Tuesday, March 19th 2024   |

March 2015

London Jewish couple honored for rescuing killer they helped to convict

(JTA) — London police honored a Jewish Orthodox couple for helping to solve a murder case and for rescuing a wounded man from Turkish mafia thugs who tried to kill him.

Haim and Rachel Bublil, 33 and 32, received a certificate of appreciation this month from the High Sheriff of Greater London for rescuing and then secretly recording Samuel Zerai, 22, reveal the identity of his shooter, Jamie Marsh-Smith. The...

International Jewish philanthropists donate funds to secure Danish Jewish institutions

(JTA) — A group of international philanthropists donated 100,000 euros, or about $108,000, to the Danish Jewish community to increase security at its institutions.

The donation by funders of the Genesis Philanthropy Group comes in the wake of a terror attack at a Copenhagen synagogue during a bat mitzvah celebration in February that left a Jewish volunteer security guard dead.

The Genesis Philanthropy Group, a consortium launched by wealthy Jewish...

Dermer: Israel must speak up on Iran threat

(JTA) — Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, said Israel should never be afraid to speak up on issues such as the Iranian threat to the Jewish state.

His address Monday in Chicago at an event sponsored by the local Israel Bonds chapter was his first public comments since Benjamin Netanyahu was re-elected prime minister two weeks ago.

Dermer reaffirmed the strong partnership between the United States and...

War crimes complaint filed against Hamas in U.S.

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A Tel Aviv-based NGO filed a war crimes complaint in the United States against Hamas leaders over the group’s firing of rockets at Ben Gurion Airport last summer.

The Shurat HaDin-Israel Law Center filed the complaint with the Department of Justice on Tuesday on behalf of 26 U.S. citizens who were at the airport near Tel Aviv at the time of the attack on July 22. The...

Iran talks deadline extended a day

(JTA) – The negotiations in Switzerland over a framework deal with Tehran are being extended by a day.

A spokesman for the U.S. State Department, Marie Harf, told reporters on Tuesday that the talks would be extended past that day’s deadline for a framework agreement. The deadline for a comprehensive deal is June.

“‎We’ve made enough progress in the last days to merit staying until Wednesday,” Harf told reporters. “There...

Olmert found guilty of taking cash for personal gain

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was found guilty of accepting cash-filled envelopes from a U.S. Jewish businessman and using it for personal gain.

A three-judge panel of the Jerusalem District Court announced the verdict Monday in the retrial of the so-called Talansky Affair. The court found Olmert guilty on charges of fraud under aggravating circumstances and breach of trust.

Israel’s Supreme Court ordered the new trial...

ADL: Anti-Semitic incidents in U.S. up by 21 percent

NEW YORK (JTA) – Anti-Semitic incidents in the United States rose by 21 percent in 2014, according to the Anti-Defamation League’s annual audit of anti-Semitism.

The organization counted 912 anti-Semitic incidents last year, up from 751 in 2013, with the period surrounding last summer’s Gaza war seeing a surge of incidents. The tally included 36 cases of assault or other violence, 363 incidents of vandalism, and 513 cases of harassment,...

Chicago’s Loyola U. student government passes Israel divestment resolution

(JTA) — The Student Government of Loyola University in Chicago narrowly passed a resolution to divest from companies that do business with Israel.

The vote on March 26 was 15 to 15, with two abstentions. The speaker of the student senate broke the tie with a vote in favor of the resolution.

More than an hour of public debate and three hours of debate by student senators preceded the vote,...

Reverend Theodore Parker & Passover

Four Questions is so passé. Add today’s question to your seder for Five Questions. Then, click here to obtain a free copy of RASHI, RAMBAM and HAGGADAH-LAMADINGDONG: A Quiz Haggadah of Jewish Trivia Facts & Fun and you will have another twenty five questions, for a total of Thirty Questions.

Had He led us to the Promised Land and not given us Thirty Questions, it would not have been enough. Only when you add RASHI, RAMBAM and HAGGADAH-LAMADINGDONG to your seder can you say Dayenu.

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The Reverend Theodore Parker, a renowned abolitionist in the 1800's, inspired Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., among others, with his writings and speeches. What statement did Reverend Parker make in reference to the Jews and Passover?

Avid Hayeenu. We were slaves.

A. Representative James Buffinton of Massachusetts invited Revered Parker to deliver the opening prayer for the House of Representatives in April of 1860, as many southern states were discussing secession. Said Parker to Congress, “As our Jewish brothers and sisters gather together this week to observe Passover and celebrate the freedom of their ancestors, let us all pray today for the freedom of our Negro brothers and sisters in the south. I call on all of you, our Representatives of this great nation, to join with me in the words of the spiritual. Let my people go. Let my people go. Let my people go. Amen.”

B. In an 1860 meeting with President Lincoln to discuss the issue of slavery, Reverend Parker said, “Mr President. I stand with you in working to combat the evils of slavery. In the Old Testament, we read of the plight of the Israelite people and their long march to freedom, crossing the Red Sea, traversing the Sinai Desert, and finally crossing into the Promised Land. I will work with you to help the Negroes of the south on a similar journey. However, I beseech you to provide them loaves of bread for their journey. This matzah is just too constipating.”

C. Reverend Parker was not involved in the anti-slavery movement until he was invited to a Passover seder by Rabbi David Einhorn, a leader of the reform movement in the United States and a staunch abolitionist. On the Sunday following the seder in 1859, Reverend Parker delivered a sermon at his church stating, “Having recently heard the story of the Jewish people bravely crossing the Red Sea to freedom, I recognize that we all must take responsibility for those who are enslaved today. Therefore I am committing myself to a life devoted to the abolition of slavery. I will not rest until every slave is free to cross the Mason-Dixon line, our symbolic Red Sea.”

D. Delivering a sermon to his congregants at the 28th Congregational Society of Boston in 1858, Parker said, “Just as the wrath of the Lord rained down upon the Pharaoh in Egypt to bring freedom to the Israelite people, so shall the Lord in our time bring his wrath upon the slave masters and those who would lead our country to war to protect this evil institution.”

EIn his book, Life and Correspondene of Theod. Parker, Minister of the 28th Congregational Society, Boston, Parker wrote, “I doubt not that they [the Jews] did sometimes kill a Christian baby at the Passover.”

Click here for the answer.

Federation celebrates 2014-15 campaign

The Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans gave its membership a thank you gift on March 26 in the form of a reception at The Cannery, a former American Can Company warehouse that has been converted into a swank reception hall.

The audience composed of contributors to the campaign paid an additional $18 to the annual campaign that has raised slightly under $2 million thus far.

Guest speaker...