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Jewish Journal

Connect. Inform. Inspire.

November 29, 2018

Pitzer College President Condemns Motion to Suspend Israel Study Abroad Program

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Photo from Wikimedia Commons.

During a Thursday speech before the Pitzer College Council, Pitzer College President Melvin Oliver condemned a motion, approved by the school’s faculty on Monday, to suspend the college’s study abroad program at the University of Haifa.

In a transcript of the speech obtained by the Journal, Oliver said that the arguments favoring the motion “show little or no consideration for our educational objectives and mission.”

“To deny Pitzer students who want to study at Haifa University the opportunity to study abroad and to enter into dialogue and promote intercultural understanding at the altar of political considerations is anathema to Pitzer’s core values,” Oliver said. “If the suspension of the Haifa University program becomes a reality, this will be paltry support for the cause of Palestinian rights and a major blow to the reputation and reality of Pitzer College as a scholarly institution committed to its stated values of intercultural understanding and the ability of students to pursue their vision of educational engagement.”

Part of the faculty’s stated reason for supporting the motion was Israel’s ban on supporters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) from entering the country; Oliver pointed out that Israel’s Supreme Court overruled the government’s attempt to prevent United States student Lara Alqasem from studying at Hebrew University under the ban.

This, Oliver argued, differentiates the Israeli court from the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld President Trump’s travel ban.

“Are we ready to have other colleges and universities ban their students from attending Pitzer College because of our national immigration laws?” Oliver asked.

Additionally, Oliver highlighted the fact that Pitzer still has study abroad programs in countries like China that engage in “significant human right’s abuses.”

“China currently has 1 million Muslims imprisoned in re-education camps. Why would we not suspend our program with China?” Oliver asked. “Or take our longest standing program in Nepal where the Pitzer in Nepal program has been run for over 40 years. During that time they have had a bloody civil war that killed 19,000 people. Why Israel?”

Oliver concluded his speech by arguing that the motion would “foolishly alienate a large percentage of our Jewish and non-Jewish constituents.”

“This decision has consequences; consequences that will over time limit our reach, adversely affect our ability to implement our academic goals such as research funding and innovative academic programming; and create a misleading impression of our campus community and alumni,” Oliver said.

Pitzer College President Condemns Motion to Suspend Israel Study Abroad Program Read More »

Tony-Winning ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ to Become Movie

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The hit Broadway musical “Dear Evan Hansen” is headed for the big screen. The show about a lonely teenager who concocts an elaborate lie that spins out of control won six Tony Awards. It will be adapted for the screen by Steven Levenson, author of the musical’s book and the novel it was based on.

The songwriting team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul remains involved. All three are Tony winners.

No casting has been announced, but it seems possible that Ben Platt, who originated the title role on Broadway and won a Tony for it, will reprise his role. His father Marc Platt is producing the movie, and also has “Rent Live!” coming up Jan. 27 on Fox.

The touring production of “Dear Evan Hansen” just ended its Los Angeles run at the Ahmanson Theatre on Nov. 25, breaking box office previously held by “Les Miserables.” Its weekly gross was more than $2 million.

The musical will play at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa Jan. 1-13, and return for another L.A. engagement in the 2020-21 season.

Tony-Winning ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ to Become Movie Read More »

‘Ask. Dr. Ruth’ Documentary Headed to Hulu, Theaters

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A documentary about the life of noted sex therapist and Holocaust survivor Dr. Ruth Westheimer has been acquired by Hulu and will premiere next year on the streaming service after a showcase at the Sundance Film Festival in January and a theatrical run.

Westheimer was born in Germany, but was 10 when her mother sent her to Switzerland on a kindertransport in 1939, saving her life. Her family perished in the Holocaust. She made her way to Palestine, joined the Haganah, and was wounded during the war of independence.

“The remarkable journey that led Dr. Ruth Westheimer to become the cultural icon she is today is a story that demands to be told,” Craig Erwich, Hulu’s SVP of Originals, said in a statement. ‘Ask Dr. Ruth’ tells the untold story of strength, perseverance and the constant quest for knowledge against all odds, and we can’t wait to share this incredible film with audiences.”

“I’ve never really stopped to examine my life, so when I first saw ‘Ask Dr. Ruth’ even I was amazed by what had transpired during my 90 years,” Westheimer stated. “I am delighted that audiences will be able to share that experience both on Hulu and in movie theaters around the U.S.”

‘Ask. Dr. Ruth’ Documentary Headed to Hulu, Theaters Read More »

Sometimes Dreams are the Pits - A poem for Parsha Vayeshev (Aliyah 1) by Rick Lupert

Sometimes Dreams are the Pits – A poem for Parsha Vayeshev (Aliyah 1) by Rick Lupert

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And Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons

Whenever my son, who is ten as of this writing,
asks me if he is my favorite, we both know that
he is my only child, and any answer other then
of course you are, would be a lie.

In this way I have it much easier than Jacob
who didn’t find it difficult at all, to give Joseph,
his favorite, a fine woolen coat, sometimes referred
to as one of many colors, much to the dismay

of his twelve other children. Or at least to the
eleven boys. Dinah, their sister, isn’t allowed to
speak up in this text. I thank my lucky stars
in the sky, one of which is assigned to my child,

that I didn’t have another. It’s not that I couldn’t
afford two coats – I’d assign them both their
own colors. I just couldn’t handle questions about
favorites. They’d see it in my wrestling eyes.

Listen now to this dream, which I have dreamed

Dreams are better to share than home movies
or vacation photos, unless you are a Fellini or
a Liebovitz. You might be flying, or without pants
in a place that requires pants, and that makes

a compelling story. But even your family will tire
of another shot of your thumb covering the lens
or the thirty minutes of waves coming in and out
that you thought was so compelling, or in this case

images of all those you are obligated to love
kneeling before you, begging for sustenance –
knowing you are forever in charge of every
breath they take. This is the kind of dream

that makes the colors run out of your coat.
That gets you dis-invited to the family reunion.
That has the people you’ve known since you
came out of your mother, digging a pit

and looking at you.

God Wrestler: a poem for every Torah Portion by Rick LupertLos Angeles poet Rick Lupert created the Poetry Super Highway (an online publication and resource for poets), and hosted the Cobalt Cafe weekly poetry reading for almost 21 years. He’s authored 21 collections of poetry, including “God Wrestler: A Poem for Every Torah Portion“, “I’m a Jew, Are You” (Jewish themed poems) and “Feeding Holy Cats” (Poetry written while a staff member on the first Birthright Israel trip), and most recently “Donut Famine” (Rothco Press, December 2016) and edited the anthologies “Ekphrastia Gone Wild”, “A Poet’s Haggadah”, and “The Night Goes on All Night.” He writes the daily web comic “Cat and Banana” with fellow Los Angeles poet Brendan Constantine. He’s widely published and reads his poetry wherever they let him.

Sometimes Dreams are the Pits – A poem for Parsha Vayeshev (Aliyah 1) by Rick Lupert Read More »

Columbia Professor’s Office Vandalized With Swastikas

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Screenshot from Twitter.

A professor at Columbia University found her office vandalized with spray-painted swastikas and the anti-Semitic slur “Yid” on Wednesday afternoon.

According to the Columbia Daily Spectator, Elizabeth Midlarsky, who is a Holocaust scholar and psychology professor at the university, discovered the graffiti at 1 p.m. that day on the walls of her office.

“I stopped for a moment, because I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Midlarsky told the Spectator.

Midlarsky also told The Washington Post, “I’m usually not a fearful person, but they got me. I’m afraid.”

It’s not the first time Midlarsky’s office has been vandalized; in 2007, a swastika was spray-painted on her door, a couple of weeks after anti-Semitic flyers had been found in her office mailbox.

Anti-Defamation League (ADL) New York Regional Director Evan Bernstein told The New York Times that such graffiti in “somebody’s intimate space like that was very unique.”

Thomas Bailey, president of Columbia’s Teachers College, denounced the graffiti in a statement.

“We unequivocally condemn any expression of hatred, which has no place in our society,” Bailey said. “We are outraged and horrified by this act of aggression and use of this vile anti-Semitic symbol against a valued member of our community.”

Bailey added, “Please rest assured that we are working with police to discover the perpetrator of this hateful act.”

The ADL praised Bailey’s statement in a tweet:

Columbia’s Students Supporting Israel chapter wrote on their Facebook page that they “didn’t believe, or didn’t want to believe, that it would happen here.”

“The only resolve we can find is the belief that maybe this will finally wake up the administration as to what is going on under their noses,” they wrote. “We fear this will be swept under the rug like countless other complaints. We can only look to ourselves to make sure this climate doesn’t snowball into the complete antithesis of the values Columbia was founded on.”

The investigation is ongoing.

Columbia Professor’s Office Vandalized With Swastikas Read More »

CNN Fires Commentator Who Called for a ‘Free Palestine from the River to the Sea’

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Screenshot from Twitter.

CNN has fired Marc Lamont Hill from his position as a political commentator following his call for a “free Palestine from the River to the Sea.”

Mediaite first reported it on Thursday; the Journal has confirmed that this is the case, as a CNN spokesperson emailed the Journal, “Marc Lamont Hill is no longer under contract with CNN.”

On Wednesday, Hill said at the United Nations, “We must promote non violence at every opportunity, but cannot endorse narrow politics that shames Palestinians for resisting, for refusing to do nothing in ethnic cleansing.” He then added for his call for a “free Palestine from the river to the sea.”

The CNN spokesperson did not respond to the Journal’s question regarding whether these comments prompted the firing.

Simon Wiesenthal Center Associate Dean Rabbi Abraham Cooper told the Journal in an email, “CNN had to fire Hill.”

“He morphed from social commentator to a shill and propagandist for Palestinian terrorism and end of Jewish State,” Cooper said. “And he did it with a speech at the UN!”

Lawfare Project Executive Director Brooke Goldstein told the Journal in an emailed statement that CNN did “the right thing.”

“Marc Lamont Hill intentionally and very publicly called for the annihilation of the Jewish people and the destruction of their historic homeland,” Goldstein said. “There is no place for such bigotry in the 21st century especially in a major american news outlet.”

Goldstein added, “It is encouraging to see that CNN does not tolerate anti-Semitism. It is dumbfounding that Hill, who is in no position to claim credentials as an academic, still holds a position at Temple University.“

Hill is also a professor of media studies and urban education at Temple University; a spokesperson from the university told the Journal in email that they will not be firing Hill.

“Marc Lamont Hill has been quoted extensively over the last 24 hours,” the spokesperson said. “Marc Lamont Hill does not represent Temple University and his views are his own. However, we acknowledge that he has a constitutionally protected right to express his opinion as a private citizen.”

CNN Fires Commentator Who Called for a ‘Free Palestine from the River to the Sea’ Read More »

A Moment in Time: Venturing Outside of the Box

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Dear all,
Ron and I recently visited the Mass MoCa Museum in North Adams, Massachusetts where we enjoyed an exhibit by Sol LeWitt. Of the many colorful installations, we most enjoyed the one above. It reminded us how important it is to venture outside of the box.
When Abraham and Sarah left their home, they explored outside of the box.
When Miriam led women in the desert, she danced outside of the box.
When we open the door for Elijah at Passover, we look beyond our box.
When the Maccabbees fought for religious freedom, they dreamed outside of the box.
When Esther faced the king of Persia, she dared outside of the box.
And what about us … whenever we capture a moment in time to break a boundary, we discover the full potential of our souls outside of the box.
What is your greatest potential, and are you ready to go outside of the box to reveal it?
With love and shalom,
Rabbi Zach Shapiro
Rabbi Zach Shapiro

A change in perspective can shift the focus of our day – and even our lives. We have an opportunity to harness “a moment in time,” allowing our souls to be both grounded and lifted. This blog shows how the simplest of daily experiences can become the most meaningful of life’s blessings. All it takes is a moment in time.

Rabbi Zach Shapiro is the Spiritual Leader of Temple Akiba of Culver City, a Reform Jewish Congregation in California. He earned his B.A. in Spanish from Colby College in 1992, and his M.A.H.L. from HUC-JIR in 1996. He was ordained from HUC-JIR – Cincinnati, in 1997. He was appointed to the HUC-JIR Board of Governors in 2018.

A Moment in Time: Venturing Outside of the Box Read More »

A Look at He’brew Beer’s Limited-Edition Offerings for Hanukkah 2018

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This Hanukkah, the New York-based Shmaltz Brewing Company officially turns 22. Still the only Jewish celebration beer company in the country, Shmaltz admittedly began as a novelty brewer. Now, Shmaltz reportedly has dozens of staff members and is the recipient of dozens of awards for its signature specialty beers.

For the 2018 holiday season came the first-ever canned beers from Shmaltz. This applies to the brewer’s “official” Hanukkah beer (in 12-ounce cans) and the revered Jewbelation anniversary ale (in 16-ounce cans). Both new brews hit stores in more than 30 states as of Nov. 1.

For beer fans close to Upstate New York, Shmaltz’s new bar and tasting room at 518 Craft in downtown Troy, NY features the breadth of Shmaltz’s portfolio including its latest seasonals, annual favorites, and vintage beers from their private archive.  Further relevant to those in upper New York, Shmaltz Brewing also has a line of upstate New York focused farm beers under the 518/838 Craft brand name beyond its officially-licensed Star Trek-themed beers.

Not bad, especially when considering that Shmaltz’s founder and owner Jeremy Cowan established hand-bottled and delivered the first 100 cases of He’brew Beer from the back of his Grandmother’s Volvo. More on all things Shmaltz can be found online at www.shmaltzbrewing.com.

 

A Look at He’brew Beer’s Limited-Edition Offerings for Hanukkah 2018 Read More »

I am Grateful: WSGT November News 2018

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Nov News 2018 with We Said Go Travel:

I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving holiday and time with the people who are important to you. My aunt and uncle hosted 48 family members for a wonderful dinner with not one, not two but three turkeys! Thank you to everyone who has asked about my mother, she continues to recover amazingly quickly from her fall and has a great attitude!

 

Ms Magazine Polar Bears Can't Vote So You Have toThank you to Ms. Magazine for publishing two more of my stories:

  • Polar Bears Can’t Vote, So You Have To!

    Dr. Stephen Petersen, head of conservation and research at Leatherdale International Polar Bear Conservation Centre, has only one word of advice for the environmentally conscious this week: “Vote.” …. Polar bears are at the top trophic level of the food chain, and climate change is having a massive impact on their lives. As their environments evolve, Petersen is calling for more marine protected areas and doing work to protect the denning areas where polar bears have their babies. But there are many species that need to be protected—birds in Papua New Guinea, orangutans in Indonesia and polar bears in the Arctic among them.

  • Are You Ready for the Feminine Revolution?

    I have been told that I am too sensitive or too emotional. I’ve been told that I use too many capital letters. I have been told repeatedly that my emails scared someone, that I should tone it down to appear professional. (I was even named “Most Likely to Clap Her Hands for No Reason” in my high school yearbook.)

    It’s true: I have always been enthusiastic and had more obvious feelings than others in a room. That’s why I loved reading The Feminine Revolution: 21 Ways to Ignite the Power of Your Femininity for a Brighter Life and a Better World, by Catherine Connors and Amy Stanton, which flipped the narrative—and encouraged women like me to reframe old standards that have claimed that “traditional” feminine traits are weak or bad.

I am honored to write for this incredible magazine. My first print story for Ms. Magazine will be in the Winter issue.

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE ON MS. MAGAZINE

Are You Ready for the Feminine Revolution? Ms. Magazine by Lisa Niver

Thank you to Mike Wreyford for having me on his radio show, The Good Life, for my 3rd visit. Listen to us here: Talking Travel on The Good Life.

Thank you to everyone who entered our 2018 Travel Photo Award. As soon as my tech wizard gives me the okay, I will start publishing the fantastic photos!

Walking with Polar Bears by Lisa Niver with Churchill Wild near Hudson Bay
Walking with Polar Bears by Lisa Niver with Churchill Wild near Hudson Bay

Recent Travels to Canada and Vegas:

Did you see all of my stories and videos from my Adventures in Canada with Churchill Wild:
Part One: Do You Want to Walk with Polar Bears?
Part Two: Are You Ready for an Adventure? Walk with Polar Bears
Part Three: How Do You Get To Churchill Wild?
and my time in Winnipeg: Are You Ready to Discover Wonderful Winnipeg?

Lisa Niver private tour at Bellagio Fountains

Have you always wanted to go behind the scenes at the Bellagio Fountains? Join me for a private daytime fountain tour:
VIDEO: Join Me Behind the Scenes at the Bellagio Fountains
Learn more about my Vegas adventures with Virtuoso when I stayed at ARIA this summer:

 

WHERE CAN YOU FIND MY TRAVEL VIDEOS?

Here is the link to my video channel on YouTube where I have over 842,627 views on YouTube! Thank you for your support! Are you a subscriber? I hope you will join me and subscribe!

Recent video from Nashuva Band: Happy almost Chanukah! May your holiday season be filled with music and light.
Thank you! I am so proud of all I have accomplished this year. Thank you for watching my videos, reading my stories, following along on social media and asking me about booking your travels!

I am now planning and booking travel! Where do you want to wander? Find more information about me and my luxury travel advising as an independent affiliate of CRUISE and RESORT, Inc with Virtuoso Luxury Travel Network on my new microsite!

My fortune cookies said:

“Don’t be afraid to take that big step.”  And

“Our greatest glory is not in never failing but in rising every time we fall.”

I hope your entire year will be filled with celebrations!
Thank you for your all of your support. Lisa

Discover more on my social media accounts:  Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and at LisaNiver.com. My social media following is now over 140,000 and I am verified on both Twitter and Facebook.

Lisa Niver's selfie with a Polar Bear with Churchill Wild
Lisa Niver’s selfie with a Polar Bear with Churchill Wild

I am Grateful: WSGT November News 2018 Read More »