DOCSLIB.ORG

Anti-Semitic Hackers Infiltrate Jewish High School Website, Exposing

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Anti-Semitic Hackers Infiltrate Jewish High School Website, Exposing Weekly Since 1924 INSIDE: Home $40 PER YEAR WITHIN MONROE COUNTY, $42 OUTSIDE COUNTY/SEASONAL 70¢ PER ISSUE n VOL. XCVIII, NO. 27 n ROCHESTER, N.Y. n TEVET 2, 5781 n DECEMBER 17, 2020 Jewish Senior Life Provides Anti-Semitic Hackers Infiltrate “Small Greenhouses” as Jewish High School Website, Shelter for Family Visits Exposing Personal Information BY SHIRYN GHERMEZIAN (JNS) — An anti-Semitic cy- bersecurity attack that took place at a Jewish high school in Long Island, N.Y., on Monday has left students on edge and parents contemplating if they should keep their children at home for the rest of the school year. Anti-Semitic images, threats, slurs and songs were posted on the website of North Shore Hebrew Academy High School A view of the North Shore Hebrew Academy in Great Neck, N.Y. (Facebook/ in Great Neck. They were also North Shore Hebrew Academy) included in emails sent to the Jewish Senior Life has pur- dow visits with their loved school’s parents and students told JNS that the hacked emails The school ended early on Mon- chased small greenhouses to ones. on Monday afternoon. were first sent out Monday af- day because of parent-teacher provide protection from the Due to visitation restrictions Skyler Askari, 15, a 10th-grad- ternoon around 3 p.m. after conferences set to take place weather elements for residents’ imposed by the COVID-19 pan- er at the private high school, classes had already concluded. (Hackers — Page 6) family members during win- (Visits — Page 2) Jewish, Pro-Israel Groups The Israel-Iran Shadow War React to Morocco Agreeing Locks In on Southeastern Syria To Normalize Ties With Israel In the last weeks of the Trump administration, Israel is fast-tracking the military drive to push Iran and its helpers back from their advance on southern Syria and the Golan border. The IDF is urged to hurry up in case the Biden ad- ministration decides that Iran’s presence in Syria need not be addressed by the US in a poten- tial renegotiated nuclear deal with Tehran. Iran is using the uncertain transition period to advance on the Syrian-Israel Golan border of Deraa, Quneitra and Sweida. a special Hizballah unit and Beth-El Synagogue in Casablanca in 2017. (Wikimedia Commons) by infiltrating and hiding be- The Iranians are also practic- dozens of local armed groups hind Syrian army positions in ing clandestine tactics on the and soldiers, taking advantage BY JACKSON RICHMAN on Thursday of its intention to the southern Syrian provinces Syrian Golan with the help of (Shadow War — Page 7) (JNS) — Jewish and pro-Is- normalize ties with Israel. rael groups reacted positively It’s the fourth normalization to Morocco’s announcement (Morocco — Page 8) 50th Anniversary of Leningrad Trial Observers Say EU-Funded Sparks Memories, Educational Initiatives BY JUDY LASH BALINT Palestinian Textbook Review Reeks (JNS) — On Dec. 15, 1970, a small item appeared at the top Of ‘Incompetence, Concealment’ of page three of The New York BY ISRAEL KASNETT In 2018, the United Kingdom Times under the jarring head- (JNS) — In a ground-break- commissioned a report on Pales- line, ‘Soviets Reported Trying ing move and in response to tinian textbooks from the Ger- 11, Mostly Jews, in Hijacking.’ the lack of change in the Pal- many-based Georg Eckert Insti- Few could have predicted that estinian Authority school cur- tute for International Textbook the trial of those young Jewish riculum and the continued in- Research (GEI), which then pub- activists held in a grim Lenin- sertion of anti-Semitism, hate lished a report that was found to grad courtroom would trans- and incitement to violence and be riddled with mistakes. The form the lives of millions of martyrdom in its textbooks, European Union then decided people on both sides of the Iron the Norwegian parliament en- to commission another report, Curtain. dorsed a cut last week in aid due to be completed this month, The accused were part of a American-born Israeli author and journalist Yossi Klein Halevi holds “I Am My to the P.A. (Textbook Review — Page 13) (Leningrad — Page 4) Brothers Keeper” sign circa 1970. (Courtesy) Page 2 • THE JEWISH LEDGER • Thursday, December 17, 2020 Scarlett Johansson Criticized for Being a Zionist After Supporting Jailed Human Rights Workers in Egypt BY CNAAN LIPHSHIZ The responses on social net- critics of the government of the Zionist prod- (JTA) — Scarlett Johansson’s works are to the Dec. 1 video President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi. ucts and it is well recent intervention on behalf by the Jewish actress to the Three of the initiative’s de- known that she is of civil rights in Egypt is arrest of four members of the tainees have since been re- Jewish and that prompting a mixed response Egyptian Initiative for Person- leased. she’s on the Israe- there ranging from gratitude al Rights as part of a broader “They all face bogus charges lis’ side,” Mako to anti-Semitic rebuke. wave of political arrests of that could lead to many more News reported. years in prison. In fact, their E l - S i s i t o o k only crime has been to stand power in a 2014 up for the dignity of Egyp- coup that ended tians,” Johansson said in the the short term in video published on the initia- power of Moham- tive’s YouTube page. Amnes- med Morsi and his ty International launched a Muslim Brother- separate campaign for their hood. They were release. elected following On social media, many a revolution. Egyptians thanked Johansson The pro-West- for her intervention, including ern dictator has Joseph Fahim, a film critic jailed thousands and lecturer from Cairo. of people deemed But others lambasted her. by his regime as Scarlett Johansson at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party Nashat al-Dihi, a present- Muslim extrem- at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing er and commentator on TeN ists, as well as Arts in Beverly Hills, Calif., Feb. 9. (Toni Anne Barson/ TV, said Johannson “supports other critics. b WireImage/Getty Images) To The Editor: It’s a shame that the world of WWII. He visited Israel sever- allowed the development of population doesn’t know this - al times as a youngster and did an mRNA vaccine (the novel especially with anti-Semitism a year of his doctoral work at approach used by Moderna and on the rise! the Weizmann Institute. There Pfizer for dealing with COVID- Mikael Dolsten, Chief Scien- he learned cutting edge immu- 19) is University of Pennsyl- tific Officer at Pfizer, is Jewish. nology which led him to phar- vania’s Drew Weissman. A He grew up in Halmstad, Swe- maceutical science. Dolsten has Professor of Medicine at Penn, den, the son of a Jewish father referred in interviews to rising he received his BA and MA with prewar roots in Sweden anti-Semitism in Sweden. degrees at Brandeis and MD/ and a Jewish mother who es- Pfizer CEO Albert Borla is a Microbiology and PhD at Bos- caped Austria in the early days Sephardic Jew from Thessa- ton U. Weissman once worked lonika, Greece, a city whose with a fellowship at the NIH Jewish population was almost under Dr. Fauci. completely wiped out during Final related notes: Presi- WWII. The Borla family’s his- dent-Elect Joe Biden this week tory in Thessalonika goes back named his new head for the 5 centuries, and Borla visits Centers for Disease Control his remaining family members and Prevention (“CDC”): Dr. there yearly. He now lives in Rochelle Walensky, Professor New York City. Medicine at Harvard Medical The Chief Medical Officer School and Chief of Infectious for Moderna, a Cambridge, Diseases at Massachusetts Mass.-based company, is an General Hospital. She works as Israeli immigrant named Tal a physician at a Jewish camp Zaks. Previously, he served for a week each summer. Also as head of Global Oncology at in the clan is Jeff Zients, who Sanofi Pharmaceuticals. Zaks will be Biden’s overseer for received his M.D. and PhD. the entire federal coronavirus degrees at Ben Gurion Univer- response. Zients led the suc- sity and conducted post-doc cessful effort to fix the govern- research at the NIH. ment’s website when it became The scientist responsible, damaged during the launch of with a colleague, for the pio- the Affordable Care Act. b neering breakthroughs that —Kenny Dresner Visits (Continued from Page 1) demic, family members com- in 30-minute blocks, and the ing for a window visit must sit structures are thoroughly outside, thus being exposed cleaned after each visit to keep to less-than-desirable weather families safe from the spread conditions this time of year. of disease. Being able to sit inside the ful- “We know how hard the visi- ly-enclosed greenhouse pro- tor restrictions are on our fam- vides them shelter from inclem- ily members. Sitting outside ent weather such as wind, rain, for a window visit becomes a or cold temperatures. bigger challenge during Roch- The Palram Hybrid Green- ester’s colder weather,” says Mi- houses are 4’ long by 6’ wide, chele Schirano, Administrator 7’ high, and made of a poly- of The Jewish Home of Roches- carbonate plastic material. A ter. “We’re happy to now have heater is provided inside for these enclosed small green- cold-weather visits. Eight struc- houses to make our resident tures were purchased for use families’ window visits a little at the Jewish Home and the warmer, so they can relax and Summit at Brighton. Family enjoy the time visiting with window visits are scheduled their loved ones.” b THE JEWISH LEDGER • Thursday, December 17, 2020 • Page 3 Culture … India’s Jew Town Only Has a Handful of Jews Left.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Washington Committee for Soviet Jewry,1968
    Ambassador Richard Schifter December, 2013 As you know, I have not lived a life in which I have blown my horn. However, before I depart the scene, let me make a record of my contribution to the emigration campaign, for historical purposes and for my descendants. Some of this is covered in my book, Human Rights, Perestroika, and the End of the Cold War. Significant numbers of Soviet Jews became interested in emigrating from the Soviet Union after the 1967 War. At the beginning of the War, Soviet media had gotten the message out that Israel was about to be defeated and destroyed. When it turned out that Israel had succeeded in the War, Russian Jews had once again become aware of the existence of Israel. Zionism in that part of the world was reborn. Jews also increasingly felt discrimination, both in the job market and in higher education. So the emigration campaign started and the Soviet government soon clamped down on it, allowing only a few exit permits. In 1966 the number of exit permits for Jews was about 2000. In 1970 it was about 1000. But the Soviet Jewry movement had gotten started, calling for free emigration from the Soviet Union. Even though Kissinger, and thus the Nixon and Ford Administrations, did not have emigration on its détente agenda, the movement had gotten many members of Congress interested and the Soviet Union began to hear from members of the movement. By 1972 the number of exit permits for Jews was past 13,000. In 1974 came the Jackson-Vanik amendment, encouraging the Soviet Jewry movement to keep going.
    [Show full text]
  • Israeli Reactions in a Soviet Moment: Reflections on the 1970 Leningrad Affair
    No. 58 l September 2020 KENNAN CABLE Mark Dymshits, Sylva Zalmanson, Edward Kuznetsov & 250,000 of their supporters in New York Ciry, 1979. (Photo:Courtesy of Ilya Levkov; CC-BY-SA) Israeli Reactions in a Soviet Moment: Reflections on the 1970 Leningrad Affair By Jonathan Dekel-Chen The Kennan Institute convened a virtual meeting and public demonstrators pushed the Kremlin to retry in June 2020 marking the 50th anniversary of the the conspirators, commute death sentences for their attempted hijacking of a Soviet commercial flight from leaders, and reduce the prison terms for the rest. Leningrad.1 The 16 Jewish hijackers hoped to draw international attention to their struggle for emigration to A showing of the 2016 documentary filmOperation Israel, although many of them did not believe that they Wedding (the code name for the hijacking) produced by would arrive at their destination. Some were veterans Anat Zalmanson-Kuznetsov, daughter of two conspirators, of the Zionist movement who had already endured preceded the Kennan panel and served as a backdrop punishment for so-called “nationalist, anti-Soviet for its conversations. The film describes the events from crimes,” whereas others were newcomers to activism.2 the vantage point of her parents. As it shows, the plight Their arrest on the Leningrad airport tarmac in June of the hijackers—in particular Edward Kuznetsov and 1970, followed by a show trial later that year, brought Sylva Zalmanson—became a rallying point for Jewish the hijackers the international attention they sought. and human rights activists in the West. Both eventually Predictably, the trial resulted in harsh prison terms.
    [Show full text]
  • Helsinki Watch Committees in the Soviet Republics: Implications For
    FINAL REPORT T O NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR SOVIET AND EAST EUROPEAN RESEARC H TITLE : HELSINKI WATCH COMMITTEES IN THE SOVIET REPUBLICS : IMPLICATIONS FOR THE SOVIET NATIONALITY QUESTIO N AUTHORS : Yaroslav Bilinsky Tönu Parming CONTRACTOR : University of Delawar e PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS : Yaroslav Bilinsky, Project Director an d Co-Principal Investigato r Tönu Parming, Co-Principal Investigato r COUNCIL CONTRACT NUMBER : 621- 9 The work leading to this report was supported in whole or in part fro m funds provided by the National Council for Soviet and East European Research . NOTICE OF INTENTION TO APPLY FOR COPYRIGH T This work has been requested for manuscrip t review for publication . It is not to be quote d without express written permission by the authors , who hereby reserve all the rights herein . Th e contractual exception to this is as follows : The [US] Government will have th e right to publish or release Fina l Reports, but only in same forma t in which such Final Reports ar e delivered to it by the Council . Th e Government will not have the righ t to authorize others to publish suc h Final Reports without the consent o f the authors, and the individua l researchers will have the right t o apply for and obtain copyright o n any work products which may b e derived from work funded by th e Council under this Contract . ii EXEC 1 Overall Executive Summary HELSINKI WATCH COMMITTEES IN THE SOVIET REPUBLICS : IMPLICATIONS FOR THE SOVIET NATIONALITY QUESTION by Yaroslav Bilinsky, University of Delawar e d Tönu Parming, University of Marylan August 1, 1975, after more than two years of intensive negotiations, 35 Head s of Governments--President Ford of the United States, Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada , Secretary-General Brezhnev of the USSR, and the Chief Executives of 32 othe r European States--signed the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperatio n in Europe (CSCE) .
    [Show full text]
  • American Jewish Yearbook
    JEWISH STATISTICS 277 JEWISH STATISTICS The statistics of Jews in the world rest largely upon estimates. In Russia, Austria-Hungary, Germany, and a few other countries, official figures are obtainable. In the main, however, the num- bers given are based upon estimates repeated and added to by one statistical authority after another. For the statistics given below various authorities have been consulted, among them the " Statesman's Year Book" for 1910, the English " Jewish Year Book " for 5670-71, " The Jewish Ency- clopedia," Jildische Statistik, and the Alliance Israelite Uni- verselle reports. THE UNITED STATES ESTIMATES As the census of the United States has, in accordance with the spirit of American institutions, taken no heed of the religious convictions of American citizens, whether native-born or natural- ized, all statements concerning the number of Jews living in this country are based upon estimates. The Jewish population was estimated— In 1818 by Mordecai M. Noah at 3,000 In 1824 by Solomon Etting at 6,000 In 1826 by Isaac C. Harby at 6,000 In 1840 by the American Almanac at 15,000 In 1848 by M. A. Berk at 50,000 In 1880 by Wm. B. Hackenburg at 230,257 In 1888 by Isaac Markens at 400,000 In 1897 by David Sulzberger at 937,800 In 1905 by "The Jewish Encyclopedia" at 1,508,435 In 1907 by " The American Jewish Year Book " at 1,777,185 In 1910 by " The American Je\rish Year Book" at 2,044,762 DISTRIBUTION The following table by States presents two sets of estimates.
    [Show full text]
  • Reliving the Vigil by Norman Goldstein
    Norman Goldstein was chair of the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington’s Community Advisory Committee for the Voices of the Vigil exhibition. He is a past president of the Jewish Community Council and was a chair of the Freedom Sunday Rally for Soviet Jewry in 1987. His insight on the vigil follows. Reliving the Vigil by Norman Goldstein The Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington’s Voices of the Vigil exhibit in JCCGW’s Goldman Art Gallery tells the story of one of the most memorable periods in all of our lives, when we truly transformed the world. Together, we brought down the Soviet Union and made it possible for more than a million of our fellow Jews to emigrate to Israel, and for countless others to live in countries of their choosing. Free to make aliyah as a result of our protests, the great numbers of new and highly skilled olim (immigrants) changed the face of Israel and guaranteed its long-term survival as a sovereign state. We supported and nurtured the rebirth of Jewish life and culture in the former Soviet Union. We did all this as a united Jewish people, supported by many other people of good will. We had a common purpose of ensuring the dignity and human rights of our fellow Jews and other persecuted people, whose religious freedoms and other rights had been suppressed for so long. Started by a group of college students, the Soviet Jewry movement took hold across the United States in the late 1960s. Thereafter, from 1970 to 1991, the Washington community protested, marched, wrote letters and petitioned.
    [Show full text]
  • For Teens Struggling in the Coronavirus Era, Jewish Groups
    Weekly Since 1924 $40 PER YEAR WITHIN MONROE COUNTY, $42 OUTSIDE COUNTY/SEASONAL 70¢ PER ISSUE n VOL. XCVII, NO. 47 n ROCHESTER, N.Y. n IYAR 13, 5780 n MAY 7, 2020 Founder of Craigslist For Teens Struggling in the Gives ADL $1 Million to Coronavirus Era, Jewish Tackle Online Hate Speech Groups Extend a Lifeline (JNS) — The Jewish billion- aire philanthropist and founder BY ALIX WALL of the website Craigslist gave a Makayla Wigder, a high $1 million grant to the Anti-Def- school senior from Houston, amation League to support its had been looking forward to the efforts to detect, expose and prom, graduation and one last counter online hate speech, the summer with her friends before ADL announced on Tuesday. leaving for college. The two-year grant from Then came the coronavirus Craig Newmark, 67, who has pandemic. Now those plans an estimated $1.3 billion net Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and na- appear highly unlikely to ma- worth, will directly aid the work tional director of the Anti-Defama- terialize. (Craigslist — Page 4) tion League. (ADL) “It’s just devastating,” Wigder lamented. “Graduation is some- thing we’ve worked toward for Bank Hapoalim Fined $904 the past 12 years. Finishing With teenagers unable to participate in in-person get-togethers, like this without a sense of closure is pre-pandemic event organized by 4Front Baltimore, a Jewish teen engage- Million Over US Clients’ just really disappointing.” ment initiative, Jewish groups are making extra efforts to reach out and With much of America under engage with Jewish teens.
    [Show full text]
  • KENNETH W. STEIN Professor of Contemporary Middle Eastern
    KENNETH W. STEIN Current Positions and Titles: Professor of Contemporary Middle Eastern History and Israeli Studies; Professor of Near Eastern History and Political Science; Director, Middle East Research Program of Emory College; Director, Institute for the Study of Modern Israel www.ismi.emory.edu; and President, Center for Israel Education www.israeled.org. Business Address: Department of History 121 Bowden Hall 561 South Kilgo Street Emory University Atlanta, Georgia 30322 404-727-2798 [email protected] (email) Director, Emory Institute for the Study of Modern Israel 825 Houston Mill Road Atlanta, Ga 30329 404-374-2798 Education: Ph.D. The University of Michigan, 1976 The Land in Question in Mandatory Palestine, 1929-­- 1936 M.A. The University of Michigan, 1971 (Near Eastern Literatures and Languages) M.A. The University of Michigan, 1969 (Near Eastern History) B.A. Franklin and Marshall College, 1968 (General History) 1 Kenneth W. Stein / Page 4 Languages: Reading competence in Arabic, German and Hebrew. Publications: (for articles and book chapters see page 9) Books, monographs, on-line courses, and educational materials: History of Modern Israel, Six part on-line course, Center for Israel Education, on-line course, December 2017, www.http://cie.teachable.com/p/ideal-israel-direct-education- and-learning The June 1967 War: How it Changed Jewish, Israeli and Middle Eastern History, Center for Israel Education, March 2017. https://israeled.org/product/june1967/ History, Politics and Diplomacy of the Arab---Israeli Conflict A Source Document Reader, College Course and Adult Education, E-­-Book, Center for Israel Education, Atlanta, Georgia, Second Edition, February 2017, 521 items/2140 pages covering the period from 1893 to February 2017.
    [Show full text]
  • Israel Mourns 23,816 Fallen on Annual Remembrance
    Weekly Since 1924 $40 PER YEAR WITHIN MONROE COUNTY, $42 OUTSIDE COUNTY/SEASONAL 70¢ PER ISSUE n VOL. XCVII, NO. 46 n ROCHESTER, N.Y. n IYAR 6, 5780 n APRIL 30, 2020 Jewish Soldiers Project Israel Mourns 23,816 Fallen on Meets Challenge of Annual Remembrance Day Passover in a Pandemic BY YAAKOV LAPPIN (JNS) — Israel is mourning its 23,816 fallen soldiers as Re- membrance Day for Fallen Sol- diers and Victims of Terrorism (Yom Hazikaron) is held, for the first time, without visitors at military cemeteries across the country due to restrictions in place during the coronavirus pandemic. The Defense Ministry’s Fam- ilies and Commemoration De- partment said that in the past year, 42 people have been rec- Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem. (Israeli Ministry of Defense) ognized as fallen soldiers. In addition, 33 wounded Israel located around the country and delivered by IDF Chief Rabbi First Night Seder at Camp Humphries, South Korea. Defense Forces’ veterans have at the memorial site for fallen Eyal Moshe Karim and other died as a result of their injuries. Bedouin soldiers in the lower senior defense-establishment In 2020, the Jewish Soldiers over to Jewish service members A siren blared out across Isra- Galilee, the IDF deployed honor representatives. Project faced an unprecedent- serving our country around the el at 8 p.m. on Monday evening, guards who stood next to a me- The Defense Ministry’s ed challenge in bringing Pass- (Soldiers — Page 6) and a second siren will sound morial torch. A senior officer Families and Commemoration at 11 a.m.
    [Show full text]
  • Jewish Community, 1930 to 1950
    ROCHESTER HISTORY jfahstof, Hefugees, and the Jewish Community, 1930 to 1950 by Mary Posman Vol. 74 Fall 2012 No. 2 nnnn A Publication of the Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County Design for stained glass window representing Jewish holy days. Drawing by J. & R. Lamb Studios. From the Library ofCongress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca- 1 7089. in 1948. Front cover: Remnants ofthe Jewish community ofFrankfurt, Germany, From the Philip S. Bernstein Papers, Department ofRare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, University ofRochester. window Hollis Hills Jewish Center Background image on front & back covers: Design for stained glass for in Long Island, NY, 1958. Drawing by Jan Hendrik Ooms, J. & R. Lamb Studios. From the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca- 13523. ROCHESTER HISTORY STAFF EDITOR: Christine L. Ridarsky ASSISTANT EDITOR: Cheri Crist ASSISTANT EDITOR: Michelle Finn EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: Jeff Ludwig LAYOUT AND DESIGN: Inge Munnings EDITORIAL BOARD dann j. Broyld Larry Naukam University ofPittsburgh-Johnstown Rochester Public Library (emeritus) Jennifer Gkourlias Christine L. Ridarsky Young Women's College Prep Charter School Rochester City Historian/Rochester Public Library Michelle Inclema Verdis Robinson Freelance Writer Monroe Community College Meredith Keller Victoria Schmitt Rochester Historical Society Corn Hill Navigation Leatrice M. Kemp Carolyn Vacca Rochester Museum & Science Center St. John Fisher College/Monroe County Historian Timothy Kneeland Nazareth College Dear Rochester History Reader, Rochester has a long history of progressive activism and a population that embraces humanitarian efforts in many forms. In this issue of Rochester History, Mary Posman explores the Rochester response to the increasing anti-Semitism in Hitler's Germany and Eastern Europe.
    [Show full text]
  • Choosing Parenthood: ART, Adoption and the Single Parent
    EH 1:3:2020 Choosing Parenthood: ART, Adoption and the Single Parent by Rabbi Susan Grossman Approved on May 13, 2020, by a vote of 24-0-1. Voting in favor: Rabbis Aaron Alexander, Jaymee Alpert, Pamela Barmash, David Booth, Suzanne Brody, Nate Crane, Elliot Dorff, David Fine, Susan Grossman, Judith Hauptman, Joshua Heller, David Hoffman, Jeremy Kalmanofsky, Steven Kane, Amy Levin, Daniel Nevins, Micah Peltz, Avram Reisner, Robert Scheinberg, David Schuck, Deborah Silver, Ariel Stofenmacher, Iscah Waldman, and Ellen Wolintz-Fields. Voting Against: none. Abstaining: Rabbi Jan Kaufman. Sheilah: May a single, unmarried, individual who wants to choose to become a parent through adoption and/or the use of artificial reproductive technologies (ART) do so under Jewish law? Teshuvah: Introduction: About fifteen years ago, a congregant approached me to perform a baby naming for her newborn daughter. I knew the woman. She had grown up in the congregation. She was single, had despaired of ever getting married, and had chosen to utilize ART to have a child of her own and raise that child on her own. She wanted to welcome her child into the covenant within her congregational home. The next Sabbath, with the proud grandparents in attendance, the woman carried her daughter up to the bimah for her aliyah, following which I blessed her and her child and announced the child’s name. After services, I was approached by several older members who were distressed that the congregation had “legitimized” a child born “out of wedlock.” It was irrelevant to them that they knew the woman since she had been a child and were otherwise sympathetic to her.
    [Show full text]
  • Defending Identity: Its Indispensable Role in Protecting Democracy by Natan Sharansky, Public Affairs, 2008, 304 Pp
    Defending Identity: Its Indispensable Role in Protecting Democracy by Natan Sharansky, Public Affairs, 2008, 304 pp. David Lowe In a celebrated essay written nearly 40 years ago, Isaiah Berlin invoked Schiller’s image of the ‘bent twig’ to portray the phenomenon of nationalism as a people’s aggressive response to persecution and humiliation – ‘an inflamed condition of national consciousness.’ But nationalism, he acknowledged, does have a number of positive characteristics, crediting another German poet/philosopher, Johann Gottfried Herder, with helping nationalism emerge in the 18th century as a coherent doctrine by arguing that every human community has ‘its own unique shape and pattern.’ Herder’s thinking, according to Berlin, is dominated by a conviction that ‘among the basic needs of men, as elemental as that for food or procreation or communication, is the need to belong to a group.’ [1] Nationalism would be challenged by 19th century doctrines of liberal rationalism propagated by those Berlin described as ‘unswerving champions of reason, who rejected faith in tradition, intuition, transcendent sources of authority as mere smokescreens to justify irrationality, ignorance, bias, fear of the truth.’ [2] Today, nationalism and close relatives such as ethnic and cultural solidarity are frequently associated with bigotry, violence, and even genocide. And not without foundation; in the past two decades alone, the world has witnessed the horrors of Bosnia, Kosovo, Rwanda, and Chechnya, not to mention 9/11, the violent tribal warfare last year in Kenya, the ongoing genocide in Darfur, and episodes of sectarian violence in parts of Africa and Asia. Those who seek to establish international standards of human rights argue that we must first break down the barriers that separate ethnic, religious, and even national groupings.
    [Show full text]
  • Jewish Periodicals
    Jewish Periodicals UNITED STATES ALABAMA Greater Long Beach & West Orange County. DEEP SOUTH JEWISH VOICE (1990). PO Box 130052, Birmingham, 35213. (205)322- JEWISH COMMUNITY NEWS (1976). 14855 9002. E-mail: [email protected]. Oka Rd., Suite 2. Los Gatos, 95030. Lawrence M. Brook. Monthly. (408)358-3033. FAX: (408)356-0733. E- (WWW.DEEPSOUTHJEWISHVOICE.COM) mail: [email protected]. Cecily Ruttenberg. Monthly. Jewish Federation of Greater ARIZONA San Jose. ARIZONA JEWISH POST (1946). 2601 N. Campbell Ave., #205, Tucson, 85719. JEWISH JOURNAL OF GREATER LOS ANGELES (520)319-1112. FAX: (520) 319-1118. E- (1986). 3660 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 204, mail: [email protected]. Phyllis Los Angeles. 90010. (213)368-1661. FAX: Braun. Fortnightly. Jewish Federation of (213)368-1684. E-mail :editor@jew- Southern Arizona. ishjournal.com. Susan Freudenheim. Weekly, (WWW.JEWISHJOURNAL.COM) JEWISH NEWSOFGREATER PHOENIX(1948). 1625 E. Northern Ave., Suite 106, JEWISH NEWS (1973). 15060 Ventura Blvd., Phoenix, 85020. (602)870-9470. FAX: Suite 210, Sherman Oaks, CA 91403. (602)870-0426. E-mail: editor@jewis- (818)786-4000. FAX: (818)380-9232. Phil haz.com. Deborah Susser. Weekly. Blazer. Monthly. (Also weekly Sunday TV (WWW.JEWISHAZ.COM) and radio broadcasts in LA, NY, and Miami.) CALIFORNIA JEWISH SPORTS REVIEW. 1800 S. Robertson AMERICAN RABBI (1968). 22711 Cass Ave., Blvd., #174, Los Angeles, 90035. Woodland Hills. 91364. (818)225-9631. E- (800)510-9003. E-mail: shel@jewishsport- mail: [email protected]. Ed.-in- sreview.com. Shel Wallman/Ephraim Ch./Pub. David Epstein; Ed. Harry Ess- Moxson. Bimonthly, (WWW.JEWISHSPORTS rig. Quarterly. REVIEW.COM) JEWISH NEWS WEEKLY OF NORTHERN CAL- IFORNIA (1946).
    [Show full text]