not of Jews but of Zionism.

I am not an anti-Semite, Im anti-Zionist is the new version of the some of my best friends are Jewish defense.

In fact, when news came to light of USC student Rose Ritch being bullied into resigning as student government vice president, the defense of many was that the attacks were because Ritch is a Zionist, not a Jew.

But since approximately 90% of Israelis are Zionist meaning they believe the Jewish people have a right to sovereignty and independence in their indigenous, historical and religious homeland and approximately 95% of American Jews have a favorable view of Israel, the I am only anti-Zionist defense rings hollow. It is the equivalent of racists arguing they are not racist because they only hate those who believe in the civil rights movement. Or a misogynist arguing he doesnt hate women because he only hates the women who believe in the womens suffrage movement.

Of course, those who want to carve out an exception for the only anti-Zionism defense often argue that there are religious Jews who are against Zionism and that there are people who oppose all forms of ethnonationalism. While there is some merit to these examples, these respective groups are so minuscule in number as to be meaningless in the context of the hate targeting Jews both on and off-campus.

Yes, there is a minority within the minority of ultra-Orthodox Jews today who despite praying daily for the return of Jewish sovereignty over their ancestral lands believe that a Jewish polity in the land of Israel should only happen after the Messiah comes.

Given that their opposition to Zionism is not based on any discriminatory animus or double standard, but on what the overwhelming majority of Jewish scholars and rabbis believe to be a mistaken theological position, one can stipulate that for this tiny group, their anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism.

The same applies to the relatively few people who oppose all ethnic states, from Armenia to Latvia to Serbia to Estonia. One can stipulate that those few people oppose Zionism but are not anti-Semitic in their justifications.

But given that most anti-Zionists never take any issue with the many other states based on a specific ethnicity, this exception applies to a group of people so tiny as to be statistically insignificant. (In fact, the people who tend to be most vocally anti-Zionist are typically those demanding another ethno-state for the Palestinian people, yet paradoxically demand the annihilation of the one ethno-state of the Jewish people.) And like the relatively few ultra-Orthodox Jews who identify as anti-Zionist, the few people who actually oppose all ethnic states are neither the source nor inspiration of anti-Semitic hate crimes in America or Europe.

Anti-Zionism is almost always anti-Semitic in part because (a) it applies hatred to most of the worlds Jews, and (b) almost all of its proponents are not members of the aforementioned exceptions. Anti-Zionism is almost always anti-Semitism because as the late, great Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks (ZL) often stated Jew-hatred is a mutating virus. Today, it is going through its fourth mutation. This fourth mutation does not focus hatred on Jews because of their religion or race, but on Jews as a nation.

Like all viruses, as Jew-hatred mutates, it keeps many of its previous characteristics or defining features. In its latest iteration, the I am only anti-Zionist claim reveals how closely the current mutations hew to its previous versions.

Like all viruses, as Jew-hatred mutates, it keeps many of its previous characteristics or defining features.

In the third mutation, which started when Wilhelm Marr coined the term anti-Semitism in 1879 (to promote hating Jews as a distinct race), Jew-hatred justified denying all Jews regardless of their professed faith or level of religious observance equal rights. Anti-Zionism seeks to deny the Jewish people, among all people on earth, national rights.

In previous mutations, Jews, among all peoples on earth, were demonized as the primary cause of most (if not all) of the worlds problems. Anti-Zionism demonizes Israel, the Jew among the nations, as the primary cause of all of the worlds problems.

In the previous mutations, Jews were baby-killers. Anti-Zionism demonizes the Jewish state as a unique predator-state and baby-killer, ignoring the tens of thousands of children murdered in the Middle East and North African (MENA) in conflicts that have nothing to do with Israel.

In previous mutations, Jews were demonized as controlling banks, the media, and governments. As Representative Ihan Omar illustrated, Anti-Zionism demonizes Israel or Zionists as controlling banks, the media, and foreign governments.

In previous mutations, anti-Semites organized boycotts of Jewish businesses. In the twenty-first century, the I am only anti-Zionist, anti-Semites organize boycotts of Jewish businesses in Israel.

Another aspect of anti-Semitism that remains from the previous mutations is the attempted erasure of the Jewish people. Erasure first appeared in the efforts to forcibly convert Jews in both Europe and the Middle East, followed by the persecution of those who did not convert. This was followed by the attempted physical erasure of the Jewish people which culminated in the Holocaust. After the Jews re-established and successfully defended their sovereignty in Israel, the next phase of erasure was against Jewish history and peoplehood.

George Orwell famously said, The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history. After three failed attempts by multiple Arab League armies to physically erase the Jewish state in wars of annihilation starting in 1948, the erasure of Jewish history started to play a prominent role in the anti-Zionism mutation of anti-Semitism.

We see it in the statements of figures like Reverend Jeremiah Wright, who in addition to referring to Jewish control of American politicians, also tried to revise history by asserting that Jesus was a Palestinian. This Jesus was a Palestinian erasure was also taken up by far-left activist Linda Sarsour. We also see this attempted erasure in claims by officials of the Palestinian Authority, which denies any Jewish connection to the Temple of Solomon, Jerusalem, and any part of the land of Israel.

The far-right certainly leads the way in promoting the racialized version of anti-Semitism. But when it comes to the fourth mutation, the far-left leads the way in the United States and Europe. Of course, calls for the ethnic cleansing and demonization of Jews are also heard from some on the far-left in America. Witness Congressman Rashida Tlaib and her T-Shirts that depicted a future Middle East without Israel, Professor Marcus Lamont Hill and his recitation of the river to the sea mantra (which calls for wiping Israel off the map), or Congressman Hank Johnson referring to Israelis living in Judea and Samaria as termites in 2016 (a Nazi-like description of Jews that was picked up two years later by Louis Farrakhan, a hero to many on the far-left).

The fact that Louis Farrakhan has remained for decades an honored photo-op among numerous Democratic politicians and activists shows the blind-spot the political-left has for even the most virulent and outspoken anti-Semite in America. It is this blind-spot that makes left-wing anti-Semitism so dangerous.

In the same manner that many on the left cant see or find a way to excuse Farrakhans vitriol, they find even more reasons to rationalize the I am only anti-Zionist anti-Semitism. Unlike far-right anti-Semitism, this anti-Semitism appears to be far more prevalent in the American mainstream, in particular on American college campuses.

No one publicly questions or excuses David Dukes anti-Semitism. And if students espousing Nazi or white supremacist views engaged in a social media campaign to drive a Jewish student to resign from student government, their college or university would likely suspend or expel the guilty students immediately. Yet it has been four months since Rose Ritch was viciously and incessantly harassed, and USC has not disciplined any student.

Rabbi Sacks understood the dangers of the anti-Zionism variety of anti-Semitism. He even condemned the rise of this mutation of anti-Semitism in a speech to Parliament, years before it became clear to the rest of the United Kingdom how deeply anti-Semitic Corbyn was. We should not have to wait for our schools, universities, and political parties to become infected with anti-Zionist anti-Semitism before we realize it is dangerous. This does not mean we have to excuse or become tolerant of far-right anti-Semitism. We should not and cannot. But we can walk and chew gum at the same time. And given how fast far-left anti-Semitism has grown over the last 20 years, we must have zero-tolerance for it. Honoring the memory of Rabbi Sacks requires it.

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Beware Of Anti-Zionism Is Not Anti-Semitism From The Left - Jewish Journal

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Posted By admin on November 19, 2020

Herut India Launches Membership Drive For 2021.

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(November 15, 2020, Jerusalem, Israel, JNS Wire)

World Herut, a member organization of the World Zionist Organization, has announced that it has launched its second new branch in the last six months with the establishment of Herut India.

The need for the ideas of the great Zionist leader, Zeev Jabotinsky has perhaps never been greater in the Diaspora in the last 50 years than now, said Karma Feinstein Cohen, the Executive Director of World Herut. World Herut sees the utmost importance in bringing the tribes home; meaning the ingathering of all the Jewish People, of our sisters and brothers from the four corners of the earth. We are all part of one united Jewish People. Herut has launched its newest branch in India and we are absolutely ecstatic.

We cannot thank and praise the fantastic leaders of Herut India enough, said Karma Feinstein Cohen. Warmcongratulationsto Rivka Reis who brought together Jews from across India and recruited many new Herut members. Her commitment to Zionism and the Jewish People is unbelievable. We look forward to building a strong Zionist movement in India.

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Last month it was announced that Herut Mexico is now active and on Twitter. Herut Mexico is the second Herut branch in Latin America joining Herut Argentina.

Herut candidates from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Argentina won seats in the World Zionist Congress that convened virtually last month. Would Herut was founded in 2000 and in February 2002 was accepted into the WZO as one of the nine Zionist World Unions. Heruts world headquarters is in Israel and Herut maintains branches in 11 additional countries.

Herut India is the newest branch of Heruts movement of unapologetic Zionists. We have families involved with Herut in both the north and the south of India as well as from emerging Jewish communities, said Rivka Reis. We wish to promote Zionism in order to bring about a deeper sense of love and belonging to Eretz Yisrael.

Herut is an international movement for Zionist pride and education and is dedicated to the ideals of pre-World War Two Zionist leader Zeev Jabotinsky and more about Herut can be found athttps://herutna.org/

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World Herut

Herut is an international movement for Zionist pride and education and is dedicated to the ideals of pre-World War Two Zionist leader Ze'ev Jabotinsky.

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Zionist Movement Announced In India - JNS.org

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Posted By admin on November 19, 2020

Henry Morgenthau, Jr. (1891-1967) is best known for his service as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury during most of FDRs administration; for stabilizing the dollar and for his major role in designing and financing the New Deal; and for his leading role in financing Americas participation in World War II.

He was the only Jew in FDRs cabinet and, when he continued as Treasury Secretary through the first few months of Trumans presidency, he became the first Jew in the presidential line of succession.

A skillful and dynamic administrator, he thoroughly reorganized the Treasury Department and was largely responsible for the national and international monetary policies instituted in the 1930s which led to the stabilization of the American economy and made the dollar the strongest currency in the world.

He was an early champion of supporting the Allies in World War II and preparing America for involvement in the war and notwithstanding his fathers repeated and insistent urging that he not become entangled in Jewish issues he was one of the greatest and most important advocates for the Jews of Europe during the Holocaust.

As early as 1930, Morgenthau was a contributor to the efforts of the Joint Distribution Committee, and he became one of the earliest and most vocal critics of the American immigration quota system for its inadequate visa allocation for Jews seeking haven from the Nazis.

In 1938, he unsuccessfully urged FDR to acquire British and French Guiana for use as a sanctuary for refugees a humanitarian effort in which he pointedly included non-Jews and he later actively, albeit unsuccessfully, pressed Secretary of State Cordell Hull to intervene on behalf of the 900 refugees aboard the S.S. St. Louis (1939).

However, he was successful in persuading Hull to support a World Jewish Congress plan to transfer private U.S. funds to Europe to rescue Jews. When the State Department purposely delayed any American action on the plan, a determined and indomitable Morgenthau undertook to circumvent the State Department and went directly to the president, presenting him with a stunning January 13, 1944 Report to the Secretary on the Acquiescence of This Government in the Murder of the Jews.

As a result of his meeting with Roosevelt, the president issued an executive order on January 22, 1944 which created the United States War Refugee Board (WRB), the first major American attempt to address the extermination of European Jews. Among other things, the WRB sponsored Raoul Wallenbergs mission to Budapest and is responsible for saving the lives of some 100,000 Jews.

Later in 1944, Morgenthau proposed his famous Morgenthau Plan, a peace plan involving the partition of Germany pursuant to which the Ruhr and Saar regions would be converted into an agrarian area and Germany would be stripped of its heavy industry and so weakened and controlled that it cannot in the foreseeable future become an industrial area.

While still at the Treasury Department, Morgenthau was active in many Jewish organizations, including the United Jewish Appeal, Bnai Brith, and the Jewish Welfare Board. Due to personal and policy differences with President Truman including not only advancing the Morgenthau Plan, which Truman and the State Department opposed, but also his call, as chair of the United Jewish Appeal, for Truman to take action regarding the British seizure of The Exodus Morgenthau was forced to resign as Treasury Secretary (July 1945).

Born into a prominent assimilated Jewish family in New York City, Morgenthau rejected all Jewish observance and was reticent about even publicly acknowledging his Judaism. He and his wife never attended Jewish religious services, yet they celebrated Christmas and Easter; they carefully avoided Jewish social networks and vacation spots; and they pointedly refused to circumcise their son. Yet, he was a fervent Zionist and dedicated much of his post-government life to Israel.

He served as general chairman (1947-1950) and as then honorary chairman (1950-1953) of the United Jewish Appeal, in which capacity he is credited with playing a major role in raising the unprecedented sums vital to the success of the new State of Israel. He also served as chairman of the Board of Governors of the Hebrew University (1950-1951). As chair of the Board of Governors of the American Financial and Development Corporation for Israel, he played an important role in the offer of a 500 million-dollar bond issue for the new nation.

In this historic May 15, 1949 correspondence on his UJA general chairman letterhead, Morgenthau writes to Rabbi Isadore Breslau about the importance of attending an upcoming UJA meeting in light of the proclamation announcing the birth of Israel:

We are living in what is perhaps the most meaningful moment in two thousand years of Jewish life. The proclamation announcing the re-establishment of the State of Israel and the prompt recognition given to it by the United States make it imperative that American Jewish leadership come together at the earliest possible date to take counsel on the responsibilities and opportunities facing the United Jewish Appeal.

In reviewing the list of acceptances, I note with concern that we have not yet received a reply from you to attend the conference of the United Jewish Appeal to be held at the Astor Hotel in New York, on Saturday evening, May 22 and Sunday, May 23. The new developments give this meeting even more urgent significance.

Rabbi Isadore Breslau (1897-1978) is perhaps best known for his work on behalf of a variety of Zionist causes, including particularly the UJA, which he served as its honorary national chairman. He was also active in the Zionist Organization of America and the Joint Distribution Committee, and was a delegate to a number of World Zionist Congresses.

Morgenthau was awarded honorary doctorates from Yeshiva University and the Hebrew Union College, and Morgenthau Street in Jerusalem is named for him.

* * * * *

Ironically, Morgenthaus father, Henry Morgenthau Sr. (1856-1946) lawyer, businessman, financier, diplomat, and perhaps best known as the American ambassador to the Ottoman Empire during World War I was a fervent and vociferous anti-Zionist.

In March 1919, with the Jewish community preparing for the Paris Peace Conference with hopes that it would officially bless the idea of a Jewish homeland in Eretz Yisrael and as President Wilson was leaving for the conference, Morgenthau Sr. joined 31 other prominent Jewish Americans in signing an anti-Zionist petition.

Displayed here is Morgenthau on Zionism and Palestine, Morgenthau Sr.s booklet, distributed by the League for Peace With Justice in Palestine, in which he seeks to turn Americans of the Christian faiths against gigantic lies advanced by dual-allegiance Zionists who are essentially American traitors. He blames Zionism for virtually every ill plaguing the Middle East and, in particular, for fomenting Arab animosity against the Jews.

Citing his own knowledge, expertise, and familiarity with the Jews, he characterizes Zionism as the most stupendous fallacy in history; argues that it is wrong in principle and impossible of realization; unsound in its economics; fantastical in its politics; and sterile in its spiritual ideals; and contends that Zionism is a surrender, not a solution; a betrayal; a proposal that, if it were to succeed, would cost the Jews of America most of what they have gained of liberty, equality, and fraternity.

Calling the Balfour Declaration a shrewd and adroit delusion, he sets out to prove that Zionist leaders purposely misrepresented its scope, which was not that Jews shall have the right to dispossess, or to trespass upon the property of those far more numerous Arab tenants whose rights to their share in it is as good as that of the Jews and, in most cases, of much longer standing.

He asserts that sustaining an economy in a Jewish county in Eretz Yisrael is manifestly impossible, arguing that despite 30 years of Jews working with fanatical zeal backed by millions of money from philanthropic Jews of great wealth, only 10,000 Jews have moved to the soil of Eretz Yisrael while 1.5 million Jews have come to America, and that agriculture in that waterless land is impossible. He further argues that the Moslem dedication to the land is such that the British would never, under any circumstance, permit Jewish ownership of any part of the land.

He submits that the spiritual pretensions of Zionism are intellectually dishonest and that rational Jews understand that their true route to success is accomplishment in the fields of science, industry, and arts, and as protected citizens in the enlightened countries in which they live. And, perhaps the worst of all: Morgenthau Sr. makes a point of declaring: I speak as a Jew.

Born in Mannheim, Germany and brought to the United States at age nine, Morgenthau Sr. achieved great success in the fields of law, real estate, and business before commencing his public service career at age 55. An early Wilson supporter, he was disappointed when the president appointed him as ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, but Wilson responded that he had to have a Jew in that position because of the interests of American Jews in the welfare of the Jews of Eretz Yisrael.

He originally declined the offer but later was encouraged to accept by Rabbi Stephen Wise, a close friend. Ironically, Morgenthau Sr.s extreme antipathy for the very idea of a Jewish state led to his resignation as president of the Free Synagogue following a dispute with Wise, who was an ardent Zionist.

When the Ottoman authorities commenced the Armenian Genocide in 1914-1915, Wilson, seeking to maintain American neutrality in the dispute, rejected Morgenthau Sr.s request for American intervention. As the massacres continued unabated, however, Morgenthau Sr. took independent unilateral steps to alleviate the plight of the Armenians, including forming the Committee on Armenian Atrocities, which raised over $100 million in aid, and convincing his good friend Adolph Ochs, the Jewish publisher of the New York Times, to assure continued coverage of the massacres. He finally resigned his post in disgust in 1916.

In June the next year, Morgenthau Sr., in his capacity as a representative of the War Department, commenced a clandestine mission to persuade Turkey to abandon the Central Powers in the war effort. In undertaking his mission, he cited the wretched conditions of the Jews under Turkish rule, but this was only a cover. As additional protection against unwanted interference by the Zionists, both in America and overseas, he enlisted a reticent Felix Frankfurter, considered by some to be a leader of American Zionism (and then assistant to the Secretary of War), to join the mission.

However, few Jewish leaders were fooled. For example, Weizmann correctly saw the delegation as a plot to undermine the Zionist national movement, since any successful peace proposal to Turkey would necessarily reduce dramatically any real possibility of a Jewish state in Eretz Yisrael. Weizmann feared and with good reason that this sudden American interest in Turkey would compromise his ongoing discussions with Great Britain with respect to the Balfour Declaration.

Fortunately, the British also opposed Morgenthau Sr.s mission, but they could not risk alienating President Wilson. Accordingly, Arthur Balfour, the British Foreign Secretary, sent Weizmann to meet with Morgenthau Sr. as an unofficial British representative in Gibralter, where he convinced Morgenthau Sr. to abandon his mission.

It was one of Weizmanns greatest, if generally unheralded, accomplishments. The failure of Morgenthau Sr.s mission enabled England and France, pursuant to the secret Sykes-Picot Treaty, to dismantle the Turkish empire and led to the issuance of the Balfour Declaration.

Morgenthau Sr. was next appointed head of the Morgenthau Commission (July-Sept. 1919) charged with investigating the situation of the Polish Jews after the post-World War I pogroms. The shameful Commission report, published in the New York Times on Oct. 3, 1919, ignored the evidence of atrocities committed against the Jews and, in an attempt to cover up Polish brutalities, attributed the violence to tension and hostile acts perpetrated by the occupation armies and retreating forces.

Notwithstanding his extreme anti-Zionism, Morgenthau Sr. cared to some degree about Jews and Judaism. He appealed to Jewish leader and philanthropist Jacob Schiff on behalf of the Jews in Eretz Yisrael in 1914, which generated $50,000 for the cause. In 1939, with Americas doors all but shut to Jewish refugees, he was able to secure visas for dozens of his relatives and provided financial support to them all.

He also had a strong attachment to Reform Judaism and was very active in religious and philanthropic work. He served as a member of the board of directors of Mt. Sinai Hospital; helped raise funds for the establishment of the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati; served as a Bnai Brith executive committee member; and was president of the Free Synagogue of New York.

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A Tale Of Two Morgenthaus: Zionist And Anti-Zionist - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com

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Posted By admin on November 19, 2020

This Weeks Guest: Matti Friedman

After a decades-long, worldwide campaign to free Soviet Jewry, in the late 1980s the borders of the Soviet Union were finally opened, allowing its Jews to emigrate to Israel. This period saw approximately one million men and women from the former Soviet Union leave and resettle in the Jewish state. They came in fulfillment of Zionist aspirations, in search of material opportunities, and in pursuit of greater freedom.

At the time that the Russians arrived, Israel had fewer than five million citizens, and these new immigrants brought with them an entirely new set of cultural assumptions and practices. They posed a religious challenge as well, as many of them qualified for Israeli citizenship but did not qualify as Jewish under the requirements of Orthodox law.

How did they transform Israel? Its economy? Its culture? Its politics? And how did Israel transform them? In the three decades since they arrived, what has happened?

Thats the subject of Matti Friedmans November 2020 essay in Mosaic, and in this podcast, he joins Mosaics editor Jonathan Silver to probe the miraculous story of the Russian aliyah and what it teaches us about the exceptional spirit of Israeli society and Israeli citizenship.

Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble.

Excerpt (9:43-11:52):

Matti Friedman

Generation 1.5 has this memory of being born in the old country while also having a deep familiarity with the new country, having grown up in it from a very young age, and in the middle they have this experience of being uprooted, which is a very powerful experience as anyone who has immigrated knows. They bring something really interesting into Israeli society, which is a native Israeli identity thats heavily influenced by Russia. They bring it into Israeli schools and they bring it into the army and they bring it into Israeli culture.

For example, Alex Rif, who I mention in the essay, is a poet who two years ago released a book of poetry looking at the experience of immigration, and its not easy to read. A lot of it is quite angry, a lot of its painful, a lot of its a reckoning with Israeli society, which wasnt always nice to these immigrants. I think their experience of landing here in the 1990s was the realization of the Zionist dream, and I think in retrospect its probably the best thing thats happened to the state of Israel since it was foundedyou could argue that point. But in those very grand statements are very painful human stories about people who went from being at home in a place to being homeless; who went from being capable adults in the home country to being helpless in the new country, where they couldnt speak the language, where they were reduced in status. There was this stereotype in the early years of the Russian physics professor cleaning the streets. Their story was not a purely happy, upbeat story, and a lot of thats reflected in Alexs poetry.

Alex Rif is interesting not just because shes a poet but because shes a social activist whose name pops up in almost any context when youre looking into Russians, Generation 1.5, and their experiences in Israel. Shes involved in all kinds of interesting social entrepreneurship; for example, one of the projects I mention in the piece is an attempt to take a Russian holiday and make it Israeli. Her project stated broadly is to make Russian identity a kind of Israeli identity. So not to accept that being Russian is foreign to Israel, but to force the society to admit and accept that being Russian is a legitimate way of being Israeli. I think that thats fascinating, and I think whats also fascinating is that its clearly working.

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Podcast: Matti Friedman on the Russian AliyahThirty Years Later - Mosaic

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Posted By admin on November 19, 2020

In his speech at the signing of his countrys normalization agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, Benjamin Netanyahu offered a profound biblical insight in citing a verse from Psalms May God give strength to His people. May God bless His people with peace. Meir Soloveichik observes:

The biblical reference captured the astonishing transformation in diplomacy that had occurred. The premise of the Oslo Accords of 1993 had been that Israel had to take risks for peace, that only an Israel that was willing to make itself weaker could reach an agreement with the Palestinians, and that only peace with the Palestinians would allow for normalization with the Arab world. Israelis soured on these risks when what followed was not peace, but bus bombings and caf massacres. Now, in a region terrified of Iran, it is not Israeli weakness but strength that makes it so attractive, and an agreement with the Palestinians has been deemed unnecessary for normalization with other Arab countries.

The achievement is not only political in nature. Right before the accord signings, the presidents adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner presented the king of Bahrain with a Torah scroll.

Strikingly, the verse cited by Netanyahu is sung in synagogue every Sabbath as the Torah is returned to the Ark, hinting thereby that what is occurring is religious rapprochement, an embrace by two Islamic countries of the worlds center of Judaism.

On the first day of Rosh Hashanah, [just three days after the signing ceremony], Jews around the world read from the Torah about the separation of Ishmael, by God, from a heartbroken Abraham, and the angel of the Almighty saving Ishmael in the desert. On one of our holiest days, the Jewish focus is, for a moment, not on Isaac, but on the Almightys concern for his elder brother. The Jewish people, no matter how persecuted, always made manifest the bond between them and the rest of humanity, yearning for a moment not when all nations will become Jews but when all will recognize the truth of Abrahams mission, and amity between enemies would be achieved.

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Iran Is Trying to Expand Its Presence in Syria, and Israel Has Struck Back - Mosaic

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Posted By admin on November 19, 2020

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev will be giving two academic credits to students who volunteer with the right-wing movement Im Tirtzu.

The university said the group meets the criteria for organizations who can have volunteers work with them for credit, which includes the organizations commitment that its activities are not political. The university has also recognized 30 other organizations for such credit this year.

The granting of academic credit for social involvement began in 2018. The law to encourage students to volunteer in the community states that academic institutions will give credit for social and community work of at least 30 hours a year, or for at least 14 days of reserve duty. The law says the community work must be done with organizations that are not political or party affiliated.

Last year Im Tirtzus request for recognition by Ben-Gurion University was turned down on a technicality: The university explained that under the regulations, the community work had to be regular and continuous, while the movement was suggesting a program based on one-time activities.

This year the organization submitted another request for recognition. According to sources, the issue was taken up by the universitys legal adviser, who came to the conclusion that there was no grounds for invalidating the organization because the proposed activities were not political but focus on community assistance such as helping the elderly or children at risk, or painting shelters.

Last year the Hebrew University of Jerusalem recognized volunteering with Im Tirtzu for academic credit, but canceled its recognition this year on grounds that it had decided to significantly reduce the number of groups it recognized for volunteer work, limiting it to groups with clear social welfare identities.

Im Tirtzu was founded in 2006 with the aim of strengthening and promoting Zionist values in Israel. In operates 15 branches in academic institutions. A significant part of its activity is battling lecturers with left-wing views.

In 2015 the movements activity on campus at the Hebrew University was suspended for a month, after members interrupted a class by a lecturer who compared them to Nazis. In 2017 Im Tirtzu set up a hotline to report on lecturers who expressed left-wing views, and two years later published the details of some 80 lecturers at several institutions about whom the group had received complaints.

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Israeli university to give credits to students who work with far-right group - Haaretz.com

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Posted By admin on November 19, 2020

After discovering explosives planted along the Israeli-Syrian border, the IDF on Wednesday morning struck a joint Syrian and Iranian military headquarters near Damascus. Ron Ben-Yishai places the attacks in the context of Tehrans efforts to turn Syria into a base for attacking the Jewish state:

A new strategic challenge has surfaced in Syria following a recently signed agreement between Tehran and Damascus, which will allow Iran to transfer state-of-the-art air defense designed to combat Israeli aerial attacks. This agreement is evidence of a new phase in Irans presence in Syria, with increased shipments of anti-aircraft and missile systems to Syriamost of which are Russian-made or acquired from Moscowmeant to bolsters Bashar al-Assads air defenses.

Tehran also threatened to send advanced surface-to-air missiles to Syria, the same ones that shot down an American drone over the Persian Gulf in 2019. There were several attempts to deliver these systems, but according to foreign reports they were always thwarted by the Israel Air Force upon arrival in Syria.

It can be assumed that the installations attacked early Wednesday by the IDF were part of this effort, with Israel sending a clear message that it will not allow Iran to bolster Syrias anti-air apparatuses with Russian-made equipment.

Read more at Ynet

More about: Iran, Israeli Security, Russia, Syria

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The Middle East Is Ripe for Peacemaking Effortsbut Not for Repeating the Mistakes of the Past - Mosaic

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