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Jewish Journal

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April 18, 2016

Sanders: Netanyahu is ‘wrong on occasion’

Leave a Comment / Election 2016, United States /

Bernie Sanders is not backing down on his claim that Israel used ‘disproportionate’ force against Hamas in the 2014 Gaza war.

“You cannot ignore the needs of the Palestinian people,” Sanders said during an interview on ABC’s “This Week” program on Sunday. “I think in the Gaza, it was a disproportionate response. You had some 1,500 civilians killed. I think you had 10,000 or so wounded. That was a disproportionate response.”

Sanders took the role of Israel’s opposition leader in suggesting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is wrong “on occasion.”

“You can’t just always nod your head to Netanyahu,” he told George Stephanopoulos. “He is wrong on occasion.”

The Democratic presidential hopeful also responded to ADL’s CEO Jonathan Greenblatt accusing him of playing into the hands of those who claim that Israel is the main problem in this conflict.

“Well, they can say what they want,” said Sanders. “I didn’t say Israel’s the main problem. All I am saying is you cannot ignore the needs of the Palestinian people. And right now, as you know, in Gaza, there is mass destruction that has not been addressed right now. Poverty rate is off the charts; 40 percent people are unemployed. We are United States of America. If we want to bring people together, we have got to address those issues.”

Asked to rate President Barack Obama’s approach to settling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Sanders said, “I think he’s done much better than his predecessors. But I think we still have a way to go. And I was not criticizing President Obama; I was criticizing Secretary Clinton.”

 

Sanders: Netanyahu is ‘wrong on occasion’ Read More »

Opposition leader Isaac Herzog questioned by police fraud unit

Leave a Comment / Israel /

Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog was questioned for six hours on Sunday by investigators from the police fraud unit.

Herzog, who heads the Zionist Union camp, was questioned over suspicions that he received illegal contributions and failed to report donations during his successful campaign in the Labor Party primaries in 2013. He also is accused of making a false statement.

Herzog said in a statement that he asked to come in and give his statement “in order to put the matter behind me as soon as possible.”

“I have complete trust in law enforcement authorities, and am thankful for their fair and respectable conduct,” he added.

Zionist Union lawmaker Shelly Yachimovich, who Herzog defeated for the Labor leadership, expressed concern for the party.

“I am convinced Herzog has in mind the best interests of the party and the opposition, and I will work alongside him and the members of our party to decide on the steps to take,” Yachimovich said in a statement. “There is no doubt that the party chairman and opposition leader being questioned under warning exacerbates the situation. I have complete trust in the police and law enforcement authorities.”

Zionist Union is made up of Labor and the Hatnua party led by Tzipi Livni, a former foreign minister.

Earlier this month, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon said talks about Zionist Union joining the ruling government coalition stalled when the investigation into Herzog became public in late March.

Interior Minister Aryeh Deri of the haredi Orthodox Sephardic Shas party is also currently the subject of a corruption investigation.

Opposition leader Isaac Herzog questioned by police fraud unit Read More »

Cruz Endorses Netanyahu’s call to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over Golan Heights

Leave a Comment / Election 2016, United States /

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz on Sunday endorsed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Speaking at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting held on Israel’s border Sunday morning, Netanyahu said he had told Secretary of State John Kerry in a recent phone call that the Golan Heights is not on the table for discussion in the ongoing talks to settle the Syrian civil war.

“I chose to hold this festive Cabinet meeting on the Golan Heights in order to deliver a clear message: The Golan Heights will forever remain in Israel’s hands. Israel will never come down from the Golan Heights,” Netanyahu said. “The time has come for the international community to recognize reality, especially two basic facts. One, whatever is beyond the border, the boundary itself will not change. Two, after 50 years, the time has come for the international community to finally recognize that the Golan Heights will remain under Israel’s sovereignty permanently.”

In a statement issued hours after the Prime Minister’s remarks, Cruz stated, “Today, the government of Israel reiterated the reality that the Golan Heights are part of Israel’s sovereign territory. Given the presence of hostile terrorist organizations ranging from ISIS to Hezbollah on Israel’s northern border, it is foolhardy and dangerous for elements in the international community to try to pressure Israel to abandon the Golan to the chaos engulfing Syria. The path to peace cannot involve Israel’s abdication of its own security.”

“I applaud Prime Minister Netanyahu’s courage in standing up for the safety of his people. America stands with you,” the Republican presidential hopeful said.

Cruz Endorses Netanyahu’s call to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over Golan Heights Read More »

5 seder supplements to make your Passover relevant this year

Leave a Comment / Holidays, Judaism /

We get it: Most Jewish families don’t yearn to make their Passover seders longer.

But there’s an entire world of seder upgrades and supplements out there providing myriad creative ways to freshen up the age-old tale of the Jews’ liberation from slavery in Egypt and — perhaps more significantly — make it relevant to our complicated, modern world.

You don’t need to be a scholar. You don’t even need to be particularly resourceful or ambitious — all you need is Internet access. Dozens of Haggadah supplements put out by Jewish organizations in recent years have addressed a variety of present-day social justice issues such as civil rights, poverty, hunger and genocide.

Below we give your our top picks for supplements that will give your seder a social justice reboot.

1. Refugee crises (HIAS)

The Passover seder famously celebrates the Jewish people’s exodus from Egypt — so it’s a perfect opportunity to raise awareness on modern-day movements of people.

The Syrian refugee crisis is perhaps the most discussed humanitarian issue of the past year. And HIAS, “the world’s oldest, and only Jewish, refugee resettlement organization,” is using the crisis’ moment in the headlines to shine a light on the plight of refugees fleeing turmoil across the entire globe.

Its nine-page Haggadah supplement compares the story of Jewish flight from Egypt to the stories of modern refugees fleeing places like Congo and El Salvador.

“The Syrian refugee crisis is huge and devastating and the one that’s been most in the American news, [but] there are 20 million refugees in the world and 60 million if you include displaced people who have fled for the same reasons but haven’t crossed international borders so are not legally refugees,” Rabbi Jennie Rosenn, the vice president for community engagement at HIAS, told JTA.

The supplement also includes a list of 10 plagues facing modern refugees (including “workforce discrimination” and “lack of access to education” — good luck making puppets for those!), as well as an instruction for seder participants to leave a pair of shoes by a doorstep to symbolize that Jews have historically “stood in the shoes of the refugee.”

2. LGBTQ Jews (Keshet)

Less than a year after the Supreme Court case that declared same-sex marriage legal nationwide, LGBTQ rights are again a hot topic. North Carolina enacted a law banning anti-discrimination protections for gay and transgender people — drawing the high-profile ire of Bruce Springsteen — and Mississippi is poised to pass a law that would allow businesses to refuse serving LGBTQ couples.

Keshet, a nonprofit working to promote the full inclusion of LGBTQ Jews in Jewish life, has created a six-page “LGBTQ Celebratory Passover Resource Guide” that’s ripe for conversation this year.

Playing off of the traditional four children section, Keshet offers descriptions of four ideal LGBTQ “allies” to discuss, from the one who “asks what LGBTQ means” to the one who “comes out as an advocate to move equality forward.” The online, printable guide also includes its own list of 10 plagues —”apathy in the face of evil,” “envy of the joy of others” — and essays aimed at prompting discussion.

3. Human trafficking (Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism)

The Reform movement’s political outreach arm has produced nearly 10 Haggadahs and seder supplements over the past few decades, but its newest one focuses on the “illegal trade of people for exploitation or gain.” The supplement explains that over 20 million people, including 5 million children, are victims of human trafficking each year.

The Religious Action Center’s new six-page Haggadah supplement urges users to “remember that slavery didn’t end in Egypt, as many people around the world are victims of modern-day slavery and human trafficking.”

There’s a reading for the urchatz, or the ritual handwashing, portion of the seder, as well as an alternate blessing over the fourth cup of wine — “To truly address slavery, we cannot just free individual slaves but must also address the root causes of poverty, prejudice, and inequality that make slavery possible” — as well excerpts from texts on human trafficking by the likes of New York Times writer Nick Kristof.

4. Sexual assault on campus (Hillel International/It’s On Us initiative)

The past year has seen the emergence of some pretty scary statistics: At least one in four undergraduate women experience sexual assault at school and two-thirds of all college students say they have been harassed on campus. The issue made its way to the White House, and Vice President Joe Biden trumpeted the problemat this year’s Academy Awards.

Hillel International and the White House’s It’s On Us initiative, which was launched in 2014 to increase awareness about sexual assault on campus, have teamed up to produce a one-page Haggadah insert that poses discussion questions linking the Passover theme of freedom with the topic of sexual assault.

The first questions ask about personal freedom (“When is a time that you have not been free?”) more generally before getting into some darker specifics: “How does the reality of sexual violence impact how you experience freedom?” and “Have you intervened to help someone become free from a situation or potential situation of sexual violence?”

5. #BlackLivesMatter (Jews for Racial and Economic Justice)

This supplement may have been written for Passover 2015 following the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, but it is no less relevant today.

#BlackLivesMatter activists have made headlines forinterrupting events throughout the past year held by presidential candidates such as Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. In general, tensions between the African-American community and local police forces across the country remainuntenably high.

The #BlackLivesMatter Haggadah extension provides alternate readings — For karpas: “The saltwater represents the tears of our ancestors in Mitzrayim,” it reads. “This year may it also represent tears of Black parents and families mourning the loss of their Black youth at the hands of police brutality” — as well as interesting essays, mostly written by Jews of color, including one on the traditional African-American spiritual “Go Down Moses.”

But the Haggadah doesn’t just raise provocative questions, it supplies statistics on police activity in places like New York City and Ferguson, Missouri. (Here’s one for NYC: “Between January 2004 and June 2012 the police stopped, questioned or frisked 4.4 million people.”)

5 seder supplements to make your Passover relevant this year Read More »

Cash on wheels: how to hock your car

Leave a Comment / Blogs /

Car hocking, for instance, is set to grow in popularity as more and more people learn about its short and long-term advantages. It basically entails pawning your vehicle in exchange for cash, with the possibility of buying it back once things return to financial normality. As with any type of loan, however, it’s essential that you get to know all the aspects of the deal before signing the dotted line. So here’s what you need to look after when hocking your car:

How it works

Pretty much like any other pawning procedure. You simply go to a pawnshop and request an evaluation of your vehicle. Make sure you choose a professional pawnbroker (like this one) who specializes in car hocking if you want to get fair appraisals and great deals. The lending company will then make you an offer based on your car’s wholesale value and previous usage. Accepting it means instant access to a decent sum of money that you’ll have to repay in an agreed-upon time frame. If you don’t manage to do so or if you simply choose to forfeit your buy-back option, the car will be considered as having been sold to the pawnbroker.

Qualification requirements

For the most part it’s pretty straightforward: any car proprietor who can prove his or her ownership of the vehicle in question with a lien-free auto title and government-issued identification. Some companies may also have minimum age requirements or stipulate the need for additional paperwork such as proof of residence and proof of income.

Common hocking options

Depending on the policies of the lending company, there are usually two ways to go about hocking your car. You can opt for a storage clause, which means that your vehicle will be kept in the custody of the pawnbroker until the loan is paid in full. Alternatively, you can choose to hold onto your vehicle and simply cede your car title to the pawnbroker. This means that you’ll still get to keep driving it, but the car’s ownership won’t revert back to you until you’ve finished paying your loan. In such cases, additional car insurance may be required.

Contracts & legalities

Despite being completely safe and legal, hocking your car is still a major financial decision. It is of the utmost importance that you pay close attention to the contract that you’re about to sign before giving your loan the green light. Pawning isn’t subjected to the regular usury laws that govern credit card companies and banks, so you might sometimes find things like ballooning interest rates and strict penalties squeezed in amidst the fine print. For instance, hocking your car with a 3% interest rate might sound like a good deal initially, but if the contract actually stipulates that the interest rate is per month then that means that you’re staring down a staggering 36% interest rate spread out over 1 year. As for penalties, most professional lending companies will let the occasional late payment slide, but some can be very strict about this aspect and will actually take your car away if you blow a single deadline. Finally, the mitigation aspect is important since you’ll want to know exactly what options will be at your disposal on the off chance of things turning sour between the two parties.

Comparison to alternatives

While car hocking isn’t for everyone, it does present a series of advantages when compared to other traditional loan options. For one, it’s really fast. You can be in and out of a pawnbroker’s office within minutes if everything goes smooth, much quicker than it would take to actually sell your used car outright. It’s also impervious to bad credit ratings. Any outstanding debts will not be counted against you when you’re putting down a valuable asset like a car or a motorbike. What’s more, car hocking is a completely private transaction that you can carry out in order to get cash without having to resort to friends and family or going through any complicated loan procedures. Interest levels vary greatly, but they’re still often quite better than the ones afforded by payday loans and other similar emergency options.

In conclusion, car hocking is a smart and efficient solution for anyone who needs access to short-term cash quickly. As with any other loan, getting the money you need is only half the equation, so always keep in mind that you’ll have to eventually repay your debt in one way or another. Still, the ability to get back on your own two feet is definitely something worth doing and investing in.

Cash on wheels: how to hock your car Read More »

Pro-Sanders Jewish group distributes anti-Zionist flyer

Leave a Comment / Election 2016, United States /

A flyer distributed in Yiddish on Monday calls on Orthodox Jewish voters to vote for Bernie Sanders in Tuesday’s New York presidential primary to dispel the notion that the ultra-Orthodox community supports the ‘Zionist’ agenda and the “extreme right-wing” Israeli government.

“Recent attacks by the Zionist groups and Haredi spokespeople are aimed at Sanders only because he refused to bend to the extreme right-wing Zionist agenda, and was not willing to agree with the radical politics of Netanyahu,” the flyer reads.”The entire political world is watching how the New York Jewish votes are going to be cast since the election is being viewed as a referendum over how blind support of Israel is being supported in Jewish and ‘heimish’ neighborhoods.”

“It’s an unfortunate fact that members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in America are seen as ardent supporters of the right-wing Israeli government – far more than the secular world. It would be, indirectly, a tremendous ‘Chilul Hashem’ (desecration of the name of God) if a majority of Orthodox Jews don’t vote for Sanders while in the ‘gentile world’ support for the two candidates are split.

“Dear Jew, before you cast your vote think how it would be used against your interest unwillingly. Let’s be thoughtful and do the right thing. A vote for Sanders is a vote to push off the Zionists’ interests and groups.”

Pro-Sanders Jewish group distributes anti-Zionist flyer Read More »

Kasich talks faith, Israel at Great Neck Synagogue

Leave a Comment / Election 2016, United States /

Republican presidential candidate John Kasich took his campaign to a Long Island synagogue on Saturday, talking about faith and hope, according to local media reports.

Kasich delivered a personal address about life and faith to a crowd of hundreds of Orthodox Jewish congregants at The Great Neck Synagogue on Long Island following Shabbos morning services, according to “>NY Times.

“I’m currently working on a secret plan to delay the primary so I can spend more time eating in New York,” Kasich quipped.

Kasich talks faith, Israel at Great Neck Synagogue Read More »

Obama meets with J Street at the White House

Leave a Comment / United States /

President Barack Obama met with a group of leaders of J Street and J Street U at the White House on Friday.

The President’s meeting with a group closely aligned with his administration’s policies — that prides itself on being Obama’s ‘blocking back’ in Congress — took place a few days before before J Street’s annual gala in Washington, D.C., and almost a year after the Iran nuclear deal was signed.

In attendance at the meeting were Mort Halperin, Chairman of the Board of J Street; Sarah Turbow, Director of J Street U; the national board of J Street U and staffers, according to a post posted on J Street’s Facebook page on Sunday.

“I take that as a sign of the importance the president assigns to the work we are doing and to the emerging young voices that are redefining what it means to be pro-Israel in the 21st century,” J Street’s president Jeremy Ben-Ami said during the opening session of the group’s national assembly in Washington, D.C., on Sunday. “What an exciting moment that was.”

Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry will both speak at Monday’s gala at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in the nation’s capital.