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Jewish Journal

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July 16, 2019

StandWithUs Launches Center for Combating Anti-Semitism

Leave a Comment / Online, United States /

On July 15, StandWithUs announced the launch of its new Center for Combating Anti-Semitism (CCA).

In an exclusive interview with the Journal, CCA Director and Counsel for Litigation Strategy Carly Gammill said StandWithUs decided to establish the center because “we really have sensed this growing need to take this concerted action” against the rise of anti-Semitism worldwide.

“What we are endeavoring to do is kind of a four-fold approach to anti-Semitism, which is identifying anti-Semitism, defining it, exposing it and then taking the necessary and appropriate actions when you see it.”

To this end, CCA plans to produce various educational booklets on anti-Semitism. Gammill said that they’re currently working on a booklet titled “What Is Anti-Semitism,” so people “know it when you see it.” The booklet will use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism stating that anti-Semitism involves myths that Jews control “the media, economy, government or other societal institutions,” Holocaust denial and illegitimate criticisms of Israel. The booklet will also lay out the history behind anti-Semitism.

“This younger generation maybe don’t know the history [of anti-Semitism] and they forget the importance of the words,” Gammill said. “They don’t understand when you use certain words there are implications.”

“This younger generation maybe don’t know the history [of anti-Semitism] and they forget the importance of the words. They don’t understand when you use certain words there are implications.” – Carly Gammill

Other booklets will focus on anti-Semitism on college campuses and explain when academia crosses the line from “education” into “indoctrination.” Gammill said, adding, “A lot of these booklets will serve a dual purpose, of educating but also exposing [anti-Semitism].”

Additionally, the CCA will take action against instances of anti-Semitism. One such action will include working with university administrators on guidelines to address anti-Semitism on their respective campuses.

“One of the things we would really love to see them do is use their own free speech to condemn, unequivocally, acts of anti-Semitism,” Gammill said, adding that by condemning anti-Semitism, universities would go “a long way toward helping the Jewish members of a campus community to feel welcome and safe —  to feel like they are supported. In the absence of that type of condemnation, they’re left to wonder where they stand in the eyes of the [university] administration.”

The CCA will also seek to take legal action in instances where universities are taking insufficient action to address anti-Semitism on campus, Gammill said, pointing out that StandWithUs has “a network of some 170 pro-bono attorneys” that would be available to students and community members.

Gammill hopes that the CCA will be “a very cooperative and collaborative endeavor. There are a number of other fantastic organizations out there that share these goals and share this as an issue of great importance and our great hope is that we will be in a position to partner with them, cooperate with them, collaborate with them, because I think that there’s just no other option at this point. We’ve got to all be headed in the same direction together.”

The CCA will hold a launch event sometime in the fall.

Justin Feldman, the outgoing president of UCLA’s Students Supporting Israel chapter, StandWithUs’ Southwest High School Assistant from August 2017 to May 2019 and a 2019 StandWithUs Emerson Fellow, told the Journal in a phone interview that he is proud that StandWithUs has created the CCA. “I am hoping the creation of this new institution will usher in a new wave of educated young minds who incorporate training on anti-Semitism in their discourse in all spaces, in all political affiliations,” Feldman said.

Santa Barbara Hillel Executive Director Rabbi Evan Goodman similarly said in a statement to the Journal, “American Jews, including Jewish college students, are experiencing anti-Semitic acts with alarming frequency. We witnessed the tragic consequences of this in the vicious anti-Semitic attacks in Pittsburgh and Poway. At Santa Barbara Hillel, the safety and security of our students is paramount. In recent months, we worked with StandWithUs to provide legal support for students who experienced anti-Semitic attacks. We welcome the enhanced StandWithUs Center for Combating Anti-Semitism as one of our valued and trusted partners fighting against the rise of anti-Semitism.”

StandWithUs Launches Center for Combating Anti-Semitism Read More »

White Paint Thrown on Woodland Hills Synagogue in Act of Vandalism

Leave a Comment / Los Angeles, Online, San Fernando Valley /

White paint was plastered on the Hebrew Discovery Center in Woodland Hills on the morning of July 14 in an apparent act of vandalism.

Rabbi Nathan Louie told the Journal in a phone interview that the vandals, who have yet to be identified, threw the paint all over the entrance of the synagogue and were attempting to write something with the paint until passersby called the police and the vandals fled.

Louie estimated that the cost of the damages from the vandalism will be around $10,000. 

“It’s a hate crime,” Louie said.

In response to the vandalism, Louie said the synagogue will hire an extra security guard, permit only members from entering the synagogue, buy an extra firearm and train staff to use it in case an intruder breaches the security guard.

Louie said the vandalism has left the community feeling “violated.” He stated it’s not the first time the synagogue was targeted. He said the synagogue was vandalized in 2016 and in 2018, when an intruder walked into the synagogue and started shouting about wanting to kill Jews.

Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Los Angeles Senior Associate Regional Director Matthew Friedman told the Journal in a phone interview that the ADL is “very disturbed by this act of vandalism,” adding that it “sends an intimidating message to the Jewish community, specifically at synagogue.” Friedman also speculated that the recent increase in anti-Semitic hate crimes in California was largely driven by incidents in Southern California.

White Paint Thrown on Woodland Hills Synagogue in Act of Vandalism Read More »

The Incredible Story of a Munich Soccer Team During the Holocaust Offers a Lesson

Leave a Comment / Columnists /

FC Bayern Munich soccer club is in Los Angeles to play London club Arsenal on July 17. As an avid Arsenal fan, I am delighted my team is in town! But meeting the members of the Bayern Munich leadership team who are committed to defeating anti-Semitism made my week. 

Bayern Munich is to German soccer what the New York Yankees are to Major League Baseball. With 29 titles under its belt, it is the most successful team in German history and among the top soccer clubs in the world. The team’s greatest legacy isn’t its many championship trophies but the principled stand it took for its Jewish membership during the Nazi period in Hitler’s heartland. 

Known as the “Jews Club” because some of its founders, its president, its coach and a disproportionate number of its members were Jewish, the team’s history is being featured in an exhibition that opened this week at the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust. It spotlights the enormous pressure the team was under to shed its association with its Jewish members. 

Consider the story of Otto Albert Beer, who served the youth club. Seven of his young recruits were on the team that beat Frankfurt for the German championship in June 1932. 

The Nazi Party was voted into power the very next month. A year later, Beer’s company was confiscated. He tried to flee Germany but nobody would take him — not New Zealand, not Kenya, not Rhodesia. The Nazis sent him to Lithuania, where he, his wife and two sons — one of them a former championship player for the team — were murdered. 

Twenty-six Jewish members of the club were murdered. Four committed suicide. 

And yet, through the horrors, in 1934, FC Bayern defiantly published the names of its Jewish advisory council members and refused to grant a leading role to any National Socialists.

In 1940, the club’s former president, Kurt Landauer, who had fled to Switzerland after a brief stint in Dachau, attended an FC Bayern game. The players all greeted him, infuriating the Nazi regime. Landauer returned to his beloved team in Germany after World War II. He did not have to go back; he chose to do so.

The incredible story of FC Bayern raises an obvious question: When should an athletic team or company make a stand? Is Nike correct to endorse Colin Kaepernick? Were the Chicago Cubs correct to ban a fan for flashing what may have been a white supremacist hand gesture on camera? Only history will tell.

“Bayern Munich and its fans do not have to put themselves on the front line of the fight against anti-Semitism, but they are choosing to do so.”

This week, we have seen heated debate about what it means to be a citizen of the United States. It’s worth remembering that Jews running Bayern Munich were German citizens, until the Third Reich’s citizenship law was enacted in 1935. Place yourself in the shoes of the Beer family, the Landauer family, who had contributed much to German society, won national trophies and were rightful citizens. Did they not have the right to live in peace as Jews, as citizens, as people, irrespective of their religious and political beliefs? German society failed on that, for which they still pay heavily to this day. We would do well to learn that lesson from this story. 

Anti-semitism is on the rise in Europe. “It was the fans that brought attention to our history,” said Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, soccer legend and executive board chairman of Bayern Munich, who was at the opening of the exhibition. He urged that the story of Landauer and the Jews of Bayern Munich serve both a warning and a lesson from the past. 

“Vergangenheit warnt, Gegenwart erinnert, Zukunft gibt Hoffnung,” he said in German. “History warns us, the present reminds us, and the future gives us hope.”

Like Landauer, Rummenigge, his board, team and fans do not have to put themselves on the front line of the fight against anti-Semitism, but they are choosing to do so. 

California State Sen. Henry Stern observed that Bayern Munich was using its vast global platform to shift the conversation and shed light in darkness. So, as much I love Arsenal, for once I really don’t care whether Arsenal or Bayern Munich wins the preseason game. What would be a real win is the story of this great sporting club inspiring more of us to stand together in solidarity. 

Stephen D. Smith is the Finci-Viterbi executive director of the USC Shoah Foundation.

The Incredible Story of a Munich Soccer Team During the Holocaust Offers a Lesson Read More »

IDF Accepts New Candidates for Special in Uniform Program

Leave a Comment / Online /

After a long process which began May 16, Michael Bibas, a Canadian native, was recently accepted to the Israel Defense Force’s (IDF) Special in Uniform program.

The program was developed by Lend A Hand to A Special Child and sponsored by Jewish National Fund-USA, which has so far integrated 400 Jewish and non-Jewish young people with disabilities into the IDF.

At age three, Bibas was diagnosed with autism. When he was 11 years old, his family made Aliyah to Israel. Both Bibas and his younger brother, Tzachi developed a strong sense of responsibility and love for the country. Tzachi was able to regularly enlist as a soldier, but Michael was exempt from military service because he had autism. Nonetheless, Michael was determined to fulfill his dream of joining the IDF, so he reapplied through Special in Uniform and was accepted.

“Two aspects that make this program so appealing to individuals with special needs and/or disabilities are that Special in Uniform soldiers acquire essential life skills and lessons throughout their years of service, and also benefit from career assistance and job placement after being discharged from the army and resuming civilian life,” Michael’s mother Loreen said in a statement to the Journal. “As for the military, it’s an opportunity to harness the unique skills that often come along with autism,” the Special in Uniform program explained.

After a year as a Special in Uniform volunteer, Michael was invited to the Bakum Base outside Tel Aviv in April to receive his dog tag and ID card with the other new soldiers.

“Wow, I have to say, this has got to be one of the most emotional things I’ve ever had,” Michael said in a video publicizing his experience.

“I can say from experience that it’s going to be hard on [Michael],” Tzachi, 19, who recently enlisted as a paratrooper said about his brother. “It’s going to be challenging just being in a military environment, but I know that he’ll make it through, and I believe in him. With support from all of us, the family at home and his new IDF family, he’ll make it through. He’ll learn a lot from the army and come out better for it.”

“Michael will serve alongside other Special in Uniform soldiers at the Palmachim Air Force Base, which remains a well-guarded Mediterranean Sea installation and key center for Israel’s technological advancements in the field of air defense,” according to the statement. “The base is famous for countering an array of threats from hostile rockets and missiles.”

Last February, United States Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and Chris Neeley, who serves as Chairman of the U.S. President’s Advisory Committee on People with Disabilities, visited Special in Uniform at the Palmachim Air Force Base to learn how the IDF has welcomed youth with disabilities into the military. The purpose of the visit is to eventually replicate the project to meet the needs of the American military.

“Special in Uniform has shown itself successful at breaking down societal barriers,” Lt. Col. Tiran Attia (Res.), project manager of Special in Uniform said in the statement. “Partly as a means of reducing this stigma, we point to our soldiers as models of what young people on the spectrum and/or with special needs are capable of achieving when surrounded by suitable support systems. When the whole neighborhood sees their neighbor, a guy on the autism spectrum, coming home on Friday in uniform and hears that he’ll be continuing in his field in the civilian workforce, it has an enormous impact,” Attia said.

Watch the full video below:

IDF Accepts New Candidates for Special in Uniform Program Read More »

Oregon Gov. Signs Law Mandating Holocaust Education

Leave a Comment / Online, United States /

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) signed a bill into law on July 15 mandating Holocaust education in all schools statewide.

Starting in the 2020-21 academic, all Oregon schools will be required to teach students about “the immorality of the Holocaust, genocide, and other acts of mass violence and to reflect on the causes of related historical events,” according to The Oregonian.

“Now more than ever we must empower our children with knowledge so together we can stomp out the growing hate in our country,” Brown tweeted. “Proud to sign the Holocaust education bill today, mandating Oregon schools to teach our kids about genocide so this history is never forgotten or ignored.”

Brown also said at the signing ceremony at the Oregon Jewish Museum in Portland, “Today more than ever, we need the learning opportunities that a bill like this will bring to our schools.”

Democratic State Sen. Rob Wagner, who sponsored the bill, said at the signing ceremony that the bill was important given the rising anti-Semitism in the country, recalling how “in my own neighborhood, there were anti-Jewish posters that were put up on light poles outside of our local synagogue.”

Claire Sarnowski, a Catholic high school student at Lakeright High School, had been lobbying for the bill ever since she befriended Holocaust survivor Alter Wiener in 2014. Wiener died in a December car accident.

Oregon is now one of 12 states to require Holocaust education in schools statewide.

Oregon Gov. Signs Law Mandating Holocaust Education Read More »

Israeli Education Minister Says Calling Intermarriage a Second Holocaust Was ‘Not An Appropriate Term to Use’

Leave a Comment / Online /

(JTA) — Israeli Education Minister Rafi Peretz walked back his recent statement that intermarriage is “like a second Holocaust,” writing that the phrase was “probably not an appropriate term to use.”

Jewish leaders in Israel and the United States had criticized the analogy made at a July 1 Cabinet meeting as inappropriate and offensive.

In a letter to Isaac Herzog, the chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, Peretz wrote that the comments he made about marriage between and non-Jews did not intend to offend any Jews in the Diaspora. He wrote that he is “losing sleep” over Diaspora Jewish assimilation into a non-Jewish majority.

“Out of deep concern for the fate of the Jewish people, I used the word ‘Holocaust,’ an expression that expresses the depth of my agony about the issue but probably was not an appropriate term to use,” he wrote in the letter dated July 16. “As someone who has always championed Ahavat Yisrael — love of Israel — it is important for me to clarify that I respect and cherish the entire Jewish people, in Israel and in the Diaspora.”

Peretz has also come under fire recently for supporting gay conversion therapy and for not shaking hands with a teenage girl at an official event.

Israeli Education Minister Says Calling Intermarriage a Second Holocaust Was ‘Not An Appropriate Term to Use’ Read More »

Israel Has almost as Many Religious Restrictions as Iran, Report Says

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(JTA) — When it comes to restrictions on religious freedom, Israel is in the company of countries like Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iran, a new report says.

The report also noted a rise in restrictions on Jewish practice in Europe, as well as an increase of attacks on Jews. It said Jews were harassed in 87 countries in 2017, the third-highest figure for any religion.

The report, published Monday by the Pew Research Center, tracks the rise of religious restrictions globally. Israel was one of the top 20 most religiously restrictive countries in the world, according to Pew. It also has the fifth-highest level of “social hostilities related to religious norms,” and the sixth-highest level of “interreligious tension and violence” — a worse score than Syria.

The report cited incidents in Israel like harassment of people who drive cars near haredi Orthodox neighborhoods on Shabbat, or government officials who “defer in some way to religious authorities or doctrines on legal issues.”

Israel self-defines as a Jewish state. Its haredi Orthodox Chief Rabbinate controls all recognized marriage, divorce, burial and Jewish conversion in the country, which means that non-Orthodox weddings, divorces, funerals and conversions are not recognized by the state. The state likewise does not recognize intermarriages conducted in the country. Most cities do not run public transit on Shabbat.

Regarding restrictions on Jews worldwide, the report pointed out government interference in circumcision in Germany and Slovenia. And the report noted rising anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi activity, including assaults on Jews, in Europe and the United States.

Israel Has almost as Many Religious Restrictions as Iran, Report Says Read More »

#UnpopularOpinion: A Good Jew Belongs on Social Media

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When I tell people that social media is my job, the first question (after the eye rolls) is, how do you handle all the hate? It seems we’ve reached a universal consensus that spending time on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube only serves to make us miserable. It would seem these dark virtual worlds are void of anything positive, anything to bring us nachas, anything remotely Jewish! 

As a Jewish mom on social media, I’ve come to realize my #unpopoularopinion is that actually social media is a real blessing. I’d (blasphemously) go so far as to say that if God had known about Instagram when the Torah was written, He’d have commanded us to post.

Judaism is centered on showing up. The basic concept of prayer and ritual are organized around the community – you need to come together and form a minyan just to fulfill basic daily obligations. To be a Jew in isolation is to live a life devoid of these essential mitzvot. 

In times of both hardship and celebration, Judaism always forces us to be out of our homes and in the synagogue – to lean on one another until we are strong enough and to dance with one another to enhance moments of joy. I know for me the idea of sitting shivah in a crowded room can be unbearable, as can having to be suffocated by well-wishing family and friends for a bris. I prefer to just cocoon in my own bed until these big things have passed. Yet Judaism doesn’t allow it, and as a result, almost like a knowing parental figure, we’re forced to get out of bed, to eat, to share, and afterward, we inevitably feel a bit better. 

In today’s world showing up means being present not just in person but online as well, and social media can serve as an authentic and essential online Jewish community. Recently I shared my ‘flabby, saggy and happy’ postpartum pool jump photo on my first vacation after giving birth to my second son and was met with a roar of support of likes and comments. My online community encouraged me to ignore bad self-talk, to #justwearthesuit and to remember that we are all created in God’s image (especially after giving birth)! 

https://www.instagram.com/p/ByiZN72lIS2/

In Jewish tradition, a simchah is also celebrated as a community. We don’t exclude people for fear we would make them jealous, we always invite and we always include and in so doing we increase the joy in the world. Yet when it comes to social media were taught the tired trope that seeing others’ success will only cause us envy and discontent. I respectfully disagree. 

When I was waiting to get pregnant I saw other birth announcements with hope, not envy. When I was trying to lose some baby weight I found fitness posts inspirational not toxic. Of course, I highly recommend that you unfollow anyone who upsets you, but I think it’s time to change the dynamic of the self-fulfilling prophecy that social media promotes negativity in our lives. Like anything else, with a little moderation it can be enjoyed responsibly.

As a mom, I also believe being present on social media is the best way for me to keep up to date on what my kids will be experiencing on their own phones. I think it’s hard to be a responsible role model if I’m not showing up to begin with. Just like I teach my boys to behave on the playground or in a restaurant, I hope to teach them how to use social media as a mensh. We take turns on the slide and we don’t leave hate comments on Instagram!  

Rabbi Schulweis (z”L), Rabbi Feinstein and Rabbi Hoffman of Valley Beth Shalom Synagogue where I attended day school, wrote that we are the descendants of Maccabees and that it is our job to bring light to a dark world. Of course, the web can be a dark place, there are infinite stories of how it interrupts and inflicts our lives, but as a Jew and a Jewish mother, I hope to bring some light to it. Follow along on my journey to see how.

Marion Haberman is a writer and content creator for her YouTube/MyJewishMommyLife channel and Instagram @MyJewishMommyLife page where she shares her experience living a meaning-FULL Jewish family life. Marion is currently writing a book on Judaism and pregnancy titled ‘Expecting Jewish!’ to be released Winter ’19. She is also a professional social media consultant and web and television writer for Discovery Channel, NOAA and NatGeo and has an MBA from Georgetown University. 

#UnpopularOpinion: A Good Jew Belongs on Social Media Read More »

Members of the Tribe Score Emmy Nominations

Leave a Comment / Entertainment /

Jewish stars (and actors who play them) were honored with nominations for the 71st Annual Emmy Awards, which will air Sept. 22 on Fox. 

Michael Douglas, Eugene Levy, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Natasha Lyonne were nominated in the comedy series lead acting categories.

Honorary Tribe member Rachel Brosnahan of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” also picked up a nomination in the comedy series lead acting category. The Amazon series received 20 nominations, including outstanding comedy series and repeat honors for Alex Borstein and writer-directors Dan and Amy Sherman-Palladino. The show is nominated alongside “Veep,” “Barry,” “Schitt’s Creek” and “Russian Doll.” 

“The Kominsky Method’s” Alan Arkin, “Barry’s” Henry Winkler and Sarah Goldberg, and “Ozark’s” Julia Garner got nods in the supporting categories, and Adam Sandler and Maya Rudolph were singled out for their respective guest appearances on “Saturday Night Live” and “The Good Place.” 

“I Love You, America with Sarah Silverman” and Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Who Is America” are nominated for outstanding sketch/variety series. Baron Cohen also has a nomination for co-directing the series.

“Game of Thrones” received 32 nominations for its final season, among them writing and directing honors for creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff. Other directing nominees include Ben Stiller for “Escape at Dannemora,” Ken Fuchs for “Shark Tank,” and Glenn Weiss for “The Oscars.” Weiss famously proposed to his girlfriend on the Emmys last year.

Rachel Bloom, Adam Schlesinger and Jack Dolgen picked up two Emmy nominations, one for Original Music and Lyrics and another for Original Main Title Theme song, for their work on “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.”  

Other nominees include Jerry Seinfeld’s “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” in the informational series or special category and Phil Rosenthal’s travel/food reality show “Somebody Feed Phil.”

Members of the Tribe Score Emmy Nominations Read More »

Jewish Woman’s Killer Not Criminally Liable Because He Was High on Marijuana, French Judge Rules

Leave a Comment / Online, Worldwide /

(JTA) — A Muslim man who killed his Jewish neighbor in Paris while shouting about Allah is probably not criminally responsible for his actions because he had smoked marijuana beforehand, a French judge ruled.

The preliminary ruling in the trial of Kobili Traore for the 2017 murder of Sarah Halimi came Friday from a judge of inquiry — a magistrate that in the French justice system is tasked with deciding whether indicted defendants should in fact stand trial.

Francis Khalifat, the president of the CRIF umbrella group of French Jewish communities, called the ruling “unsurprising but hardly justifiable.” He said his group and others will appeal in hopes of bringing Traore to trial.

He could be hospitalized for treatment of his psychotic lapses or made to attend a drug rehabilitation program, or he could be released.

Khalifat’s op-ed published Monday on the CRIF website follows a series of protests over perceived delays in Traore’s trial and the efforts, including by judges, that CRIF and others have condemned as attempts to prevent a murder trial.

Sammy Ghozlan, a former police commissioner and founder of France’s Bureau for Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in May that the handling of the Halimi case has made him “no longer have full confidence that anti-Semitic hate crimes in France are handled properly.”

Traore pummeled Halimi, a physician and kindergarten teacher, for an hour as police stood outside the woman’s door, according to reports. He shouted about Allah and called her a “demon” before throwing her to her death. Traore had called Halimi’s daughter “dirty Jewess” two years before killing the mother, the daughter has said.

Jewish Woman’s Killer Not Criminally Liable Because He Was High on Marijuana, French Judge Rules Read More »