Since 1995 , B'nai B'rith has helped the Jewish Cuban Community with humanitarian supplies and Judaica that have been needed to help maintain the community. We have also been able to send mammography machines to the hospital and medical texts to the University via the Jewish community.

We invite you to join us to visit and understand the religious and other needs of the community from December 6 - 12.

> Learn more about the mission.

B’nai B’rith President Allan J. Jacobs, Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin and International Center for Human Rights and Public Policy Deputy Director Eric Fusfield joined other Jewish leaders at a meeting in New York convened by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations with leaders of the Greek-American community.

The American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA) and the American Hellenic Institute represented the Greek-American community.

Arye Mekel, Israel’s ambassador to Greece, spoke to the meeting by phone from Athens, Greece. The consuls general in New York, Israel and Greece, Ido Aharoni and Giorgios Iliopoulous, and the ambassador of Cyprus to the United States, Pavlos Anastasiades, also addressed the gathering.

The leaders of both communities met to discuss common issues on the Greek-American and the American-Jewish domestic agendas. Topics covered also included cooperation between Israel, Greece and Cyprus on energy development, the rise of Greece’s far-right Golden Dawn party, and the Greek debt crisis.

Noted Uruguayan ballet and modern dancer Federica Folco received the 29th annual Fraternidad Award on Dec. 11, awarded to outstanding artists in literature, painting, sculpture, music, theatre, cinema and dancing. Folco has enjoyed a successful career during the last decade, performing across Latin America, in Spain, Germany and France.

The ceremony was attended by more than 300 hundred people at the B’nai B’rith Hall in Montevideo. The award is originally named for Maximo Brenner (Z’L), founder of B’nai B’rith Uruguay, as well as a former president.

Winners of the award receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the State of Israel where the B’nai B’rith World Center prepares an intensive itinerary combining tourism with professional interchange, site visits and high-level briefings geared to fostering ongoing professional ties between the countries.
 
Folco will also enjoy a one week paid trip to the European country of her choice sponsored by the Brenner family.
 
Vice Minister of Education and Culture Oscar Gomez  joined District 28 President Rafael Hodara, Maximo Brenner’s widow Esther Brenner and Discount Bank Manager Alberto Wezmann (sponsor for the trip to Israel) to present the award to Folco.
 
Gomez, in his remarks to those in attendance, emphasized the “remarkable work B’nai B’rith develops promoting community action and promoting culture in all levels, which is something that all our society is grateful and deserves our warmest thanks.”
 
Folco is a highly accomplished dancer, receiving various awards for her work in Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela, Spain, France and Germany. She is also a dance professor at the Universidad de la República.

“I feel deeply moved for this award,” Folco said. “It will be a challenge in my career in order to be able to learn from the high level of classic and modern dancing in Israel.”

Officers from the Ministry of Education and Culture and the National Uruguayan Ballet were in attendance. Of those deciding the winner of the award, the chair of the committee was Argentine choreographer and one of the most famous ballet dancers in history, Julio Bocca. Bocca currently serves as director of the National Uruguayan Ballet. His acceptance to chair the selection committee was a privilege and honor for B’nai B’rith and a strong backing to the work done by the organization in the last three decades presenting the Fraternidad Award.

Join B'nai B'rith at the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue for the monthly trivia night on Tuesday, December 11. From sports to pop culture, geography to politics, we’ll test your knowledge of it all.

$15 in advance, $18 day of the event and includes a kosher dinner and two free drinks. Doors open at 6:30 PM.

> Register online

It all came down to the final question in the 27th Annual Edward Zorinsky B’nai B’rith Bible Quiz in Omaha, Nebraska.  It was worth 60 points.

If Zev Krausman, who had missed only one question the entire evening, faltered, he would’ve been edged out by Aaron Zipursky, who took second place in the contest, held on December 11.  

Throughout the evening, students and spectators were enlightened and also entertained, as Quiz Master Gloria Kaslow asked the contestants multiple rounds of challenging questions from the Books of Leviticus, Numbers and Esther in the Jewish Publication Society’s version of the Bible.

The final results were as follows:

> First Place, winning $600 in scholarship funds – Zev Krausman;
> Second Place, winning $350 in scholarship funds – Aaron Zipursky;
> Third Place, winning $250 in scholarship funds – Sam Lieb;
> Fourth Place Tie, each winning $125 in scholarship funds – Ethan Potash and Max Weiner    

Other quiz participants were Aaron Kurtzman and Max Polack.  Each participant also won a $20 cash prize for answering a minimum of three questions correctly.  The first place winner won an additional $30 (total $50).

Cantor Wendy Shermet and Hazzan Michael Krausman launched the program with blessings and songs to celebrate the fourth night of Chanukah.  

At the start of the quiz, special thanks were also extended to this year’s judges: Rabbis Steven Abraham, Josh Brown and Yaakov Weiss; organizers Steve Riekes, chairperson, Gary Javitch, Gloria Kaslow, and Stan Mitchell.  

Quiz founder, Steve Riekes, invited questions and requests for membership information be directed to him at 402-492-9800 or emailed to Deb Marburg at the B’nai B’rith office bnaibrith@jewishomaha.org.

Join EntrypointDC, B'nai B'rith Young Professional Network, other Jewish organizations and hundreds of Jewish young adults from around the DC area for the biggest party of the year-- Hanukkah Happy Hour on the Hill!

Monday, December 10 (Third Night of Hannukah)
6:00 - 9:00 pm

We'll be at the Pour House and Capitol Lounge on Capitol Hill to celebrate the Miracle of the Lights, enjoy drink specials and hang out with new and old friends.

Be sure to bring winter gloves, socks, scarves, hats, shampoo, lotion and hand sanitizer (travel sizes)! All items will be donated to the December 25th Day of Service at the Washington DCJCC and given as holiday gifts to the DC Homeless Community.

> Learn more and register today

Join the B’nai B’rith Young Professional Network-Chicago for Zoolights on Sunday December 9, 2012.

We will be going to the Lincoln Park Zoo from 5:30 to 7 PM. Meet at the corner of W. Webster Avenue and N. Stockton Drive (at the 151 Sheridan Bus stop). Walk around the zoo, observe the lights and zoo animals, and make new friends.

After the zoo, please join us for dinner and drinks at Sedgwick's at about 7:20. Sedgwick's is located at 1935 N. Sedgwick St., Chicago, IL. Come after to relax, eat, warm up and
watch Sunday Night Football.

There is no cost to attend Zoolights, however dinner/drinks is on your own.

> RSVP on Facebook.

At a session of the Organization of American States Permanent Council, B’nai B’rith warned the organization that anti-Semitism is on the rise, necessitating increased governmental focus on the problem.

At the organization’s headquarters on Dec. 8, B’nai B’rith engaged in dialogue and reflection with other organizations and member states on the workings of the Inter-American Human Rights System. B’nai B’rith also examined proposals from an ongoing report on the IAHRS and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The goal of the meeting and the overall review process is to strengthen the OAS’ promotion of democracy, human rights, security and development.

Eric Fusfield, director of legislative affairs, represented B’nai B’rith at the session with combating anti-Semitism at the top of his agenda. He urged the OAS to increase its focus on anti-Semitism in the Western Hemisphere, as the problem is on the rise throughout the region.  

Fusfield had three specific suggestions to deal with anti-Semitism: First, he called for the adoption of the draft Convention Against Racism and All Forms of Discrimination, which has been under discussion since 2004 and includes a specific reference to anti-Semitism. He also recommended that the OAS widely circulate a comprehensive working definition of anti-Semitism among public officials, educators and journalists in order to promote awareness of contemporary manifestations of the problem.  

Additionally, Fusfield conveyed the importance of monitoring and collecting data in documenting the phenomenon and the need for public figures to condemn and stigmatize hate speech in order to elevate the public discourse around Jews and other minorities.

The Shoah Institute of Human Rights was inaugurated in the Sao Paulo Congress, in conjunction with a commemoration of the 80th anniversary of B’nai B’rith Brazil. The institute was created by B´nai B´rith Brazil, in partnership with the University of Sao Paulo’s history department and its Laboratory of Studies on Discrimination.
 
The institute will give students, professors and civil society the opportunity to examine many different kinds of documentation as well as opportunities to attend seminars. The Shoah Institute of Human Rights will also offer classes to students all over Brazil and course work that will prepare professors to teach about the Holocaust.
 
The event commemorating the opening of the institute was held on Dec. 6 and was attended by Sao Paulo congressmen, city congressmen, officers from the University of Sao Paulo, Jewish community leaders and the media.
 
The dias was chaired by Abraham Goldstein, president of B’nai B’rith Brazil.
 
Eduardo Kohn, on behalf of B’nai B’rith International, congratulated B’nai B’rith Brazil and the University of Sao Paulo, saying, “The Shoah Institute is an example for Latin America. We still live in times when we have to face inequity and discrimination. Elie Wiesel has said that the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference. The opposite of beauty is not ugliness, but indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, but indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, but the indifference between life and death. In this endless struggle that democracies develop against indifference, we congratulate B’nai B’rith Brazil and the University of Sao Paulo to join and move forward in this great work.”
 
City Congressmen Floriano Pesaro and Gilberto Natalini presented B’nai B’rith Brazil with commemorative plaques from Sao Paulo City Hall, congratulating the organization on its 80th anniversary. The plaques were received by Goldstein.
 
During his stay in Sao Paulo, Kohn also met with Adriano Diogo and Hamilton Pereira, members of the Sao Paulo Congress who belong to the ruling PT party (Worker´s Party). Additionally, Kohn met with one of the representatives for the Movement of Culture for Peace, Eduardo Brasil.