Just one week after passing a controversial law criminalizing phrases indicating Polish responsibility for heinous crimes against Jews during the Holocaust, Poland’s ruling party has sponsored a new bill including a clause that would criminalize kosher meat slaughter.  If the law is passed, anyone found guilty of slaughtering animals in accordance with traditional Jewish practice would face a prison sentence of up to 4 years.

The restrictions against kosher slaughter are included within a general bill on animal welfare, and includes a ban on exporting kosher meat from Poland.  Israel currently imports a portion of its kosher meat from Poland.

The law stipulates that animals cannot be slaughtered unless they stand on all their feet.  Kosher slaughter typically involves lifting the animal in order to eliminate pressure on the knife which would cause the animal pain, and render the slaughter unkosher.

The Polish parliament initially outlawed kosher slaughter in 2013, but Poland’s courts reversed the decision.

Poland’s recent decision to pass a law that would punish anyone in the country–including foreigners or visitors–for using terms such as “Polish death camp” with up to three years in jail, was passed over fierce objection from Israel.

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If Noah Hoffman had to pick a stand-out moment from the Winter Olympics so far, the Olympic cross-country skier said he would have to start with walking out at the March of Nations during the Opening Ceremony.

“They had turned the stands into one giant screen with these LED lights next to everybody’s seats, and so literally, you walk in, and the entire stadium is an American flag, and it says ‘United States of America’ in the biggest letters you’ve ever seen, like the size of football stadium stands,” marveled Hoffman, whose participation in Pyeongchang marks his second time competing in the Winter Olympics.

“I distinctly remember the same exact moment from Sochi, walking into that stadium — the noise and the color and the excitement, and being there with the team. How can you not go into that moment as an Olympian and say, ‘Oh yeah, that’s what it means to be an Olympian?’”

Hoffman, who’s originally from Aspen, Colo., didn’t just go to the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang as a representative of the United States. He also went as a representative of the tribe.

In South Korea, a country oddly known for having a copy of the Talmud in every home, Jewish athletes from around the world competed at the Winter Olympics in skiing, figure skating, luge, snowboarding, speed skating, skeleton and short track speed racing.

For Hoffman, cross-country skiing and Judaism have something in common: a strong sense of community.

“Supporting each other and supporting the community is really important to the Jewish community, and it’s a big part of athletics in general and the cross-country skiing community in particular,” he said. “It feels like a tight-knit network that is really founded on supporting each other, and that’s one important connection that I make between the two.”

The biggest Jewish story at the Winter Olympics this year is the size of the Israeli delegation. With 10 athletes competing in figure skating, alpine skiing, short track speed racing and skeleton, Israel doubled its largest previous delegation at Sochi.

More than 60 percent of Israel is desert, so winter sports are not exactly the country’s strength. Many of its Winter Olympic delegation members come from other countries or have at least trained abroad.

Seven of those members, including three Americans, competed as a figure skating team. The team, which scored eighth place out of 10 teams — ahead of France and Korea — during the short program on Feb. 11, failed to qualify for the finals.

Alexei Bychenko, who led the figure skating team, skated to “Hava Nagila” and placed second in the men’s short program in the group skate competition.

Other members of the team include Paige Conners from Rochester, N.Y., Adel Tankova from Hackensack, N.J., and Aimee Buchanan from Boston via Dallas.

A.J. Edelman, also from the United States — specifically a suburb outside of Boston — is competing as Israel’s first athlete in skeleton, a sport where a person rides a small sled down a frozen track while lying down. Edelman, an Orthodox Jew who refers to himself as the “Hebrew Hammer,” told the Forward that he wants to challenge stereotypes about Jews and sports.

“Sports bring people together in every society around the globe,” Maccabi USA Executive Director David Snyder said. “It’s why there are international sporting events all the time — golf, soccer, tennis. It brings people together, and there’s no better example than the Summer/Winter Olympics. It’s an opportunity to put politics aside and remind ourselves that we’re all one people.”

Snyder said that he’s keeping an eye on Itamar Biran, who is representing Israel in alpine skiing.

Jews are representing countries outside of Israel, of course, including the United States and Great Britain.

Besides Hoffman, Jews in the U.S. delegation include Jared Goldberg, an alpine skier from Salt Lake City, Utah;

Arielle Gold, a snowboarder from Steamboat Springs, Colo.; Emery Lehman, a long track speed skater from Oak Park, Ill.; and Tyler Kornfield, a cross-country skier from Anchorage, Alaska. Jason Brown, an alternate figure skater from Los Angeles, is also Jewish.

British luger Adam Rosen, originally from New Rochelle, N.Y., is also Jewish. He placed 22nd and failed to qualify for the final run.

Jewish representation at sporting competitions is not high, but when Hoffman encounters another M.O.T. at the Olympics, this identity provides them with something to bond over.

“Life in general is about community and shared experiences,” he said. “Having many different communities is a privilege, and the Jewish community is a huge part of that. I feel so lucky to be a part of so many things that are bigger than myself.” 

szighelboim@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0729

The post Jews Represent at PyeongChang Olympics appeared first on Jewish Exponent.

The number of anti-Semitic incidents raised last year in Germany, according to a Berlin newspaper which quoted a government report.

1,453 anti-Semitic incidents were perpetrated in 2017, including 32 incidents of physical violence, 160 incidents of vandalism, and 898 incidents of incitement to violence or hate speech directed at Jews.

The German government expects the figures to rise even further since the data provided by the states is not yet final, daily Tagesspiegel reported.

Most of the anti-Semitic incidents were due to extreme right-wing motivations: 1,377 incidents – 95 percent – were perpetrated by people holding extreme right-wing views. An additional 33 incidents were perpetrated by non-Muslim foreign citizens who hold anti-Semitic views.

Twenty-five anti-Semitic incidents were perpetrated “for religious reasons” by Muslims. Some of these Muslims are migrants, and others were born in Germany. In the last 17 cases, authorities did not succeed in identifying the motivation behind the anti-Semitic attack.

Last month, the Bundestag, the lower  house of parliament, passed a bill to implement tougher laws to tackle anti-Semitism, including the creation of a commissioner post to develop and carry out a strategy for rooting out anti-Semitic sentiment and crime.

The post 2017 Saw Rise of Anti-Semitic Incidents in Germany appeared first on Jewish Exponent.

For the more than 3,000 women who filled each table—every inch of the ballroom at the New York Hilton Midtown hotel—it came as no surprise that such significant news would be announced the same night they honored one of the most significant people in their lives: the Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson.

At a gala banquet Sunday marking the 30th anniversary of her passing and the closing event of the annual conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Women Emissaries (Kinus Hashluchos), it was revealed that a young couple will soon be moving to Reykjavik to open Chabad of Iceland—meaning every major capital in Europe now has a Chabad center.

It’s another milestone in the far-reaching vision of the Lubavitcher Rebbe—the late Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson (the Rebbe)—to see emissaries span the length and breadth of the globe, now in 100 countries, seeking to bring Jews closer to Judaism. Once they are deployed abroad and receive initial support from Chabad headquarters, the emissaries and their local centers of Jewish life do not receive additional funding from their parent organization, creating an entrepreneurial model that many observers say has driven the success of the Chabad movement.

The center in Iceland, headed by Rabbi Avi and Mushky Feldman, will be the country’s first institutional Jewish presence; Feldman will be the country’s first permanent rabbi; and aside from congregations formed by British and American troops during World War II, theirs will be the first synagogue in the country’s 1,000-plus years of history.

While perhaps 100 Jews have participated in community functions in one way or another, the year-round Jewish population, including university students and staff, is likely closer to 250. Along with the burgeoning tourist industry, which has exploded in the last decade and currently contributes to 10 percent of Iceland’s GDP, those numbers are likely to increase.

But with the steps forward for Chabad come some challenges—namely, the acknowledgment by Chana Rosenblum, of Hogar Jabad Lubavitch in Caracas, of the deteriorating political, economic and social conditions in Venezuela, and how many in that Jewish community have been leaving for other nations.

Under President Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela has seen triple-digit inflation and food shortages, with even middle-class families unable to afford basic necessities.

“It is difficult to watch a community you love disintegrate,” she said, thanking those emissaries who have welcomed Venezuelan Jews elsewhere and affirming Chabad of Venezuela’s commitment to the many who remain.

‘A very empowering time’

Nevertheless, Sunday’s overall theme was one of inspiration, centering on the ongoing role model the women emissaries have in Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson.

“I wish I could have known her,” said Esther Kosofsky, 56, of Chabad of Longmeadow, Mass. “Yet since her passing, she has become more and more alive for me.”

“The Rebbe and the Rebbetzin worked part and parcel for their vision of the world. He was the public person out front; she was the strength behind him,” explained Kosofsky. “She gave us the Rebbe, but in the years since her passing, we’ve got her, too.”

In the 34 years Kosofsky has served as an emissary, she has attended the Kinus about 20 times. “I used to think that the Rebbe wanted us here just for the learning, and that everything else was a byproduct. But I’ve learned that inspiration comes in different ways. It comes on a bus ride or in conversation…there’s just this kinship that’s so strong,” she said.

“It’s a very empowering time,” agreed Mushkie Gurary, 23, co-director of Chabad of Lake Balboa in Van Nuys, Calif., who became an emissary last May.

Regarding the gala in particular, Gurary—one of the Rebbetzin’s many namesakes—stated, “It’s a day of strength for all the Mushkas.”

This kind of camaraderie is what brought Shachar Banin, co-director of Chabad of Venice, Italy, with her husband, Rabbi Ramy Banin, to the conference this year. (That, and the fact that her 12-year-old daughter wanted to go.) By attending, she is reminded—even after 28 years as an emissary—of the strong connection among these Jewish women.

“Even when you’re literally on an island,” which Venice is, she pointed out, “you’re not by yourself. It’s encouraging to know that you’re never alone.”

Chana Nisilevitch of Beth Habad Kehilat Chné-Or in Aubervilliers, France, just north of Paris, attended the Kinus Hashluchos for the first time this year. She admitted that with two children under 18-months-old and work piled up, she felt she couldn’t possibly go. So she approached her mashpia (spiritual mentor) for validation to stay back, and instead got the opposite response.

She was reminded that “the Rebbe wanted, insisted, that women come, even if it’s hard. You just come,” said the 27-year-old, who has been an emissary for four years. “And I’m really happy to be part of the group. It’s very special, this 30th year.”

‘Forging ahead’

Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, vice chairman of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, and Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, chairman of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, addressed the group as they do every year.

Kotlarsky, who announced the development of the new Chabad center in Iceland, spoke about the demands and responsibilities of women emissaries, and their constant emphasis on the drive to educate every person who walks into their homes. But while they work year-round to inspire others, the conference represents a time when they are invigorated as well.

Krinsky echoed that sentiment, saying he heard from many women during the four-day conference that they will return home recharged, refreshed and ready to go.

He went on to note that Chabad emissaries are “forging ahead on all fronts around the globe. With every passing week and month, new young couples are off to new destinations, and the Jewish world watches in awe with admiration and respect and gratitude.”

To that end, the gala’s annual roll call of emissaries was read aloud by four young women filling the role for the first time: Chani Silver (Curaçao), Sheera Bluming (Bahamas), Chani Edelkopf (Montenegro) and Mushky Feldman (Iceland). The roll call began with Chabad of Angola and ended with Chabad of Zanzibar.

The post Chabad Heads to Iceland as 3,000 Women Emissaries Celebrate at ‘Day of Strength for all the Mushkas’ appeared first on Jewish Exponent.

The Irish and Jewish people share a common history of suffering cruel persecution and achieving national redemption against immeasurable odds. But today, modern Ireland is one of Europe’s fiercest critics of Israel. This tension was on display last week as the Irish Senate was considering legislation aimed at criminalizing trade with Israeli settlements.

The legislation, titled “Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018,” calls to “prohibit the import and sale of goods, services and natural resources originating in illegal settlements in occupied territories,” according to Sen. Frances Black, the bill’s sponsor.

While the vote on the legislation was eventually postponed, many in Israel saw it as another example of the growing effort in Europe to single out and boycott the Jewish state.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that the legislation’s “sole purpose is to support the BDS movement and harm the state of Israel.”

The Israeli Embassy in Ireland also denounced the bill, saying that it “only offers an incentive to those who wish to boycott Israel and stands in stark contrast to the guiding principles of free trade and justice.”

Orde Kittrie, a professor of law at Arizona State University and senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told JNS that the proposed legislation was clearly aimed at delegitimizing the state of Israel.

“On its face, the bill is about pressuring Israel to evacuate the West Bank and turn it over to Palestinian rule. However, as in so many cases of BDS, it appears the goal was at least also a broader one: to contribute to delegitimizing the state of Israel,” he said.

A spokesman for the Irish pro-Israel group Irish4Israel said that the bill was also backed by several anti-Israel NGOs, including Christian Aid and Trocaire, in addition to trade unions in Ireland.

“The bill was endorsed by trade unions and others, and had the support or many smaller parties. The motivation is a naive hope to show solidarity with the Palestinians,” the spokesman said.

Economic consequences

In the days leading up to the vote, a debate emerged in Ireland over impending economic consequences for the country if it went ahead with the legislation. Of particular concern was the possibility that the legislation could run afoul of both E.U. and U.S. law, potentially jeopardizing critical ties.

“This bill would make U.S. companies with subsidiaries in Ireland, Irish companies with subsidiaries in the U.S., and their employees who are Irish or resident in Ireland, choose between violating the Irish law or violating the U.S. Export Administration Regulations,” said Kittrie. “Violations of these U.S. antiboycott laws are punishable by fines and by imprisonment for up to 10 years.”

As such, in requesting the postponement of the vote on the bill, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney noted that the bill may violate an E.U. law that all members have a common commercial policy. Coveney also expressed concern that the bill would harm relations with Israel and thus Ireland’s ability to play a constructive role in the Middle East peace process.

Current E.U. law stipulates that Israeli products originating from beyond the pre-1967 lines cannot be labeled as “Made in Israel.” Israel considers the West Bank to be disputed territory, with borders to be determined in any peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

Nevertheless, despite the delay and concerns, Kittrie believes that the bill will eventually pass, especially if the peace process continues to stall.

“Watching the debate in the Irish Senate, it appears that the majority of Irish Senators are far more sympathetic to the Palestinian perspective than the Israeli one,” he said.

“A version of the bill, presumably one revised to remove the conflict with E.U. law, seems likely to pass when it is voted upon in four or five months, unless there is significant progress on the peace process or the Irish Senate becomes more sympathetic to the Israeli perspective or the Irish Senate comes to better understand how the bill, if enacted, would gravely undermine Ireland’s economic links to the United States,” he said.

Irish-Israel relations

But how did the Irish, who like the Jewish people have also faced centuries of persecution, end up so sympathetic to the Palestinian cause?

Much of Ireland’s sympathies for the Palestinians appear to tie back into their own troubled history with the United Kingdom.

“The Irish see Israel as acting as the U.K. did when it occupied all of Ireland [until Irish independence in 1921] and Northern Ireland until the present day,” said Kittrie. “Specifically, they analogize Israel’s settlements in the West Bank to the Protestants from Great Britain who settled in Northern Ireland.”

Irish-Jewish relations haven’t always been this sour. In the early 20th century, many Irish leaders were sympathetic to the Jewish people, with the Irish drawing heavily on historical parallels with Jews, including their suffering, the large-scale migration of Irish in the 19th century and their upward struggle for national self-determination against the British.

But following Israel’s independence in 1948, Irish sympathies inexplicably shifted. The Irish no longer viewed Israel as the underdog struggling for national rights, but instead as a foreign occupier on someone else’s land — the Palestinians — similar to the Irish experience with British control over Northern Ireland.

Ireland did not extend recognition to Israel until 1963 and did not establish an embassy in Tel Aviv until 1996. Furthermore, Ireland was one of the first European countries to call for a Palestinian state in 1980 and has insistently focused on the Palestinian refugee issue.

Today, despite its subordinate position within the European Union behind such larger powers as France and Germany, Ireland has played an outsized role as a voice on matters concerning Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict. Last year, the Irish Parliament passed a symbolic resolution calling on the government to recognize Palestinian statehood. Ireland was also the first European country to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization as well.

At the same time, the BDS (boycott, divestment sanction) movement in Ireland is viewed by many as some of the most powerful groups in Europe.

The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC), which has been at the forefront of anti-Israel sentiment in Israel, recently led to Israel banning some 20 activists associated with the Dublin-based group from entering the Jewish state as part of a recent “blacklist” by the Israeli government targeting anti-Israel BDS groups.

“It’s an Irish obsession to identify with the perceived underdog. It’s very disappointing and a complete distortion of the facts on the ground,” the Irish4Israel spokesman said. “If Israel wants to change the Irish mentality towards Israel, it needs to engage with Ireland more.”

Can Irish eyes smile on Israel?

However, one major looming challenge in engagement are recent reports that Israel is mulling closing down its embassy in Ireland as part of plans to shutter seven embassies worldwide due to budget concerns, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

Israel first opened its embassy in 1996 — one of the last countries in the E.U. to have an Israeli embassy — after years of negotiations. Despite strained political relations since then, trade between Ireland and Israel has grown significantly as both countries have become global leaders in areas such as technology and pharmaceuticals. In 2016, Israel was Ireland’s 11th-largest export partner, with $1.63 billion.

Despite growing economic ties, Kittrie believes that Israel needs to improve its outreach to the Irish if the Jewish state hopes to improve relations with the country.

“Israel has a good story to tell. It needs to do a far better job of telling it to the Irish people,” he said.

“Watching the debate in the Irish Senate, one would think that the lack of peace between Israel and the Palestinians is entirely the fault of Israel. That is just not true. I think education has a big role to play in improving relations between Ireland and Israel.”

The post Why is Ireland the Most Anti-Israel Country in Europe? appeared first on Jewish Exponent.

With a wobbly coalition threatening his political stability and under investigation for alleged corruption, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu surely must have appreciated the opportunity to escape Israel and receive a warm welcome by U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House.

But his appearance at the annual American Israel Political Action Committee convention the next day, during which he touted Israeli innovation and the need to “stop Iran” in an engaging speech, must also have left many of the 18,000 attendees wondering if this would be the last time they would hear him exclaim, “What the heck, I’m the prime minister!” as he left the safety of the podium to wander the stage and engage the audience.

“I think a visit to Washington for him is a respite,” David Makovsky, director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told JNS. “He gets a warm welcome. It’s a way for him to project to the Israeli public that he is not distracted by the investigations, and that he is accepted by the U.S. as a great friend. So there is an advantage for him to make the trip.”

The post Was this Netanyahu’s Last AIPAC Stint as Prime Minister of Israel? appeared first on Jewish Exponent.

The umbrella representative body of French Jewish organizations, known as Crif, has called for a rally on Wednesday in Paris in memory of Mireille Knoll, an 85-year-old Jewish woman brutally killed in her apartment.

Knoll, who lived alone in the 11th district of Paris, was found after her apartment was set ablaze, police sources said. An autopsy showed her charred body also had at least 11 stab wounds.

A Holocaust survivor, Knoll had managed to evade as a child the 1942 Vel d’Hiv Nazi-directed roundup by French police of more than 13,000 Jews who were sent to Nazi death camps.

Her murder, one year after a similar crime against Sarah Halimi, a 66-year-old Jewish teacher and physician, by her Muslim neighbor caused shock and emotion within the Jewish community.

Two men have been arrested over the killing of Mireille Knoll. One man was placed Saturday in custody, and a few hours later, so was a second man, according to Le Figaro.

A family member of Mireille Knoll said she suspected a neighbor who used to come to see her and was in the apartment during the day. It is this man, born in 1989, who was placed Saturday in custody. “Apparently, my mother knew him very well and considered him a son,” the victim’s son told Agence France Presse.

A granddaughter of Knoll, Noa Goldfarb, wrote on Facebook that the neighbor was a 35-year-old Muslim whom the murdered woman she had known since he was a child.

“Twenty years ago, I left Paris knowing that neither my future nor that of the Jewish People is to be found there,” wrote Goldfarb, who lives in Herzliya, Israel. “But who would’ve thought that I was leaving my relatives where terrorism and cruelty would lead to such a tragedy. Grandmother was stabbed to death 11 times by a Muslim neighbor she knew well, who made sure to set fire to her home and left us not even one object, a letter, a photograph, to remember her by. All we have are our tears and each other.”

The Paris prosecutor said, “We do not dismiss any hypothesis. A preliminary examination of the elements of the crime does not reveal an anti-Semitic characteristic, but this possibility has not been discounted as police investigate further,” said a spokesperson for the Jewish Community Protection Service, which works closely with the French police.

“The barbarity of this murder sends us back to that of Sarah Halimi just one year ago,” said Francis Kalifat, president of Crif. He urged “the fullest transparency” by the authorities investigating the killing, “so that the motive of this barbarous crime is known as quickly as possible.”

Joel Mergui, president of the Jewish Consistory, said he doesn’t want “to allow to reproduce the silence that followed the assassination of Sarah Halimi a year ago in the same district.”

The World Jewish Congress also called on French authorities to show full transparency in the investigation.

Its CEO, Robert Singer, said, “The World Jewish Congress stands together with the French Jewish community in deploring the horrific and barbaric murder of an elderly Holocaust survivor in Paris this week, and in calling on the French authorities to demonstrate full transparency in the ongoing investigation, to ensure that the motivation behind this heinous crime is known as soon as possible, and that is treated with the utmost seriousness it deserves.”

The post Shock and Emotion Follow Barbaric Murder of Holocaust Survivor in Paris appeared first on Jewish Exponent.

Repair the World Names New Philadelphia Executive Director

Repair the World: Philadelphia announced the hiring of Rachel Berger as its new executive director.

Founded in 2009, Repair the World works to “make meaningful service a defining element of American Jewish life,” according to its website. The group organizes young Jews in tackling local needs and helping “communities and partners to do the same.”

A Philadelphia native, Berger earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts at Yeshiva University and a master’s degree in social work at Columbia University. From 2011-12, she was a Dorot Fellow and is a current Wexner Field Fellow.

“I am thrilled to return to my hometown of Philadelphia and to join an organization that taps into my passions of social justice and service alongside community building,” Berger said. “The fellows here are deeply committed to serving with our partners in West Philly, Center City and the Greater Philadelphia area.”

Two Area Schools Meet in Tournament Tier IV Hoops Championship

The Kohelet Yeshiva High School Kings basketball team outlasted their Mesivta High School of Greater Philadelphia counterparts 50-44 on March 19 to win the Tier IV championship at the Red Sarachek Tournament at Yeshiva University.

Judah Esses scored 23 points for the victors, while Nathan Greenberg added 14. Marc Volpin paced Mesivta with 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Akiva Erlbaum scored 14.

Twenty teams from across the nation participated in the tournament, which groups teams into four tiers. Mesivta and Kohelet were seeded 15th and 16th, respectively; the teams split two prior matchups this season.

Former Refusenik Wins Israel Prize

Natan Sharansky, a former Soviet refusenik and outgoing head of the Jewish Agency, will be honored with an Israel Prize, JTA reported.

Sharansky’s efforts to promote aliyah and the ingathering of exiles was cited in an announcement made by Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett.

“The ingathering of the exiles continues — aliyah today is an aliyah of free choice: Israel is the best place for self-actualization as a Jew and for impacting the future of the Jewish people,” Sharanksy said in a statement. “We must do everything to ensure that Israel remains a home to every Jew in the world.”

Jewish Journalist in Colombia Refuses to Cross Herself, Asked to Resign

Colombia journalist Cathy Bekerman refused to cross herself on air and was ordered to resign her Channel 1 anchor post — which she also refused to do, JTA reported.

Bekerman, who is Jewish, was asked to resign by newscast director Yamid Amat. She refused, returning to the office two days later with a lawyer.

Amat later apologized.

“One of my instructions, to accentuate a piece of news that was not about religious beliefs, provoked a rejection from my colleague Cathy Bekerman. Because I feel that I affected her religious convictions without that being my purpose, I offer her a public apology,” he wrote on Channel 1’s website. “May the Jewish community and other religious organizations always receive a respectful treatment from me.”

Exponent Editor Interviewed on Jewish Philly Podcast

Jewish Exponent Editor-in-Chief Joshua Runyan is featured on the inaugural Jewish Philly podcast produced by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. The podcast is available at jewishphilly.org/jewish-philly-podcast-episode-1-ambassador-dan-shapiro/.

Runyan discusses his recent wearing of the mummers costume made famous by Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce during the Super Bowl parade.

Blossom/Amy Farrah Fowler Meets Israeli President Rivlin

Actress Mayim Bialik met Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on March 18 in advance of the Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism, JTA reported.

“My family came to live in Israel when I was born, and they lived in a few places around the country, so I grew up with a strong Zionist identity,” Bialik, 41, told Rivlin, who said he heard about her through his grandchildren.

Bialik has gained fame over the years as the title character in the sitcom Blossom and as scientist Amy Farrah Fowler in The Big Bang Theory, as well as for obtaining a doctorate in neuroscience.

Raised Reform, she now practices Modern Orthodoxy and has been a strong supporter of Israel.

The post News Briefs: Repair the World Names Director, Mayim Bialik Meets Rivlin, and More appeared first on Jewish Exponent.

According to figures released on Tuesday by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, the number of Jews alive today is still lower than it was in 1939, prior to the Holocaust.

Prior to the murder of 6 million Jews between 1939 and 1945, some 16,600,000 were spread throughout the world. Contemporary data, based on information gathered by Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Division of Jewish Demography and Statistics and the A. Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry, indicates that there are currently 14,511,000 Jews on Earth, a number similar to that in 1922.

Today, the country with the most Jewish people is Israel, surpassing the U.S. Jewish population by almost 750,000 people. Israel’s Jewish population currently stands at 6,446,000, compared with America’s at 5,700,000.

Another 456,000 live in France, 390,000 in Canada, 290,000 in Britain, 181,000 in Argentina, 176,000 in Russia, 117,000 in Germany and 113,000 in Australia.

The data also shows that since 1948, when the number of Jews in Israel stood at 650,000, Israel’s Jewry has increased nearly tenfold.

The rest of the world’s Jewry has decreased, according to the report.

Jews living outside Israel numbered 10.8 million in 1948. In 2016, there were approximately 8 million Jews in the Diaspora.

The post Current World Jewish Population Still Falls Below Pre-Holocaust Figures appeared first on Jewish Exponent.

With the stroke of a pen Tuesday, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to withdraw the United States from the Iran nuclear agreement.

“It is clear to me that we cannot prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb under the decaying and rotten structure of the current agreement,” he said. “The Iran deal is defective at its core.”

Trump, in a televised address, said the agreement, which was signed in 2015 by President Barack Obama and aims to roll back Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, has been a “great embarrassment” for the United States, and that it has done nothing to halt the country’s nuclear ambitions or ballistic missile assembly.

Trump cited Israeli intelligence reports from 2015 he had recently obtained from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu detailing Iran’s nuclear buildup as evidence that the country was not complying with the agreement.

“Today we have definitive proof that this promise was a lie,” he said.

The 2015 intelligence doesn’t indicate whether or not Iran has complied with the agreement since it was signed.

Trump’s decision comes after repeated promises to withdraw from and renegotiate the agreement. French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other European leaders have urged him to remain in the agreement, which was agreed to by the United States, Iran, Russia, China, Germany and the European Union.

Despite the international support for the agreement, its main supporters in the United States have been Democrats, who championed what had been a centerpiece of Obama’s foreign policy. Reactions from the Jewish community fell mainly along party lines in the wake of Trump’s announcement. The Republican Jewish Coalition released a statement of support for Trump’s withdrawal, writing that it has “renewed hope for a nuclear-free Iran.”

“President Trump now has at his disposal, tools like the enhanced sanctions that were waived under Obama, to get a deal that creates the necessary pressure on Iran. We appreciate President Trump’s bold foreign policy and look forward to his leadership in dealing with the Iranian threat.”

But Ron Klein, the chair of the Jewish Democratic Council of America criticized the move.

“This decision is yet another sign that President Trump remains committed to abdicating of our great nation’s traditional role as a trustworthy leader in the global community,” Klein wrote in a statement.

Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of the left-leaning J Street, released a statement noting that former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and former National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster had supported the agreement, but were then fired by Trump.

“It’s a very sad day when the United States abdicates leadership, reneges on its word and walks away from a deal that has successfully blocked all of Iran’s pathways to a nuclear bomb,” Ben-Ami wrote.

While Josh Block, CEO and President of the right-leaning Israel Project, called for the agreement to be fixed, by including issues such as “an end to Iran’s work and use of ballistic missiles of any range, permanently end their nuclear pursuit without sunset, and end Iran’s terrorism and aggressive regional behavior, including a total withdrawal of all forces and equipment, official and unofficial, from Syria,” he wrote.

Centrist organizations ADL and AJC did not take a position on Trump’s move in their statements. In an interview, Alan Ronkin, AJC Washington regional director, said he hopes Trump’s decision provides an opportunity for the United States to “build bridges” with its European allies due to their shared values of human rights and combatting terrorism.

The AJC initially opposed the agreement. Ronkin said the organization had hoped it would be fixed without the United States withdrawing. He said he is concerned that many around the world will view the withdrawal through a “partisan lens,” and that that could have international consequences.   

“If there’s a wedge between the United States and the Europeans, the winner is going to be the Iranians,” he said.

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Germany has agreed to pay another $88 million to fund social-welfare services for Holocaust survivors, according to the New York-based Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany on Tuesday.

The country, which perpetrated mass murder against Jews and other minorities between 1933 and 1945, also agreed to increase pensions to 55,000 Holocaust survivors in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as to expand eligibility for child survivors.

The funding increases the budget for aging survivors to $561.7 million this year.

“These elderly heroes deserve the recognition that increase payments and much-needed service will provide,” said Claims Conference negotiator Greg Schneider.

Since 1952, Germany has paid more than $70 billion to Holocaust survivors and programs to assist them, in large part due to the work of the Claims Conference.

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A Google search of the string “American Jewry and Israel relationship” pulls up opinion pieces with some potentially worrying headlines.

“Polls show deep divisions between Israelis and American Jews,” offers Ynetnews.com. “Israel’s Rupture with American Jewry Evokes Biblical Story of Cain and Abel,” a piece from Haaretz reads. The articles mention both religious and political divides between the two Jewish communities.

“Let’s Talk” was the theme for this year’s General Assembly, the annual Jewish Federations of North America conference, which came to Tel Aviv with those divisions in mind.

“I believe that almost every single speaker mentioned [the theme],” said Naomi Adler, CEO and president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. “At times, it felt a little too elementary, but it was a springboard. In the end, it worked.”

Three thousand people attended this year’s GA, which took place Oct. 22 to 24. About 30 attendees — including Jewish Federation employees, professionals and the recipients of the Young Leadership Awards — came with the Philadelphia delegation.

It was Tel Aviv’s first time serving as the host city for a conference that for the last three years has been stateside.

“It’s so important to show our support of Israel by actually holding our largest conference in Israel,” said Susanna Lachs Adler, board chair of the Jewish Federation.

The day before the GA began, David Gold, the Jewish Federation’s GA Mission co-chair, helped organize a trip to visit the Jewish Federation’s Partnership2Gether region in Netivot and Sdot Negev. There, some of the Philly delegation did a security tour, met members of the Israel Defense Forces and visited with people with the Studio Lab of Sdot Negev, who have worked on the issues of accessibility and age-friendly community, among other activities. They also saw damage wrought by arson attacks launched by Palestinians in neighboring Gaza.

The GA’s plenaries and breakout sessions included topics on Israel’s work as a startup nation, Birthright, integration of the haredi Jewish community, the peace process and more. There were conversations on religious pluralism in Israel and the egalitarian section of the Western Wall. Speakers included Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, Jewish Agency for Israel Chairman Isaac Herzog, U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, among others. During his address, Netanyahu said he would complete the egalitarian section at the Wall swiftly.

“Part of the GA’s ‘Let’s Talk’ was to educate our Israeli counterparts on the importance of Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist and Orthodox,” Gold said. “Jews are still Jews, and they should feel totally welcome in Israel.”

Adler was on stage at one point during the GA, moderating a plenary conversation with Steve Hoffman, president of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, and Steven Nasatir, president of Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago. Both men are leaving their positions and spoke about the future of Jewish Federations.

For Lachs Adler, the most impactful part of the GA was hearing about the role Israeli philanthropists are playing in the world in partnership with Diaspora Jewry.

She found GA co-chairs Danna Azrieli and Marius Nacht interesting. Azrieli, chair of the real estate-focused Azrieli Group, spoke about the relationship between American and Israeli Jews as two sides of an arch, independent but supporting each other. Nacht, a partner and founder of a health technology and life sciences venture fund, spoke about the two Jewish communities’ opportunities for partnership in different industries.

“Now I see that there is more opportunity for partnership with Israeli philanthropists,” Lachs Adler said. “For me personally, that’s a new dimension to our relationship with Israel. … It’s not that it didn’t exist before. It’s now just becoming more a part of the culture.”

The Philadelphia delegation’s time there also included a few events just for them at the GA, Gold said. This included a briefing with Herzog, during which they discussed what the Jewish Agency is working on and the delegation’s concerns about pluralism. The delegation also had a briefing with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, better known by the acronym JDC.

“The fact that we were in Israel during Israel 70 and that we were in Tel Aviv and the fact that there were over 3,000 attendees, half of which were from Israel and half of which were from North America, allowed us all to discuss our similarities and our differences and listen to each other,” Gold said.

A week after the conference, Lachs Adler pointed to last weekend’s massacre of congregants at a Pittsburgh synagogue as emblematic of the need for differences of all kinds to be addressed peacefully.

“We see that hate crimes and intolerance and ways of solving differences with violence is an ongoing issue,” she said, “and we have to be ever vigilant and ever mindful and raise the bar on dialogue and teaching everyone in our community how to do that, both within our own faiths and across faiths.” 

szighelboim@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0729

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About a year ago at a board meeting, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College President Deborah Waxman said she was hoping the Reconstructing Judaism convention could garner 500 attendees.

“They said, ‘Oh, don’t jinx us!’” Waxman recalled.

Early bird registration for the Reconstructing Judaism convention opened early this past summer, and not too long after, the numbers of people signing up floored Lani Moss, vice chair of the organizing committee and past president of Congregation Or Hadash in Fort Washington.

“Well before the end of the summer, we were like, ‘Oh my goodness, look what’s going on here,’” Moss said.

They had anticipated 300 attendees, but the numbers surpassed their expectations. In the end, 700 people from Reconstructionist communities across the world signed up to attend. The convention’s organizers needed to book rooms in two additional hotels, which was not an easy task for a convention taking place the same weekend as the Philadelphia Marathon. They also upped the number of sessions and are now essentially taking all the venue space of the DoubleTree by Hilton.

The Reconstructing Judaism convention, which will be held from Nov. 15 to 18,  is the movement’s first convention since 2010. It also overlaps with the 50th anniversary of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.

Moss said she hopes convention participants make connections with others from different communities.

“There’s pent-up need and desire to have this kind of gathering because it hasn’t happened in quite a while,” she said. “It’s the need for connection with others, the need to feel part of a community. All these people, most of them, are members of individual communities, but when you all come together, it becomes a community of communities. That’s pretty powerful.”

The convention will overlap with the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association’s biennial conference. The organization’s Executive Director Rabbi Elyse Wechterman said they had arranged this year’s conference to take advantage of the Reconstructing Judaism convention. The conference will take place in Philadelphia on Nov. 14 and 15.

“Every conference is unique,” Wechterman said. “We always try to combine learning with connections and with having a good time. I’m very excited that, as part of our conference, we’re going out to Northern Liberties to a bowling alley to celebrate and be together and have a good time, which after the stresses of the High Holidays and, of course, the added stress of caring for our congregations — which are still reeling from the attack in Pittsburgh — the opportunity to just be together and enjoy each other’s company is going to be really valuable.”

Wechterman said the conference will be the association’s biggest, with 130 expected attendees. Each conference has been bigger than the last, Wechterman said, and she believes the overlap with the Reconstructing Judaism convention added to the attendance.

“Many rabbis are coming with members of their congregation to the larger convention,” Wechterman said. “It’s an opportunity for people to engage in many ways and to bring people along, so there will be some opportunities for rabbis to meet with themselves and then there’s also great opportunity for rabbis to participate in larger congregations with their lay leaders and the people that we interact with every day.”

The Reconstructing Judaism convention includes a litany of plenaries, break-out sessions, field trips, volunteer opportunities and workshops on topics such as crocheting your own kippah, prayer through bluegrass music, racial justice and the rabbinate, and much more.

Waxman highlighted some of the convention events. These include the opening plenary, which will discuss reconstructing Judaism in the 21st century; a plenary the morning of Nov. 16 on food justice; and a Friday afternoon service dedicated to memorializing victims of hate.

This last program was originally planned for Blaze Bernstein, a member of a Reconstructionist synagogue in California and a student at the University of Pennsylvania who was murdered in California in what authorities believe was a homophobic hate crime. After the shooting in Pittsburgh, the service will also honor Jerry Rabinowitz, co-president of Dor Hadash, which met at Tree of Life synagogue.

On Nov. 17, the convention will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, which will include a concert with Nefesh Mountain, a band which combines bluegrass and old-time music “with Jewish heritage and tradition.”

The convention will also hold a Reconstructing Shark Tank event on Nov. 18, where selected participants will present their entrepreneurial ideas for Jewish communal life. Three finalists, selected by the convention audience, will receive grants.

The movement hasn’t held a convention since before the merger of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and Jewish Reconstructionist Communities, the latter of which sponsored the last convention in 2010. Waxman said they felt it was time to hold a convention once again and began planning two years ago.

“It’s about maturity, coming together for maturity,” Waxman said. “We felt like we were really ready to do it and do it well.”

Waxman sees this convention as something that will once again become a regular part of the Reconstructionist movement, though they’re not sure yet how often they will hold the convention.

This convention is being held in Philadelphia because it is the first in a while and its organizers wanted to take advantage of the movement’s resources here, such as the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and the different Reconstructionist congregations in the area. Future conventions, Waxman said, will be held in different cities.

“We’re back in the convention business,” Waxman said.

szighelboim@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0729

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By Sean Savage

The October attack on the Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha Congregation in Pittsburgh has put a renewed spotlight on anti-Semitism in the United States, which has seen an uptick in recent years.

However, deadly attacks on Jewish people and institutions are far from a new occurrence in Europe, where Jewish communities across the continent have faced threats from radical Islam and other homegrown extremist groups for years.

A comprehensive survey recently conducted by CNN found alarming levels of anti-Semitic attitudes among Europeans. Polling 7,000 respondents in seven European countries, the survey revealed that one in 10 Europeans has an “unfavorable” attitude toward Jews, while nearly 30 percent believe that “Jewish people have too much influence in finance and business across the world, compared with other people.”

“The CNN survey does not surprise me,” said Benjamin Weinthal, a German resident and a fellow for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “In fact, the results underplay the widespread hatred of Jews and Israel across Europe.”

Simon Rodan, the European director of the American Jewish Committee, expressed similar concern over the survey’s results.

“Those results are indeed very alarming, and I am unfortunately not surprised. Anti-Semitism has been a contemporary problem for a while in Europe. It re-emerged quite virulently in the early 2000s, particularly in France, where the largest Jewish community in Europe lives, but also in other European countries,” she said.

According to Rodan, the statistics on anti-Semitic acts across Europe are “mind-boggling.”

She quoted some of them, noting that “in the first nine months of 2018 alone, more than 500 anti-Semitic acts have been registered in France. Fifty percent of all racist hate crimes are of an anti-Semitic nature, despite the fact that Jews represent less than 1 percent of the entire population.

“And let’s not forget that over the past decade, Jews have been killed on this continent for the simple reason that they were Jewish: 12 in France, one in Denmark, four in Belgium and five in Bulgaria. Other planned attacks were thankfully thwarted,” she added.

While the scale of anti-Semitism in Europe has many experts troubled, certain key factors and differences paint a complicated picture for those looking to address the issue head-on. This is especially true in Europe, where Jewish communities in the Western Europe face different threats than their brethren in Eastern Europe.

“Contemporary anti-Semitism has several sources, and not only in Europe,” Rodan said. “The situations are, of course, different from one country’s culture and history to another, but the sources are often the same.”

While the root causes of anti-Semitism are complex and deeply entwined with European history dating back centuries — and specific to each country or region — the modern manifestation of anti-Semitism can be broadly categorized into three main subgroups across the continent, according to Rodan.

“The first sector can be found on the far right. Half of the supporters of the French National Front Party, for example, believe that Jews have too much economic power, and 51 percent say Jews have too much power in the media,” Rodan said, citing a 2015 survey conducted by the American Jewish Committee and Fondapol, a French think tank. “This is more than double the rest of society.”

Anti-Semitism on the far right is hardly a new phenomenon; it was one of the primary drivers of fascism and Nazism. Some groups on the far right today continue to draw inspiration from these trains of thought — the roots of which go back before World War II and the Holocaust.

Nevertheless, the issue of anti-Semitism and right-wing leaders in Europe has emerged as a source of great debate in recent years. While some far-right groups may have latent sympathy with Nazism, such as the Austrian Freedom Party, other more moderate right-wing leaders in Europe, who may have ties with far-right groups or even govern with them, see Israel as an important ally both in terms of fighting radical Islam and for economic development.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who has a governing coalition with the far-right Freedom Party, has been an outspoken supporter of Israel and has strongly condemned anti-Semitism.

“Anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism are getting blurred, but they are two sides of the same coin,” Kurz said recently at a dinner hosted by the European Jewish Congress, where he was presented with an award. “We can’t undo history, but we can do justice to our history.”

“Kurz is a promising political leader because he wants to shift Austria’s foreign policy in a direction that is more sympathetic to Israel,” Weinthal said.

However, he noted that Kurz has so far not matched his rhetoric with actions, like other European leaders such as Angela Merkel, with his country still supporting anti-Israel resolutions at the United Nations and forging ties with Iran, a notorious fomenter of hatred against Israel and the Jews.

“Kurz also, like Merkel, has refused to join U.S. sanctions against Iran — the leading international state-sponsor of terrorism, Holocaust denial and lethal anti-Semitism,” Weinthal said.

Nonetheless, Kurz did recently sponsor a European Union resolution approved by all 28 member countries that calls for combating anti-Semitism across the continent.

Similarly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s warm ties with Hungarian right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has drawn scrutiny over Orbán’s domestic political agenda, where he has been accused of eroding the country’s democratic institutions, having a strong nationalist agenda, and for his attacks on Hungarian-American Jewish billionaire and left-cause philanthropist George Soros, which many see as having anti-Semitic undertones.

Nevertheless, Netanyahu has praised both Orbán and Kurz for their stance against anti-Semitism and friendly posture towards Israel.

“I noticed that Viktor Orbán opened a center to battle anti-Semitism, which I think is important. I noticed a similar event in Austria by Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who convened a conference against anti-Semitism which included right-wing and anti-Zionism because anti-Zionism is the modern form of anti-Semitism. I think that these two leaders are doing a very important job in understanding what is anti-Semitism.”

The Israeli prime minister added: “When I was in Hungary, Prime Minister Orbán openly condemned the practices of the fascist leaders in Hungary, saying that this was a terrible mistake in the country’s history. I look at what they do, at what they say also on the European level.”

Indeed, many countries in Central and Eastern Europe, such as Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Greece and Romania have become strong allies of Israel, defending the country against anti-Israel resolutions in the European Union, such as the labeling of goods from Israeli settlements or condemning the U.S. decision to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

While there has been an ongoing focus and debate on anti-Semitism on the far right in Europe, the threat posed by the far left has also been a source of contention, especially within Western Europe.

“The old reasoning behind this is the hatred of capitalism and globalization,” Rodan said. “Israel and Zionism, which in many of the far-left’s minds is associated with imperialism, neo-liberalism and capitalism, has become the ‘Feindbild’ [the image of the enemy] No. 1, and the major backbone of many far-left groups’ ideology.”

One of the most prominent examples of anti-Semitism on the far left in recent years has been within the United Kingdom’s Labour Party under leader Jeremy Corbyn. Corbyn has been accused of anti-Semitism, in addition to support for Palestinian terror groups like Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

“The United Kingdom is a danger, and the next British prime minister might very well be the Labour Party’s Jeremy Corbyn,” Weinthal said. “As has been well-documented, Corbyn is a highly dangerous mixture of radical Islamic anti-Semitism combined with the ‘Socialism of Fools’ — left-wing hatred of Jews and Israel.”

At the same time, far left groups across Europe are also fueling the BDS movement that targets Israel. This movement is particularly forceful in Ireland, which is one of Europe’s fiercest critics of Israel and has become the first E.U. country to vote to boycott goods from Israeli settlements. Similarly, many towns and cities across Spain have moved to boycott Israel and Israelis.

In addition to the anti-Semitic threat posed by the far-left and right in Europe, the continent’s growing Muslim community is taking its own deep-seated brand of anti-Semitism and hate for Israel to the region.

Over the last decade, there have been several high-profile Islamic terror attacks in Western Europe against Jewish targets, including the 2012 Toulouse attack on a Jewish school, the 2014 attack on a Jewish museum in Brussels, the 2015 attack on the Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket in Paris and targeted murders, such as Sarah Halimi in 2017 and the death of Holocaust survivor Mareille Knoll in 2018, both carried out by Muslims.

While the threat of Islamic terrorism is very real for Jews in Western Europe, the opposite is the case for Jews in Eastern Europe.

Unlike countries in Western Europe — the United Kingdom, France and Germany, which have growing Muslim communities — Eastern European countries have largely closed their borders to outsiders, and have refused to take in the waves of refugees from the Middle East and Africa. Right-wing governments in Poland and Hungary have refused E.U.-mandate deals for the allocation of refugees, and opinion polls show the vast majority oppose accepting refugees.

As a result, Eastern Europe remains largely homogenous as compared to Western Europe.

Weinthal said that Jews are safer in Eastern Europe primarily due to the absence of Muslim communities in the region.

“In contrast to Western Europe, many Eastern Europeans are afflicted with Christian-based anti-Semitism and classic Nazi depictions of Jews,” Weinthal said.

At the same time, Weinthal also noted that European anti-Semitism is goes even deeper than the threat posed by the far-left, far-right and radical Islam.

“Most European anti-Semites will not tell an interviewer that they are anti-Semites,” said Weinthal, alluding to the CNN survey. “And the survey did not focus in any systematic way on the ubiquitous expressions of anti-Semitism in response to the Holocaust — namely, guilt-defensiveness anti-Semitism, where mainly Western European blame Jews and the state of Israel for their feelings of pathological guilt associated with the crimes of National Socialism.

“In short, to purge their guilt, they turn Israel into a human punching bag,” Weinthal said.

Sean Savage is a writer for JNS.org

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North Korea Ordered by Judge to Pay Warmbier Family $501M in Damages

A District Court judge on Dec. 24 ordered North Korea to pay $501 million to the family of a Jewish student who died in 2016 after being imprisoned there for more than a year, JTA reported.

The Warmbier family had requested $1.05 billion in a punitive damages lawsuit filed in April.

North Korea accused Otto Warmbier, 22, in January 2016 of attempting to steal a propaganda banner during a visit to the country. The North Korean government imprisoned him. At some point, he suffered severe brain damage, although there weren’t signs of physical trauma.

Warmbier was evacuated in a coma to the United States in June 2017, but died six days later.

Fox News reported earlier this year that a North Korean spokesman denied that Warmbier was tortured, a claim the family has disputed.

LeBron James Apologizes for Social Media Post About Jews and Money

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James apologized for a social media post in which he quoted rap lyrics that appear to support anti-Semitic references to Jews and money, JTA reported.

In the post, which has since been deleted, James quotes 21 Savage lyrics in which the rapper sings, “We been gettin’ that Jewish money, everything is kosher (On God)” and then boasts about buying Lamborghini and Tesla cars.

“Apologies, for sure, if I offended anyone,” James told ESPN. “That’s not why I chose to share that lyric. I always [post lyrics]. That’s what I do. I ride in my car, I listen to great music, and that was the byproduct of it. So I actually thought it was a compliment, and obviously it wasn’t through the lens of a lot of people. My apologies. It definitely was not the intent, obviously, to hurt anybody.”

Anti-Genocide Legislation Named for Elie Wiesel Passed by Congress

Congress passed bipartisan legislation named for the late Elie Wiesel that is designed to improve the U.S. response to potential genocides, JTA reported.

Both the Senate and House of Representatives passed the legislation in the third week of December. President Donald Trump is expected to sign the bill into law.

Under the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act, the U.S. would have an official policy saying that preventing genocide and other crimes constitutes a national security interest. In addition, the legislation establishes an interagency Mass Atrocities Task Force and trains U.S. Foreign Service officers how to detect early warning signs of atrocities.

RBG Back at Home After Cancer Surgery

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was released from a New York hospital on Dec. 25, four days after surgery to remove a cancerous lung tumor, JTA reported.

Ginsburg, 85, who had cancer twice before, was declared cancer-free; the growth was discovered after she fell in November and broke two ribs.

Ginsburg reportedly worked from her hospital bed during her stay; she hasn’t missed a day of oral arguments since she was appointed 25 years ago and appears on track to maintain that record when the Supreme Court next meets on Jan. 7. l

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If you happen to be a Baby Boomer who grew up in the 1950s and ’60s, you may remember a certain attitude your parents had about Germany and German products.

“Don’t buy a Volkswagen, Mercedes or BMW; they’re German,” was heard in many households. “Why would anyone Jewish want to buy anything German after what happened and what the Germans did?”

That period, of course, was right after World War II, and Jewish communities around the world, even after the establishment of Israel in 1948, still harbored hostility toward Germans and divided Germany.

“I can remember that. There was a lot of resentment in our house toward Germany when I was growing up,” said Elkins Park resident Jack Myers, a member of Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel. He has been chronicling his Jewish ancestors from Germany, several of whom emigrated to the United States in the 1860s while others remained in the German Rhineland-Palatinate, since the 1970s.

For that generation of Germans, there were challenges as well.

“My father told me stories, about how his teacher he loved was replaced, and the Nazi curriculum put in schools,” said Gabriele Hannah, a resident of Mainz, Germany, who has become Myers’ gateway into his German ancestry. “Then he was a prisoner of war for four years.

“It was not easy for either side, for different reasons,” Hannah said of Germany’s civilian population. “My parents told me the occupation was a tough time. It took a generation to get over that.”

Hannah said there are two reasons why she, brother Hans-Dieter Graf and sister-in-law Martina Graf are working with Myers and others.

“One is to remember the past, not only what happened during the Nazi era, but also the hundreds of years of vibrant Jewish culture that preceded it. A second is to use the power of narrative to fight bigotry and fear in current times. If you get to know a person through his or her stories, and you find out what they did, you are no longer afraid. And if somebody’s different, it doesn’t matter and you do not develop hate.”

Hannah, her brother and sister-in-law were honored by the Obermayer Foundation, which was founded by Philadelphia native Arthur S. Obermeyer, in Berlin on Jan. 21. They received German Jewish History Awards as part of the 19th annual awards ceremony.

“My father founded both the Obermayer Foundation and the German Jewish History Awards to recognize the work of people like Gabriele,” said Joel Obermayer, the foundation director. “We have more interest in both Germany and the Jewish diaspora than ever.”

So what led Myers to nominate Hannah, her brother and sister-in-law for such an award? It all began in 2014.

Myers had been trying to find information about his family and began using the website Ancestry.com. Hannah, meanwhile, had been using the same site as part of her research and saw Myers’ family tree. The two connected and, as Myers tells it, a whole world opened up.

“It was a fascinating experience,” Myers said. “As our relationship grew, Hannah started posting hundreds of details on my Ancestry.com online family tree about them. She found my paternal great-great-grandparents, Heinrich Schott and Nannette Guthmann-Schott, relatives who lived in the towns of Eich, Hamm and Ostofen. It was amazing. Her research was unbelievably thorough.

“These were not large Jewish communities, as they were in the cities. There may have been 100 people or less. Some were in agriculture.”

Many of Myers’ ancestors left Germany in the 19th century and other marriages between families naturally occurred. Hannah discovered a branch of the Myers’ family that perished in the Holocaust and a third cousin, Thomas Doerr, who lives in Germany today.

“We want to honor the dead, but we also want to talk about the living,” Hannah said. “In Germany today, we are proud of our country’s Jewish heritage and want all to know about contributions past, present and future.”

All the information Hannah provided helped Myers contribute to a book — authored by her and the Grafs — that is an extensive history titled The Jews of the Old Rhine (Die Juden Vom Altherhein). It weighs more than five pounds and was published in May.

The relationship’s crowning event came in June, when Myers and his wife, Laurie, visited Hannah, who, with her brother and sister-in-law, took them on a tour of where their descendants lived.

“My wife and I had never been to Europe,” Myers said. “Gabriele’s research [which included work at the Leo Baeck Institute and New York and the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum in Atlanta] was to the stage where she was pointing out homes where my relatives lived in these towns.

“We visited five Jewish cemeteries in that general area, and, thanks to Gabriele’s work, I recognized a lot of the names. She showed us a synagogue in Eich, which is not in great shape, but the hope is it will be rebuilt. To see all this after all the research was something.”

Hannah and her brother and sister-in-law were nominated for the Obermayer Jewish History Award by Myers, Sanford Jacoby of Los Angeles and Joe Schwarz of Ramat Hasharon, Israel.

“Really,we can’t believe what has happened to us,” Hannah said. “It is our duty, it is up to us, to tell stories like Jack’s family and give them back to the younger generation so they have stories to tell. It was very important for us to preserve the history of the Jews from this region. With the trust and confidence the families showed us, remembrance work can bring reconciliation.”

jweisberger@jewishexponent.com, 215-832-0737

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Longtime Jewish Federation Employee Dies

Former Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia employee Joe Polidoro, who spent 38 years with the organization, died Jan. 26, according to his family.

Polidoro, 70, of Philadelphia, retired in 2013 as Jewish Federation’s senior database analyst.

“Joe was beloved by all at the [Jewish] Federation, and he was seen as the go-to guy who could always help,” said Michelle Wetzel, who was the information technology director there from 2004-08. “He was never subpar and always gave 200 percent.”

Kosher Hotel Proposed in Florida

Kosher patrons of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla., will have a nearby lodging option if a proposed kosher hotel comes to pass, according to JNS.org.

The Kosher House — to be built across the street from the casino — would feature synagogue space and a kosher restaurant, as well as automatic elevators operating on the Sabbath, developer Sharon Sharaby said in an interview with the South Florida Business Journal.

The six-story, 100-room hotel would have 87,124 square feet of space, 104 parking spots and a pool on the roof. Sharaby said room rates would be in the $125 to $150 range.

The City of Hollywood Technical Advisory Committee will hear Sharaby’s proposal in the weeks ahead. Sharaby’s firm, the Shoppes of Hard Rock LLC, holds a 99-year lease on the two-acre site, which is also home to a McDonald’s.

Anti-Semitism Soars in France

French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said Feb. 11 that the number of anti-Semitic acts committed in the nation increased by 74 percent in 2018, JTA reported.

There were 541 anti-Semitic acts in 2018, compared to 311 a year earlier.

Castaner said that “anti-Semitism is spreading like poison” and called it “an attack against hope.” He pledged that the government would fight it.

The same day Castaner spoke, a tree planted near Paris in memory of Ilan Halimi — a man kidnapped and tortured in 2006 by a gang that thought his Jewish family would pay ransom — was chopped down. In addition, swastikas and anti-Semitic epithets were recently painted around the city.

JFNA Supports Security Grant Approval

The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) said it was appreciative of Congress for approving $60 million for FEMA’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program on Feb. 14. President Trump is expected to approve the measure.

“Since Sept. 11, nonprofits generally, and Jewish communal institutions specifically, have been the victim of an alarming number of threats and attacks,” said William Daroff, vice president for public policy and director of the Washington, D.C., office of Jewish Federations.

JFNA said those risks prompted the creation and continuation of a strong security program so at-risk nonprofits can respond to threats by hardening their facilities and improving preparations to deter, detect, mitigate and recover from potential attacks.

“We witnessed the deadliest act of anti-Semitism in North American history just a few months ago — the attack at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh,” said David Golder, JFNA’s Domestic Policy and Government Affairs Committee. “This and other recent episodes underscore that Violent Homegrown Extremists across the ideological spectrum continue to target our institutions.”

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Gettysburg College Trustee Resigns Over Nazi Costume Photo in Yearbook

Gettysburg College Board of Trustees member Bob Garthwait resigned Feb. 19 after a history student found a 1980 yearbook photo of him wearing a Nazi costume in the college’s archives, pennlive.com reported.

Garthwait, who graduated from the college in 1982, wore the costume to an Alpha Chi Rho fraternity party. Attendees were asked to dress as Hogan’s Heroes TV show characters. His costume included a red swastika armband.

Garthwait apologized in a written statement.

“I understand how disturbing this image is to members of the Gettysburg College community, and especially those who are Jewish. As a sophomore in 1980, I was not fully aware of the significance of those symbols,” he said. “While this is no excuse, I am deeply embarrassed and regret participating in this event where Nazi symbols were used.”

Garthwait has contributed financially to the college for many years and the Garthwait Leadership Center was named in his honor.

French Anti-Semitism Marches Coincide with Cemetery Desecration

On the same day marches occurred in France protesting rising anti-Semitism there, about 100 gravestones were found desecrated in a Jewish cemetery, JTA reported.

The stones in a cemetery in the eastern French village of Quatzenheim were desecrated with blue spray-painted swastikas.

French President Emmanuel Macron — who visited the cemetery — said the government would take action. Later on Feb. 19, he held a moment of silence at the Holocaust memorial in Paris.

Meantime, there were about 70 protest marches in France. Protestors held signs that read “That’s Enough.” Former French presidents Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy joined the march, as did much of Prime Minister Edouard Philippe’s cabinet and most major political party leaders.

Orthodox British Nursery Wins Appeal of Case Against Fired Teacher

The Orthodox Gan Menachem Nursery in Hendon, England, won an appeals court ruling against a former teacher it fired because she lived with a boyfriend, JTA reported.

Zelda de Groen had sued the school, saying she had been victimized with discrimination and harassment. She lost her job in July 2016, shortly after moving in with her boyfriend. She worked at the school for four years.

After de Groen and her boyfriend were guests at a barbecue with school trustees and student parents, she said the school told her in a “threatening” tone that it was time to marry.

De Groen did marry the boyfriend later that year.

The judge in the appeal ruled that while an employer can’t “act to the detriment of a worker based on their religious belief, it was permitted to do so based on its own beliefs,” The Independent reported.

Jewish Esports Platform Launched at BBYO International Convention

Lost Tribe Esports, an initiative to connect Jewish teens worldwide via competitive video gaming, was launched at the BBYO International Convention held in Denver Feb. 14-19.

The platform is the first initiative from 4G44 Esports, Inc., a nonprofit created by former Olympic swimmer medalist Lenny Krayzelburg and Lenny Silberman, who has long been active in the Jewish sporting community.

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Tween Arrested in NYC for Drawing Swastikas on Playground

New York City Police arrested a 12-year-boy Feb. 27 who draw multiple swastikas and anti-Semitic messages on a school playground, JTA reported.

The unnamed boy was charged with aggravated harassment. He was released to his mother.

A janitor at P.S. 139 in Queens discovered the chalked messages on Feb. 22. Those messages included “Hail Hitler” and “No Jews allowed,” according to reports.

“Truly unbelievable. I am shocked that a 12-year-old committed this crime. It’s completely unacceptable and has no place in our society,” Council Member Karen Koslowitz tweeted.

Mural in Los Angeles Under Fire as Anti-Semitic

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who is Jewish, criticized a mural that shows the Grim Reaper wearing a garment adorned with Star of David while holding a dead baby and a missile, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“Imagery like this should have no place in our city,” Garcetti spokesman Alex Comisar said. “Mayor Garcetti was incredibly upset by it. We’re looking into the recourse that we have to have it taken down.”

The mural is painted on the Vortex, an event space in downtown Los Angeles. In a Facebook statement, the organization said the mural has been in place for several years to acknowledge 9/11 as part of an “L.A. vs. War” art show.

The Vortex said the artist “did not intend to express an anti-Semitic message,” but also said it “stands for free expression.”

Meantime, the Anti-Defamation League called for the mural to be removed.

“For a venue that purports to welcome the community, the Vortex should join us in condemning hateful imagery that invokes anti-Semitic canards,” the organization said in a statement.

Lakewood Hires First Orthodox Jewish Police Officer As Part of Diverse Class

The Lakewood, N.J., Police Department has hired its first Orthodox Jewish police officer, according to thelakewoodscoop.com.

The officer wasn’t named by the website, which said the department asked that new hires not be named until they complete a six-month police academy.

Police Chief Greg Meyer said the 13 officers were part of the most diverse class in the department’s history.

Lakewood, which counts about 100,000 residents, is heavily Jewish and has a large Orthodox population.

Chief Rabbi of Argentina Hospitalized After Assault in His Home

Argentinian Chief Rabbi Davidovich suffered nine broken ribs, damage to his lungs and facial bruising after being attacked at his Buenos Aires home Feb. 25 in what police are investigating as a possible anti-Semitic hate crime, The Algemeiner reported.

Davidovich, 62, was hospitalized after the attack.

He told police seven intruders attacked him and yelled “We know you are the AMIA rabbi,” referring to the AMIA Jewish Center in Buenos Aires. Davidovich’s wife was restrained and intimidated during the attack, but not physically harmed. The attackers stole money and other items before leaving.

A day earlier, seven graves in a Jewish cemetery in western Argentina were desecrated with Nazi symbols.

Jorge Knoblovits, president of the Argentine Jewish communal organization DAIA, called the attack on Davidovich an anti-Semitic act.

“In the world, there is a lot of room for ignorance, and where there is ignorance, there is space for anti-Semites,” he said.

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By Janet Perez and Liz Spikol

International, national and local Jewish communities are condemning last week’s white supremacist attack on two New Zealand mosques that killed 50 people and wounded dozens.

The attacks took place in the city of Christchurch at the Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Mosque during March 15 morning prayers. The “worst act of terrorism committed on our shores,” as New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern characterized it, was allegedly carried out by a 28-year-old Australian national who’d penned an 87-page manifesto filled with anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric.

The response from Jewish organizations came swiftly.

“This attack on a Muslim community at prayer is an attack on the sanctity of life and tears at the fabric of society,” said the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, in a statement. “We stand together with the Muslim community to denounce and oppose violence, hatred and bigotry in all its forms.”

The Board of Rabbis of Greater Philadelphia also released a statement, signed by board president, Rabbi Joshua Waxman.

“Coming so soon after the massacre at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, the thought of peaceful worshippers being gunned down by hate-filled extremist has an extra tragic measure of resonance for Jews in Pennsylvania,” Waxman wrote. “Even as we prepare for Shabbat and its vital foretaste of olam ha-ba, we recognize the huge gap that exists between the world as it is and the world as it ought to be, and the critical role we can all play in bringing some measure of consolation and hope to olam ha-zeh.”

Waxman and about 25 other area rabbis attended afternoon prayers at Masjidullah in West Oak Lane on March 15. Following services, Waxman said, Imam Mikal Shabazz spoke about the Tree of Life massacre and thanked members of the Jewish community.

The same evening, at Congregation Mikveh Israel, after a moving concert of Sephardic Andalusian music, Rabbi Albert Gabbai offered his remarks on the massacre.

“We are very sad about what happened,” he said. “We as Jews know what it means to be persecuted and we stand in solidarity and in sadness … May God protect all of us.”

The next day, many area Jews attended an interfaith vigil in LOVE Park, where Rabbi Arthur Waskow of the Shalom Center and Rabbi Shawn Zevit of Mishkan Shalom joined other faith leaders onstage. Attendee Rabbi Shelly Barnathan, of Or Zarua, was also there to demonstrate solidarity.

“It’s really important for us to support all of our brothers and sisters of all faiths,” she told KYW Newsradio.

That night, Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia CEO Naomi Adler attended a vigil in Princeton Junction, New Jersey, while Main Line Reform Temple Senior Rabbi David Straus, former chair of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Philadelphia, spoke in Narberth.

Monday afternoon, Rabbi Batya Glazer, director of the JCRC, participated in an interreligious service at Saint Joseph’s University organized by the Institute for Jewish-Catholic Relations.

Meanwhile, national Jewish groups responded with statements lamenting the tragic events.

American Jewish Committee CEO David Harris said his organization was “appalled by the murderous assaults.”

“Racist individuals imbued with pure hatred of Muslims have attacked normally peaceful New Zealand,” he added. “We say as loudly as we can: We stand against hate and xenophobia. We stand against racism. We stand against terrorism. We stand for mutual understanding. We stand for mutual respect. We stand for pluralism. We stand for coexistence and outreach.”

Zionist Organization of America’s President Morton A. Klein and Chairman Mark Levenson issued a joint statement:

“The vicious terrorists who perpetrated this monstrous act are nothing less than evil scum. The Jewish community is especially sensitive to such horrible religious hate crimes and murders since almost 60 percent of all religious hate crimes in America are committed against Jews.”

In its statement, the Anti-Defamation League pointed to the problem of social media.

“As has become a pattern with white supremacist violence, the shooter not only meticulously planned the attack, but also designed it for social media, even live streaming it on Facebook,” CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said. “The fact that his video is still accessible on several social media websites is a reminder that these platforms need to do more to stem the flow of hateful messages and memes on their platforms, especially white supremacist memes targeting Muslims, Jews and other minorities.”

The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America also responded, saying, “We stand with our Muslim brothers and sisters of good faith throughout the world against senseless hatred and bigotry, and the despicable violence they breed. We condemn, in the strongest terms, the horrific murder of innocent people, and the added abhorrence of violence in houses of prayer.”

World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder echoed national statements, saying, “We must redouble efforts to combat hatred and division in our societies, from wherever it emanates.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted, “Israel mourns the wanton murder of innocent worshippers in Christchurch and condemns the brazen act of terror in New Zealand. Israel sends its condolences to the bereaved families and its heartfelt wishes for a speedy recovery to the wounded.”

lspikol@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0747

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