October 8, 2010

Do Not Stand Idly By: A Jewish Community Pledge to Save Lives

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized / Naomi Goldberg

I’ve been horrified to hear about the recent rash of suicides of LGBT and other marginalized youth who have been bullied and made to feel worthless. How did we come to such a place where children feel that they have no escape from bullying but to kill themselves? While we can work on changing the minds of bullies and training educators, parents, and community members to stop bullying, I also think that we need to focus on the individuals who are being bullied. How can we better equip these young people to feel confident in who they are? Bullying will happen – whether it is about your sexual orientation, where your parents came from, your accent, your clothing, or the gestures you use, you may be bullied. But, we need to work to create communities where these young people feel supported in getting through it. No one should feel so alone and helpless that they jump off a bridge or hang themselves.

For a while, Keshet has been working to make schools, temples, summer camps, and other Jewish spaces safer for all people – including LGBT youth. Their programming has focused on training teachers and developing curriculum and school policies that fit within Jewish values promoting safe, supportive communities.

To this end, Keshet has started a campaign called “Do Not Stand Idly By: A Jewish Community Pledge to Save Lives.” In conjunction with more than 90 initial cosponors from across the Jewish community, this campaign seeks to educate and empower Jews to make the world safer for youth.

You can read more about the pledge and sign on here: Do Not Stand Idly By: A Jewish Community Pledge to Save Lives Read More »

Obama to replace Jones with Donilon

Leave a Comment / United States / Jewish Journal

President Obama is set to replace his national security adviser.

Obama will reportedly announce on Friday that Gen. Jim Jones, the current national security adviser, will be replaced by Thomas Donilon, his deputy.

According to the New York Times, the decision to push Jones out was accelerated by White House anger at his apparent leaks to journalist Bob Woodward describing his disagreements with Obama’s political advisers.

Jones was also believed to be of the camp that set out Arab-Israeli peace as a necessary component to securing broader U.S. interests in the region.

Before assuming the job heading the National Security Council, Jones had led efforts under President Bush to bolster the Palestinian Aurthority through military training and economic assistance.

Donilon, a former chief of staff for Clinton administration Secretary of State Warren Christopher, has good ties with the pro-Israel community.

He and Jones reportedly clashed over a number of issues, including Jones’ more leisurely work pace.

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TIP adds Spanish wing

Leave a Comment / Israel / Jewish Journal

The Israel Project rolled out a Spanish language operation as part of its recent expansion.

The Spanish program, unveiled Thursday, will replicate the Israel project’s eight-year old American program, which targets journalists and opinion leaders in the United States and Israel with pro-Israel material and research and facilitates meetings with Israeli officials as well as tours.

The program is to be directed by Leah Soibel, from TIP’s Jerusalem office. Its launch was spurred forward in part by Iranian plans to launch a Spanish language news channel targeting Latin America, a continent that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s president, has made a priority in expanding Iranian influence,

A number of other Jewish groups, including B’nai B’rith International and the American Jewish Committee, have existing programs in Latin America.

In recent months, TIP has launched similar expansions in Europe and among Arabic language journalists. The expansions include a number of new hirings, including Alan Elsner, a veteran Reuters correspondent and thriller novelist, as communications director.

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Spanish journalist receives Pearl Award

Leave a Comment / Worldwide / Jewish Journal

Spanish journalist Pilar Rahola was presented with the ADL Daniel Pearl Award.

Rahola received the award Thursday in Boston for “writing and speaking out about anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in Europe and elsewhere throughout the continent.”

The Anti-Defamation League’s Daniel Pearl Award, which is dedicated to the Jewish American reporter who was abducted and murdered in Pakistan in 2002 while pursuing a story about international terrorism, was created to recognize individuals who have made a “positive contribution to promoting improved understanding of Jews and Judaism, be it in journalism, interfaith dialogue, politics, or diplomacy.”

The award was presented to Rahola during the ADL’s annual meeting which is taking place in Boston from October 7-9.

Pilar Rahola, born in Barcelona in 1958, writes for the Spanish daily La Vanguardia and is a known figure on television and radio. From 1993 to 2000 she was a member of the Spanish Parliament for the Republican Left Party of Catalonia.

During the Gaza war in 2009 Rahola, among others, received death threats for her support of Israel.

“We believe that your discourse against anti-Americanism, anti-Semitism, and anti-Israelism in Europe, especially among intellectuals from the extreme left, has been one of the most courageous and encouraging voices that we have heard from Europe in the last decade,” wrote Judea and Ruth Pearl, Daniel Pearl’s parents, in a letter to Rahola.

In receiving the award Rahola said that it was “an extraordinary honor, undoubtedly undeserved, one which I will try to carry with humility and responsibility.”

Previous recipients of the Pearl award include Thomas L. Friedman, columnist for The New York Times; Jeffrey Goldberg, national correspondent for The Atlantic; and Robert Satloff, executive director of The Washington Institute.

Pilar Rahola’s writings can be found at her website: www.pilarrahola.com.

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Israel inks pact with U.S. for F-35s

Leave a Comment / Israel / Jewish Journal

Israel signed an agreement to purchase 20 F-35 stealth fighter jets from the United States.

The contract, valued at about $2.75 billion, was signed Thursday at a ceremony in New York. Udi Shani, the director general of Israel’s Defense Ministry, signed the agreement.

“The signing of this defense contract is an event of great strategic and historic significance,” said Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, in a statement released Thursday after the signing. “The most advanced fighter jet in the world today, the F-35 will enhance Israel’s ability to defend itself, by itself, against any threat or combination of threats, from anywhere within the Middle East.”

Oren said the agreement was mutually beneficial in serving the goals of Israel and the United States, as Israel’s security ensures greater overall stability in the region and thus better guarantees global security.

The statement also pointed out that the billions of dollars that Israel spends on defense contracts in the United States generates thousands of jobs in the U.S. and in Israel.

“We thank the American people for continuing to recognize the common democratic values and principles shared with our people and for our continued friendship,” Oren said in the statement. “This latest agreement stands as a poignant testament to the indomitable strength of these bonds.”

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Jewish CEO second on Forbes list of powerful women

Leave a Comment / United States / Jewish Journal

A Jewish CEO was named the second most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine.

Several other Jewish women also joined Irene Rosenfeld, CEO and chairman of Kraft Foods Inc., on the 2010 World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list released Wednesday.

Rosenfeld was second to U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama and ahead of Oprah Winfrey. Rosenfeld in 2009 earned the second highest salary for women in the United States at $26.3 million.

Mary Schapiro, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, was 17th on the list. U.S. Supreme Court Justices Elana Kagan and Ruth Bader Ginsburg were No. 25 and 31, respectively.

Other Jewish women on the list: actress and fashion designer Sarah Jessica Parker (45); personal finance expert Suze Orman (61); Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg (66); and fashion designer Donna Karan (96).

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TGR Goes to The Airwaves

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized / JewishJournal

TGR will be featured on Israeli sports radio. Tuesday at 12pm EST. Here is more info below:

The show is a college sports show called “Jumpshots with Jasmine” every Tuesday from 5-7pm Israel time or 11am-1pm Eastern time. Jasmine talks about a variety of college sports and interview Jewish college athletes as well as college sports experts. It airs on Israel Sports Radio, a new radio station and the only sports talk station in Israel, that airs in English on Israelsportsradio.com.

Check it out here http://israelsportsradio.com/

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BEGINNERS MAH JONGG CLASS FOR LOS ANGELES

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized / Elaine Sandberg

ATTENTION LOS ANGELES

I AM OFFERING A MAH JONGG CLASS FOR BEGINNERS

WHERE: THE AMERICAN JEWISH UNIVERSITY
15600 MULHOLLAND DRIVE
BEL AIR, CA 90077

WHEN: TUES/THURS.—- 8 SESSIONS——STARTING OCT. 14TH.—-NOV. 9TH.

TIME: 1:00-3:00 P.M.

ALSO

WINNING STRATEGIES CLASS FOR NOVICE PLAYERS

WHERE: SAME LOCATION AS ABOVE

WHEN; TUES./THURS.—- 3 SESSIONS——NOV.11TH-NOV.18TH

TIME; 1-2;30 P.PM.

TO REGISTER: CALL 1-310-440-1246
ONLINE AT WCCE.AJULA.EDU

DIRECTIONS: EXIT 405 FRWY AT SKIRBALL—FOLLOW SIGNS TO AMERICAN JEWISH UNIVERSITY

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Glee and Chews For Cheesus

Leave a Comment / Blogs, Uncategorized / Mihal Levy

I missed an episode of Glee this week and was disappointed, until I watched it online (most of it) and was even more disappointed.

I have been a huge Gleek and not ashamed to admit it. I have gone to great lengths to watch every episode. (Rushing to put my son to bed earlier and earlier even without dinner. Ok, shorter dinners or late lunches.) I have almost met the entire cast and have nearly kissed the ground Ryan Murphy has walked on (only was too embarrassed to do it at the time, as I was walking away from chatting with him.) I still am a fan of Ryan Murphy (although I have not seen Eat Pray Love, because I can not see Julia in a role other than a Beverly Hills call girl or cooking up pizzas – I just dated myself.), although I am not sure I am still a fan of Glee.

I cannot believe I said that, but now that it is out in the open, let me elaborate. I liked Glee last season for its themes; ‘love for the underdog’, ‘we are all equal’ and even ‘Obsessive Compulsive Disorder can be sexy’. Although the themes linger on, I am not sure the plot lines (when there is a plot) do it justice.

I think Glee’s writing is often brilliant. The one-liners, snarky comments and “I can’t believe they went there” moments are what keep it great. But this season it seems they are looking more to gimmicks than to character driven plots. And how much more can you do with Rachel Berry? Where does she go from here? Perhaps one will find out.

The season opener was mediocre at best. The second Britney Spears episode seemed like it was a random selection of Britney’s music and spoofy videos sans plot. I was thoroughly disappointed when I could not get into the third episode “Grilled Cheesus.”

In “Grilled Cheesus.” Finn makes himself a grilled cheese sandwich only to find an image of the big J (also known as the man who walked on water) on his burnt toast. Really?

I could not watch the rest of the episode after Finn and his holy toast go on a spiritual mission. Asking his holy toast to grant him wishes like getting to first base (or was it second?) with his girlfriend. I wish I could follow but everything after the J-toast made me a non-believer of the show.

I wish I could say that I was a Jewish fan, so that I could be considered a “Chew for Cheesus.” (What was amazing to me, however, was how they were able to get that image on the toast in the first place. I can’t get my $15 Mickey Mouse toast stamp from Disneyland to ever work.)

I want to continue my Gleekiness, but I feel at this point the Cheesusness has gotten a bit out of hand. I am sure the writers have not run out of ideas. But if they have…Murphy, Brennan and Falchuk, please call me…I have got some ideas. They do not involve grilled cheesus, though. I am a vegetarian and I do not do dairy. I hope you don’t mind.

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