fbpx

GET HOME DELIVERY! CLICK HERE »

ADVERTISE
pick up locations
HOME DELIVERY
donate

Jewish Journal

Connect. Inform. Inspire.

July 23, 2010

Protesters rally outside Israeli embassy for Hoffman

Leave a Comment / Israel /

A multidenominational rally denouncing the Israeli police’s arrest of the Women of the Wall leader was held outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington.

Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld of Ohev Shalom, the National Synagogue, organized Thursday’s rally to draw attention to the Israeli government’s lack of response to the July 12 arrest of Anat Hoffman reportedly for holding a Torah at the Western Wall. Hoffman’s group advocates for equal prayer rights at the site.

Rabbis and members of congregations across the region came to support Hoffman and denounce the view that women are not allowed to hold a Torah according to traditional Judaism.

“This arrest doesn’t represent Orthodoxy and the Orthodox Jews I know,” Herzfeld said.

Herzfeld wants the Israeli government and Israel’s U.S. ambassador, Michael Oren, to denounce the arrest, but they have remained silent. The rabbi said he met with representatives from the embassy following the rally and they said government officials were trying to determine the facts before making any statements.

Rabbis, lawyers and women who had prayed at the Wall spoke to the dozens of protesters, saying that the issue was larger than Hoffman and that they must fight for equal rights at the Western Wall. Cautioned not to obstruct traffic, the demonstrators marched across the street to the embassy’s gate carrying signs reading “It’s not a crime to hold a Torah” and singing Hebrew songs.

Kay Flick Elfant of the Fabrangen Congregation said she came after reading the Torah near the Kotel with the Women of the Wall.

“We can enable every Jew to pray as they wish,” she said. “That’s well within reason at the Kotel.”

Protesters rally outside Israeli embassy for Hoffman Read More »

Holocaust education comes to Comic-Con

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized /

When legendary comic book artist Neal Adams was 10 years old, he swore he would never get involved in anything related to the Holocaust. 

In the early 1950s, Adams was living in Germany, where his father was stationed with the American occupation forces. The military screened three hours of concentration camp footage to the soldiers, their spouses and children “before they showed it to America, so they knew how much people could take,” Adams told an audience at Comic-Con on Friday. “I can tell you, after seeing that I didn’t talk to anyone for a week.” 

More than 50 years later, those images are still with him.

But Adams, 69, changed his mind about doing anything related to the Holocaust in 2006, when he joined artist Joe Kubert and former Marvel head Stan Lee to create a comic book about Dina Gottliebova Babbitt, an Auschwitz survivor who sought the return of her Shoah-era watercolors from the concentration camp’s museum.

While the campaign to reunite Babbitt with her art was unsuccessful, the effort inspired Adams to reconsider getting involved in other Holocaust-related projects.

Now, Adams and Rafael Medoff, founding director of the Washington, D.C.-based David Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, in collaboration with ABC News, Disney Educational Productions and Vanguard Productions, are launching a motion-comic series set to debut in the fall titled, “They Spoke Out: American Voices Against the Holocaust,” which will be released online monthly at TheySpokeOut.com.

Holocaust education comes to Comic-Con Read More »

Top Ten Most Successful Israelis in Hollywood

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized /

Quick – name the most successful Jews in Hollywood.

Now, factor in a different demographic: Israelis.

If you don’t yet know who the most successful Israelis in Hollywood are, you will. A new list of the most successful Israelis in showbiz developed by the educational non-profit Israel21c includes established industry veterans like actress Ayelet Zurer, star of “Angels and Demons,” who topped the list, Madonna’s long-time manager Guy Oseary, who came in at #10, as well as up and coming talent like actor Aki Avni, whose career has taken shape alongside movie stars Natalie Portman and Meg Ryan.

If Israelis were once relegated to bit parts or ethnic roles, they’re now taking center stage, tackling diverse industry roles from actor to producer to talent manager.

Ali Suliman, the only Israeli-Arab to make the list, took the #9 spot and will next appear in Ridley Scott’s “Body of Lies.”

Producer Oren Peli clocked in at #7, earning due recognition for his sleeper hit “Paranormal Activity”, a $15,000 home-spun movie he parlayed into a $100 million sensation.

Also included are Meital Dohan (#2), star of the popular Showtime series “Weeds”, “In Treatment” producer Noa Tishby (#4) and cover girl Gal Gadot (#3), who appeared in “The Fast and the Furious” and “Entourage”.

To see the full list, click here.

Top Ten Most Successful Israelis in Hollywood Read More »

Putting On My “Going to Prison” Clothes

Leave a Comment / Community /

Thursday, after seeing my two children off to Camp Ramah, I came home and I put on my going to prison clothes. This is something I have not thought about in a while. When I was in Grad School near Boston, once or twice a month on a Sunday I would visit Jeff (not his real name) at Walpole State Prison, about an hour or so south of Boston. One of the saddest things about these visits was seeing the children in (what I came to call) their “Sunday going to prison clothes” visiting their fathers.

Thursday, however, I was not going to visit somebody else in prison, I was going to get arrested. I was part of a group of approximately one hundred Rabbis, priests, ministers and workers who sat down in front of the Andaz Hotel on Sunset Blvd. to protest the practices of the Hyatt Hotel.

This week we marked the fast of the ninth of Av. The twenty five hour fast forces us to confront the radical idea that it is impossible to create an ethical polity. As Isaiah cried out in the prophetic portion read last Shabbat: “The faithful city that was filled with justice, Where righteousness dwelt—But now murderers.” The challenge that the Ninth of Av forcefully poses is: what can we do, if anything, to change this? How do we restore our city to righteousness? Isaiah lambasts his audience—and we are his audience—with being “Chieftains of Sodom” and “folk of Gomorrah.” Ezekiel explains that the sin of Sodom—the archetypal evil city—was hoarding its wealth and resources and not sharing them. The Rabbis expand this, saying that the Sodomites saw it as a crime for a person to share what s/he had with the needy. Ultimately, the Rabbis define the Sodomite approach as “what is mine is mine and what is yours is yours.”

In many disturbing ways in this time of dire economic challenge for most people in this city, and the country in general, there are growing Sodomite tendencies afoot. Farmer workers dying in the fields, harsher immigration laws, a growing number of day laborers being denied their pay, the Congress barely passing an extension to unemployment benefits, and workers’ rights and hard fought gains under attack across the board. The way back from this precipice, the way towards righteousness, is holding ourselves accountable for the well being of all residents of our cities. We cannot find our way out of the Sodomite morass when we are half-asleep, not necessarily doing anything “wrong” but not awake to the injustices in front of us.

The Hyatt Hotel chain (controlled by the Chicago based Pritzker family) is, unfortunately, at this moment displaying some of the worst tendencies of the “Chieftains of Sodom.” Claiming penury as a result of the economic downturn, they actually have over a billion dollars in cash available (according to a March 2010 report). Still, they fired one hundred longtime employees in Boston, replacing them with entry level workers—whom the former trained before they were fired.

At the last round of negotiations with Here-Unite, the Union representing the hotel workers, management responded dismissively and insultingly to the workers demands—a modest pay raise—and then cut off negotiations. Additionally, Hyatt management’s “counter-offer” was a rollback of medical benefits and various technical changes which could result in a loss of overtime and breaks.
The answer to Hyatt must be: we are not willing to turn our city into Sodom. The workers you are trying to push into a permanent recession are people we can see, and for whom we are responsible. They are our sisters and brothers.

And so, on a sunny Thursday afternoon, two days after Tisha B’av, with an august group of people who were awake, I sat down in the middle of Sunset Boulevard and refused to get up when the Sheriffs Department warned us that we would be arrested. People across the country, Rabbis, priests, ministers, imams, chefs, housekeepers, bell captains, doormen and others, did the same. People who are trying desperately to hold on to a salary that will enable them to live with dignity, together with people who see their humanity and dignity.

Putting On My “Going to Prison” Clothes Read More »

Progress in Type 1 Diabetes: Insulin Pumps with Continuous Glucose Monitoring

Leave a Comment / Blogs /

Before I review this week’s study, bear with me while I clear up some terms.

Type 1 diabetes mellitus and type 2 diabetes mellitus are completely different diseases.  That they have such similar names and are differentiated only by a “type” promotes the common misunderstanding that they are subtypes of the same disease.  They should just have different names to keep things clear.  (I suggest “George” and “Bob”.)  They have entirely different causes and treatments.  Type 1 diabetes is caused by the body’s immune system destroying the pancreas’s ability to make insulin, the hormone that controls blood sugar levels.  It tends to be diagnosed in children and young adults.  Insulin is entirely absent in these patients, so insulin is the only treatment.

Type 2 diabetes is caused by hormonal changes that prevent insulin from working well.  It is usually diagnosed in overweight adults.  Treatments include weight loss, a low carbohydrate diet, and various medications that lower blood sugar, including insulin.  Type 2 diabetes is over ten times more common than type 1, and when people just say “diabetes” they mean “type 2 diabetes mellitus”.  Some type 1 patients are justifiably cranky at the public misunderstanding of their disease and at being lumped in with the greater number of type 2 patients.  The only things the diseases have in common are elevated blood sugar and the complications that result from that.  (The word diabetes derives from an ancient Greek term relating to a frequent symptom of elevated blood sugar – excessive amounts of urine.  This is also a symptom of a third entirely unrelated disease, diabetes insipidus, which should absolutely have a completely different name, like “Fred”.)

Are you with me so far?

Well, this week’s post is about type 1 diabetes.  A major struggle in type 1 is keeping blood glucoses as close to normal as possible, while avoiding hypoglycemia (abnormally low blood sugar).  The standard of care for a long time has been multiple daily blood sugar measurements and insulin injections.  More recently, insulin pumps have become available which infuse insulin continuously in an attempt to more accurately match the normal function of the pancreas.  The most recent advance has been continuous glucose monitoring, in which a sensor displays ongoing data about the glucose level and its trend over time.

A study this week in the New England Journal of Medicine compared glucose control in child and adult type 1 patients randomized to multiple daily insulin injections versus an insulin pump with continuous glucose monitoring.  The group with the insulin pumps achieved lower average blood sugars without an increase in hypoglycemia.

This advance offers the potential of minimizing the serious complications of type 1 diabetes, and will likely become the standard of care for motivated patients who can learn the intricacies of insulin pump use.  The long-term goal of an artificial pancreas – an insulin pump integrated with a glucose sensor that adjusts insulin doses automatically – is now one step closer.

Learn more:

Wall Street Journal article:  ” target=”_blank”>Effectiveness of Sensor-Augmented Insulin-Pump Therapy in Type 1 Diabetes

New England Journal of Medicine editorial:  Progress in Type 1 Diabetes: Insulin Pumps with Continuous Glucose Monitoring Read More »

Rabbi, AJU Professor Arrested at Hotel Workers Protest

Leave a Comment / Community /

A rabbi and a professor at American Jewish University were among 63 people arrested for civil disobedience on the Sunset Strip during rush hour on Thursday , July 22. The labor protest against the Hyatt chain of hotels took place in front of the Andaz hotel near La Cienega Boulevard in West Hollywood. The Los Angeles County Sheriff Department made the arrests just before 7 p.m. at the end of a two-hour demonstration in support of hotel workers’ rights.

All 63 demonstrators were released from custody from the West Hollywood sheriff’s station by around 10:30 p.m., according to Rabbi Jonathan Klein of the economic justice advocacy group, CLUE-L.A., one of the event’s organizers. Charged with misdemeanors, those arrested could potentially face court fines, Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for the L.A. County Sheriff Department, said.

Rabbi Rachel Timoner, an assistant rabbi at Leo Baeck Temple, and Aryeh Cohen, an associate professor of rabbinic literature at AJU, were among those who deliberately allowed themselves to be taken into custody by ignoring police orders to stop sitting in the middle of Sunset Boulevard. Police, who were informed of the demonstration in advance, blocked off traffic in front of the hotel at 5 p.m., but the sit-down portion of the protest didn’t begin until about 6 p.m. The seated protestors “refusal to disperse” caused their arrest, Whitmore said.

Timoner, sitting in the middle of the street with her back against a fellow demonstrator, expressed solidarity with the hotel workers’ cause. Regarding “the gap between the haves and the haves not, Judaism obligates us to do what we can for the less fortunate,” she said. Timoner said she believes in the disruptive but peaceful tactic of a carefully organized street sit-in. “It shows that we’re not violent,” she said.

Approximately 600 people participated in the demonstration, according to a sheriff’s department spokesman. Organizers of the protest talked of a lack of progress in labor contract negotiations affecting Hyatt’s hotel cooks, bellman, dishwashers, housekeepers and other non-managerial employees. The workers’ contract expired about six months ago, said Tom Walsh, president of Unite Here Local 11, who was among those arrested.

Aryeh Cohen, associate professor of rabbinic literature at AJU. (Photo by Dan Kacvinski)

According to supporters of the workers’ cause and representatives of the workers’ union representation—Unite Here Local 11—hotel employees may face a decrease in their healthcare benefits under a new labor contract. “The main union gripe is that these workers are basically going to lose their healthcare, or they are going to lose their wages, or other elements of their economic well-being will diminish,” Klein said.

A Hyatt Andaz media statement, made available by employees inside the hotel, denies wrongdoing against their employees. “Hyatt has been participating in union contract negotiations in good faith for nearly a year in several markets across the country” the statement says, adding that demonstrations like the one on Thursday, function for “the sole purpose of increasing union membership.”

A media statement from Unite Here blames the possible cuts in wages and benefits on the Pritzker family, owners of the Hyatt chain. Similar demonstrations took place in 15 cities across the country Thursday, according to the statement.

Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz came to the event in support of the workers. “It’s time for them to treat their workers fairly,” Koretz said of Hyatt management in an interview. He said his father had been a member of a waiter’s union that he said was a precursor of Unite Here. “I’m very supportive of labor and working families,” Koretz said.

Marching on the north side of Sunset, from the Comedy Store, next door to the Hyatt, to the hotel entrance and turning the corner at Kings Road, the demonstrators jammed the sidewalk.

Police also arrested Margarita Ramos, who works as a housekeeper at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza hotel. Speaking before the demonstration began, Ramos said,  “We want to take advantage of this moment to show we want respect. We’re good workers [and] we’re making this sacrifice,” she said of a potential arrest. “We’re happy to participate in this action.”

Shortly after the protest began, rock music blared from speakers. The music served as a lively soundtrack for the demonstrators, many of them dressed in fire-truck red “Unite” T-shirts.

Demonstrators carried signs with messages like “Hyatt Sign a Fair Contract!” “Health Care is a Right!” and “Support Hotel Workers,” to emphasize their cause.

Rabbi, AJU Professor Arrested at Hotel Workers Protest Read More »

Israel urges Lebanon to stop new flotilla

Leave a Comment / Flotilla Crisis, Israel /

Israel urged Lebanon and the international community to stop two ships from sailing to the Gaza Strip from Lebanon.

The Junia and the Julia are set to depart Friday or Saturday, carrying aid to the Palestinian territory. Israel warned that this latest attempt to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza would be stopped, even if Lebanon refused to do so.

Gabriela Shelev, the Israeli envoy to the United Nations, wrote letters to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and the Security Council saying this flotilla was an attempt to “incite a confrontation and raise tensions in our region.”

“Israel reserves its right under international law to use all necessary means to prevent these ships from violating the … naval blockade,” Shalev wrote.

Israel is technically at war with Lebanon; in 2006, the Hezbollah terrorist group launched a war against Israel and has since rearmed.

Israel loosened its blockade after its May 31 raid on a Turkish flagged vessel that was part of a six-ship flotilla resulted in a brawl that killed nine Turkish passengers, including one Turkish-American, and injured seven Israeli troops. Commando raids on the other five ships in the flotilla ended without incident.

Israeli authorities now allow almost all consumer goods into Gaza, but still ban exports.

The U.N. Human Rights Council last month appointed a team of three international experts to investigate the May flotilla incident.

Israel rejected calls for the international inquiry, saying its troops acted in self-defense, and noting that it had set up two inquiries: One military, as well as a civilian panel that included two foreigners.

Three Spanish passengers on board one of the ships involved in the May 31 raid are suing Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and six other government officials for crimes against humanity. They said they were arrested illegally and lightly tortured.

Israel decided Friday to return the Mavi Marmara, the ship that participated in the May flotilla, to Turkey in a bid to improve relations between the two countries, badly damaged since the flotilla raid.

Israel urges Lebanon to stop new flotilla Read More »

Incredible Orthodox Response to Homosexuality in Judaism

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized /

Statement of Principles on the Place of Jews with a
Homosexual Orientation in Our Community

For the last six months a number of Orthodox rabbis and educators have been preparing a statement of principles on the place of our brothers and sisters in our community who have a homosexual orientation.

The original draft was prepared by Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot. It was then commented upon by and revised based on the input from dozens of talmidei chachamim, educators, communal rabbis, mental health professionals and a number of individuals in our community who are homosexual in orientation.

Significant revisions were made based upon the input of Rabbi Aryeh Klapper and Rabbi Yitzchak Blau who were intimately involved in the process of editing and improving the document during the last three months.

The statement below is a consensus document arrived at after hundreds of hours of discussion,debate and editing. At the bottom, is the initial cohort of signators.

If you are an Orthodox rabbi, educator, or mental health professional and would like to add your signature to the current list, please send a short e-mail to:
statementnya@hotmail.com with your name, address, cell phone number, and professional affiliation.

Statement of Principles on the Place of Jews with a
Homosexual Orientation in Our Community

We, the undersigned Orthodox rabbis, rashei yeshiva, ramim, Jewish educators and communal leaders affirm the following principles with regard to the place of Jews with a homosexual orientation in our community:

1. All human beings are created in the image of God and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect (kevod haberiyot). Every Jew is obligated to fulfill the entire range of mitzvot between person and person in relation to persons who are homosexual or have feelings of same sex attraction. Embarrassing, harassing or demeaning someone with a homosexual orientation or same-sex attraction is a violation of Torah prohibitions that embody the deepest values of Judaism.

2. The question of whether sexual orientation is primarily genetic, or rather environmentally generated, is irrelevant to our obligation to treat human beings with same-sex attractions and orientations with dignity and respect.

3. Halakhah sees heterosexual marriage as the ideal model and sole legitimate outlet for human sexual expression. The sensitivity and understanding we properly express for human beings with other sexual orientations does not diminish our commitment to that principle.

4. Halakhic Judaism views all male and female same-sex sexual interactions as prohibited. The question of whether sexual orientation is primarily genetic, or rather environmentally generated, is irrelevant to this prohibition. While halakha categorizes various homosexual acts with different degrees of severity and opprobrium, including toeivah, this does not in any way imply that lesser acts are permitted. But it is critical to emphasize that halakha only prohibits homosexual acts; it does not prohibit orientation or feelings of same-sex attraction, and nothing in the Torah devalues the human beings who struggle with them. (We do not here address the issue of hirhurei aveirah, a halakhic category that goes beyond mere feelings and applies to all forms of sexuality and requires precise halakhic definition.)

5. Whatever the origin or cause of homosexual orientation, many individuals believe that for most people this orientation cannot be changed. Others believe that for most people it is a matter of free will. Similarly, while some mental health professionals and rabbis in the community strongly believe in the efficacy of “change therapies”, most of the mental health community, many rabbis, and most people with a homosexual orientation feel that some of these therapies are either ineffective or potentially damaging psychologically for many patients.

We affirm the religious right of those with a homosexual orientation to reject
therapeutic approaches they reasonably see as useless or dangerous.

6. Jews with a homosexual orientation who live in the Orthodox community confront serious emotional, communal and psychological challenges that cause them and their families great pain and suffering. For example, homosexual orientation may greatly increase the risk of suicide among teenagers in our community. Rabbis and communities need to be sensitive and empathetic to that reality. Rabbis and mental health professionals must provide responsible and ethical assistance to congregants and clients dealing with those human challenges.

7. Jews struggling to live their lives in accordance with halakhic values need and deserve our support. Accordingly, we believe that the decision as to whether to be open about one’s sexual orientation should be left to such individuals, who should consider their own needs and those of the community. We are opposed on ethical and moral grounds to both the “outing” of individuals who want to remain private and to coercing those who desire to be open about their orientation to keep it hidden.

8. Accordingly, Jews with homosexual orientations or same sex-attractions should be welcomed as full members of the synagogue and school community. As appropriate with regard to gender and lineage, they should participate and count ritually, be eligible for ritual synagogue honors, and generally be treated in the same fashion and under the same halakhic and hashkafic framework as any other member of the synagogue they join. Conversely, they must accept and fulfill all the responsibilities of such membership, including those generated by communal norms or broad Jewish principles that go beyond formal halakhah.

We do not here address what synagogues should do about accepting members
who are openly practicing homosexuals and/or living with a same-sex partner.
Each synagogue together with its rabbi must establish its own standard with
regard to membership for open violators of halakha.
Those standards should be applied fairly and objectively.

9. Halakha articulates very exacting criteria and standards of eligibility for particular religious offices, such as officially appointed cantor during the year or baal tefillah on the High Holidays. Among the most important of those criteria is that the entire congregation must be fully comfortable with having that person serve as its representative. This legitimately prevents even the most admirable individuals, who are otherwise perfectly fit halakhically, from serving in those roles. It is the responsibility of the lay and rabbinic leadership in each individual community to determine eligibility for those offices in line with those principles, the importance of maintaining communal harmony, and the unique context of its community culture.

10. Jews with a homosexual orientation or same sex attraction, even if they engage in same sex interactions, should be encouraged to fulfill mitzvot to the best of their ability. All Jews are challenged to fulfill mitzvot to the best of their ability, and the attitude of “all or nothing” was not the traditional approach adopted by the majority of halakhic thinkers and poskim throughout the ages.

11. Halakhic Judaism cannot give its blessing and imprimatur to Jewish religious
same-sex commitment ceremonies and weddings, and halakhic values proscribe individuals and communities from encouraging practices that grant religious legitimacy to gay marriage and couplehood. But communities should display sensitivity, acceptance and full embrace of the adopted or biological children of homosexually active Jews in the synagogue and school setting, and we encourage parents and family of homosexually partnered Jews to make every effort to maintain harmonious family relations and connections.

12. Jews who have an exclusively homosexual orientation should, under most circumstances, not be encouraged to marry someone of the other gender, as
this can lead to great tragedy, unrequited love, shame, dishonesty and ruined
lives. They should be directed to contribute to Jewish and general society in
other meaningful ways. Any such person who is planning to marry someone of
the opposite gender is halakhically and ethically required to fully inform their
potential spouse of their sexual orientation.

We hope and pray that by sharing these thoughts we will help the Orthodox
community to fully live out its commitment to the principles and values of
Torah and Halakha as practiced and cherished by the children of Abraham, who
our sages teach us are recognized by the qualities of being rahamanim
(merciful), bayshanim (modest), and gomelei hasadim
engaging in acts of loving-kindness).

 

(as of 7/23/10)
Rabbi Yosef Adler
Rabbi Elisha Anscelovits
Rabbi Hayyim Angel
Rabbi Marc Angel
Rabbi Maurice Appelbaum
Mrs. Nechama Goldman Barash
Rabbi Avi Baumol
Rabbi Dr. Shalom Berger
Rabbi Dr. Joshua Berman
Rabbi Todd Berman
Dr. David Bernstein
Rabbi David Bigman
Rabbi Yitzchak Blau
Dr. Erica Brown
Rabbi Yuval Cherlow
Rabbi Mark Dratch
Rabbi Ira Ebbin
Rabbi Rafi Eis
Mrs. Atara Eis
Rabbi Yitzhak Etshalom
Rabbi Dr. Shaul (Seth) Farber
Ms. Rachel Feingold
Rabbi Jeffrey Fox
Rabbi Aaron Frank
Rabbi Aharon Frazier
Rabbi Avidan Freedman
Rabbi Shmuel Goldin
Rabbi Mark Gottlieb
Rabbi Barry Gelman
Rabbi Benjamin Greenberg
Rabbi Zvi Grumet
Rabbi Alan Haber
Dr. Aviad Hacohen
Rabbi Tully Harcsztark
Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot
Rabbi Josh Hess
Dr. Daniel Kahn
Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky
Rabbi Jay Kellman
Rabbi Aryeh Klapper
Mrs. Judy Klitsner
Rabbi Shmuel Klitsner
Rabbi Jeff Kobrin
Dr. Aaron Koller
Rabbi Barry Kornblau
Dr. Meesh Hammer Kossoy
Rabbi Binny Krauss
Mrs. Esther Krauss
Rabbi Dr. Benny Lau
Rabbi Zvi Leshem
Rabbi Dr. Martin Lockshin
Rabbi Dr. Haskel Lookstein
Rabbi Asher Lopatin
Rabbi Chaim Marder
Rabbi Dr. Adam Mintz
Rabbi Jonathan Morgenstern
Rabbi Dr. Yaacov Nagen (Genack)
Mrs. C.B. Neugroschl
Rabbi Yossi Pollak
Dr. Caroline Pyser
Rabbi Daniel Reifman
Rabbi Avi Robinson
Rabii Chaim Sacknovitz
Rabbi Jeremy Savitsky
Rabbi Noam Shapiro
Rabbi Yehuda Seif
Rabbi Adam Schier
Ms. Lisa Schlaff
Rabbi Yehuda Septimus
Rabbi Yair Silverman
Rabbi Adam Starr
Rabbi Chaim Strauchler
Rabbi Yehuda Sussman
Rabbi Mordechai Torczyner
Rabbi Jacob Traub
Rabbi Zach Truboff
Mrs. Dara Unterberg
Rabbi Michael Unterberg
Rabbi Dr. Avie Walfish
Dr. Dina Weiner
Ms. Sara Weinerman
Rabbi David Wolkenfeld
Rabbi Elie Weinstock
Rabbi Alan Yuter
Dr. Yael Ziegler
Rabbi Dr. Stuart Zweiter

Incredible Orthodox Response to Homosexuality in Judaism Read More »

Greater Washington JCC sued for discrimination

Leave a Comment / United States /

The Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington is being sued for violating the American With Disabilities Act.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said July 20 that it is charging the Rockville, Md. center with demoting, rather than accommodating, an assistant nursery school teacher because of her disability, the Washington Jewish Week reported.

The teacher, Carole Schulman, has a hearing impairment.

Michael Feinstein, the JCCGW’s chief executive office, said Tuesday, “We haven’t been filed with a lawsuit at this time,” so he was unable to comment.

Greater Washington JCC sued for discrimination Read More »

The Mel Gibson blood libel?

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized /

Hardly. The blood libel, at least as Jews experienced it, was a fabrication meant to create fear and hatred for a persecuted people (the People of the Book). In Mel Gibson’s case, reality seems to be working against him.

We’ve all become painfully familiar with his drunken outburst in which he called a female officer “sugar tits” and blamed Jews for “all the wars in the world.” Recently, he pissed off Latinos and blacks with more racist comments and recorded conversations with his ex-girlfriend showed he’s not such a good guy—alcohol involved or not.

As the Oksana saga rolls on, and as Gibson’s career falls further and further from any chance at resurrection, RadarOnline is reporting that Gibson was mad enough at an unidentified Hollywood Jewish macher who he thought had publicly humiliated him that Gibson felt the need for vendetta:

“Oksana says Mel told her, ‘I want Jew blood on my hands,’ and said he wanted the person taken to the desert, stripped naked, knee capped and left in the heat,” a source close to one of the investigations involving Mel told RadarOnline.com exclusively.

The Mel Gibson blood libel? Read More »