Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on December 20, 2019

You might call it a guilty pleasure, or pretend you dont really care. But a lot of us were ready for Netflixs A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby, no matter how cringey the first two A Christmas Prince movies were. Yes, there are three.

People love their holiday movies. Thats why Twitter lit up in 2018 when Hallmark announced they were releasing two Hanukkah movies in 2019.

But this year we found out the bitter truth.

Its a Christian movie with a Jew in it, said Dianne Ashton, professor at Rowan University and author of Hanukkah in America: A History.

Hallmarks movie Double Holiday is about a Jewish woman who is forced to plan the company Christmas party.

The other movie, Holiday Date, is about a woman hiring an actor, Joel, to play her date for her familys Christmas. But the woman worries about keeping up the ruse when she discovers Joel is Jewish.

This is simply a way to teach about Christianity, Ashton said. This really has nothing to do with the person being Jewish. It could be anybody else. It could be a Martian.

And its not just a bad plotline an opinion piece inThe Washington Post called them anti-Semitic.

They rely on some of the oldest anti-Semitic tropes in the book, Britni de la Cretaz wrote for The Post. Its the cornerstone of anti-Semitisms conspiratorial mode. Such portrayals of Jewish people as devious, dangerous interlopers manifested in Nazi propaganda and 9/11 conspiracies.

A shooting that killed three people at a kosher grocery story in New Jersey earlier this month was fueled by anti-Semitism, authorities believe.

Its just one example of a growing trend of anti-Semitism in the U.S.

It would appear these kinds of acts of anti-Semitism are now the new normal, Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, which tracks anti-Semitic incidents, told The Wall Street Journal.

Holiday movies might not be able to singlehandedly end anti-Semitism, but they can address misconceptions about the faith and help people understand the importance of Hanukkah, Ashton said.

This is a bad moment right now in our society and I think that these kinds of things actually could be very helpful, she said. Its a very friendly way to learn about Judaism and about Jews without people yelling at each other.

And entertainment companies dont need to reinvent the wheel to do it. Shows like Sesame Street, Blues Clues and Barney have been including Hanukkah and other Jewish traditions for a long time, said Joanna Wilson, author of four books on Christmas entertainment, including Tis the Season TV: The Encyclopedia of Christmas-Themed Episodes, Specials, and Made-for-TV Movies.

So, it seems only natural that we make these part of the movie scene now, Wilson said.

Everyone wants a piece of the holiday movie craze. Netflix has six new holiday movies this year. Hulu and Disney+ have also gotten in on the action. And the TV holiday season started before Halloween.

These movies are big money, Wilson said. People love these things. People love holiday stories.

And once youve seen one of these TV holiday movies, youve pretty much seen them all.

All the Christmas TV movie makers, all the networks, follow the same formula because its just that effective. And its that popular, she said.

But its not laziness that drives extremely similar plot points.

They know exactly what theyre doing, Wilson said. Theres a formula theyre following.

A lot of Hollywood movies are aimed at males, ages 16 to 34, she said. That means theatrical release movies are going to be action filled, outrageous or include Seth Rogan and James Franco.

Even movies like A Bad Moms Christmas follow that formula, she said.

On the other hand, Hallmark is targeting middle-aged women and mothers who want to share the movies with their families.

And its working.

But, Wilson said, that doesnt mean there isnt room for improvement especially when it comes to inclusion.

Both Wilson and Ashton are encouraged that Hallmark and Lifetime are open to the idea of Hanukkah movies. The movies just need to be better, they said.

For starters, a Hanukkah movie should be about Hanukkah, Ashton said.

It sounds simple, but clearly the industry needs a reminder that Hanukkah can stand on its own without Christmas.

Jews want to watch these things, but Christians want to watch Hanukkah traditions too, she said. We share lives with Jewish people.

The movies could show people singing Hanukkah songs, lighting the menorah and eating traditional foods like latkes, or potato pancakes, she said.

There are a lot of things that they could have done in a Hanukkah movie, Ashton said. It would probably show a house that uses all the products that Hallmark sells.

Hallmark has an entire Hanukkah section on its website and sells more than 100 products there, including cards, wrapping paper and dreidels. The website even explains what Hanukkah is.

Buy the menorah candles, dig out the dreidel and get ready for the latkes, the website reads, going on to explain the dates and reasoning behind the holiday. However you celebrate, Hanukkah is about spending time with friends and family, and Hallmark wants to help.

Now, critics are saying its time they put the same effort into their movies.

As popular as holiday movies are, the entertainment industry has a responsibility to be better, no matter whether a film is about Hanukkah, Christmas or another religious tradition, Wilson said.

I think seeing yourself reflected on the screen is important, and the industry itself needs to be inclusive, she said.

While Hollywood at large is making a push for more inclusion, holiday films seem to be lagging behind.

Theyre overwhelmingly white and Christian. Of Hallmarks 24 original holiday movies this year, only two include Hanukkah and four feature black leads down from five in 2018.

I think we should always scrutinize and be critical about the stories that we tell, Wilson said. And we need to be more inclusive behind the screen for Hallmark and Lifetime movies and in front of the screen.

This month, Hallmark took heat for pulling and then reinstating ads that featured marriage and kisses between same-sex couples. The company apologized.

Our mission is rooted in helping all people connect, celebrate traditions and be inspired to capture meaningful moments in their lives, Hallmark president and CEO Mike Perry said in a statement. Anything that detracts from this purpose is not who we are. We are truly sorry for the hurt and disappointment this has caused.

Hallmark needs to practice what they preach, Wilson said.

Our lives are filled with people of color and our lives are filled with same-sex couples and our lives are filled with Jewish friends and family, she said. These movies should reflect that too. Its important.

Heather Morrison is a freelance reporter based in Los Angeles. She reports on religion and disability rights. Follow her onFacebook,TwitterandInstagramfor photos of her dog.

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Where Are the Decent Hanukkah Movies? - Rewire.org

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Posted By admin on December 20, 2019

By Travis Fain, WRAL statehouse reporter, & Laura Leslie, WRAL Capitol Bureau chief

Chapel Hill, N.C. The University of North Carolina system's $2.5 million deal to get rid of the "Silent Sam" Confederate monument will be back before a judge Friday.

A pair of attorneys once attached to UNC, along with several students and a professor, hope to have the agreement tossed and the university's money returned.

The whole thing begs a question: Just who has the UNC system set aside $2.5 million for?

In their latest filing, attorneys for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law calls the Sons of Confederate Veterans "a neo-confederate white supremacist group." The group disputes that, and academics that study white nationalism said the description goes too far.

But some of the SCV leadership is "certainly brushing elbows with people who are ardent supporters of white nationalism," according to UNC-Chapel Hill history professor Fitzhugh Brundage, who studies American history since the Civil War.

Spokesmen for UNC didn't respond Thursday when asked what university leadership, including the Board of Governors, thinks of the SCV or what vetting was done before the deal was struck.

That agreement put $2.5 million in trust so the SCV won't push to return Silent Sam, which was toppled by protesters last year, to the Chapel Hill campus under a 2015 law written to protect Confederate monuments.

A spokesman for House Speaker Tim Moore also didn't respond Thursday. Moore, along with Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, is the person most responsible for appointing the Board of Governors.

Berger's spokesman said leadership wouldn't "Monday-morning quarterback the actions of people who are empowered to make decisions," adding that Berger learned of the Silent Sam deal only a day before it was announced.

Repeated calls to individual members of the Board of Governors have largely gone unreturned. Black students quoted in the court filing that will be before a Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour say the connection between white supremacy and the SCV is clear.

"UNCs $2.5 million payout to a white supremacist organization dedicated to cultivating ignorance and racist beliefs is a slap in the face to me as a black student at a university that claims to support racial diversity and scholarship," Alyassa Boyd said in an affidavit.

"The clear message of that monument is that I am inferior because of the color of my skin, that I deserve and my ancestors deserved to be enslaved, brutalized and exploited to enrich white people, and that white supremacy is celebrated by my university," De'Ivyion Drew said in his affidavit.

Kevin Stone, who heads the SCV's North Carolina Division, said his group exists "to honor the memories of the soldiers who fought in the Confederate military." He compared it to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, but some of the symbols he's been pictured with online raise questions about his ties to troubling organizations.

"These slurs being thrown at the SCV are done by individuals who are pushing their own radical politically correct agendas," Stone said in a statement. "These same people were quiet when the mob of protesters illegally tore down Silent Sam in the first place."

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks white nationalist and other hate groups, doesn't consider the Sons of Confederate Veterans a hate group because they "have no declarative or mission statement where they say that black people (or any race) is inferior," spokeswoman Kimberly Allen said Thursday via email.

"Further, this group does not vilify or demonize groups of people solely on the basis of their immutable characteristics, such as race or ethnicity,"Allen said.

The SPLC considers the SCV "a neo-confederate heritage group that tries to "gloss over the legacy of slavery in the South," she said.

One of the concerns with the Silent Sam agreement is that the SCV will build a new headquarters to house the statue and present it with a revisionist history on the Civil War. The group says on its website that the "preservation of liberty and freedom was the motivating factor in the South's decision to fight the Second American Revolution."

Brundage and other academics WRAL News spoke to said the SCV may not be a white supremacy group, but that doesn't mean it was a good idea to set aside $2.5 million for it.

Adam Domby, a Civil War historian at the College of Charleston, said the membership overlap "between Neo-Confederates and hate groups like the Klan, Neo-Nazis, etc., is striking."

"There is a spectrum of views within the SCV," Domby said in an email. "Many are no doubt honestly sincere in that they don't hate anyone. But the historical narrative pushed by the SCV is a false one that is used to uphold a worldview that supports white supremacist ideologies."

Board of Governors members who worked on the deal said in a recent op-ed that it was the best way to resolve years of controversy, keep the monument off campus and avoid potentially violent protests. Their agreement forbids the SCV from displaying the monument in any of the 14 counties with a UNC campus, and there's an extra $75,000 to keep the group from demonstrating on campus with the Confederate flag for five years.

Brian Levin, head of the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism in California, said the fact that UNC won't share a county with the statute any more "tells you something." Exhibiting this sort of monument, he said, "should be done in a context that involves Ph.D.s, not people who are trying to intimidate people with Confederate flags."

"There's difference between a World War II museum in Washington and folks who'd like to refight it," Levin said.

Stone is also a probation officer in Chatham County and head of the SCV's "Mechanized Calvary Heritage Defense," a group of motorcycle riders within the SCV.

Their slogan is "Ride As You Would With Forrest," a reference to Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate calvary general and an early leader of the Ku Klux Klan.

Since the settlement, some have questioned Stone's connections to clear white supremacy groups, pointing to a motorcycle vest patch he's worn, as well as a hand signal he gave in a recent picture with the Silent Sam statue.

The symbol is an upside down "V" and the patch is similar to the symbol for the Shield Wall Network, an openly white supremacist group based in Arkansas. Shield Wall's "Lambda" symbol is common with white supremacy groups, according to the Anti-Defamation League, which classifies it as a "general hate symbol."

Stone said in written answers to WRAL News' questions that he'd never heard of the group or its founder, Billy Roper, before left-wing protestors started questioning the issue. Roper is no relation UNC Interim President Dr. William Roper, according to a university system spokesman.

Stone said he designed his Lambda patch around 2011 after seeing the movie "300," a fictionalization of the Spartan battle against an invading Persian army in 480 B.C.

"I was struck by the small number of Spartan soldiers involved in the Battle of Thermopylae," Stone said. "I give it out primarily to members of the SCV motorcycle group of which I am the current national commander. This small group does lots of charitable work, and I give it to people who have done lots of service toward this group."

The Anti-Defamation League says the Spartan explanation is a common one for the symbol, and that Billy Roper "once claimed to have chosen the symbol because of the Spartan defense at Thermopylae against the Persians, which is supposed to signify the defense of Europe against 'nonwhite hordes.'"

As for the hand symbol Stone flashed standing next to Silent Sam, he said that's a greeting he gives close friends and other motorcyclists. He said it's a common greeting in the motorcycling community and that "I know of no white supremacist connotation to this greeting, and I do not use it as a white supremacist gesture."

A number of online descriptions indicate it's a common greeting for motorcycle riders, though it typically involves the left hand pointing two fingers down at the road as riders pass. Stone was using his right arm, in front of his chest, standing next to Silent Sam.

Brundage, the UNC history professor, said there's a lot of symbol "cutting and pasting" between white nationalist and heritage groups.

"They are looking for ways to have a nod, a wink, a secret handshake that lets everybody know that you're part of the inner circle," he said, "even though you don't have to say anything that someone who doesn't know the secret handshake would recognize."

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Who is the group getting $2.5M in 'Silent Sam' settlement? - WRAL.com

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Posted By admin on December 20, 2019

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has released a two-part report on the online postingsunder a variety of aliases and on several sitesof David Anderson, one of the two perpetrators of the deadly attack on a kosher grocery store in Jersey City. Emerging from these postings is an amalgam of ideas about Jews and the Bible shaped by Black Hebrew Israelite groups and the Nation of Islamgroups Anderson nonetheless rejected as insufficiently extremeand the fringes of the far-right and far-left. In Andersons view, African Americans are descendants of the biblical Jews, todays Jews are evil impostors, and the former must fight the latter:

The Facebook profile features images of Anderson and hundreds of posts that give evidence of his extreme ideology, including rabid anti-Semitism and hatred of police and white people. There is a distinct and undeniable pattern of virulent rhetoric that indicates deep hostility and a propensity for violence toward his purported enemiesJewish people. . . .

Numerous posts in this Facebook account illustrate Andersons hatred for Jews, whom he sometimes refers to as Khazarsa reference to an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that modern Jews are descendants of an East European tribe from the 11th century. In July 2015 he wrote, Brooklyn is full of NAZIS ASHKE-NAZIS (KHAZARS). He went on to allege that Jews were responsible for murdering black men because the police are their hand now.

The last point is an apparent reference to the canard, propagated by various anti-Israel groups, that American police are trained in brutality by Israeli policeand thus the Jewish state, and American Jewish organizations, bear responsibility for the incidents that sparked the Black Lives Matter movement. The report adds:

In September 2015, Anderson reposted an image which attacked Jewish businessmen for allegedly siphoning money out of the black community. . . . Anderson also believed that Jews created the state of Israel as an attempt to make us believe that they were the Jews (us) that the Bible speaks of and their exodus from Auschwitz was our exodus from captivity.

The first part of the report can be read here,and the more detailed second part at the link below.

Read more at Anti-Defamation League

More about: Anti-Semitism, Black Lives Matter, Jersey City Attack, Khazars, Nation of Islam

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Understanding the Ideology Behind the Jersey City Murders - Mosaic

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Posted By admin on December 20, 2019

By Rabbi Jay Rosenbaum

It has been said that the world is warmer and brighter between December and January than it is between January and December. The reasons are obvious. December is the month of giving and of religious and secular celebrations. For world Jewry, it is the time of the year when we celebrate Hanukkah, our joyous holiday of lights.

In fact, no sooner have we finished eating the Thanksgiving leftovers, on Black Friday, we begin our quest for those perfect gifts for our children and grandchildren. The joy of giving and the reward of seeing happy children as they unwrap their gifts is the essential theme of Hanukkah.

That being said let us not lose sight of the main message of our festival of lights as reflected in the central personalities of the Hanukkah saga, the Maccabees. In addition to transmitting a message of heroism, their valiant war against tyranny, seemingly against insurmountable odds, provides us with direction in addressing the challenges of our day.

The first lesson we learned is resolve and commitment to cause. This is a most important lesson as American Jewry faces an unprecedented rise in anti-Semitism. In New York City, the Anti-Defamation League reported there was a 105 percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents this past year and Jews account for 50 percent of all hate crime victims in New York.

Across Nassau County, there has been a tremendous rise in the number of anti-Semitic incidents this year over the last, and it seems that a day doesnt go by that the news doesnt report another act of hate. The most heinous and heart wrenching occurred in Jersey City with a murderous attack against the JC Kosher Supermarket. But, let us take heart in knowing that we are not helpless. That the status quo need not be accepted nor a portent for the future.

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran in partnership with Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone spearheaded the establishment of a Long Island task force against hate and anti-Semitism. In conjunction with Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder, Curran, ordered the intensification of police presence and patrols during this holiday period at religious institutions and places of assembly.

But, let us not only rely upon our elected officials, but take steps on our own to change the present environment. Let us begin by confronting hate with love, despair with hope and prejudice by promoting understanding and respect. Most importantly, we must build bridges of understanding between the diverse members of our community and be champions in the cause of Jewish unity.

The second lesson of the Maccabees to take to heart is keeping faith with ourselves, most especially when we encounter setbacks, obstacles and reverses in life. Remember, the Maccabees, in addition to their victories, had their defeats. Yet, they stayed the course and won the day. The Maccabees teach us the importance of having faith in God and expressing that faith in ones daily life. Their first act after winning the war against Antiochus IV was rededicating the temple and rekindling the menorah, symbolizing hope, life and faith in God as his Eternal People, a light unto the nations of the world.

Therefore, dear friends, this Hanukkah let us find joy in giving and receiving and take to heart the message of the Maccabees of old. May the light of the menorah, which speaks of love, dispel the darkness of hate and may God bless us and all his children with a New Year of health, happiness and peace.

Rabbi Jay Rosenbaum leads Temple Israel of Lawrence.

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Calling all Maccabees to dispel hate and spread love - liherald

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Posted By admin on December 20, 2019

PewDiePie at the European Premiere of 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' on December 16, 2015 in London.

Topline: After facing years of criticism for his supposed ties to the alt-right, YouTube megastar PewDiePie announced over the weekend that hes taking a break from the platform and deleted his Twitter account, saying that hes tired.

Key background: Kjellberg is YouTubes most popular and recognizable stars, but hes been accused of anti-Semitism and racism over the years. In 2017, Disney stopped advertising with his channel after he paid actors to hold up a sign reading Death to All Jews in several videos (he said it was a joke gone too far). Months later he was caught saying the n-word in a gaming stream and later apologized.

White nationalists have since embraced Kjellberg. The Christchurch shooter used a popular alt-right meme subscribe to PewDiePie in a livestream before he went on to kill 51 people. And in a botched attempt to rehabilitate his image in September, Kjellberg rescinded a planned donation to the Anti-Defamation League, an organization combating anti-Semitism, after saying the donation didnt feel genuine.

Tangent: PewDiePie became the first individual creator to reach 100 million subscribers on YouTube in August, making him one of the most popular creators on the platform. Hes also one of the wealthiest. According to Forbes, Kjellberg raked in $15.5 million in 2018.

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Im Tired: Controversial Star PewDiePie Is Taking A Break From YouTube, Deletes Twitter - Forbes

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Posted By admin on December 20, 2019

The latest eruption of the OK gesture as secret sign of White Power is a video clip from the broadcast of the Army/Navy game.

Ross: No culture wars this Christmas, but we did get a skirmish

You could see two of the cadets nearby making an upside down OK gesture. And if youre wondering why OK suddenly means white power, heres how a spokesman for the anti-Defamation league explained it:

Some people suggest the three fingers looks like a W, and when you have a circle in your hand it looks like a P,' he described.

Yes apparently anybody can just go on the internet, re-define a common gesture, and if they get enough views, we all have to accept it.

Ordo we?

Because it turns out that for middle schoolers, making very same OK sign can mean something completely different. It turns out its part of a super-fun punch-me game if you can get someone else to look at your hand making the gesture, apparently you get to hit them in the arm.

The super-rich have run out of ideas

Just a stupid but harmless little game. So maybe the cadets werent being racist, but just being middle-schoolers.

There will, of course, be a full investigation. However, I am compelled to point out that the confusion over the OK gesture does present the very real possibility that white supremacists making what they think is their secret sign are going to get punched in the arm by a middle-schooler.

Listen to the Seattles Morning News weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to thepodcast here.

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Ross: Do we have to accept new definition of OK symbol? - MyNorthwest.com

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Posted By admin on December 20, 2019

Rob Acker at Dreamforce

When Salesforceannounced plans back in April 2019 to acquire its Salesforce.org philanthropy arm for $300 million, questions were immediately asked about how the move could simultaneously satisfy both Salesforceinvestors and non-profit customers.

Would investors gripe at the inevitable hit to profit margins that would arise from taking on an independent organization, being run as a public-benefit corporation to offer software for free or at highly discounted rates? Or - as seemed more likely - should non-profit customers brace themselves for unpalatable price hikes?

At Dreamforce last month, I got the chance to sit down with Rob Acker, CEO of Salesforce.org and leader of the non-profit/education vertical within Salesforce, to dig a little deeper into the integration of two quite different organizations.

From what he told me, it seems clear that the move is certainly designed to open up new revenue-generating opportunities for Salesforce, particularly from larger non-profits - but Acker also insisted that these types of non-profits are actively asking for the higher value integration/customization services and support that Salesforcecan offer them, as well as greater access to the companys wider portfolio, including recently acquired technologies such as Mulesoft and Tableau. As he put it:

When youre looking at a large non-profit and the opportunity and sophistication that exists in their world today, theres a need to activate supporters and engage with them at enormous scale in order to achieve the impact they want to have in the world.So this move was really driven out of us asking how we could take the full impact of Salesforceand the resources these organizations need to leverage from us in a far more impactful way. And so, through a series of conversations, running over a number of years, it became clear that, by coming together, we could help them achieve that, we could give them the things they really need.

There was also, Acker concedes, a great deal of duplication in the operations of the two organizations, in areas such as R&D and product development, which needed to be eliminated. At the same time, Salesforcehad a great deal of internal expertise and connections to which Salesforce.org needed better access.

You know, [at Salesforce.org] we were focusing on donors and supporters and advocates and fundraisers and so on, who are all individuals, just like a customer in retail or in banking is an individual, too. Im talking about delivering customer outcomes, whoever that customer might be. Salesforcehas made big bets on customer experience - so we found ourselves [the two organizations] kind of working and innovating in parallel paths, which is a bit redundant, right? You know, why would I be building an independent engineering team, when theres this whole team over here at Salesforcethat we should really be paired up with?

And it's also a much more integrated strategy, because Salesforce.com has its own impact and sustainability team, experts in government affairs, all of these different groups. Now that we're operating as one unit, we can do a lot more work with, you know, the United Nations, heads of state, and the national and local government organizations that often fund or partner with non-profits, because were no longer disconnected.

NonProfit Success Pack (NSPS)

But, Acker insisted, its not all about the needs of large non-profits - the likes of the American Red Cross, the Anti-Defamation League, and Habitat for Humanity, for example.

Out of Salesforce.orgs approximately 40,000 customers, there are plenty with headcounts in single figures. They, along with other non-profits of all sizes, can continue to benefit from the free, open source Salesforce NonProfit Success Pack (NSPS), which is developed by Salesforce.org in partnership with a large community of volunteer developers from the nonprofit community. Said Acker:

I have 54% of my engineers dedicated to that open source environment. So yes, there was some concern [among nonprofit customers]: Is that going to go away? And the answer is no, were absolutely committed to that. It was a big concern, and I think we need to be more clear about our plans here. NonProfit Success Pack, and the community around it, is alive and well and its staying.

That said, its worth noting that the essentially free NPSP is now part of the paid-for NonProfit Cloud, launched in June 2018. In effect, NPSP acts as the foundation for NonProfit Cloud and is a data architecture on top of Salesforce to support basic non-profit needs, on which volunteer developers have built a range of applications on a largely bespoke basis. Salesforce NonProfit Cloud, meanwhile, extends the range of standardized, productized features/functions available considerably, in areas including engagement, fundraising and programme management.

In short, its clear that Salesforce is on a mission to create a more profitable business from serving non-profits - and thats not a bad thing, if it opens up services and technologies to these organizations. As Ive written here before, too many non-profits skimp on technology, with the goal of minimising their internal costs in order to pour more money into their philanthropic programs. But, in the process, they miss out on enormous opportunities to create internal efficiencies and extend their reach in ways that ultimately might result in far more funding being available to help beneficiaries.

Salesforces leadership clearly believes that nonprofits are ready to invest - and the companys CFO Mark Hawkins has already assured financial analysts that the dilutive impact on margins from Salesforce.org, which had 2018 revenues of around $250 million, wont last forever. In an analyst call on the day of the announcement, he said:

This is a business that does have a lower operating margin at this stage but its also going to be on a pathway and convergence over time to our overall Salesforce operating margin over the longer term.

As for the prospect of price hikes, assurances have been givenand time will tell. But for non-profits working off of the NPSP platform, the future of this open source community seems secure. Indeed, as the foundation for paid-for, higher-margin products in the form of NonProfit Cloud - and thus a potential gateway to revenue - its prospects may now be brighter than ever.

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Salesforce's Rob Acker - open source NonProfit Success Pack for third sector organizations is "alive and well and staying" - Diginomica

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Posted By admin on December 20, 2019

The Beverly Hills Police Department on Wednesday arrested a suspect in a case of vandalism at a Beverly Hills synagogue over the weekend.

Nathaniel Anton Redding, 24, of Millersville, Pennsylvania, was charged with vandalism of a religious property and commercial burglary, CBS Los Angeles reported.

The charges against Redding also include a penalty enhancement for carrying out a hate crime.

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On Saturday, a suspect described as a white male entered the Nessah Synagogue, a Persian Jewish congregation in Beverly Hills, and vandalized the sanctuary, tearing prayer books and strewing Torah scrolls on the floor.

The criminal who we believe desecrated a holy place on Shabbat is now in custody thanks to the superb work of the Beverly Hills Police Department, Beverly Hills Mayor John Mirisch said in a statement. I said we would catch this guy, and we did.

Redding was arrested in Hawaii in a joint operation between Beverly Hills police and Hawaii Police.

He is being held without bail as he waits for a hearing on inter-state extradition so that he can be sent back to California.

Detectives are reportedly looking into a possible connection between the Nessah Synagogue vandalism and a series of recent graffiti attacks in Los Angeles that have also targeted Jewish property.

On Monday evening three Jewish schools were tagged with anti-Semitic graffiti and later that night and early Tuesday morning some two dozen vehicles were spray-painted in Calabasas.

A swastika and hateful messages including the phrase time to pay were found spray-painted at the American Jewish University in Bel Air, the Westwood Charter School and Milken Community High School on Tuesday, according to a report on the LAist website.

Also Monday night, vehicles were vandalized near the Brentwood and Westwood communities of Los Angeles in a similar manner the LAPD said, according to the CBSLA report.

In September, Free Palestine was spray-painted on the front of the Baba Sale Congregation in the Fairfax district of the city and Six million $ was not enough was drawn in marker on the welcome sign affixed to the gate of the citys Temple Ahavat Shalom.

LAist cited the Anti-Defamation League as stating that there have been 36 such incidents in Los Angeles in 2019.

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Suspect arrested, charged with hate crime for vandalism of Los Angeles synagogue - The Times of Israel

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Posted By admin on December 20, 2019

Scene of Jersey City shooting

Reuters

One of the Jersey City kosher store shooters made derogatory comments about Jews in social media posts, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said on Tuesday, according to JTA.

The ADL announced it had uncovered a Facebook page that it says belonged to David Anderson, one of the two shooters who killed two Jews and a non-Jewish worker at the JC Kosher Supermarket, as well as a police officer at a nearby cemetery last week.

The other attacker has been identified as Francine Graham.

Among other things, Anderson on Facebook referred to Jews as Nazis and Ashke-Nazis and shared images of Jewish people along with the New Testament verse, I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the Synagogue of Satan.

Anderson also said that Jews created the state of Israel as an attempt to make us believe that they were the Jews (us) that the bible speaks of and their exodus from Auschwitz was our exodus from captivity.

Other posts show his hatred for white people, the police and the LGBTQ community, according to the ADL.

Reports last week said Anderson had left behind a handwritten note which said, I do this because my creator makes me do this and I hate who he hates.

State officials said they believe the suspects were motivated by anti-Semitic and anti-law enforcement beliefs and are probing possible ties with the Black Hebrew Israelites, a movement of African-Americans who believe they descended from the biblical Israelites.

The leader of the Black Hebrew Israelite organization condemned the shooting, saying it was unfortunate that the media uses the term Black Hebrew Israelites without distinction as if the description is a one size fits all and it is absolutely not!

Many African-American Jews and Jews of color are threatened by these perpetrators, and by those against the actions of these perpetrators, he said.

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Jersey City shooter referred to Jews as 'Nazis' - Arutz Sheva

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Posted By admin on December 20, 2019

Could President Trump be charged under his own executive order?

I had to ask myself that after he signed an executive order to crack down on anti-Semitism on college campuses, only a few days after insulting his audience in a weekend speech to a national Jewish organization in Florida.

What else can you say about a guy who pats you on the head with one hand and slaps you in the face with the other?

A lot of you are in the real estate business, because I know you very well, Trump told attendees at the Israeli American Councils 2019 national summit in Hollywood, Fla., according to a transcript posted on the White House website. Youre brutal killers. Not nice people at all, but you have to vote for me you have no choice.

Youre not going to vote for the wealth tax, he also said. Yeah, lets take 100% of your wealth away. No, no. Even if you dont like me; some of you dont. Some of you I dont like at all, actually. (Laughter.) And youre going to be my biggest supporters because youll be out of business in about 15 minutes, if they get it.

It should come as no surprise that some other Jewish groups condemned the presidents remarks with such uncomplimentary terms as deeply offensive and vile.

Jewish Democratic Council of America Executive Director Halie Soifer said in a statement Dec. 8 that Trump used anti-Semitic stereotypes to characterize Jews as driven by money and insufficiently loyal to Israel. Jewish advocacy group J Street tweeted that the president is incapable of addressing Jewish audiences without dipping into the deep well of anti-Semitic tropes that shape his worldview.

Well, this is just Trump being Trump, say Trump apologists, and that much is spot-on accurate. Most of his speech talked about his gestures of strong support for Israel, including his decision to move the American embassy to Jerusalem.

And what could be more Trumpian than to sign an executive order on Wednesday targeting what his administration describes as a growing problem with anti-Semitic harassment on college campuses.

Thats a worthy and unfortunately necessary goal. Over the last decade anti-Semitic incidents have grown annually and dramatically to 1,986 incidents in 2017 from 751 in 2013, according to the Anti-Defamation League, which welcomed Trumps executive order.

Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the league, praised Trumps new order for giving police and campus officials a new tool in fighting anti-Semitism.

Members of both parties have proposed similar actions in Congress. But Trumps executive order also poses hazards for those who care about preserving something that is necessary yet regrettably embattled these days: free speech.

For example, the order comes as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against the Israeli government has been rising up on some campuses. The movement began as a protest against the Israeli governments treatment of Palestinians. But over time that legitimate political issue has become intermixed in too many minds to mean opposition to the Jewish state itself.

A more technical but still intriguing sticking point raised by the presidents order is its use of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to withhold federal money from schools that fail to act against discrimination against Jews.

Can Jews, besides being a religion or an ethnic group, be considered a race and therefore a protected class under Title VI? Experts speak eloquently on both sides of that issue, so I dont expect that question to go away soon.

But our president, as he has shown many times, isnt into nuance. If you want to accept the tremendous amount of federal dollars that you get every year, you must reject anti-Semitism, he said. Its very simple.

No, nothing about race, ethnicity and fighting discrimination is simple. Meanwhile the plague of anti-Semitism appears still to be rising, with campuses hardly topping the list of terror threats.

The day before Trumps signing ceremony, two shooters, including one said to have published anti-Semitic posts and to have been a follower of the Black Hebrew Israelite movement, which is hostile to Jews, killed four people in a rampage in Jersey City that appears to have targeted a kosher market before the shooters also were killed.

The Department of Homeland Security recently shifted its strategy to focus on domestic racial terrorism, including white terrorists. Thats a welcome move. So would leadership, not just provocation, from the White House.

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Fight Anti-Semitism One Day, Fuel It the Next - Lynchburg News and Advance

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