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Westwood school working with synagogue after finding swastika – My Fox Boston

Posted By on February 16, 2017

Updated: Feb 15, 2017 - 5:53 PM

WESTWOOD, Mass. - A swastika was found scrawled inside a classroom at Westwood High School and the principal has reached out to the local synagogue for help.

It was a small symbol about the size of a half dollar found on a bulletin board in one of our English classrooms, said Dr. John Antonucci, superintendent of the Westwood Schools System.

Antonucci says it's not the kind of behavior he'd expect from this community, and in his 12 years as superintendent, he has never had an incident like this happen.

We really consider it an attack on our core values, he said.

The high school principal immediately emailed parents and also reached out to a local synagogue just down the street to get them involved in the discussion.

Westwood's a small community so we really feel close with all our neighbors and we want all students especially to feel very comfortable in school and in the town, said Rabbi Karen Citrin of Temple Beth David.

Rabbi Karen Citrin said that Westwood High students who belong to the temple were upset when they learned about the swastika.

We've spoken with some of them and I know they really want to work with the school as well to help spread that message of positive relations, she said.

Rabbi Citrin has offered to visit the school and educate students about what the swastika symbolizes for Jewish people and other minorities who were persecuted during the Holocaust.

Any incident like this is a teachable moment - and we haven't done anything formal with our student body yet it's something we're considering and we're hoping it was a one-time incident and we never have to talk about it again, said Antonucci.

The investigation into who drew the swastika remains open.

2017 Cox Media Group.

Originally posted here:
Westwood school working with synagogue after finding swastika - My Fox Boston

Intermarried couples form community with each other outside the synagogue – The Times of Israel

Posted By on February 16, 2017

NEW YORK (JTA) Leading up to their wedding in 2012, Julianne and Jason Kanter hadnt really discussed how they would incorporate their respective religions into their home.

Julianne was raised by Catholic and Presbyterian parents, while Jason grew up culturally Jewish. At first, it was simple to mark their different backgrounds. In December, the couple celebrated Christmas with Juliannes relatives and lit a menorah and served latkes at Christmas dinner.

But now that theyre thinking of having kids, the Kanters have started to talk religion more seriously. And they realized they needed a space to learn about Judaism without the expectations that came with joining a synagogue.

To talk about how are we going to incorporate Judaism into our lives what does that mean? What will that look like? Julianne Kanter said. I didnt know enough about it to feel comfortable teaching my kids about it.

Since last year, the Kanters have found Jewish connection through a range of initiatives targeted at intermarried or unaffiliated couples. Last June, they went on a trip with Honeymoon Israel, a Birthright-esque subsidized tour of Israel for newlywed couples with at least one Jewish partner. And in the months since, they have built community at home in Brooklyn through two discussion groups where intermarried couples get together to meet, eat and talk about shared challenges and experiences.

In one group, called the Couples Salon, five to six couples share a light meal, introduce themselves and drop questions they have prepared in advance into a bowl. A moderator who can also participate picks out a question and the group talks whether about how to deal with familial expectations, how to celebrate holidays or how to share a ritual with your kids. The salons have happened once a month, with different couples, since August.

A holiday pageant recently put on by the New York metropolitan area Interfaith Community. (Nathaniel Johnston)

We wanted the perspective of people who were in similar situations, which the synagogue is not, Jason Kanter said. It was nice to go to a group where everyone was in the same sort of boat. Theres real dialogue rather than someone telling you their opinion of what your situation is.

A growing number of initiatives are giving intermarried couples a Jewish framework disconnected from synagogue services and outside the walls of legacy Jewish institutions. Instead of drawing them to Judaism with a preconceived goal, these programs allow intermarried couples to form community among themselves and on their own terms.

Im not a synagogue. Im not expecting them to join. Im not expecting them to convert

I wanted to find a way to create a space for couples that come from mixed religious backgrounds to ask questions in a safe space, said Danya Shults, who runs the Couples Salons as part of Arq, a Jewish culture group, and organized her fifth salon earlier this month. Im not a synagogue. Im not expecting them to join. Im not expecting them to convert.

The salons began last year, as did Circles of Welcome, a similar initiative by the JCC Manhattan, where five to seven intermarried or unaffiliated couples meet monthly, usually in someones home, to learn and talk about Judaism with a rabbi or rabbinical student who serves as mentor. In Northern Californias Bay Area, two somewhat older programs, Jewish Gateways and Building Jewish Bridges, offer group discussions, classes and communal gatherings for intermarried couples.

Danya Shults (Bridget Badore/via JTA)

The programs are at once a reaction to rising intermarriage rates and to the rejection that intermarried couples have long experienced from parts of the Jewish community. While most Jews married since 2000 have wedded non-Jews, the Conservative and Orthodox movements do not sanction intermarriage, while the Reform movement, the most welcoming to intermarrieds of the three largest Jewish denominations, encourages conversion for the non-Jewish spouse.

Because of the history of interfaith families not being welcomed and not being accepted that has meant, in some instances, for interfaith families that want to experience Jewish life, they have to figure that out using other resources, said Jodi Bromberg, CEO of InterfaithFamily, which provides resources for intermarried couples exploring Jewish life and inclusive Jewish communities.

Often, said Honeymoon Israel co-CEO Avi Rubel, intermarried couples also have friends from a range of backgrounds. So theyre uncomfortable with settings that, by their nature, are not meant for non-Jews.

Illustrative screen capture of a Honeymoon Israel interfaith couples trip to Israel. (YouTube/Avi Rubel)

When it comes to building community and meeting other people, people want to bring their whole selves into something, Rubel said. Which often in America means being inclusive of non-Jews and other friends. When theyre at a Jewish event, they dont want it to feel exclusionary.

Mainstream Jewish organizations have become more supportive of including intermarried families. Several Conservative rabbis have voiced support for performing intermarriages, and the movement is set to allow its congregations to accept intermarried couples as synagogue members. Honeymoon Israel, launched in 2015, is funded by various family foundations and Jewish federations.

But organizers of the independent initiatives, and intermarried couples themselves, say even a welcoming synagogue can still be an intimidating space. The couples may not know the prayers or rituals, may feel uncomfortable with the expectation of becoming members, or may just feel like theyre in the minority.

The people that fit the demographic of the active group are the people who feel most welcome

Its a privilege of inmarried Jews with children in any social circumstance, said Steven M. Cohen, a Jewish social policy professor at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, referring to synagogue membership. The people that fit the demographic of the active group are the people who feel most welcome.

Rabbi Avram Mlotek, a Circles of Welcome mentor and Orthodox rabbi, says his movements staunch opposition to intermarriage doesnt come into play as he teaches couples about Judaism.

Because of my own commitment to my understanding of halacha, there will be areas in which the couples and I will not see eye to eye, he said, using a Hebrew term for Jewish law. But thats like the 10th or 15th conversation. Thats not the first or second or third or even fifth. Theres so much more to learn about them, and for me to be able to share also about myself, before even getting to that point.

That doesnt mean intermarried Jews will remain forever separate, said Rabbi Miriam Farber Wajnberg, who runs Circles of Welcome at the JCC Manhattan. She sees the program as a stepping-stone to a time when the larger community is more open to non-Jewish spouses.

We expect and hope that this program wont need to exist in the future, that we wont need to create a special program to help couples get access to Jewish life, she said. It will just be happening automatically.

But Julianne Kanter, who facilitated her own Couples Salon on February 8, isnt sweating over which synagogue to join. She said that for now, she and her husband feel a sense of belonging in the intermarried groups that have formed.

To me, I feel like these are the people who get us, she said. This is our community, and were just really lucky.

Jason and Julianne Kant
er started talking about religion more seriously when they started to think about having children. (Courtesy of Julianne Kanter/via JTA)

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Intermarried couples form community with each other outside the synagogue - The Times of Israel

Five Boroughs Music Festival Presents East of the River on 3/16 – Broadway World

Posted By on February 16, 2017

Five Boroughs Music Festival (5BMF) presents the adventurous world-music ensemble East of the River in their new program, SULTANA: Music of the Sephardic Diaspora, on Thursday, March 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Congregation Beth Elohim in Park https://us.vocuspr.com/Publish/3318684/vcsPRAsset_3318684_88987_0d249e23-ca40-4948-bb45-e6b83ee4ecb9_0.jpegSlope, Brooklyn.

The program celebrates the ancient musical world of the Sephardic Jewish diaspora in North Africa and throughout the Ottoman Empire, taking the audience on a journey through bazaars, kitchens, dance circles, prayer houses, and public spaces. Founded by woodwind virtuosos Daphna Mor and Nina Stern, East of the River explores haunting and captivating melodies from the traditional repertoires of the Balkans, Armenia, and the Middle East, as well as from the Medieval European classical repertory. SULTANA is inspired by the experiences of Mor's own Sephardic great-grandmother, Sultana Magrisso, who emigrated with her family from Bulgaria to British Palestine in 1944, traveling through Greece, Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon.

Five Boroughs Music Festival's 2016-17 season concludes with a performance entitled OFF THE BEATEN TRACK: Chamber Works from Moravia, the Netherlands, Sweden, Poland and beyond by early music group Quicksilver on Friday, May 12 at 7:00 p.m. at King Manor Museum in Jamaica, Queens, and on Saturday, May 13 at 7:30 p.m. at Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

Tickets for the East of the River concert-priced at $25 for general admission, $15 for Congregation Beth Elohim members, seniors and students-are available by visiting http://www.5bmf.org. Tickets for all other 5BMF concerts are also available by visiting http://www.5bmf.org.

Program Information

EAST OF THE RIVER

Nina Stern, recorders & chalumeau Daphna Mor, recorders & voice John Hadfield, percussion Kane Mathis, oud Jesse Kotansky, violin

Thursday, March 16, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. Congregation Beth Elohim 274 Garfield Place Brooklyn, NY 11215

About East of the River East of the River, founded by internationally-renowned recorder players Nina Stern and Daphna Mor, explores the timeless gems of the Medieval European classical repertory together with virtuosic and haunting melodies of the East. Focusing on the traditions of the Middle East, Armenia, North Africa and the Balkans, East of the River's music is arranged and interpreted by musicians whose backgrounds include classical, jazz and world music.

The group has performed on concert series including San Francisco Society for Early Music, Early Music Now (Milwaukee), Madison Early Music Festival, Academy of Early Music (Ann Arbor), Indianapolis Early Music, Five Boroughs Music Festival (New York, NY) Chautauqua Institution, Montclair State University's Peak Performances, the Logan Series at Penn State Erie, and in New York City venues as varied as Bargemusic, Joe's Pub, Le Poisson Rouge, Brooklyn Public Library and often performs at WQXR's annual Chanukah celebration at The Greene Space.

Stern and Mor, called "recorder virtuosos" by The New York Times, each have impressive careers as soloists and chamber music players and have appeared as a duo with the New York Philharmonic, Orchestra of St. Luke's, Music Before 1800, and the world music ensemble Pharoah's Daughter. In East of the River, Stern and Mor are often joined by varied performers such as acclaimed Turkish kanun virtuoso Tamer Pinarbasi, Balkan violinist Jesse Kotansky, and renowned percussionists Shane Shanahan and John Hadfield. Other collaborators include hammered dulcimer star Max ZT, composer/accordionist Uri Sharlin, oud/bass player Omer Avital and percussionist Glen Velez. East of the River's various artists have recorded and performed with artists Yo-Yo Ma, Philip Glass, Jordi Savall, Sting, Natalie Merchant, Aerosmith, Simon Shaheen and many others.

East of the River has recorded two albums: its self-titled debut album and Levantera.

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Five Boroughs Music Festival Presents East of the River on 3/16 - Broadway World

Abby Stein Opens Up On Her Journey From Hasidic Rabbi To … – Forward

Posted By on February 16, 2017

Hasidic Family Wreaks Havoc On Flight From Israel To Britain – Forward

Posted By on February 16, 2017

It was a nightmare at 20,000 feet Monday, as an ultra-Orthodox Jewish clan traveling to a wedding in Britain disrupted a flight. The Hasidic men refused to sit next to women, stood up in the aisles while the plane was in the air and disturbed passengers during the five-hour flight.

They were blocking the aisle, making it really difficult for other passengers to get past and take their seat, said one passenger, recounting the experience to The Times of Israel. They were constantly ringing the bell for the steward. Ive never heard it go off so many times. It was dinging constantly and to the point it was really intrusive if you are trying to read or something.

And that wasnt all, as one of the unruly passengers tried to plug in his phone charger to an unauthorized outlet in the stewards galley, leading the planes exit light to flash.

Passengers heard fuming from the crew, who called the police when the flight landed in the United Kingdoms Luton Airport. The police made sure all passengers got off the plane without incident.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at solomon@forward.com or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

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Hasidic Family Wreaks Havoc On Flight From Israel To Britain - Forward

Hasidic woman Brooklyn court judge – Yeshiva World News

Posted By on February 16, 2017

Jews, male or female, should not be taking a position as a judge on a non-Jewish court that will have cases involving two Jewish parties litigating against each other. It is forbidden for Jews to litigate a case against each other in non-Jewish courts. And it is forbidden for a Jew to judge a case between two Jews who are non-halachicly using non-Jewish law instead of halacha (especially if one of the litigants doesn't want to be in non-Jewish court or using non-Jewish law, but it only there because the non-Jewish law and authorities force him to attend and respond to the case.)

Secondly, women shouldn't be taking public positions.

Sadly, whenever this is pointed out (about becoming a judge on a non-Jewish court being halachicly wrong), despite explaining the extremely severe issur arkaos involved, the retort of supporters of Jews becoming judges on non-Jewish courts invariably is that "he asked a shaila". (Unfailingly to a rabbi who must remain anonymous too.) They virtually never can offer a halachic rational explaining how they can overcome the serious prohibition against arkaos and, specifically, judging cases between Jews who are in non-Jewish court Keneged Halacha (at least one of the parties to the case, with the other Jewish party simply being dragged into non-Jewish court against his will.)

Well, at least they can say "he's wrong" and leave it at that.

Link:
Hasidic woman Brooklyn court judge - Yeshiva World News

What It Was Like To Grow Up Biracial and Orthodox in a Hasidic Enclave – My Jewish Learning

Posted By on February 16, 2017

They were older than me, by at least five years, and I was afraid. Though my Satmar Hasidic neighbors were my friends, their cousins usually approached me with disdain whenever Id go over for a playdate. On one occasion, they bullied me and lifted my shirt up. He asked where are your tzitzis? feeling uncomfortable I stammered, they said you call yourself a yid!? Gai ahein you goy! I tripped as I begged my feet to carry me towards the door, but then it got worse, they poured cold water on me, and repeated the abusive slurs. I walked home crying to never tell a soul until over a decade later. How?!

I learned, from a very young age, how complicated modern Jews and Judaism are. I grew up in a mixed-race Chabad-Lubavitch family in Monsey, New York, where I was exposed to all walks of Orthodox Jewish life. My mother, a convert into the Orthodox community, my father a Baal Teshuva someone who sees themselves as a returnee to higher levels of spiritual consciousness and Jewish practice, made a point to educate us on our rich Jewish and African history, and always encouraged us to be Dorshei Chochmah, those who see the deep wisdom, Chochmah, the diverse wisdom, found in our world.

To this day, I wonder how could society have produced teenagers who saw it as their right to put me down for how I looked or dressed? Was this race related, though I pass for white? Was this due to the homogeneous reality of my ZIP code? Maybe it is because my family background challenged the assumptions of what a Jew looks likeI dont have answers.

What I do know is that they were not what Rabbi Sid Schwarz would call seekers of wisdom (dorshei chochmah), seekers of social justice (dorshei tzedek), seekers of community (dorshei kehillah), and seekers of lives of sacred purpose (dorshei kedushah). On a good day, I see my neighbors cousins as those who were a product of a society that did not see me in my Jewishness, and because of their upbringing, it would be hard for them to see my Jewishness and my family history as a form of wisdom worth exploring.

They were older than me, by at least five years, and I was afraid. Though my Satmar Hasidic neighbors were my friends, their cousins usually approached me with disdain whenever Id go over for a playdate. On one occasion, they bullied me and lifted my shirt up. He asked where are your tzitzis? feeling uncomfortable I stammered, they said you call yourself a yid!? Gai ahein you goy! I tripped as I begged my feet to carry me towards the door, but then it got worse, they poured cold water on me, and repeated the abusive slurs. I walked home crying to never tell a soul until over a decade later. How?!

I learned, from a very young age, how complicated modern Jews and Judaism are. I grew up in a mixed-race Chabad-Lubavitch family in Monsey, New York, where I was exposed to all walks of Orthodox Jewish life. My mother, a convert into the Orthodox community, my father a Baal Teshuva someone who sees themselves as a returnee to higher levels of spiritual consciousness and Jewish practice, made a point to educate us on our rich Jewish and African history, and always encouraged us to be Dorshei Chochmah, those who see the deep wisdom, Chochmah, the diverse wisdom, found in our world.

To this day, I wonder how could society have produced teenagers who saw it as their right to put me down for how I looked or dressed? Was this race related, though I pass for white? Was this due to the homogeneous reality of my ZIP code? Maybe it is because my family background challenged the assumptions of what a Jew looks likeI dont have answers.

What I do know is that they were not what Rabbi Sid Schwarz would call seekers of wisdom (dorshei chochmah), seekers of social justice (dorshei tzedek), seekers of community (dorshei kehillah), and seekers of lives of sacred purpose (dorshei kedushah). On a good day, I see my neighbors cousins as those who were a product of a society that did not see me in my Jewishness, and because of their upbringing, it would be hard for them to see my Jewishness and my family history as a form of wisdom worth exploring.

My parents, my heroes of meaning, purpose, and justice, raised us with eyes toward the Divine in all and that there is a Divine wisdom that fills all peoples. They taught us, they guided us, with the mission of bringing redemption, not just to the Jewish world, but the world as a whole. They saw this not as a fanciful and nice idea, but as our integral mission as Jews.

They raised us this way knowing full well the prophets words days are coming when there will be a hunger in the world, but not for bread or water and to hear the words of the Living God, and they did so knowing that redemption would come through the multitude of wisdoms of the world, as their marriage represented to some extent.

I went to a haredi (ultra-Orthodox) yeshiva as a youth, and I enjoyed celebrating civil holidays with my deeply spiritual and deeply religious non-Jewish uncles and cousins. I sang the Alter Rebbes Niggun (song) while chanting the freedom songs that celebrate my existence my mother cried a thousand tears from the TV room of our Monsey home when Barack Obama was inaugurated as the first Black president in American history.

My childhood home was a representation of what a 21st century Judaism should look like. Our home was a haven for many of my peers when looking for a place to be themselves. My father would hang out with what we coined as the Monsey rebels, and teach us from his heart and from his mind the lessons of Judaism, with his encyclopedic memory would offer us kernels of Torah and how it related to the spheres of science and literature. My mother would do the same with her deep love for the Jewish nation and Jewish peoplehood, driving the mission of Sinai forward all through the rhetoric of a freedom fighter and woman of color.

My vision as a Jew of color, as a rabbi, as a member of the millennial generation, and as a social activist who seeks to create visibility for those who are unseen, is to create platforms for our collective wisdom as Jews could be heard, because for too long, their wisdom has been silenced. This is my vision for our Jewish future as an individual, and this is the vision of our Beis Community: an innovative creative Jewish community.

We are building a Judaism that sees everybody with their own wisdom, where nobody is left out, and where everyones voice of wisdom could be heard. Where people can hear their voice and smile because they know that who they are is enough and how they practice is enough to be supported and sheltered in Abrahams tent. To quote Rabbi Schwarz once again, the future vibrancy of the Jewish community depends on leaders of the Jewish community reaching out to this constituency and finding ways to reach them, even as it will challenge many long-standing assumptions of what the Jewish community should look like.

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What It Was Like To Grow Up Biracial and Orthodox in a Hasidic Enclave - My Jewish Learning

One MK yells at another: 'Racist, get out of here.' – Arutz Sheva

Posted By on February 16, 2017

During the course of a Knesset session discussing the proposed law to revoke funding for educational institutions that are proven to reject students on ethnic bases, referring to haredi Ashkenazi schools that allegedly do not accept Sephardi girls, MK Meir Cohen(Yesh Atid) caused a commotion when he shouted at MK Moshe Gafni: "Shame on you, racist.. Get out! Sometimes racists need to keep a low profile. Shame on you, racist that you are. It's time it was explained to racists like you that your place is not in the Knesset. I am Moroccan and you don't accept girls from my family, racist that you are." Gafni responded by calling him a "hypocrite."

The law was submitted by the Yesh Atid party who claimed that haredi schools discriminate against Sephardic girls and do not automatically accept them to their schools based on academic ability.

Deputy Minister of Education Meir Porush said during the course of the discussion that "in the brief period that Yesh Atid served in the government, you didn't discuss the question of ethnic motives because you removed summer camp budgets from all schools which are recognized by the ministry although they are not state schools - without checking whether there were Ashkenazim or Sephardim in them. Why? Because they are haredi."

"You didn't just cancel the summer camp budgets, you also revoked special incentive hours and augmenting hours from haredi schools. You revoked the haredi special children's allocations simply because they are haredi. Why do I mention this? This is the ideology of Yesh Atid, this is their agenda. Maybe you should propose a law which funds schools in accordance with the level of violence or alcoholic beverages in them?"

Shas attempted to evade voting on the proposal and did not participate in the discussion. Before the vote however a number of Shas members entered the plenum and voted unwillingly against the proposal.

After the vote Shas presented a united front with UTJ and said that "the proposal submitted today to the Knesset was brought by the same party which invented ethnic discrimination, which cut the most vital funds without compunction and without distinguishing between Sephardim and Ashkenazim. This proposal is meant to embarrass the government, but the government will continue to exist and Shas will continue to fight discrimination in educational institutions."

The proposal was rejected by a majority of 43 to 38.

Behind the scenes there was considerable drama when Shas refused to vote against the law and it was feared that the Yesh Atid proposal would pass but at the last minute UTJ managed to drag some members of Shas into the plenum to vote against the proposal.

After the vote Gafni rose to speak and shouted at the Yesh Atid MKs: "You are the racists! You try to make political capital via the Sephardic girls. You are liars, cheats, impudent. My granddaughters learn in a school with 65% Sephardic girls and I'm proud of this. You wouldn't even give these girls summer schools! you are hypocrites."

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One MK yells at another: 'Racist, get out of here.' - Arutz Sheva

Give me your tired, your poor – The Simmons Voice

Posted By on February 16, 2017

By Mackenzie Farkus

Staff writer

In 1881, thousands of Ashkenazi Jewish refugees emigrated from Russia to New York to escape anti-Semitic violence that took place as part of the Russian pogroms.

Source: Business Insider

Emma Lazarus, a Sephardic-Ashkenazi Jewish woman and poet, saw the plight of these refugees and advocated on their behalf. She later helped form the Hebrew Technical Institute of New York to provide vocational training to Jewish refugees.

Inspired by the influx of refugees arriving in New York, Lazarus wrote the sonnet The New Colossus, which is now inscribed on a bronze plaque on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.

Although the sonnet itself was written in 1883, a few of the lines of The New Colossus in particular are relevant today:

Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me

President Donald J. Trump and the U.S. cannot ignore the work of Lazarus and the words of The New Colossus. The U.S. should remain a country open to immigrants and refugees alike and cast away the ban on travel from Syria, Libya, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Yemen, and Sudan.

Many peopleincluding President Trump and his administrationare justifying this ban by claiming that former President Barack Obama instated a similar six-month ban on the visas of Iraq refugees in 2011.

This, however, is not true. According to the magazine Foreign Policy, President Obamas policy was not a ban; it was adding more steps to the vetting process for refugees from Iraq, thus slowing down the admission of refugees and adding more rigor to the vetting process itself.

According to The Washington Post, the vetting process imposed by President Obama is viewed by many intelligence officials to still be secure and sufficient today.

Despite this, President Trump is refusing to accept immigrants and refusing to take refugees out of harms way.

He is disrupting the education of students and academics, the lives of families separated in airport facilities, and the work of doctors, lawyers, researchers, and others in the U.S. through this policy.

To deny refugees and immigrants from these seven countries life in the U.S. is to deny the work of Lazarus and the message behind The New Colossus and the Statue of Liberty itself.

President Trump must reverse his policy so that the U.S. can continue to be a refuge for those in need.

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Give me your tired, your poor - The Simmons Voice

ADL Welcomes Virginia Court Decision Enjoining Parts Of The Executive Order On Immigration – Alexandrianews.org

Posted By on February 15, 2017

The Anti-Defamation League today welcomed the decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Aziz v. Trump, a challenge to President Trumps Executive Order (EO) on immigration and refugees. The Court issued a preliminary injunction, barring the implementation of portions of the EO in Virginia.

In its decision, the Court held that implementation of the Executive Order would cause irreparable harm to the Commonwealth and its Universities. In addition, the Court explicitly recognized direct evidence presented by the Commonwealth of anti-Muslim animus through the Orders singling out of seven majority-Muslim nations for additional scrutiny and statements indicating an intent to discriminate based on religion.

Doron Ezickson, ADL Washington DC Regional Director issued the following statement:

We strongly agree with the Court that implementation of this Executive Order will cause irreparable harm to the Commonwealth of Virginia. Throughout U.S. history, we have too often faltered when we have let prejudice and fear predominate over reason and compassion, shutting the door on refugees and immigrants. When we strayed from core principles of equality and religious freedom there have been devastating consequences for which the US has later apologized and looked back in shame. History will reflect on the Executive Order as a sad point in the American story, but the Courts decision will shine through as an example of the best of our system: checks and balances at work. We welcome the Courts decision to grant a preliminary injunction in this case to bar further harm to the Commonwealth of Virginia.

ADL filed an amicus brief in the case supporting the Commonwealth of Virginias challenge to the Executive Order. The brief traces Americas history as a nation dedicated to ideals of equality, liberty and justice, and warns against repeating the shameful times in our past when America has turned against its core ideals of equality, liberty, and justice. The law firm Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, PC prepared the brief on behalf of ADL and the law firm McDermott Will & Emery LLP served as local counsel in Virginia.

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ADL Welcomes Virginia Court Decision Enjoining Parts Of The Executive Order On Immigration - Alexandrianews.org


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