Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By simmons on February 8, 2017

Reut founder Gidi Grinstein, right, and ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, center, at the JTA office in New York, Feb. 2, 2017. (Courtesy of Reut)

NEW YORK (JTA) Oppose the settlements? Youre one of us.

Believe Israel should control the West Bank indefinitely? Come right in.

Criticize Israels Chief Rabbinate? Welcome home.

Think Israel should privilege Orthodox Judaism? Sure, why not?

Thats the approach advocated in a new strategic plan, released Thursday, to combat Israels delegitimization: Get more people to like Israel byembracing ideological diversity among both its cheering section and its critics.

Composed by the Anti-Defamation League, a group that fights anti-Semitism and bigotry, and the Reut Institute, an Israeli think tank, the report aims not only to change peoples opinions on Israel but to legitimize a larger set of views.

It is very important to narrow the definition of what is delegitimization, said Gidi Grinstein, Reuts founder. The delegitimization of Israel needs to be narrowly defined as the singular negation of the right of Israel to exist and of the right of the Jewish people to self-determination. If you stick to that definition, it allows you to build a broad coalition.

Theres nothing new in calling for a big tent in the pro-Israel movement; Israel advocates on the right and left have been endorsing one for years. But beyond getting bickering Jews to get along, the document aims to draw in the general public to its pro-Israel cause by driving a wedge between people critical of Israeli policy and those opposed to its very existence.

For example, someone who criticizes Israels settlement enterprise might find more affinity today with groups endorsing BDS, the movement to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel. But ADL and Reut say that these soft critics should be considered part of the pro-Israel movement because they dont oppose Israels character as a Jewish state and could act as a counter to the hardcore instigators and delegitimizers.

One of the key insights is acknowledging and distinguishing between the hardcore haters versus [people] who see this as an issue of injustice, said ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt. It requires us to shift from the notion we have warring camps.

The report also stretches beyond recommendations for activism on campus, which is often viewed as ground zero for the pro-Israel (and anti-BDS) movement. The report encourages greater engagement with academic communities and corporations to increase support of Israel. It also suggests a concentrated pro-Israel effort in Latin America, South Africa and other regions where ill feeling toward Israel is rising.

Along with celebrating ideological diversity among pro-Israel groups, the report suggests that the bevy of Israel advocates should work together to specialize their efforts instead of all doing similar things. Along with spreading out across regions and industries, the report recommends enforcing terms of service on social media to limit incitement against Jews or Israel.

In fact, on many U.S. campuses, the pro-Israel community is much better funded and even bigger than the anti-Israel one, the report reads. However, in smaller communities or areas that are not within the focus of Jewish attention, response is often based on a handful of activists operating on a shoestring.

Grinstein and Greenblatt touted an endorsement of the report by Israels Ministry of Strategic Affairs an important signal that even a right-wing government favors the big tent. But the report also says that current Israeli policy is one of the main drivers of growing delegitimization efforts targeting Israel.It mentions complaints about Israels commitment to religious pluralism, as well as its treatment of its Arab minority, and calls the breakdown of the two-state solution one of the emerging challenges that must be countered, or at least acknowledged in the war for hearts and minds.

Clearly, the erosion of the support for Israel among liberal and progressive cohorts is impacted by the growing criticism of Israels policies regarding the Palestinians in the West Bank, the absence of a peace process, and the continuation of the settlements policy, the report says. In other words, the inability of governmental action to provide a political horizon for this conflict legitimizes, energizes and emboldens non-governmental grassroots action.

The report is vague on where it draws the line between legitimate and illegitimate criticism of Israel. It calls a targeted boycott of settlement goods a possible milestone on the path towards a comprehensive boycott. But some prominent liberal Zionists have endorsed a settlement boycott, and the report also acknowledges that such a policy is often driven by a genuine Zionist motivation.

Greenblatt said American Jews should push Israel to demonstrate its commitment to peace, and doing that through constructive actions could eliminate the need for boycotts of any kind.

Theres no substitute for what the Israeli government can do with its policies, he said. We should also note there are things we can do in the Diaspora to encourage and support that process. Ithink there are things we as Jewish communities in America can do to encourage and drive Israel to demonstrate its commitment to being a peace-seeking country, to being a pluralistic country, to fostering its democracy.

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In defending Israel, new strategy calls for embracing critics and cheerleaders - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

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Posted By simmons on February 8, 2017

Black History Month has always proved complicated in multicultural America. The great historian Carter G. Woodson, the second African American to receive his doctorate from Harvard, created Negro History Week in 1926. Then Dr. Woodson, founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, later expanded Negro History Week to Black History Month to honor the birth month of writer and abolitionist Frederick Douglass, who we all know did an amazing job and is being recognized more and more.

Because of this, Dr. Woodson became the legendary Father of Black History. It is an old commemoration not a gimmick or product of political correctness. It is not a separatist gesture, and it is not meant to be a stand-alone annual recognition of the accomplishments of African Americans and other people of African descent, but rather the event serves as inspiration to see and support the discussion year round.

As a self-identified African American, one of the best parts about the notion of Black History, is that it Venn-diagrams with any other category of historical inquiry and celebration and that in the most democratic way, any of us can make Black history.

For some, Black History Month means celebrating Black firsts and paying attention to the most exceptional among us. For me, Black history is comprised of everyday incidents. The spirit I have invested in Black history is the story of a lifetime learning about my history and that of the entire family, whether on the African continent or her Diaspora.

In fact, black history influenced my journey as a Jewish educator in the Maryland suburbs of Washington D.C., home to about 60% of the DC areas Jewish population. Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Renewal, Ashkenazic, Sephardic, I taught them all, from Hebrew school to youth groups. Not only was my teaching about Jewish heritage imbued with some of the same notions and conventions from a lifetime dance with Black history, but I myself was making Black history in a Jewish context. For many of my students I was the first and only Jewish teacher of color they ever knew. I was the first teacher of African descent in many of the synagogues where I taught. In many cases, I was the solitary Black figure of authority, the only Black mentor, friend, and teacher they had. Period.

Revisiting my old haunts is revealing. I am captured in displayed photos, the lone professional face of color, surrounded by people who dont look like me with whom I had little in common save one thing: being a Jew.

I worked in a world that was overwhelmingly female, white, upper middle class, Northern/Northeast, heterosexual and born into the Jewish community bubble. I was absolutely none of those things. I made a sport of grinning and bearing through my differences. Most of the time, the demographic and cultural gap narrowed and I was treated to a different experience than most African Americans encounter the feeling that I was not bound by my box. I was held to the same codes as anyone else and encouraged to be myself.

On the other hand, sometimes teachers, parents and students occasionally painted me as not only exotic but incapable of truly understanding Jewishness beyond what I had mastered from a smattering of prayerbooks and guides to Jewish observance.

Jewishness occasionally seen as the polar opposite of Blackness in an arbitrary play of divide and conquer was a deficit in how some viewed my presence. Youre the whitest Black guy I know, one teacher joked with me. Im Blacker than you, and youre butt hurt because you know its true, smirked one cocky teenager with blue eyes and blond hair. I didnt have the heart to tell him that my treatment by police debunked his premise.

Incidents like that balanced against the good were tough to measure. One teacher who became a member of a religious school staff five years after I was hired accused me of teaching our students to steal, stating in an email to a principal that We Jews Those were heartbreaking days when I had to wake up out of complacency and expectations of normalcy and fight. I had become an educator on something many of supervisors and fellow teachers never thought they would need sensitivity training. Simply put, many had never thought or planned on sharing the role of Jewish educator with a Black, gay Southern man who came from modest means and didnt share the same zip code.

Above and beyond those flash points were moments where I couldnt thank G-d more for my fate. Most of my students gave back the love I gave them and their families. As selfies became a thing, one of their favorite things to do was take a picture with me to win arguments at school when they were challenged on whether not Jews who were Black existed. I became a prized resources for Jewish students of color, and not just those who were of African descent. My students asked me questions about my identity and the African American condition, and I, knowing that I might not get another chance, took advantage of those times to show them family pictures, share recipes made kosher, and demonstrate the aesthetics of a Jewish person equally in love with his African heritage.

One of my students was a really cool kid, Ashkenazi as they come, but very much influenced by African American culture. He played football, many of his friends, teammates and love interests were of color and in particular, Black. He became a class aide and music player in pocket, bopping around the the shul listening to Lil Wayne and Jay-Z. We would sit together at the end of class making up beats and he would improvise raps. I sent him off with the words my own Grandmother used and he never forgot them, Get your lesson and walk with the Lord, which I changed to Hashem.

Part of Black history is that moment where you use your history to recreate and reinvigorate yourself. You listen to the Ancestors and then you become ennobled and emancipated by contact with them. Being woke, as young people say now is nothing new. For us woke, was knowing where we came from, being dedicated to going someplace our forebears could never dream, and taking everyone with us in the spirit of intellectual excellence and social responsibility. This young man I taught did not just absorb the pop culture, he taught himself about Malcolm, Martin, Marcus, and Mandela.

One day he was down, due to family trouble. Divorce was eminent. I dragged him in the synagogue library and asked if he knew where he came from. His last name was telltale, pointing me in the direction of a city and a Hasidic dynasty to whom some of his family once belonged in days of old. I copied the map so he could point to it and know that he came from this storied town. The very next day I gave him my old tefillin and taught him to wrap them. He never forgot that moment and neither did I.

In those small moments, I have almost forgotten, multiplied times the hundreds of kids that walked through my door, soul by soul, I realized I had carved out my own piece of Black history; and it was a legacy not for a month, but for a lifetime.

Michael Twitty writes the blog Afroculinaria and is the author of the forthcoming book, Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African-American Culinary History in the Old South (Harper Collins). He can be followed on Twitter, @Koshersoul

The views and opinions expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Forward.

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My Black History Month Spans A Lifetime - Opinion Forward.com - Forward

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Posted By simmons on February 8, 2017

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Posted: Feb 08, 2017 10:16 AM

NEW YORK The White House recently issued a statement by President Donald J. Trump to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

"It is with a heavy heart and somber mind that we remember and honor the victims, survivors, heroes of the Holocaust. It is impossible to fully fathom the depravity and horror inflicted on innocent people by Nazi terror.

"Yet, we know that in the darkest hours of humanity, light shines the brightest. ?As we remember those who died, we are deeply grateful to those who risked their lives to save the innocent.

"In the name of the perished, I pledge to do everything in my power throughout my Presidency, and my life, to ensure that the forces of evil never again defeat the powers of good. Together, we will make love and tolerance prevalent throughout the world."

No one could question the sincerity, gravity, and compassion in those words.

No one, that is, until the Trump haters started screaming.

Wake up and smell the anti-Semitism in the White House, bellowed Steven Goldstein, executive director of The Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect. President Trump and his administration are engaging in the kind of Holocaust denial we have seen elsewhere from the most offensive scoundrels of history.

This is what Holocaust denial is, Senator Tim Kaine (D Virginia) told NBCs Meet the Press on January 29. Its either to deny that it happened or many Holocaust deniers acknowledge, Oh, yeah, people were killed. But it was a lot of innocent people. Jews werent targeted.

Why whitewash Jews from that statement? Meet the Press host Chuck Todd demanded of White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.

Holocaust denial is alive and well in the highest offices of the United States, Deborah Lipstadt complained in The Atlantic.com. The Holocaust was de-Judaized.

These explosions began soon after Trumps statement emerged. It made no specific mention of the monumental suffering of the Jews in the Holocaust, nor the fact that the Nazis designed the entire blood-soaked exercise in order to erase them.

The notion that this was a deliberate effort to trivialize the Holocaust or promote anti-Semitism is belied by the fact that this proclamation was written by an individual who is both Jewish and a descendant of Holocaust survivors, as White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer explained.

Furthermore, Politico reported that this aide is Boris Epshteyn, a former Trump campaign aide who now serves as a special assistant to the president. Epshteyn was a Russian Jew who immigrated to America. His relatives were among the 6 million Jews whom Adolf Hitler destroyed.

These details are immaterial, when Trump is the big target to be brought down, at all costs.

Trump cannot win.

Had he mentioned Jews in this statement, the Human Rights Campaign would have issued a press release saying, Why did Trump not include the gay people Hitler killed? Trump is a homophobe!

If Trump had cited Jews and gays, the American Psychological Association would have moaned: How dare Trump overlook the mentally disabled whom the Nazis murdered?

And so on.

If Trump really were an anti-Semite, why would his inner circle include people like Treasury nominee Steve Mnuchin, senior policy aide Stephen Miller, deputy campaign manager and political hand Michael Glassner, and U.S. Ambassador to Israel nominee David Friedman?

Never mind them.

What kind of anti-Semite lets his gentile daughter marry an Orthodox Jew, and then convert to Orthodox Judaism herself? Ivanka Trumps husband is Jared Kushner, President Trumps senior adviser and son-in-law. Why would anti-Semite Donald J. Trump have let his nine-month-old Jewish grandson Theodore toddle across a White House carpet for the first time on January 26?

There are so many high-level Jews around Americas 45th president that Israels Haaretz newspaper last November dubbed them Trumps Jewish inner circle.

Nothing in the statement suggests anti-Semitism, says Dr. Alex Grobman, a Holocaust scholar who earned his Ph.D. at Jerusalems Hebrew University. Trump is surrounded by Jews in his administration. Some are committed Orthodox Jews, unlike those nominal Jews in previous administrations. Grobman also is a consultant with the America-Israel Friendship League, which sponsored the 2013 media tour on which I first visited the Jewish state.

Were President Trumps actions upon coming into office to bow to the Saudi King, or reach out to the Muslim Brotherhood, or have Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel use a side door when visiting the White House, then one might suggest there is underlying anti-Semitism, said my colleague at the London Center for Policy Research, Eli Gold, an Orthodox Jew and yeshiva graduate. But given Trumps long support for Israel, his immediate outreach to Netanyahu, etc., I would suggest it was just a case of poor judgement not to mention Jews in that Holocaust proclamation.

Should that document have mentioned Jews? Sure. That certainly would have kept many feathers unruffled. It also would have underscored the Jews centrality to the Shoah, as this mass genocide is known in Hebrew.

Nonetheless, citing the Jews in a Holocaust memorial text is a bit like discussing the black slaves in the antebellum South. Everyone knows that those who were enslaved below the Mason-Dixon Line were black. Likewise, the Holocaust is equated with Jews. In that sense, the word Holocaust is definitional: The Nazis deliberate, systematic extermination of European Jewry. There is no mystery about this, and failing to employ the phrase the Jewish Holocaust or the Holocaust against the Jews is hardly a calculated affront against those of Jewish faith and heritage.

The frenzied accusations that President Trump is a Holocaust denier and, deep down, an anti-Semite are revolting, despicable, and far beneath the Trumpophobes who spew them.

Deroy Murdock is a Manhattan-based Fox News contributor.

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Trump Haters' Holocaust-denial Hysteria Is Utterly Groundless - Townhall

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Posted By richards on February 7, 2017

The following message appeared on Sefarias blog to announce the addition:

More than fifty years ago, Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz Even-Israel took it upon himself to make the Talmud, the central text of Jewish life, available to all. In 1965, he began translating the 37 tractates of the Talmud from ancient Aramaic into Modern Hebrew, with an English translation published in the Koren Talmud Bavli NoEdition. Ninety percent of the worlds Jewish population speaks English or Hebrew as a first language, so making the Talmud intelligible in these two languages is a colossal achievement, but until now, this precious content was only available to those with access to a physical volume.

Today, Sefaria is excited and humbled to announce the release of The William Davidson Talmud, a free digital edition of the Babylonian Talmud with parallel translations, interlinked to major commentaries, biblical citations, Midrash, Kabbalah, Halakhah, and an ever-growing library of Jewish texts.

The William Davidson Talmud will continually evolve as we add additional commentaries and connections, and will ultimately include Rabbi Steinsaltzs complete Modern Hebrew and English translations. You can already access 22 tractates in English (Berakhot to Bava Batra) online on our website. The Modern Hebrew translations will start appearing online later this year, and the remaining English tractates will follow.

For the Jewish people, our texts are our collective inheritance. They belong to everyone and Sefaria wants them to be available to everyone, with free and open public licenses. Through the generous support of The William Davidson Foundation, Rabbi Steinsaltzs English and Hebrew translations and interpolated textual explanations will be available with a Creative Commons Non-Commercial license, making them free for use and re-use even beyond Sefaria.

Were incredibly grateful to our partners, TheWilliam Davidson Foundation, Matthew Miller and Koren Publishers, and Rabbi Menachem Even-Israel and Milta, for helping bring this unprecedented intellectual property deal to fruition.We could not have asked for better collaborators, and were all thrilled to be able to give The William Davidson Talmud to the world.

Now go and study.

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Leading Talmud translation goes free online with Sefaria - The Jewish Standard

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Posted By richards on February 7, 2017

The members of an Amherst synagogue considering whether to sell its longtime home to Northtown Automotive Companies are awaiting Town Board approval on the rezoning request required for the transaction to take place.

The Town Board on Monday night postponed a decision on the rezoning until its March 6 meeting when it hopes to have specifics from Northtown about the company's plans for the parcel.

"The town hasn't been provided enough information about what Northtown wants to do with the parcel for us to make a proper decision," said Deputy Supervisor Steven D. Sanders. "Rather than having to vote 'no' because we don't know anything better, I think the wise thing is to wait until they can give us more information."

Northtown Automotive in September revealed its interest in buying about nine acres of landon Getzville Road off Sheridan Drive, next to the Youngmann Expressway, from Temple Beth Tzedek. But the sale can't close until the Town Board approves Northtown's request for a rezoning of the property, said Harvey Sanders, a past president of the synagogue.

Temple Beth Tzedek is in talks with Northtown to sell its property at Getzville Road because it has merged with another congregation, B'nai Shalom, which has a synagogue onNorth Forest Road, south of West Klein Road.

The respective congregations have agreed to the merger and State Supreme Court Justice E. Jeannette Ogden approved the merger last month, Sanders said.

The merged congregation will hold services at both locations, on Getzville Road and on North Forest Road, until the sale of the Getzville Road property goes through, he said.

Eventually, the Temple Beth Tzedek congregation will move to North Forest Road and use the proceeds from the sale of the Getzville Road site to pay for an expansion of the existing synagogue there, Sanders said. Temple Beth Tzedek had about 500 families prior to the merger and B'nai Shalom had between 40 and 50 families.

Northtown Automotive did not say what it plans to do with the property. Lawrence Schreiber, co-owner of Northtown, was traveling Monday and did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

The dealer group has a number of dealerships in a section of Sheridan Drive between Harlem Road and Millersport Highway, and more operationsnearby on Millersport.

Schreiber said last fall the Getzville Road sitewould fit well with the other properties, and the location is visible to motorists passing by on the Youngmann.

In October, the town Planning Board recommended approval of the rezoning request. The Town Board held a public hearing on the request in December but declined to act on it that month or in January.

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Synagogue, Northtown Automotive await town action before sale of Amherst land proceeds - Buffalo News

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Posted By richards on February 7, 2017

In a packed synagogue in Park Slope, Brooklyn Monday night, activists gathered to organize against Donald Trump.

The sanctuary of the 1,200-seat Congregation Beth Elohim was packed; a long line of attendees snaked down the front steps and around the corner.

The level of showing up that people are doing Its powerful and it feels powerful, New York City Councilman Brad Lander said, in his speech to the crowd.

The session was the fifth in a series of gatherings called #getorganizedbk, facilitated by Landers office. Leaders have spun off working groups to organize around particular issues. When polled by one of the speakers, the majority of the crowd on Monday night said that they were attending their first meeting.

I am continually surprised by how many people are so motivated to be part of resisting things that are harmful and speaking for our core values, said Rabbi Rachel Timoner, spiritual leader of CBE, who has been involved in facilitating the gatherings. Every single time we hold one of these we are surprised.

Claudio Pappapietro

In recent weeks, activists affiliated with the group have protested outside of the Park Slope home of Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, calling on him to take a hard line against Trumps agenda. Others have secured meetings with Schumer and Senator Kristen Gillibrand.

At the Monday meeting, representatives from the Mayors office and activists groups spoke on a panel about immigrant organizing. Despite the focus on Trump, half of the audience questions were about so-called broken windows policing in New York City.

Later, preexisting working groups split off, meeting in open Hebrew school classrooms in the synagogue basement. Hundreds of participants remained upstairs to hear representatives from the working groups pitch their projects.

Josh Nathan-Kazis

This feels to me like a moral imperative, Timoner told the Forward. I feel like I would not be able to call myself a rabbi if I was silent.

Timoner left the Monday evening meeting early in order to attend a rabbinical protest at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. She was one of 18 rabbis arrested at the protest later that night.

Speakers at the Park Slope meeting included Lander, Timoner, New York City Councilman Carlos Menchaca, the commissioner of the New York City Mayors Office of Immigrant Affairs, Nisha Agarwal, and a representative from the community organizing group Make the Road New York.

Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at nathankazis@forward.com or on Twitter, @joshnathankazis.

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1200 Anti-Trump Activists Pack Park Slope Synagogue - Forward

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Posted By richards on February 7, 2017

Chicago Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky condemned the vandalism Saturday of the loop synagogue in Chicago [United States Congress]The anti-Semitic vandalism of a Chicago synagogue has met with widespread condemnation as the police search for the culprit, whose capture with garner a $3,000 reward.

The crimeoccurred late Friday night and was reported by construction workers across the street. Surveillance footage shows a vandal placing two swastika stickers on the front doors of the synagogue, then smashing a plate glass window.

Police describe the vandal as awhite male wearing dark clothing and a dark face mask and have released the surveillance footage to the public.

Chicago congresswoman Jan Schakowsky condemned the attack as representing an uptick in violence not only against Jews, but against all religious and ethnic minorities in our country.

Along with the rest of the Jewish community in Chicago, I am anguished and angered to see this happen so close to home, Schakowsky continued. I hope and expect that the perpetrator of this vandalism will be promptly brought to justice.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is offering a $2500 reward for information leading to the culprits arrest, while community activist Raul Montes Jr. is offering an additional reward of $500, according to WGN TV.

Montes described the crime as blatantly anti-Semitic and beyond comprehension and will not be tolerated.

This is a terrible crime that has been committed and this is pretty core to the mission of the ADL to help find the person who did this, Jessica Gall, the ADLs associate regional director in Chicago, toldthe Chicago Sun-Times.

There was no warning, synagogue president Lee Zoldan said. People have asked me Did you get any signals? The answer is no.

In her statement, Schakowsky said she found it heartening to hear about the outpouring of support that came from all sectors of our community after this hate crime was committed. This is a moment when people of good will need to stand up against hatred and violence, whether it is perpetrated against Jews or any marginalized group in our country and around the world.

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Community responds after Chicago synagogue is vandalized - JP Updates

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Posted By richards on February 7, 2017

To the growing causes of cancer, which include smoking, sun exposure and radiation, it seems likely that ethnicity is going to have to be added to the list as the Ministry of Health data showing that Ashkenazi Jews are 4 times more likely to have cancer than Sephardic Jews.

The data also noted that residents of the periphery are more likely to have cancer than those residing in the center of Israel. In comparison with the rest of the world, the cancer rate in Israel is higher than the average in OECD countries.

Photo: Yedioth Ahronoth

The large gap persists even when examining the morbidity rate for different types of cancer. For example, breast cancer cases among Ashkenazi Jews stands on 18 cases per 100,000 individuals, versus 4 cases among Sephardic Jews.

Ashkenazi Jews may be more likely to fall sick than Sephardic Jews, but the Ministry of Health data also reveals that the highest rate of cancer cases in the past few years is actually among Israeli Arabs and Israeli-born Jews.

For both populations, the number of cancer cases has doubled in the last 20 years. In comparison, the caner rate among Ashkenazi Jews has dropped by 30 percent during the same period.

The impact of ethnicity on cancer incidence is consistent with the data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US, which uncovered significant gaps in the number of cancer cases within the different ethnicities and races in the US.

In recent years, following the development of technology and whole genome mapping, researchers now understand that even though cancer is usually not hereditary, its source is genetic. In other words, unlike hereditary genomic alterations, there are changes in the genetic material occurring in the tumor cells only as part of the malignant process, such as different mutations and changes in the genetic sequence.

The implication would be that Israeli-born children, who are the descendants of Ashkenazi Jews, are more prone to cancer than Israeli-born children who are descendants of Sephardic Jews.

Mapping out cancer's genetic variety serves as the new front in the war against cancer as part of Personalized Medicine. Genetic testing can already be conducted once the disease is diagnosed, followed by genomic mapping of the patient's specific type of cancer.

The first biotechnology company that made whole genome mapping available to cancer patients and their treating oncologists was the Foundation Medicine company that utilizes the extensive experience accumulated to identify new and rare mutations, which would then enable personalized care.

The genetic tests help physicians choose the most efficient treatment out of all available options against the specific type of cancer identified by the test, and adjust it to the patient, or reinforce the need for the standard of care.

"If what is known today were applied," stated Miri Ziv, Director General of the Israel Cancer Association, "we could reduce the cancer incidence and morbidity rates by 50 percent. Behind the encouraging numbers lies the concentrated effort of the Israel Cancer Association that initiated and pushed forward prevention programs, early diagnosis, as well as improvement of care and rehabilitation."

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Ashkenazi Jews are 4 times more likely to have cancer - Ynetnews

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Posted By richards on February 7, 2017

Isaac Herzog. (photo credit:MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)

A political cartoon in Maariv on Sunday depicted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu snickering to Isaac Herzog that the best gift he ever received was having him as opposition leader.

But that cartoon may have spoken too soon, just like the countless political eulogies of Herzog over the past year. It may even be time to question the conventional wisdom that the only possible alternatives to the Likud leader in the next election are Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid, who is doing well in the polls, or a former IDF chief of staff.

Since that cartoons publication, Herzog has scored a number of important political victories. His candidate, Eran Hermoni, defeated former Labor leader Shelly Yacimovichs former political adviser Yair Yaya Fink for Labor secretary-general, a key post once held by David Ben-Gurion.

Retired generals Yom-Tov Samia, Amiram Levine and Danny Arditi announced that they had joined Labor, following former environmental protection minister Avi Gabbay, proving that the party is still alive and well.

Herzog hosted former prime minister Ehud Barak at a Labor Party event, the first attended by Barak since he split the party six years ago. At the event, it was clear that Herzog was in charge, and Barak said that he was not running for Labor leader, though he added at this stage just in case.

Finally, Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit on Monday closed the corruption case against Herzog without indictment. Allegations had been made that Herzog accepted illegal contributions during the 2013 Labor primaries, failed to report the contributions and filed a false declaration about them.

In late March, Mandelblit initiated a probe into alleged fund-raising violations by Herzog in his campaign against Yacimovich. He was questioned under caution multiple times about alleged campaign fund-raising violations in April, after which the police recommended closing the case.

The acquittal came at a key time for Herzog, who can now freely attack Netanyahu without anyone saying that he, too, is being investigated.

With at least three investigations intensifying, Netanyahu is more vulnerable than ever, and no one knows who the Likuds candidate in the next election will be.

Political attention will now shift to the Labor primary set for July. If in the past it was assumed that the primary would be delayed for a third time in order to allow a former general to run, with Netanyahu looking so weak, the race cannot be postponed again.

That means that in the next couple of months, decisions will have to be made about who is running and who will be sitting out the race. Will Yacimovich run even after losing her chance to control the partys administration through her handpicked secretary-general, who could have helped her win? Former IDF chief of staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz will not be able to run because his three-year cooling off period is not yet over. Barak and another former IDF chief, Moshe Yaalon, are also not running. That leaves only one former IDF chief: Gabi Ashkenazi, whom a recent Maariv poll showed could win a lot more seats for Labor than Herzog.

Had Herzog been the political corpse he was thought to be and had Amir Peretz been faring poor in the polls, perhaps Ashkenazi would be pushed to throw his beret in the ring. But Peretz has received encouraging polls, and Ashkenazi is indebted to him because he appointed him chief of staff.

MK Erel Margalit, who has a seemingly endless supply of money and a no-holdsbarred political strategy, could pose a serious threat to Herzog.

But Herzog is alive and well and looking a lot better than he did in that cartoon on Sunday.

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Analysis: The resurrection of Isaac Herzog - Jerusalem Post Israel News

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Posted By richards on February 7, 2017

simmons | February 7, 2017

BBC News Trump says terror attacks 'under-reported': Is that true? BBC News There are no reports of an attack in the Saudi capital that month . But two US

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BBC News Trump says terror attacks 'under-reported': Is that true? and more Trump says terror attacks 'under-reported': Is that true? - BBC News

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simmons | February 6, 2017

A Place for All People exhibit is on display at Hughes Main Library in observance of Black History Month.(Photo: Provided) Organizations, churches, and institutions throughout the Upstate will observe Black History Month with a variety of events. Below is a list of the information about some of the events, along with their hosts.

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Upstate institutions, organizations to celebrate BHM - Greenville News

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admin | January 9, 2017

National Hispanic Heritage Month is the period from September 15 to October 15 in the United States, when people recognize the contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans to the groups heritage and culture. Hispanic Heritage Week was established by legislation sponsored by Rep. Edward R

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National Hispanic Heritage Month - Wikipedia

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simmons | December 27, 2016

Close menu Open today from 11 am 5:45 pm. Open today from 11 am 5:45 pm. 1109 5th Ave at 92ndSt New York, NY 10128 Directions Come visit the Jewish Museum and discover why 5th Ave at 92nd St is the intersection of art and Jewish culture.

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The Jewish Museum - Programs - Families

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simmons | December 16, 2016

Initiated by the Jewish Museum of Florida, with the effort led by Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and enacted by the 109th Congress, President George Bush signed a resolution in 2006 that each May would be Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM).

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Jewish American Heritage Month - jmof.fiu.edu

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admin | December 11, 2016

The Palestinian Authority held a free, democratic election in 2005.

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Myths & Facts: Archived Online Exclusive | Jewish Virtual ...

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simmons | December 8, 2016

January 1 Feast of St. Basil (Christian, Orthodox) 1 Japanese New Year (Japan) 5 Guru Gobind Singhs Birthday (Sikh) 6 Epiphany (Christian) 6 Three Kings Day (Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic) 7 The Nativity of Jesus Christ (Christian, Orthodox) 13 Lohri (Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh) 16 Religious Freedom Day 16 World Religion Day (Bahai) 19 Tu bShvat or Tu BShevat* (Jewish, Israel) 26 India Republic Day February National Black History Month (United States) 2 Imbolc (Wiccan) 3 Chinese Lunar New Year (China, Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam) 3 Tet Nguyen Dan (Vietnam) Year of the Buffalo 4 Rosa Parks Birth Anniversary 5 Mexico Constitution Day 11 National Foundation Day (Japan) 12 NAACP Founded 14 Race Relations Day 17 League of United Latin Citizens (LULAC) Founded American 24 Flag Day (Mexico) March Greek-American Heritage Month Irish-American Heritage Month Spiritual Wellness Month 1 St

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Calendar of Ethnic Holidays | American Ethnic Studies ...

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simmons | December 5, 2016

American Jews Total population 5,425,0008,300,000[1] American Jews, also known as Jewish Americans,[5] are Americans who are Jews, either by religion, ethnicity, or nationality.[6] The Jewish community in the United States is composed predominantly of Ashkenazi Jews and their US-born descendants, making up about 90% of the American Jewish population.[7][8] Minority Jewish ethnic divisions are also represented, including Sephardic Jews, Mizrahi Jews, and a smaller percentage of converts to Judaism. The American Jewish community manifests a wide range of Jewish cultural traditions, as well as encompassing the full spectrum of Jewish religious observance

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American Jews - Wikipedia

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simmons | November 21, 2016

Sunday, October 9. 2016 Boarded by Central Park to the east and Riverside Park to the west, this two and half mile neighborhood a powerhouse of shuls, schools, and Jewish culture boasts of some of the most exceptional residences in NYC, exemplifying Beaux Art, Art Nouveau & Art Deco architecture

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Walking Tour Calendar - Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy

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simmons | November 21, 2016

Title Length Color Rating Everday Use: African-American Heritage Everyday Use: African-American Heritage Everyone is raised within a culture with a set of customs and morals handed down by those generations before us. As individuals, we view and experience heritage in different ways

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Free african-american heritage Essays and Papers

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Jewish American Heritage Month

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