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Jewish Journal

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February 1, 2024

Campus Watch February 1, 2024

Campus Watch, Community /

NYU Prof Suspended After Saying “It’s Not True” That Hamas Committed Rapes, Beheaded Babies on Oct. 7

An adjunct professor at New York University (NYU) has been suspended after video of him saying that “it’s not true” that Hamas committed rapes and beheaded babies during the Oct. 7 massacre.

The Free Press reported that the professor, Amin Husain, said during a Dec. 5 “teach-in” hosted by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at The New School, “They try to say. . . ‘Oh my God, you’re supporting rapists and people that behead babies,’ both of which, you know, whatever, we know it’s not true.” He also says in the video that “we live in a Zionist city” and praised “Islamic resistance movements” like Fatah, the ruling party in the Palestinian Authority. The Free Press noted that Fatah “once counted him as a member.”

NYU spokesperson John Beckman told The New York Post on Jan. 25 that Husain “has been suspended and is not currently teaching any classes at NYU.”

AU Announces Measures to Combat Antisemitism on Campus

American University (AU) announced a series of measures on Jan. 25 aimed at addressing antisemitism on campus.

The university acknowledged that “recent events and incidents on campus have made Jewish students feel unsafe and unwelcome” and called antisemitism “abhorrent, wrong, and will not be tolerated at American University.” The university then outlined three directives they will be implementing for the spring semester: barring protests from inside university buildings, requiring clubs to keep their membership requirements “germane, relevant, and directly connected to the group’s purpose” and limiting posters on campus to only feature “an event’s purpose, the sponsoring organization’s purpose, or logistical details for an event.”

A complaint to the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights was filed against AU on Jan. 17 alleging that the university has failed to adequately address antisemitic incidents on campus.

Petition Urges Reinstatement of Stanford Lecturer 

A petition has been launched by students at Stanford University demanding that lecturer Ameer Loggins, who faces allegations of targeting Jewish students in class, be reinstated to campus.

Loggins was suspended in October after allegations came out that he asked all the Jewish and Israeli students in class to raise their hands and put them in a corner. He then allegedly separated the students based on their identities and ethnic backgrounds into “colonizers” and “colonized.” However, a press release about the petition claims that these allegations are false and that that Loggins “conducted an exercise involving consenting volunteers, regardless of their religious affiliation” to “engage humanistic perspectives on the Palestinian crisis, and to emphasize that in the face of oppression, doing nothing is a privilege. The accusation that Loggins yelled at Jewish students and branded them as colonizers is entirely unfounded.” 

But Jewish Student Association Co-President Kelly Danielpour, who talked to multiple Jewish students from the class, told The Stanford Daily that “only students who can speak to whether Loggins created an environment where they felt singled out, targeted, and pressured …  are the Jewish students in his class.” 

Education Dept. Announces Settlement with Delaware School District 

The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) announced a settlement agreement  a school district in Wilmington, Del. over an antisemitism complaint.

Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) reported that the complaint involved allegations that a Jewish student at the Red Clay Consolidated School District was repeatedly targeted with antisemitic harassment. These included a paper airplane with swastikas and the words “Blood of Jews” written on it thrown at the student, students directing “Heil Hitler!” salutes at her, and swastikas drawn on her desks. The complaint alleged that the district’s response to these reported incidents were “haphazard” and ineffective. The remedies in the settlement agreement include the district compensating the student’s family for therapy and counseling costs as well as the district, training all district employees on Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and conducting a campus “climate survey” and reporting the results of the survey to OCR.

FBI: 10% of Hate Crimes Occurred at Schools, Universities in 2022

Ten percent of all hate crimes in 2022 occurred at a school or university, according to a report released by the FBI. 

CBS News reported on Jan. 29 that in 2018, that number was 8.2%. From 2018-2022, these hate crimes on campus mostly consisted of vandalism (1,623 incidents), intimidation (1,543) and assaults (more than 800). More than 30% of juveniles who were victims of hate crime experienced it on campus. The majority of hate crimes in general during that timeframe targeted Blacks (1,690), Jews (745) and the LGBTQ+ community (342).

Campus Watch February 1, 2024 Read More »

The Israeli Approach to Treating Autism at Vista Autism Center

Community /

Vista Del Mar’s new Vista Autism Center (VAC) is taking the Israeli approach to treating autism. VAC, which is part of Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services, aims at providing a comprehensive therapeutic place for both autistic children, and their families, to thrive. “In Israel we’ve realized that the key to growth and development [of autistic children] is the emotional work,” Dr. Joshua Durban, head of VAC, told the Journal. 

“In a world where everything is about correcting behavior … the way we work is [by] getting in deep contact with each individual child through the child’s eyes and … experience,” Durban said. “It’s a slightly different approach, because we do not change behavior or modify behavior or alter symptoms. We believe that the key to change is deep emotional contact between human beings.”

For more than 40 years, Durban has been a pioneer in the psychoanalytic investigation and treatment of early developmental traumas and diversities in children and their families. He was one of the first to fully analyze very young children on the autistic spectrum, incorporating and integrating his own findings with the work of British, French, Italian, German and American psychoanalysts and developmental research. 

His first contact with autistic individuals happened at age 17. “I started working as a nurse’s aide in a psychiatric hospital, and there was a shortage of staff, so they took youngsters, whoever was willing to work there,” he said.

“The exciting thing about the study of autism is that many people from many, many disciplines come together, neurologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, educators, secular analysts; and in Israel we all work together.” – Dr. Joshua Durban

At the time, autistic children were mainly heavily medicated and admitted to psychiatric wards for very long periods. This was 48 years ago. “The whole autistic kind of phenomena in mental health and psychiatry and neurology is pretty young,” Durban said. “This is a new science, and the exciting thing about the study of autism is that it involves interdisciplinary work and multidisciplinary work.” He added, “The exciting thing about the study of autism is that many people from many, many disciplines come together, neurologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, educators, secular analysts; and in Israel we all work together.”

Dr. Joshua Durban

Durban says that autism is not a disease, it’s a condition. It’s a different operating system. He compares it to the difference between Microsoft and Apple. “Each one of us has [our] own neurological and psychological operating system,” he said. “And there needs to be a fit between systems.” 

In autism, there are multiple factors that come into play: genetic, environmental and often even some traumatic factors. “Being different in our world in itself is traumatic,” Durban said. “We discovered that [autistic children] suffer from an overwhelming amount of very early anxieties.” When you lower their anxiety by connecting with autistic children on their level, it removes a barrier to learning.

Durban, who has been working at Vista Del Mar for about a year, is excited that they are finally at the stage to start seeing patients. He was initially invited to deliver a lecture at Vista’s Reiss-Davis Institute, and things developed from there.

“We’ve realized that there was a dire need to provide answers for the autistic population and their families,” he said. “Vista [has] such a long and wonderful tradition of caring for kids and families in a very kind of human and deep way.” He continued, “They were always psychologically informed that in the sense that they were after the subjective individual experience of the child, side-by-side with taking care of the environmental conditions in which the child lives.”

In this pilot year, VAC will be open to 20 families with autistic children up to seven years old; the program can grow from there. “The kids will be getting our special mode of treatment, the psycholytic way of working with autistic kids, which we’ve developed in Israel over 40 years, and which works beautifully there,” he said. 

The children will receive a three-session-per-week treatment, and their parents will be seen on a regular basis. Their therapist will coordinate with other specialists to create the optimal learning and living environment for the child. This is a hybrid model, so some will come to the center and others will be able to access resources nearer to their home. “We have a spread of therapists all over town, because we know how difficult it is for parents to cater for the needs of a neurodiverse child, [and] its endless treatments and doctors,” he said. “We don’t want them to schlep for three hours in order to come for therapy.” He added, “We also are very sensitive to the financial needs or difficulties of the families, and we do everything in our power to make it happen.”

February is Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion Month, though the program is available to all families, not just those who are Jewish. “We need to acknowledge and embrace people who experience the world in a different way,” he said.

The Vista Autism Center is hosting an open house/meet and greet on February 13th from 5 to 7pm. For more information, contact autumnbreck@vistadelmar.org or visit vistadelmar.org/vista-autism-center.

The Israeli Approach to Treating Autism at Vista Autism Center Read More »

On the Machinery of Death

Commentary, Opinion /

The machinery of death roared to life again this week. Kenneth Smith was killed in Alabama on Thursday using a method which the American Veterinary Medical Association declared was unacceptable for euthanasia of most mammals. In his trial, the jury had voted to spare his life, but the judge overruled their verdict in a maneuver which is no longer legal. 

Why do we as a society continue to kill to demonstrate our disdain for murder? Do we think that capital punishment is an appropriate — nay, an essential tool — in creating a just society? What can we learn from the Jewish tradition about these questions?

Judaism is not a Biblical religion, it is a Rabbinic religion. This is not to say that the Rabbis did not believe that the Torah, given at Sinai, was the grounding for Jewish law — they did. However, they also knew that a simple reading of Torah does not lead to the Judaism that they practiced nor the Judaism that we have today — whether Haredi/Ultra-Orthodox or humanist. The reason we can have a debate about what Shabbat is like is that our collective point of reference is a practice which owes far more to Mishnah Shabbat and its Talmudic commentaries than it does to the Shabbat laws articulated in Torah. A simple test will prove this. If you kept Shabbat according to Torah you would be sitting inside your tent in the dark and cold and not leaving for the whole “day” of Shabbat (itself undefined as to whether it is refers to daylight or 24 hours). The 25-hour Shabbat of candles, kiddush wine, challot and meals with friends that is the touchstone for what we do and not do is never mentioned in Torah.

I mention this to respond to a claim that has been made that since capital punishment is mentioned in all five books of the Torah, it is therefore a central principle of Judaism. This is a specious argument with no Jewish legal basis whatsoever. There are many such lists and capital punishment never shows up on any of them. (“Love your neighbor as yourself” does. “For man was created in the image of God” does. Torah study does. And so on.)

The serious debate about capital punishment in the Mishnah and Talmud focuses on two aspects of the ethics of the death penalty. On the one hand, the morality of execution in general: the procedural integrity and therefore viability of the system. It is well-known that there is a debate about execution in the Mishnah (Makot 1:10).While Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Tarfon said that if they were on the Sanhedrin no one would ever be executed, Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel replied that they would thus increase spillers of blood in Israel. However, this is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

There is no debate that a court that judged capital cases had to be comprised of 23 judges (Mishnah Sanhedrin 1:1) who had children so that they could still remember how hard it is to raise children; that the judges all needed to be merciful. (Maimonides, Laws of Judges 2:1-3) This is in addition to the fact that in order to actually execute someone, the murderer had to have been warned by two witnesses that murder was a capital crime seconds before he committed his crime. Additionally, the murderer had to say: “I know that this is murder.” (b Sanhedrin 40b) The bar is almost ridiculously high. Finally, once the great Sanhedrin (of 71 judges) left their assigned place in the Temple (40 years before its destruction according to the Talmud), death penalties could not be imposed.

On the other hand, Maimonides kept the laws of murder and capital punishment in his great code. Murder in its premeditated form does not allow a society to function, a community to form. Since one of the central goals of the law is to create a just community, a murderer falls outside of this community and forfeits his rights to live in this community. Execution seemed to Maimonides the only solution.

Does rabbinic Judaism see the death penalty as necessary for the functioning of the system as a whole? For the good of the community? There are those who argue that, yes, the death penalty is indeed necessary for the good of the community. Stephen Passamaneck, emeritus professor at HUC-JIR who died in 2013, argued that the death penalty is part of a process which “with atonement and forgiveness clears the offender’s slate of his grave sin,” and that a “balance is restored … because the life of the offender is not held more worthy than the life of his victim.”

Indeed, asking for and receiving forgiveness from the person wronged is central to the halakhic, or Jewish legal notion of justice. Passamaneck’s argument is that this is impossible in the case of homicide since the victim is not able to forgive. This, I believe, is a misreading of the tradition, on two counts. The death, together with suffering and atonement to clear the offender’s slate and bring about forgiveness, need not be the result of execution. It is the murderer’s death that brings forgiveness in its wake. The rabbis understand natural death as a painful and cleansing process. Second, there is a procedure, articulated by the Rabbis in the Talmud (b Yoma 86b) and codified by Maimonides (Laws of Tshuvah, chapter 2), by which one can, and actually should, ask forgiveness of a dead person. The offender is mandated to bring 10 people to the cemetery and publicly declare his crime and beg for forgiveness.

Capital punishment itself, then, is neither central nor vital for the functioning of the halakhic system or the health of society. The ultimate goal is to repair the tear in the fabric of the community. 

Capital punishment itself, then, is neither central nor vital for the functioning of the halakhic system or the health of society. The ultimate goal is to repair the tear in the fabric of the community. 

Nowadays there is a way to isolate a murderer outside of society without killing him. This can be done with a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. On top of this, the “machinery of death” in this country is broken beyond repair. For example, recent research has cast doubt on eyewitness testimony in general. 

Given all the problems with the actual rightful conviction of a murderer, the only viable and just option is the use of a sentence of life in prison. This also seems to be the opinion of the Jewish tradition. When New York State was contemplating the reenactment of the death penalty, Governor Hugh Carey (D) sent a letter to religious leaders asking for their opinions of capital punishment. One was Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, then the most respected of Orthodox poskim in North America. On the way to saying that he is against capital punishment except under the most extreme circumstances of lawlessness (by which I think he means genocide), he wrote the following “It is not appropriate to mete out capital punishment on the basis of circumstantial evidence — as great as that evidence might be — but only by the testimony of two proper witnesses who have no conflict of interest. Further, [the  perpetrator] needs to have been warned [prior to the action], and he needs to have accepted the warning and to have said explicitly that even though he knows all this he intends to transgress.”

It is beyond the time to stop the machinery of death and to begin the hard work of justice — reforming our prisons, making victims and/or their families whole, allowing for transgressors to repent and atone. Then perhaps we will turn our cities into places of righteousness in which the Divine presence may dwell.

Rabbi Dr. Aryeh Cohen is Professor of Rabbinic Literature at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish University. He is also the co-convener of the Black Jewish Justice Alliance. He is the author of “Justice in the City: An Argument from the Sources of Rabbinic Judaism.” 

On the Machinery of Death Read More »

‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’: Unapologetically Jewish

Television /

Perhaps the most quintessential Jewish moment in HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm”’s magnificent run occurs in season 9, episode 6, when Larry snaps at Susie, “You’re a Jew from the Bronx.” Everything we revere about “Curb” is wrapped up in that singular line — the brutal self-awareness showered in laughable contempt.

In this time of intense antisemitism and rising pressure on Jews all over the world, it’s a wonder why anyone would still want to publicly showcase their “Jewishness.” Larry David is one member of the tribe that has never hidden in the shadows, unabashedly revealing his true persona for all his life. 

With ‘Curb’ set to return Feb 4. for its 12th and final season, its boldly, unapologetic Jewish characters and story-lines could not be coming back at a more critical period.

While long-running series such as “Seinfeld,” “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “The Goldbergs” danced around and flirted with their “Jewishness,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm” rips the face off it, bearing its big, beautiful, bald nose.

Over its unorthodox 20-plus year run, “Curb” has hilariously tackled Hitler and the Holocaust, the High Holidays, Passover, the Orthodox, the Hassidic, Shabbat, Minyans, Ein Keloheinu,Yiddish, intrinsic Jewish food like whitefish and gefilte fish, a bat mitzvah and yes, even the Palestinian conflict. 

The 2012 Emmy-winning season 8 episode, “Palestinian Chicken,” dared to heighten Palestinian/Israeli relations over scrumptious chicken and sexual glory. It was, in the words of our “beloved schmuck” (how GQ magazine refers to LD), “pretty, pretty, pretty good” political fodder. According to multiple reports, Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz sent a copy of the episode to Netanyahu to then help foster peace talks. Maybe it’s time to send him another copy. Oy!

Anne Bedian, the non-Jewish actor who played Shara, Larry’s antisemitic lover, in the episode, told The Journal that she still gets many cheerful Hanukkah requests via her Cameo site. Yes, even Jews can laugh at someone who tells us they’re going to fuck the Jew out of them. The world needs more of this self-aware humor that “Curb” presents.

Although “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” wonderfully showcased an overtly Jewish experience from a proud Jewish creator, its leading lady, Rachel Brosnahan, was, in fact, a shiksa. In the past, comedian Sarah Silverman has complained about one of Hollywood’s closely guarded tropes that too many Jewish parts were being played by non-Jewish actors. Now this isn’t to say that only gays should play gay characters and so on, but when it comes to actual Jews playing Jews, Silverman suggests there’s an intentional avoidance to cast “too” Jewish. Kudos to mensch Bradley Cooper who didn’t get the memo and casted Silverman as Leonard Bernstein’s sister in the Oscar nominated, “Maestro.”

“Curb” is the first TV series to go against the standard convention and openly center its major character and the majority of supporting characters around their Jewish heritage. 

“Curb” is the first TV series to go against the standard convention and openly center its major character and the majority of supporting characters around their Jewish heritage. Of the original core cast of seven that includes Larry, Jeff Garlin, Susie Essman, Richard Lewis, Bob Einstein, Cheryl Hines and Ted Danson — only the last two are not Jews playing Jews in the show. (While Marty Funkhauser [Einstein] is sadly no longer with us, his legacy continues with his half-brother Freddy [Vince Vaughn], who is, presumably, at last half-Jewish.) 

Ask any “Curb” cast member or loyally addicted viewer for that matter, and they will tell you the comedy comes first. Larry confirmed this point recently, telling The Los Angeles Times, “It’s not like we’re thinking, ‘Oh, let’s hit the Jew card.” Well … there was at least that one time …”

Comedian Elon Gold, who played a very Jewish Hulu executive in Season 11, told The Journal via email, “Larry and Jeff (Garlin) really wanted this guy to be both likable and also, almost annoying, overly Jewish because the goal of any character on that show is to annoy Larry. The beauty of LD is that he’s hilariously irascible and there’s nothing funnier than watching him get all flustered and frustrated. So, before we started filming they both said, ‘Do not hold back. Go as Jewy as possible.’  I was dropping all the Yiddish I picked up from my parents and all the Hebrew I learned in Yeshiva. I’m pretty sure the word ‘tachlis’ has ever been said on TV before.”

The fact that Larry chooses Jewish plot points over and over just means he thinks Jews, overall, are funny. He’s not wrong! Is there anything more absurdly comical than an Orthodox woman who can’t be alone with a man high up on a ski lift, after sundown on Shabbat, if she’s single, and then risks her life to jump off said lift? Or scalping prime seats outside temple for High Holy Day services? And how about that time Larry cut a hole in a bed sheet to have sex with a Hassidic woman (played by the lovely, harp-playing Jewess Gina Gershon) because he thought that’s how “they” do “it.”

Larry loves any and all religious mishegas. Gold’s email continued, “Larry is a cultural Jew and not a religious one … In a way he’s a true observant Jew. He observes Judaism and then turns it into genius comedy.”

To Jewish guest stars like Gold, the show’s been a priestly blessing. “I may have played the most Jewish character in the history of television and I’m including “Shtisel”! I’m dreading the end to this iconic series. But also so grateful I got to be a tiny, but memorable part of it,” Gold concluded.

Even non-Jewish actors like Jon Hamm appear to revel at the opportunity to Jew it up on ‘Curb!’ In the season 11 opener, Jon, playing himself, gleefully works in some Yiddish, using “tsuris” in his fake Albert Brooks eulogy, right after Larry playfully accuses him of “really going Jewey.” 

While Jews still maintain a number of high profile goy allies like Hamm, the journalist turned influencer, Jordyn Tilchen, tweeted the other reality, “Being Jewish is such main character energy. There are only 15 million of us on the whole planet and everyone wants us dead. Pretty iconic.”

Perhaps most remarkable about “Curb”’s appeal is just how many non-Jews watch and enjoy the show, never getting enough of Larry David’s neurotic Jewish schtick. Think about this for a second. Larry David made Jews (kind of) likable. Like the famous 60’s ad campaign for Levy’s Jewish rye bread proclaimed, “You don’t have to be Jewish to love … ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

In the new season of “Curb,” a skeptical Larry asks, “How is something good happening to me?!” Such a uniquely Jewish perspective — because Jews never expect anything really good to happen to them, right? If there’s one thing Jews have learned over the years is that happiness is not for us. Well, at least we still have “Curb.”

Steve Matoren is currently directing “Bagels & Elvis,” a documentary that focuses on why everyone’s so obsessed with who’s Jewish.

‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’: Unapologetically Jewish Read More »

Rabbis of LA | Rabbi Dov Muchnik: When a Rabbi Confronts Activists

Community, Rabbis of LA /

Sixty miles north of Los Angeles in Ventura County, Oxnard, a city of 200,000, has been known for it traditional, low-profile lifestyle. But last month, pro-Palestinian activists sought to provoke Oxnard’s city council into endorsing a longshot U.S. House of Representatives resolution. The plan: One Oxnard councilman would go before a three-member committee to bring the House Resolution 786 — which calls for “an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Israel and occupied Palestine —  before the full council for a vote. 

Thanks to an anonymous contact inside City Hall, Rabbi Dov Muchnik, a chaplain with the Oxnard Police Dept., learned of the plan four days in advance. 

Twenty years after establishing a Chabad community in Oxnard, the Rabbi Muchnik is widely known and highly regarded. So on Tuesday, Jan. 10, the rabbi and two dozen Jews were present for the contentious council committee vote. But nearly all of the remaining 130 seats were occupied by the activists’ noisy supporters. “A big group of pro-Palestinians, not necessarily from Oxnard, was there,” the rabbi noted. “They travel around. They make a lot of noise. They use this as an opportunity to push their anti-Israel agenda.”

Rabbi Muchnik, a Brooklyn native, learned that several weeks earlier the same crowd showed up 25 miles away in Ojai. “That meeting turned violent,” he said. “A lot of screaming. The city council actually shut down the meeting and left the council chambers. They come with signs, keffiyehs, and all kinds of pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel propaganda.”

As soon as the rabbi learned of the resolution, he asked if it could be dropped from the agenda. Yes, he was told, only if council members decide they don’t want to hear it. The council member who sought to put the resolution on the agenda, Arthur Valenzuela Zavala, a young Latino who has has also been in the news for a DUI and domestic abuse accusations. 

Rabbi Muchnik spent the Sunday and Monday before the meeting “formulating our response. Should we ignore it? Pack the house?” As a father of 10, ranging from 1½ to 21, he is not unfamiliar with occasional disagreements. But this was far different.

He reasoned that since members of the public have three minutes to speak, “there will be a lot of hate and anti-Israel lies. Therefore, we must counter that.” By noon Monday, Muchnik began inviting community members. Some Oxnard Jews declined the invite and admitted they were afraid or just did not want to become involved. “The majority of the pro-Palestinian crowd clearly were not from the area,” Rabbi Muchnik said. “Some lied and said they were from the city. They were seen in Ojai, though, and said the same thing there. While most of the protestors were in their late teens and early 20s, the rabbi said some older Muslims “were heated but spoke more rationally,” he described the majority as rabble-rousers who did not speak respectfully to the three city council committee members. 

When there was an outbreak and they actually were kicked out, they promptly started shouting at the committee that they were guilty of genocide and had blood on their hands. “When a Jew or pro-Israel person got up to speak,” Muchnik said, “we were booed  — especially when we said something like ‘Israel has a right to defend itself so long as Hamas continues to hold the hostages.’” 

The angry crowd repeatedly was warned to maintain decorum – no booing, no sounds — but continued to interrupt the proceedings. When it was Rabbi Muchnik’s turn, he reminded the crowd and Oxnard City Council that “God promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendants, the Land of Israel as a lasting inheritance.” The Torah, he said,  clearly states that a person has to defend himself. “G-d forbid, if somebody comes to kill you, you have a moral obligation to neutralize them first,” he said. “It’s called self-defense.”

Three hours into the Council subcommittee meeting, “all hell broke loose,” Rabbi Muchnik said.The rowdy crowd began shouting “Long live Palestine! Free, free Palestine!” Young voices began referring to Mayor John Zaragoza as “Genocide John.” They screamed at the Oxnard police, claiming they had received training from Israel and that city government funds go to Israel.

By evening’s end, there may have been a slender smile on Rabbi Muchnik’s face. A vote was called, going 2-1 against bringing the resolution to the full seven-member council, and the motion died

“The community feels safe,” he said, “because these are not people from our community. There have been few antisemitic incidents the last 20 years.”

In the summer of 2003, Rabbi Dov and Racheli Muchnik and their first child, then 18 months old, opened the first Chabad of Oxnard Jewish Center.  In 2005, the Center moved to a larger home, and in 2012 to an expanded Hollywood Beach site. Last September, four months after Chabad’s 20th anniversary, came the biggest move of all: To a 10,000 square foot, two-story facility that overlooks the ships in Channel Islands Harbor.

Chabad House and the Lamplighter Jewish Academy, led by Rebbetzin Racheli, with 60 fulltime students from grades 1 through 12, now have all the space they have dreamed about.  There also is fulltime security at the synagogue, and that isn’t all. There’s one more unique note. “We happened to secure a state grant,” Rabbi Muchnik said, “where local police departments can request funding from the state to pay officers overtime to guard institutions that may be affected by the war.”

Fast Takes with Rabbi Muchnik

Jewish Journal: What is your favorite Jewish food?

Rabbi Muchnik: My wife’s chicken soup.

J.J.: Favorite place you have visited outside of Israel?

Rabbi Muchnik: South Africa. I spent two years in Johannesburg as a rabbinical student. The physical beauty of the country is stunning.

J.J. Favorite family activity?

Rabbi Muchnik: Going to the beach to watch the sunset together. We are blessed to live nearby.

Rabbis of LA | Rabbi Dov Muchnik: When a Rabbi Confronts Activists Read More »

Hatzalah’s Star-Studded Fundraiser, Israel Bonds, Momentum on the Road

Movers & Shakers /

Hollywood and comedy icons Mayim Bialik and Iliza Shlesinger co-hosted a private event to raise awareness and funds for United Hatzalah of Israel. The benefit in Pacific Palisades was hosted by David Schiff and Assia Grazioli-Venier, with special guest speaker Hen Mazzig.

Chelsea Handler, Iliza Shlesinger and Mayim Bialik together at the United Hatzalah benefit event. (Courtesy of Oded Sharoni)

The hosts brought out their friends from all sides of Hollywood, packing the night with some of the most philanthropic stars, including Brett Gelman, Chelsea Handler and Yael Grobglas. The event drew more than 100 supporters who came to hear volunteer EMT Gavy Friedson speak during a Q&A and support the organization.

Through a silent auction, this intimate event raised more than $100,000 for United Hatzalah to go towards lifesaving medical equipment and supplies.

“What I have gotten out of doing this event with these people and these women is, for the first time in my life, a sense of Jewish community,” Shlesinger, discussing her pride in the event and supporting United Hatzalah, said.

United Hatzalah has over 7,000 volunteer EMTs, medics, paramedics and doctors who respond to medical emergencies in 90 seconds or less throughout Israel. Their services are available free to all people regardless of race, religion, or national origin. United Hatzalah volunteers were the first responders on the scene of the Hamas terror attack on October 7th and treated over 4,000 terror victims.

“It was a privilege to collaborate with Mayim and Iliza for this event,” Rivky Meyer, United Hatzalah’s Florida regional development officer, said. “They are exceptional women who have been strong advocates for the Jewish community and Israel, even in challenging times when being at the forefront is no simple task. We are so grateful for the support they have shown to United Hatzalah and our volunteer medics.”

Israeli Deputy Chief of Mission Amit Mekel (left) and Israel Bonds Los Angeles Executive Director Erez Goldman. Photo by Linda Kasian Photography.

On Jan. 16, the Israel Bonds Western Region held an event for its platinum society members which featured influential guest speakers in the diplomatic and financial arenas.

The attendees first heard from Israel Bonds Los Angeles Executive Director Erez Goldman. Goldman’s address included the importance of the Jewish people standing united against all evil.

Guest speaker Amit Mekel, deputy consul of Israel to the Pacific Southwest, was recognized for being the first non-Jewish diplomat. Mekel is a part of the Druze community and spoke on the importance of allies standing in solidarity with Israel.

Scott Beiser, CEO of Houlihan Lokey and member of the national advisory council of Israel Bonds, interviewe, founding partner of Group 11, which is a venture capital company that invests in fintech and Israeli-based technology. During the interview Scott and Dovi discussed strategies of investing in Israeli technology and went over statistics proved that per capita, Israel has great success in technology. They also addressed the crowd regarding the current war in Israel and how it has affected these sectors.

Development Corporation for Israel (known as Israel Bonds) and its affiliates around the world have generated over $50 billion in investments since it was founded 72 years ago. Israel Bonds serve a symbolic connection with Israel and the people of Israel for Jews worldwide.

Courtesy of J Cubed Communications.

Los Angeles resident Chloe Levian (right) addresses participants for Momentum on the Road, a series of events that provide resources to mothers from local Jewish communities enabling them to understand the situation on the ground in Israel. Levian is the senior campus regional manager at pro-Israel group StandWithUs. There were approximately 160 attendees at the event.

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Table for Five: Yitro

Judaism, Torah /

One verse, five voices. Edited by Nina Litvak and Salvador Litvak, the Accidental Talmudist

And you shall discern from among the entire people, men of accomplishment, God-fearing people, men of truth, people who despise money, and you shall appoint them leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, and leaders of tens….

– Ex. 18:21

Rabbi/Cantor Eva Robbins
Co-Rabbi Nvay Shalom & Faculty, AJRCA

How timely is this statement in Torah? Those that lead locally, state-wide, and nationally, as Torah describes, tens, fifties, hundreds and thousands, must avoid politicization. Moses must discern men with ethics, morality, and truth as well as mature in intellect and spirituality. They must have wisdom and knowledge of Torah, their greatest resource, filled with G-d’s teachings. Quite surprisingly and comforting, civil leaders must have reverence for the Divine. The expectations were high, but as leaders and men who judge others, while guiding the people to the promised land, integrity was of the highest order and responsibility a serious endeavor. Most importantly Torah tells us they must “hate ill-begotten gains” (“Sonei-Vatzah”) and not be motivated by bribes or influenced by rich and powerful people. 

We have seen so many accounts, in our day, of unethical behavior in higher levels of leadership and decision-making, so reading this section of Torah is an important reminder of what effective leadership truly is about. The Hebrew description for such people is “Anshe-Chayil,” Men of Valor, meaning strength of character. We also see this description in Proverbs 31, “Aishet-Chayil,” A Woman of Valor, a woman who is honored and respected. In both cases, whether male or female, it is character that matters; one’s ethics, one’s moral compass, and honest and courageous leadership. As we see the embattled disarray in our own political world, our tradition reminds us, peace comes when we follow the most important guiding principles for good, effective, and respectable leadership. 

Rabbi Shmuel Reichman
International Speaker, Bestselling Author, Business Consultant

Leadership is an oft-misunderstood concept. True leaders do not represent themselves, nor do they represent the will of the people; they strive to represent the truth, idealism, and the transcendent will of God, inspiring others to do the same. 

In an ideal society, everyone is devoted to achieving their own unique leadership potential, while simultaneously devoting their individual greatness toward the larger collective greatness of the nation as a whole. A leader’s role is to enable everyone to embark on their own journey of self-discovery and achievement while also helping them devote their lives to a greater whole — to that which transcends themselves: to Hashem, the Jewish People, and the world as a whole. 

Some leaders are the face of a nation, the ones who stand in front of large crowds and deliver extraordinary and inspiring speeches. But that is not the only type of leader. A leader is anyone who is on a mission, who empowers others, and who is always looking for ways to contribute to the greater good. Leaders are great parents, great teachers, and great friends. We are all potential leaders; we are all potential revolutionaries. We can all create change in the world. But to create any external change, we must first learn to develop ourselves and live with higher ideals. Let us all be inspired to become the greatest version of ourselves, with the hopes that our own journey of growth will inspire others to become the greatest version of themselves as well.

Judy Gruen
Author, “Bylines and Blessings” 

Moshe had been judging every single civil dispute among the people when his father-in-law, Yitro, arrived on the scene and saw that the court system was hopelessly backlogged. Moshe had the best of intentions. He was extremely perceptive, quickly realizing the truth of the cases brought to him. No one could question his integrity. 

But the system was inefficient, and Yitro pointed out the unfairness of people having to wait so long to have their cases heard, not to mention the growing burden on Moshe himself. Yitro — for whom the parsha is named — was also a man of great perception. He had tested out every other religion before converting to Judaism, recognizing its ultimate truth. This qualified him to identify the flaws in the system and to devise a streamlined process of adjudication. He instructed Moshe to establish “lower courts” and “higher courts,” allowing more people to feel they were being heard by what we might call today a jury of their peers. Ideally, this would allow more litigants to accept judgements with equanimity. 

However, Rabbi Yissocher Frand observes that this system could create strife and jealousy in the community. A judge of only 50 could feel slighted that his neighbor gets to judge 5,000. This is why only “a man of truth” could be considered for a judgeship. Ego is a trap we easily fall into, but the shallowness of pursuing honor is meaningless to people who value truth above personal honor. 

Yehudit Garmaise
Reporter, Writer, and Parsha Teacher

Before we get to experience “the thunderclaps, the lightning flashes, the thick cloud of smoke, and the powerful blast of the shofar” of Matan Torah, Parshat Yitro teaches us to share the many responsibilities that make living al pi halacha (according to Jewish law) possible. 

While observing that Moshe was wearing himself out by attempting to lead am Yisroel, teach Torah, and settle every dispute, Yitro saw that his son-in-law could not possibly “go at it alone,” as the Lubavitcher Rebbe describes. By giving Moshe the sound advice to choose enough appropriate Jews to adjudicate most cases, Yitro not only earns the merit of Hashem’s agreement, but Moshe’s father-in-law provides a model of service that every community needs to thrive. 

While some community members may be tempted to sit back and expect others to shoulder the plentiful and varied tasks involved in keeping Jewish life humming, Yitro makes the crucial point that our institutions will deteriorate (G-d forbid) and leaders will burn out unless all members volunteer their time and talents in some way. 

Teaching Torah, hosting shiurim, organizing social events, working at mikvahs, taking part in shul security duties, leading children’s activities, picking up and sponsoring food for weekly kiddushes, and managing cleaning help are just a few of the countless opportunities we have to strengthen and take part in the beautiful infrastructures that our lives require. “Am I among the G-d-fearing people who make the beauty, warmth, and meaning of a Torah community running strong for everyone?” Yitro reminds us to ask ourselves.

Dr. Erica Rothblum
Head of School/Pressman Academy

Moshe is experiencing burnout, a state of physical, mental and emotional exhaustion. And while it is not good for anyone to feel burnout, a leader’s burnout will impact both themselves and the people they serve. So when Yitro guides Moshe to empower people he can trust, Yitro is teaching all of us about the basics of well- being. 

In this case, Moshe’s burnout is going to be (at least partially) alleviated by sharing leadership. Sharing the leadership burden has practical benefits. By sharing duties, Moshe can do a reasonable amount of work, while also having time to eat, rest, and connect with family. It was perhaps the first lesson on work-life balance! Sharing the responsibilities empowers others, ensuring that the Israelites don’t need Moshe in order to thrive. And sharing the load invests additional people, creating a team working towards a shared outcome. These are all meaningful steps. 

But ultimately, Yitro is teaching all of us that the antidote to burnout is connection with others. By sharing leadership, Moshe is now not alone. Unlike our modern mindset of self- care, science repeatedly proves that community, connection and relationships are the true antidote to burnout. The alarm is so high that the U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued a warning, offering that social connection is imperative for physical, mental and emotional health. Yitro understood then that these connections allow us to feel part of something bigger than ourselves, ultimately helping us to live healthy lives and to be strong leaders.

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