Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on November 22, 2019

Around 25-30 Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)-led protesters chanted from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free during pro-Israel activist Hen Mazzigs Nov. 14 speech at Vassar College.

Vassar Organizing Israel Conversations Effectively (VOICE) hosted the Mazzig event, titled: The Indigenous Jews of the Middle East: Forgotten Refugees. The chanting can be heard on video from the event.

Mazzig told the Journal in a phone interview that the chanting went on for 15 minutes outside of the auditorium and it was so loud he couldnt speak until the protesters left.

I was so disturbed, Mazzig said. It was probably the worst talk I gave. Just to hear those chants from the river to the sea Palestine will be free which means death to Israel just so horrible to me.

Prior to the event, Mazzig pointed out that the protesters were handing out flyers accusing Mazzig of pinkwashing, the allegation that Israel provides the LGBTQ+ community with rights to distract from the Israeli governments treatment of Palestinians and stating that Mazzigs queerness will never make up for the violence underlying his advocacy for a settler-colonial occupying state.

It had nothing to do with the talk, Mazzig said. My talk was about Mizrahi Jews. I had to talk about being gay because in the flyers they mentioned it.

Photo courtesy of Hen Mazzig.

Photo courtesy of Hen Mazzig.

He speculated that the protesters had dissuaded people from entering the event because their chants and the music they were blasting were loud.

Vassar College President Elizabeth Bradley addressed the incident in a statement.

A group of students disrupted the speaker by chanting outside the lecture hall for some time, Bradley said. People who were in the lecture expressed that the chanting was intimidating and hard to listen to. The words have been associated by some people with anti-Semitism.

She added that while the university allows for peaceful protest, the students protesting Mazzigs speech violated university protocol with the chanting and the university would address the matter internally.

Vassar aspires to a culture where people feel they belong, where diverse views are welcomed, and where respect for persons is paramount, Bradley said. Today, we let ourselves down in the pursuit of these values. Despite this, I believe in our ability to learn from this event. Given the strong voices on this campus, and the commitment of faculty, administrators, staff and students to education, I remain confident that multiple ideas, even opposing ideas, will continue to flourish.

Mazzig told the Journal that he thought Bradleys statement was weak and that the university should have apologized to him for the incident.

The fact that the [Vassar College] president mentioned that the calls for the destruction of the Jewish state might be considered as anti-Semitic or considered by some as anti-Semitic, no its considered by 97% of Jews as anti-Semitic, Mazzig said. Its just ridiculous and tokenizing to say that it isnt, and no other minority would be treated this way on campus.

Anti-Defamation League (ADL) New York and New Jersey tweeted, This is wrong. Preventing others from speaking is not free speech. We are appalled that some students at #Vassar repeatedly interrupted @henmazzig as he was telling his story to the students that invited him.

In a subsequent tweet, ADL New York and New Jersey praised Bradleys as strong.

StandWithUs CEO and Co-Founder Roz Rothstein said in a statement to the Journal, Anti-Israel activists at Vassar are not seeking to change Israeli policy, but to end Israels very existence. When someone like Hen cant speak without facing hateful chants because of his national identity, our very core values, including the right to free speech, are at risk. We appreciate Vassars president for recognizing that this violated the universitys commitment to the free exchange of ideas, and urge the administration to follow through by holding the disruptors accountable.

Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa (JIMENA) tweeted, Jews in Arab countries were ethnically cleansed just a few years after the genocide of European Jews. Anti-Semites continue to make clear our existence isnt accepted anywhere not even in our indigenous land.

Vassars SJP chapter wrote in a Nov. 15 Facebook post that they had chanted Stop the killing stop the hate, Israel as an apartheid state! and How do you spell justice? BDS! in addition to the from the river to sea chant and then left after 15 minutes.

Although we do not believe that Zionism should have a platform, especially not one funded by our student government, we did not prevent anyone from attending the talk or stop Mazzig from speaking, they wrote.

SJP at Vassar also argued that the from the river to the sea chant is not calling for the destruction of Israel.

The phrase is a popular slogan among a wide range of Palestinian resistance and nationalist groups. It was used by the Palestine Liberation Organization in its 1964 founding and served as a rallying cry during the intifadas and other popular uprisings, they wrote. However, the inception of the slogan comes directly from early Zionists under British Mandatory rule as they were imagining the boundaries of their future state. This conception was later cemented in the 1973 founding charter of Likud, [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahus political party, which states between the Sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty. Subverting this rhetoric with their own use of the phrase, Palestinian activists have articulated their right to live freely in the entirety of their homeland.

They added that saying that anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism obfuscates legitimate criticism of the Israeli government is an anti-Semitic tactic, as it falsely represents the Jewish community and tells them what they ought to believe. SJP at Vassar also called Bradleys statement reckless.

By not providing any detail, or even taking a concrete stance in the statement, Bradleys response plays into Mazzigs tactic of fear-mongering, they wrote. Bradley refers to the chant as potentially anti-Semitic, thereby conveying to Jewish students that they have something to fear without specifying anything that actually happened.

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SJP Protesters Chant From the River to the Sea Palestine Will Be Free During Hen Mazzig Speech - Jewish Journal

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Posted By admin on November 22, 2019

The scene where a man was stabbed whilewalking to synagogue in Monsey Peter Carr, pcarr@lohud.com

Fear gripped the greater Monsey area after Wednesday morning's stabbing of a man walking to synagogue. Shock, they said, should not be mistaken for surprise that such an attack would occur in an area that is home tothousands of Hasidic and ultra-Orthodox Jewish families.

Many pointed to growing tensions between a generally secular Rockland and Ramapo's ultra-Orthodox community, an issue that bubbled up duringthe recent elections.

"The bigotry has been allowed, it has grown, it has involved political parties, Facebook pages," saidRabbi Yisroel Kahan of Monsey.

Ramapo police are continuing the investigation and seeking any information on the incident.Police Chief Brad Weidel said during aearly afternoon news conference on Wednesdaythatthe incident is not currently classified as a hate crime. He said that doesn't mean it won't be classified assuch at some point, but he must follow the statute.

People walk by the scene of a stabbing on Howard Dr. In Monsey Nov. 20, 2019.(Photo: Peter Carr/The Journal News)

MONSEY: Man walking to synagogue is stabbed

The attack took place around 5:49 a.m. along Howard Drive. Ramapo police say the victimwas stabbed and slashed by assailants as he walked to morning prayers at a nearby synagogue. The victim was in critical condition at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, the Trauma I facility for the region.

"A stabbing attack is horrific especially for people within a community who know the victim and in a neighborhood that has otherwise a very low crime rate," said Yossi Gestetner, a founder of the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council, known as OJPAC, and resident of Spring Valley. "If it turns out to be motivated by hate, it sure takes us all in Rockland into unchartered territory."

A representative of the Anti-Defamation League attended the Ramapo Police Department's news conference, and cited a growing number of hate crimes in the New York metropolitan area.

The NYPD continues investigating a string of possible hate crimes inBrooklyn's Hasidic neighborhoods, and has reported a swell of such incidents in 2019. Rockland County has been home to Hasidim for decades.Anti-Semitic graffiti incidents have spread, but law enforcement has reportedfew violent hate crimes.

Meanwhile, rhetoric tinged with negative connotations against Orthodox Jewish voting power has gained steam on social media and elsewhere.

During local elections in November, key races, including for a Rockland Legislature seat that represents an area nearly devoid of ultra-Orthodox residents, the Jewish community's perceived political power served as a focal point.

In the contest for Legislative District 17, which includes Orangetown's riverfront villages, to Blauvelt and Orangeburg, and a bit of West Nyack, incumbent Nancy Low-Hogan, a Democrat, lost her seat toRepublican challenger James Foley of Grand View-on-Hudson.

Attorney Michael Diederich, an independent candidate for Rockland district attorney, speaks to Ramapo Town Board on proposals for zoning update on Aug. 19, 2019.(Photo: Steve Lieberman)

Foley once ran a blog called "Block the bloc," in reference to the strong and often unified bloc vote seen in the ultra-Orthodox community. His campaign signs and literature focused on neutralizing power of what he had called the"Ramapo Mafia."

When asked about the Monsey incident, Foley said, "We do not yet know what motivated these men, so any discussion on their motivation at this point is premature." That said, he added, "no person should ever be the victim of violence or a hate crime. This assault should be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

The recent Rockland District Attorney's race included a minor-party candidate who attempted to make the election a mandate on the quality on Hasidic yeshiva education and intra-community safety of children and families.

Michael Diederich, who ran for Rockland DA on the Serve Rockland line, said law enforcement must investigate to uncover the motivation for the attack. "Ifthis was in fact a hate crime, it is all the more reason for encouraging more interaction between the ultra-Orthodoxand the larger society," the Stony Point resident said."The more both learn about each other, the more understanding will result, and this will help reduce the 'us versus them' thinking that is so destructive in human affairs."

Prior to the September primaries, the Rockland County Republican Committee released a video, "A Storm is Brewing In Rockland," that singled out Aron Wieder, the only Hasidic member of the Rockland County Legislature, andwarns residents of a "takeover" by the Hasidic Jewish community while dramatic music plays and storm clouds roll past. The video, posted on social media, was removed after backlash.

Rockland Legislator Phil Soskin has represented that area of Monsey for the past 17 years. "With all the negative language going on, this act could be imminent," said Soskin, who likened the current rise to the anti-Semitism he saw in 1950s Europe when he served in the Army."The whole climate in the country seems to be changing. Anti-Semitism is on the rise all over." That includes Rockland, the Monsey resident said."So many negative things have been said that stirthe pot. You want to be very careful.

"All of us are very infuriated as to what's going on in our area," Soskin said Wednesday afternoon during a news conference at Ramapo Town Hall.

Reflecting on the tenor in the county, Wieder pointed out that"regular folks in Rockland County put out lawn signs that said 'Beat the bloc.'Those signs are probably still out there."

Ramapo's large and growing ultra-Orthodox community lives amid a diverse community, but in many ways separate from it.

Most in the ultra-Orthodox community send their children to yeshivas, so there is little of the community interaction that often takes place in a public-school setting. Close proximity, yet cultural distance, can been seen in theEast Ramapo district, where families of public-school students, mostly children of color, cite repeated cuts to their schools at the hands of a school board dominated by white men elected by the Orthodox Jewish community.

Sen. David Carlucci, who represents Ramapo, as well as Orangetown, Clarkstown and Ossining, saidhe was awaiting more details on the Monsey assault. "This act of violence is horrific and not reflective of our peaceful community," he said in a statement."Violence or hate of any kind is never tolerated."

Twitter: @nancyrockland

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Ultra-Orthodox community fears what could be behind attack on Monsey man heading to synagogue - Lohud

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Posted By admin on November 22, 2019

NEW YORK (JTA) On our first date nearly nine years ago, my (now) husband resolved to improve Hasidic education. He had grown up in the Belz Hasidic community in Brooklyn, attending Belz schools from nursery through post-high school. But in all those years, he never learned science, geography, history, how to write an essay or how to calculate a tip. Instead, he and his peers devoted as many as 14 hours a day to the study of ancient Hebrew and Aramaic religious texts.

Despite his ambition and vision, he felt handicapped by his inadequate education, which is why I took on a serious role in helping him start Yaffed, an organization that advocates to improve Hasidic education. I have since met dozens more individuals who, like my husband, continue to suffer from their deficient education and want to see change.

Eight years after we started Yaffed, in response to the organizations efforts, New York States Education Department proposed regulations in June that would ensure Hasidic yeshivas provide a decent secular education to their students.

In the next two weeks, the New York City Department of Education is expected to release an updated report on the state of secular education in city yeshivas.

Between now and April, the New York State Education Department will be deciding on whether or not to enforce the proposed regulations of private schools, and the enforcement would begin soon thereafter.

The regulations outline a mechanism by which education officials can uphold the states century-old education law in private schools. The regulations articulate the local school districts role in reviewing all private schools once within the next three years and regularly thereafter to assess whether they are complying with education law and delineate the required subjects and hours of instruction, as well as protocols for schools that are not in compliance.

But two Orthodox lobbying groups, Agudath Israel and Parents for Educational and Religious Liberty in Schools, led a massive campaign this summer in protest. Their campaign rallied over 140,000 individuals to write letters to the state Education Department nearly 90 percent of them coming from the Orthodox community. They claimed that yeshiva education is responsible for producing successful individuals like themselves and yeshivas offer a kind of moral education that cannot be measured by the state. Thus, they argued, the Education Department should not regulate any private schools, but instead should defer to leaders and professionals like themselves within the Orthodox community to self-regulate.

Their assertions, however, are highly misleading and fly in the face of established data.

Reports clearly demonstrate that Hasidic communities have some of the highest rates of poverty and dependence on government assistance in the state and in the country. Though this should seem intuitive, defenders of yeshiva education are claiming the opposite to be the case. Dr. Moshe Krakowski, director of the masters program of Jewish education at the Azrieli School of Yeshiva University, has gone so far as to claim that the religious studies taking place in Hasidic schools might better prepare students for future success than a secular curriculum a claim that finds no support in the data.

A letter to the New York State Education Department signed by 230 Orthodox mental health professionals claims that their own professional achievements are sufficient to refute misguided claims that yeshivas provide inadequate academic preparation for professional success. A letter signed by nearly 600 educators argues that the trope of yeshivas education inferiority is belied by our own academic and professional achievement. And a letter signed by a handful of Harvard Law School graduates allegedly claims that their yeshiva education positioned them for academic success before asserting that the state Education Department should refrain from regulating private schools.

But it is a classic bait and switch: These signatories fail to mention that most of them attended non-Hasidic yeshivas or girls schools, both of which typically provide a copious secular education in addition to a religious studies curriculum.

In non-Hasidic yeshivas, students typically receive an education that includes required subjects such as English, math, history and science for three to five hours each day in contrast to Hasidic boys schools, some offering no secular instruction an all, and others offering a mere hour and a half of instruction in some cases by teachers who are themselves disfluent in the English language.

Another letter to the state Education Department signed by more than 200 rabbis claims that yeshiva education produces prominent leaders in almost every field and provides students with a moral framework for life. But this moral framework argument is a red herring. Plenty of ultra-Orthodox schools manage to teach secular studies in compliance with state requirements without compromising on moral or religious instruction.

Many non-Hasidic yeshivas provide a model that Hasidic schools would do well to follow, prioritizing religious studies while still offering a sound secular education precisely what the states regulations are aiming to ensure.

But without regulations, we have begun to see the opposite trend. Lately, some non-Hasidic yeshivas have been regressing, cutting corners on secular education and coming closer to a Hasidic education model. Without intervention, we will likely see more schools following the Hasidic model and, as a result, poorer economic outcomes in the future among other Orthodox sectors.

It is unconscionable that Orthodox professionals who attended non-Hasidic yeshivas would leverage narratives of their own success to deny Hasidic boys the very educational opportunities that allowed them to thrive. By deliberately obfuscating the issue, Orthodox leaders and professionals demonstrate that they cannot be relied upon to ensure Hasidic children receive a proper education. It is imperative that the New York State Education Department intervene and ensure Hasidic children receive a basic education.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.

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I have been fighting for ultra-Orthodox students for nearly a decade. New York's new regulations are vital for them. - JTA News

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Posted By admin on November 22, 2019

NEW YORK (JTA) Although it hasnt yet been determined whether the brutal stabbing of a young father on his way to morning prayers in Ramapo, New York, was a an anti-Jewish hate crime, it was described by the local police chief as a vicious, violent attack and would certainly fit the ugly pattern of violence against identifiably Jewish Jews over recent months.

Like the 64-year-old rabbi who was hit in the head with a brick while on his daily morning walk in Crown Heights. He was hospitalized with a broken nose, missing teeth, stitches on his head and lacerations on his body.

In another case, a pair of men knocked down a Hasidic man walking peacefully along another Crown Heights street and, along with a third assailant, punched the stunned victim mercilessly.

In Borough Park, surveillance video shows a young man on a bicycle riding up from behind and knocking off the victims traditional fur hat.

In another recorded attack, a Jewish boy of 12 or 13 is surrounded and taunted by much older teens. Incredibly, as they menace their target, the boy just continues walking at the same measured pace. One of the group members violently swings at the boys hat, which flies off.

Another man is shown throwing a brick through the window of a Hasidic girls school in Crown Heights. That same night in Borough Park, at least three identifiably Orthodox men were punched repeatedly by assailants.

A woman and her children were attacked on Rosh Hashanah; the assailant ripped off her wig. Many other attacks were endured where no camera caught them.

To watch the surveillance videos that exist is to be painfully transported to another place and time. But the place on the screen isnt a Polish town and the time isnt the 1930s. The place is usually Brooklyn and the time is now.

What strikes a viewer of the videos is the sheer ferociousness of the attackers. Their victims dont provoke them in any way, but they attack with sheer brutality, striking out with maximum force and gusto.

Some, understandably, see in such crimes the most serious example of raw anti-Semitism in our days.

Anti-Semitic crimes have undergone a dramatic increase in the five boroughs this year, with 163 incidents reported though September, compared to 108 last year during the same time period, according to the New York City Police Department. Anti-Semitic incidents comprise 52 percent of reported hate crimes in New York City.

There is no doubt that many of the crimes are vicious, and no doubt that law enforcement authorities need to give greater protection to residents of Jewish neighborhoods. Increased real-time surveillance and undercover operations are undeniably in order.

But the ugliness of the attacks should not distract us Jews from a greater threat to our well-being and lives.

Because the hoodlums attacking innocent Jews in Brooklyn neighborhoods are, all said, just that: hoodlums.

They arent organized in any way, at least not beyond emulating one another for bragging rights. They are just punks and cowards. What great courage it takes to attack an unarmed and unsuspecting person from behind.

To be sure, no effort should be spared to catch and punish them.

Or to educate them. The ADL is spending $250,000 on No Place for Hate in Brooklyn, which will allow the program to be implemented in up to 40 schools across the borough this academic year, up from 22 at present.

Such efforts are worthwhile, although one wonders whether the sort of young people committing violent crimes are terribly attentive students.

Laudable human energy has been invested, too, in fostering good will among different communities living side by side in Brooklyn neighborhoods.

But the greater threat to Jews and not just Orthodox ones is less visible and thus even more dangerous than street brutes. It is organized, ideology-driven Jew-hatred.

Anti-Semitic ideologies come in a variety of noxious flavors. There is radical Islamist animus and the loathsome demagoguery of Louis Farrakhan, who compares Jews to termites. But when it comes to bombing or shooting up shuls or Jewish community centers, the predominant poison, it cant be denied, is white supremacy.

It is well documented how white supremacists use the web to bond, share advice and make plans. Using the web and social media, neo-Nazis promote wild conspiracy theories about Jews. One white power podcast, Strike and Mike, recently exposed the Impossible Burger, a meatless patty, as a Jewish plot to poison goys and, somehow, to make it impossible for working people to be able to afford meat, make it impossible for working people to drive automobiles, make it impossible for average people to live in an industrial society. It would be hilarious were it not that such fantasies are swallowed whole by intellect-challenged haters.

All anti-Semitism is mindless and evil. And all of it needs to be confronted and countered in every possible way. But we must not allow images of muggings, no matter how horrific and heart-wrenching, to obscure the more malignant machinations humming away day and night, largely undetectable, across cyberspace.

In the end, while no effort should be spared in fostering good relations among neighbors and in fighting hardened haters, we Jews do well to beseech the Creator to protect us from all evil.

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Jewish man repeatedly stabbed outside New York synagogue

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.

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Violence against Jews is reprehensible. But isolated attacks distract us from the bigger threats. - JTA News

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Posted By admin on November 22, 2019

NEW YORK Although it hasnt yet been determined whether the brutal stabbing of a young father on his way to morning prayers in Ramapo, New York, was a an anti-Jewish hate crime, it was described by the local police chief as a vicious, violent attack and would certainly fit the ugly pattern of violence against identifiably Jewish Jews over recent months.Like the 64-year-old rabbi who was hit in the head with a brick while on his daily morning walk in Crown Heights. He was hospitalized with a broken nose, missing teeth, stitches on his head and lacerations on his body. In another case, a pair of men knocked down a Hasidic man walking peacefully along another Crown Heights street and, along with a third assailant, punched the stunned victim mercilessly. In Borough Park, surveillance video shows a young man on a bicycle riding up from behind and knocking off the victims traditional fur hat. In another recorded attack, a Jewish boy of 12 or 13 is surrounded and taunted by much older teens. Incredibly, as they menace their target, the boy just continues walking at the same measured pace. One of the group members violently swings at the boys hat, which flies off. Another man is shown throwing a brick through the window of a Hasidic girls school in Crown Heights. That same night in Borough Park, at least three identifiably Orthodox men were punched repeatedly by assailants. A woman and her children were attacked on Rosh Hashanah; the assailant ripped off her wig. Many other attacks were endured where no camera caught them. To watch the surveillance videos that exist is to be painfully transported to another place and time. But the place on the screen isnt a Polish town and the time isnt the 1930s. The place is usually Brooklyn and the time is now.What strikes a viewer of the videos is the sheer ferociousness of the attackers. Their victims dont provoke them in any way, but they attack with sheer brutality, striking out with maximum force and gusto. Some, understandably, see in such crimes the most serious example of raw antisemitism in our days. Antisemitic crimes have undergone a dramatic increase in the five boroughs this year, with 163 incidents reported though September, compared to 108 last year during the same time period, according to the New York City Police Department. Antisemitic incidents comprise 52 percent of reported hate crimes in New York City.There is no doubt that many of the crimes are vicious, and no doubt that law enforcement authorities need to give greater protection to residents of Jewish neighborhoods. Increased real-time surveillance and undercover operations are undeniably in order. But the ugliness of the attacks should not distract us Jews from a greater threat to our well-being and lives.Because the hoodlums attacking innocent Jews in Brooklyn neighborhoods are, all said, just that: hoodlums. They arent organized in any way, at least not beyond emulating one another for bragging rights. They are just punks and cowards. What great courage it takes to attack an unarmed and unsuspecting person from behind.To be sure, no effort should be spared to catch and punish them.Or to educate them. The ADL is spending $250,000 on No Place for Hate in Brooklyn, which will allow the program to be implemented in up to 40 schools across the borough this academic year, up from 22 at present.Such efforts are worthwhile, although one wonders whether the sort of young people committing violent crimes are terribly attentive students.Laudable human energy has been invested, too, in fostering good will among different communities living side by side in Brooklyn neighborhoods. But the greater threat to Jews and not just Orthodox ones is less visible and thus even more dangerous than street brutes. It is organized, ideology-driven Jew-hatred.Antisemitic ideologies come in a variety of noxious flavors. There is radical Islamist animus and the loathsome demagoguery of Louis Farrakhan, who compares Jews to termites. But when it comes to bombing or shooting up shuls or Jewish community centers, the predominant poison, it cant be denied, is white supremacy.It is well documented how white supremacists use the web to bond, share advice and make plans. Using the web and social media, neo-Nazis promote wild conspiracy theories about Jews. One white power podcast, Strike and Mike, recently exposed the Impossible Burger, a meatless patty, as a Jewish plot to poison goys and, somehow, to make it impossible for working people to be able to afford meat, make it impossible for working people to drive automobiles, make it impossible for average people to live in an industrial society. It would be hilarious were it not that such fantasies are swallowed whole by intellect-challenged haters. All antisemitism is mindless and evil. And all of it needs to be confronted and countered in every possible way. But we must not allow images of muggings, no matter how horrific and heart-wrenching, to obscure the more malignant machinations humming away day and night, largely undetectable, across cyberspace. In the end, while no effort should be spared in fostering good relations among neighbors and in fighting hardened haters, we Jews do well to beseech the Creator to protect us from all evil.RELATED:Jewish man stabbed repeatedly outside New York synagogueThe views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.

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Isolated attacks on Jews distract us from the bigger threats - The Jerusalem Post

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Posted By admin on November 22, 2019

Tanqueray managed to get out of prison and secured a scholarship to the Fashion Institute of Technology. She hated attending the school but said she loved the fact that it led her to her real passion for designing clothes and costumes for strippers and porn stars in the old Times Square.

"All I did was gay bars: drag queen contests, Crisco Disco, I loved the whole scene. And I couldnt get enough of the costumes. My friend Paris used to sit at the bar and sell stolen clothes from Bergdorf and Lord and Taylors, back before they had sensor tags," she said in the viral posts, which racked up millions of views and likes on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

"So I had the best wardrobe: mink coats, 5-inch heels, stockings with seams up the back. I looked like a drag queen, honey. One night a Hasidic rabbi tried to pick me up because he thought I was a tranny. I had to tell him: Baby, this is real fish!' the post read.

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'Baby This Is Real Fish': Internet Demands Ex-Stripper With Wild Life Stories And A Knack For Telling Them Get A Book Deal - Blavity

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Posted By admin on November 22, 2019

Israelis Maayan Kline and Ashriel Ashush may look like just another young tourist couple traveling around the United States in a van with their dog, a Belgian Malinois named Benzi. But these are no ordinary tourists. Two of them are also genuine heroes, and one of those heroes is the dog.

A few months ago, they arrived at Chabad of Solano County in Vacaville while traveling in their 2004 Dodge Ram named Nissim (Hebrew for miracles). Their trip through California followed an extended tour of Asia and India that started after they married two years ago.

We were couch-surfing in Vallejo, planning to go to Napa and Sonoma, and we Googled Jewish in the area, and Chabad of Solano County came up, so we called here, Kline said.

Security concerns were the first thing Rabbi Chaim Zaklos said came to mind when he got the call. I was skeptical, even though they were speaking in Hebrew, so I asked if they knew any rabbis, and one they mentioned was a former classmate of mine who is now in Cambodia, Zaklos recalled. He verified he knew them, and all was well.

We had intended to stay just for one weekend, said Ashush, 33, but when we went to start Nissim that Sunday, it wouldnt start, and we came to feel comfortable and welcomed, and that began our extended stay here.

The trio has been a definite conversation starter, Zaklos said. They have been contributing to the community at least as much as were contributing to their journey, he said. And theyve contracted some of the contagious Hasidic joy since theyve been here. They greet visitors with that, and their youthful spirit. We feel this is our small way of showing our appreciation to those who have served our people in the Holy Land.

Kline, 26, actually met Benzi before she met Ashush. She served in a K-9 unit in the Israel Defense Forces, and the dog was trained in explosives and munitions detection. Both were part of a team that searched a captured Iranian ship in the Red Sea in 2014, uncovering a cache of rockets believed destined for Sudan.

Kline trained for nearly a year in the elite Oketz K-9 unit before Benzi was assigned to her. The dog had washed out of the attack unit and joined her in munitions detection. (There are separate K-9 units that train for attack, chases, rescues and finding bodies, she said.)

He was nervous, but it was love at first sight, she said.

She and Benzi were involved in sniffing out hidden ammunition, firearms and underground explosives factories, going into homes and other buildings in the West Bank and sometimes facing residents who were violently opposed to their presence. The first time we were shot at, Benzi pooped, she said.

The Eilat mission on the Red Sea, one of Klines first, began with a phone call on a Friday as she made her way home for the weekend.

Intelligence already knew there were munitions hidden on the ship, among the stuff that was supposed to be there soil, I think, she said. We didnt know if the crew knew and were in on it or not. The navy had captured and boarded the ship the night before, and we needed to determine if the crew were combatants or not, and we had to get there as quickly as possible.

The mission got a lot of attention and a team commendation.

The prime minister and the president came and spoke to us, gave us credit for working so hard, Kline said. It was obvious that we may have saved millions.

When her military service was up, Kline set out to accomplish her childhood dream of traveling the world. She wanted to take Benzi with her, but the army wasnt ready to release him from duty. So she submitted a petition for his release and in the meantime went to Africa, until she finally received word she could take Benzi home.

Theyd tried pairing him with several other handlers and none of them worked out, Kline said. He was too attached to me and me, too so they let me take him. My parents wouldnt let me bring a dog home, so I found a place to live in Jerusalem and got a job at a restaurant.

Thats where she met Ashush, a teacher and massage therapist with Tunisian Jewish roots. The two quickly discovered a mutual love of traveling. Im not satisfied with my small world. I wanted to explore. This is how I learn best seeing the people and the cultures, said Kline, whose father is from Zimbabwe and mother from the U.S. I told Ash immediately that this was my plan, and we decided we would do this together.

The pair made trips to Eastern Europe and it became obvious that this was meant to be, she said. So, two months after we were married, we left.

While traveling through Asia and India, the newlyweds stopped at Chabad houses some 25 of them along the way. In Thailand, Ash ran into someone he knew who suggested he and Kline come to L.A. and stay with him. Thats how they ended up in California, where they were finally able to send for Benzi.

The couple agrees that the where and when of their journey is being directed by a higher power, so they dont yet know when theyll be moving on or where their next stop will be.

This is an amazing journey. Its the people we meet along the road where we find community and inspiration, Ashush said. Hes come to believe that the Jews earthly mission may be to learn how to get along with each other, so we can teach [that secret formula] to the world.

Added Kline: Our journey is about finding the truth for ourselves. And weve found that deep down, most of us all want peace.

Despite their love of travel, they say there is still no place like home.

When we decide to settle down, they said, we will obviously go home to Israel.

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An Israeli couple, a hero dog, and a van that wouldn't start - The Jewish News of Northern California

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Posted By admin on November 21, 2019

Jews first arrived in what is today Iraq in the sixth century BCE, after the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar sacked Solomons Temple. It was from there that Ezra and Nehemiah led returning exiles back to Jerusalem. It was there that the Babylonian Talmud was debated, compiled, and codified. And it was there, in 1941, that the Farhuda violent pogromleft hundreds of Baghdads Jews dead and thousands injured.

While there were many phases in this 2,600-year-long history, Jews knew numerous prosperous periods in the land between the two rivers. They were politicians, jurists, doctors, businessmen. There was even a Jewish Miss Baghdad.

Today that community is all but gone.

In the prologue, My Heart Is in the East, host Mishy Harman talks to Edwin Shuker, whose family fled Baghdad in 1971, about his hopes for a new Golden Age for Iraqi Jews.

Act I: You Cannot Clap With One Hand. This is a story of daring escapes, ISIS, volunteerism, and the endless human spirit. Oddly enough, it is also a story of the legacy of the Holocaust. While generations of Israeli high school students have visited concentration camps and promisedin sincere voicesnever again, a Jewish grandma from Jerusalem named Lisa Miara made never again the guiding principle of her life. Producer Joel Shupack brings us a tale of one fearless woman who was compelled, because of what happened to her own people less than 80 years ago, to get up and act.

Ari Wenig wrote the original music in You Cannot Clap With One Hand. Joel Shupack arranged the music for the rest of the episode, and for parts of Act I with music from Blue Dot Sessions. Shai Satran and Mishy Harman edited the story, and Sela Waisblum mixed the episode, which was recorded in Jonathan Friedlanders Quality Sound Studio in Jerusalem. The end song is a new cover we commissioned of Boney M.s Rivers of Babylon. It was recorded, arranged, and performed by Shay Perry.

Listen to the full episode here, or download it from iTunes. You can hear all of Israel Storys episodes in English here and in Hebrew here.

Israel Story, the English-language version of the popular Israeli radio program Sipur Israeli, is distributed by PRX and produced in partnership with Tablet.

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By the Rivers of Babylon - Tablet Magazine

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Posted By admin on November 21, 2019

The Bank of Lithuania is planning to issue a new collectable 10 coin to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the birth of leading 18th century Jewish thinker the Vilna Gaon.

Born in 1720 as Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, the Vilna Gaon was a prominent Jewish adjudicator and the foremost leader of the Misnagdim, a countermovement to the Hasidic movement in eastern Europe. Through his commentary on the Talmud and other texts, he became one of the most familiar and influential figures in rabbinical study since the Middle Ages.

The front of the coin

The coin is set to be released in the second quarter of 2020, and will be the continental currency's first mintage to feature an inscription in Hebrew.

The obverse of the coin bears the symbol of Lithuanian Jews (Litvaks) a stylized menorah representing the community's identification as citizens since the 14th century reign of Gediminas, the Grand Duke of Lithuania.

Above it is the denomination (10), below is the inscription LIETUVA (meaning 'Lithuania' in the local language), the year of issue (2020), the hallmark of the creative team and the mintmark of the Lithuanian Mint.

The coin is encircled with the inscription The Year of the Vilna Gaon and the History of the Jews of Lithuania in Lithuanian and Hebrew, as well as the number 5780 - the year in the Jewish calendar that corresponds to 2020.

The back of the coin

The reverse of the coin bears two signs: the Hebrew crown-shaped letter Shin () which in gematria (attributing a numerical value to letters) represents the number 300, to commemorate the 300th anniversary of his birth, and " an acronym for Ha Gaon Rabbi Elyahu, meaning Gaon (Genius) Rabbi Elijah.

Pad-printing technology was used to highlight the abbreviation of his name and the letter Shin.

The bottom of the coin features a symbolic Torah scroll bookending the engraved number 300. The reverse also bears the inscriptions the Vilna Gaon and Rabbi Elijah ben Solomon Zalman in the Lithuanian and Hebrew languages.

The new doubloon will be released under the motto "Vil, nor Gaon" - a popular Yiddish phrase common among Litvak families since the times of the Vilna Gaon which roughly translates to If you will it, you too can be a genius and encourages children to achieve their goals.

Israeli Ambassador to Lithuania Yossi Avni-Levy praised the Lithuanian Mint's gesture.

"This is a very beautiful tribute on behalf of the Lithuanian government to the glorious Jewish heritage of Vilnius on the 300th anniversary of the Gaon's birth," said Avni-Levy.

But not everyone is content with this new commemorative initiative, as claims emerge that the hollowed-out menorah symbol on the coin's observe - representing the Lithuanian Jewry - has been appropriated by far-right and neo-Nazi groups in the Baltic state.

Vilnius-based Jewish author and educator Dovid Katz protested the mint's action on Defending History, a web journal combating Holocaust revisionism in Eastern Europe.

"Genuinely good intentions have apparently been undermined by taking bad advice from ultranationalist quarters and in some cases, their ever-enthusiastic agents and honorees," wrote Katz.

"When the symbol occurs in medieval forms and contexts, in interwar contexts, and today on official government agency emblems, it is benign and legitimate. The point is that in recent years and decades it has been weaponized as a symbol beloved of the antisemitic far-right."

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Lithuania to issue first-ever euro coin featuring Hebrew inscription - Ynetnews

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Posted By admin on November 21, 2019

On May 4, 1945, five days after Hitlers death, African-American soldiers in the 761st Tank Battalion led the liberation of nearly 15,000 Jewish prisoners at the Gunskirchen concentration camp in Austria.They had sacrificed mightily to get there, suffering heavy casualties during the Battle of the Bulge. Even before arriving in Europe, they had sacrificed, having battled for the right to join combat units reserved for white soldiers.They were true heroes who, in the face of oppression at home, fought to defend oppressed Jews in a foreign land. When the soldiers of the 761st arrived back in America, they were greeted by segregation and Jim Crow. The benefits of the G.I. Bill, which expanded the economic horizons of so many white veterans by offering them housing and higher education, were largely not extended to African-Americans.But unlike before the war, African-Americans were not alone. In the decade after the World War II ended, over 100,000 displaced Jews immigrated to the United States. Fresh in their memories were the faces of their liberators, white and black alike.These survivors were stunned to find a whole race of people treated as second-class citizens in the United States, the country that had ensured the survival of the Jewish people.So began what is now often referred to as the golden age of black-Jewish relations, during which time Jews and African-Americans fought side by side for civil rights. In the 1950s, the NAACP and Anti-Defamation League worked together to combat segregation. Jews notably made up almost half of those who led the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer, when hundreds of activists organized to register black voters, and three two Jews and one African-American were murdered by local police connected to the KKK.IN 1965, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, arguably the greatest Jewish theological leader of his era, marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge with the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., reflecting the powerful alliance that existed between the two peoples. It would be impossible, Dr. King once said, to record the contribution that the Jewish people have made toward the Negros struggle for freedom it has been so great.Though the bonds forged through mutual struggle and suffering were strong, the decades that followed the civil rights movement saw the relationship between Jews and African-Americans fray. Various policy disagreements led to political disconnects, and the resulting gap has left both our peoples vulnerable, as racism and antisemitism have risen around the world.The data paint a grim picture. In 2018, the United States faced a 105% rise in antisemitic assaults, while the overall number of antisemitic incidents in the country remained near the all-time high set in 2017. Hate crimes, particularly those against African-Americans, rose in the United States for the fourth straight year. Indeed, blacks and Jews are targeted at similar rates; 23% of all hate crimes reported in major American cities were against blacks, while 19% were against Jews.Today, cities like Poway, Pittsburgh and Charleston are connected by the shared experience of atrocity, often perpetuated by individuals who hate both Jews and African-Americans. Just this month, the FBI foiled an alleged white supremacists plot to bomb a synagogue in Colorado.We are not idle in the face of these challenges. As current and former Trump administration officials, we spend our days working to advance American interests around the world. Ensuring equal opportunity, equal access, and the right to be who we are without fear of persecution are foremost among our priorities.Nevertheless, there is much more Jews and African-Americans can do to stand together as a united front. Our two groups have a long history of supporting one another during the most trying times, and this moment in history demands a commensurate commitment.It demands a higher level of service from all of us in the name of rejecting hate and combating racial, ethnic and religious intolerance.It demands that those of us who have enjoyed the freedom to embrace our identities lift up those around America, and around the world, who have been less fortunate.And it demands that we unite around our shared history as we work together to ensure that our heritage is preserved ledor vador, from generation to generation.Its time for Jews and African-Americans to renew our proud tradition of mutual support that sustained our peoples through some of historys greatest challenges. By joining forces, championing each other, and leveraging our combined power to speak and stand up for whats right, we will ensure that future generations enjoy a world free of bigotry and persecution.Paul Packer is the chairman of the United States Commission for the Preservation of Americas Heritage Abroad, a federal agency that protects and preserves historic sites of significance to American citizens. Dr. Kiron Skinner served as US President Donald Trumps former director of public planning at the State Department and is a Hoover Institution research fellow.

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Time to rekindle the tradition of mutual support - The Jerusalem Post

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