Blog Archives - B'nai B'rith International

Photos: B'nai B'rith Participates In Interfaith Seders In Latin America

4/23/2015

CHILE: Last week, B'nai B'rith Chile hosted 200 people in its hall to celebrate an Interfaith Seder.

Ivo Scapolo, Apostolic Nuncio in Chile, various congressmen, as well as ambassadors from Colombia, Panama,Greece, Germany, U.S., Russia, Poland and Israel were joined by representatives from Christian churches, enjoying an evening of friendship and confraternity with B'nai B'rith members.

Rabbi Shmuel Szteinhendler, a B'nai B'rith member, conducted the ceremony.

URUGUAY: This week, B'nai B'rith Uruguay hosted 250 people in its hall to celebrate the meeting of Christians and Jews in the context of an Interfaith Seder.

Cardinal Daniel Sturla, leaders of several protestant Christian confessions, priests from several churches in Montevideo, the Israeli Ambassador and other dignitaries shared in this celebration.

The ceremonies were conducted by Conservative Rabbi Ariel Kleiner and also attended by Orthodox Rabbi Ben Tzion Spitz.

More Details On B'nai B'rith's Meeting With White House About Iran

4/20/2015

More coverage of the off-the-record meeting held last Monday between American Jewish organization leadership and President Barack Obama, to address concerns over the framework of a nuclear deal with Iran.

[ALSO READ: B’nai B’rith Encouraged by Corker-Cardin Compromise; Questions Remain on Viability of Iran Deal]

The Jewish Journal has more details about B'nai B'rith International's involvement in the top-level meetings, as well as a recap of other publications' reports. Read excerpts from the Jewish Journal, below:

The first meeting, held at 1:45PM, featured National Security Advisors Susan Rice and Colin Kahl. The organization leaders who attended include.

Conference of Presidents' Malcolm Hoenlein, AIPAC's Lee Rosenberg and Robert Cohen, ADL's Abe Foxman, OU's Allen Fagin, JCPA's Steve Gutow, Wiesenthal's Marvin Hier, URJ's Rick Jacobs, AJC's Jason Issacson, WJC's Ronald Lauder, Israel Policy Forum's Peter Joseph, NCJW's Nancy K. Kaufman, B'nai B'rith's Dan Mariaschin, NJDC's Greg Rosenbaum, Rabbinical Assembly's Julie Schonfeld, Federations' Jerry Silverman, past CoP Chair Alan Solow, J Street Vice-Chair Alexandra Stanton, and CoP's Chairman Robert Sugarman.

According to a source, the two hour long meeting, featured Potus speaking for around an hour with some time for questions and answers with the President and Rice.

The second meeting, tailored more for the President's longtime supporters in the Jewish community, was held at 4:45PM and lasted around an hour and forty minutes.

The meeting featured President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Susan Rice, Valerie Jarrett, and Robert Malley. According to two sources with knowledge of the meetings, the President began by detailing the day's previous meeting, with no notes, for around twenty minutes and then went around the room allowing each attendee to ask multiple questions on issues including Iran, Israelis and Palestinians, and the U.S. - Israel relationship.

One source told Jewish Insider that they had never seen the President as "passionate, emotional and connected to the issues" as he was [today] but added that the President was also candid and honest about expressing frustration with the way some of his views have been portrayed and attacked by others.

Recap: B'nai B'rith's Project H.O.P.E. Delivers Possibility Of Passover

4/17/2015

UPDATED: 04/22/15, 4:45 p.m.

For five decades, B'nai B'rith International has used Project H.O.P.E. (Help Our People Everywhere) to make Passover seders possible for the elderly and disabled, as well as those that do not have the means to buy kosher-for-Passover meals.

This year, the program served more than 2,600 meals in a number of communities across the United States, garnering attention from the local press and the appreciation of those served.

Read a recap of the localized impact, listed below:

Connecticut Jewish Ledger:

As it has for the past 39 years, the B’nai B’rith Horeb Lodge in New Haven helped make Passover a happy holiday for families in need throughout the area through PROJECT HOPE – a kosher-for-Passover food drive organized by Lodge chair Harold Miller.

“I started by contacting various offices of the Jewish Family Service (JFS) and Tower One in New Haven. I am in touch with JFS in New Haven, Bridgeport, Danbury, Waterbury/Southbury, Greenwich, and New London,” Miller explained to the Ledger. “I asked all of them how many packages needed for the current year and then I arranged to provide for it.” After the packages were assembled at the JCC of Greater New Haven in Woodbridge, representatives from JFS and Tower One stopped by to pick them for distribution to their clients.

It’s hard work, says Miller, but well worth the effort.

“We distributed almost 400 packages this year,” he says.

Connecticut Jewish Ledger

Jewish Exponent (Philadelphia):

“I wish to thank Project H.O.P.E. — You have certainly made it possible for me and my beloved son to have a joyous Pesach through your generosity of the kosher food. As a Holocaust survivor, I am especially appreciative. If there were more people like you, the world would be a much happier place.”

“During World War lI, I lived in the [concentration] camps in terrible conditions but always with hope. I thank Project H.O.P.E. for sending me Passover food … I am glad that good people care, that I should never be hungry again.”

These are just two of the numerous thank-you notes received by Project H.O.P.E., an organization dedicated to providing Passover-friendly foods to those in need in the Philadelphia region, since its inception in 1997.

Samuel Domsky, chairman and founder of Project H.O.P.E. (Helping Our People Everywhere) was especially proud of this year’s Passover distribution effort, which took place on Sunday. It is the chai, or 18th year, of his group providing much-needed Passover food to those who otherwise would not have the ritual foods for their seder.

“Some people assume Jews aren't in need. That’s not the case,” he said, as his family and hundreds of others gathered at Temple Sinai in Dresher to pack and deliver food to families across the region. “Families, the elderly, single parents — all need food to celebrate Passover.”

The Jewish Exponent

Five Towns Herald (New York):

The Key Food supermarket in Woodmere, which has served the community for more than 50 years, according to Manager Jose Diaz, is closing, and the site — in a small shopping center between Franklin and Irving places — is expected to become home to a Gourmet Glatt Emporium, an all-kosher food store.

[...]

Anna and Asher Matathias were in Key Food last week to pick up the store’s Passover contributions to B’nai B’rith’s Project HOPE, and saw what Asher described as “rapidly emptying shelves.”

Asked about the possibility of a new Gourmet Glatt, Matathias said, "Of course, my wife, and those closer to the Woodmere [Long Island Rail Road] station than the Cedarhurst stop, are delighted with such a prospect.

"Needless to state that such an advent reflects the expansion of the Jewish community — Hewlett is already feeling the phenomenon by the way of the growing congregation of the local Chabad."

Five Towns Herald

Philadelphia Inquirer:

Joan Pavalow had planned a trip to the supermarket this week - with Passover just a few days away, she needed groceries. But then she decided not to go.

She just didn't have the money, she said.

So on Sunday afternoon, when the Kepniss family - David and Marla and their four kids - showed up at her apartment with two bags full of kosher-for-Passover food, Pavalow reacted with gratitude - and relief.

"This is a life-saver to me," she said. "I don't have the money to go to Shop Rite - and this is wonderful."

Pavalow was one of hundreds of people in the Philadelphia region who had food delivered to their doors Sunday in anticipation of Passover, which begins at sundown on Friday.

The program, run by the Jewish service organization B'nai B'rith and known as Project H.O.P.E., has been serving needy Jewish families in four states and the District of Columbia since the 1960s.

Philadelphia's Project HOPE program was begun 18 years ago by Dresher resident Samuel Domsky, who for several years ran the entire operation out of his garage with donated food. Now, he raises $30,000 a year to buy Passover staples such as matzo, eggs, and gefilte fish, and has gone from serving 75 families a year to 600.

"There's a general lack of knowledge of the extent of poverty in the Jewish community," Domsky said. "We helped raise awareness that there are many out there - seniors, Holocaust survivors, people just hanging on."

According to statistics from the Philadelphia Corporation for the Aging, 7 percent of Jewish people in the five-county Philadelphia region between 18 and 39 - and 6 percent of those age 75 and older - were living at the poverty level in 2012.

On Sunday, about 400 volunteers - the Kepniss family among them - gathered at Temple Sinai in Dresher to pack grocery bags full of food, load them into cars, and drive them to homes and apartments across the city.

The Kepniss family, of Philadelphia, was sent with more than a dozen bags to the Robert Saligman House, a Jewish retirement home on Roosevelt Boulevard. David and Marla Kepniss and their children - Talia, 13; Emmett, 11; Max, 8; and Joel, 6 - spent about an hour making deliveries in the narrow hallways.

For their trouble, they received hugs, smiles, and the occasional piece of candy for the children.

[...]

At her apartment door, Pavalow told stories about her father-in-law, a cantor at a synagogue who always made sure the prayers were read perfectly at their Passover seders.

[...]

"It's the contact with such a broad range of people," said Peter Adlowitz, of Philadelphia's P'nai Or congregation. "The giving, to me, doesn't feel like it's one way.

"Letting the kids witness the impact this has on families - these are real people, local people - is very meaningful as a parent," he said.

As the family gathered in the apartment building lobby after a full morning, Max said he felt "tired and good at the same time."

"It makes me feel grateful," said his sister Talia, "for what I have."

Philadelphia Inquirer

Reprinted In U.S. News & Interest

Reprinted in Israel Foreign Affairs

Reprinted in WorldNews (WN) Network

The Mitzvah Bowl (Pennsylvania):

Project H.O.P.E. works with the community family service agencies and local Jewish social services and with B’nai B’rith members and synagogue volunteers. Jewish organizations provide the lists of people who need packages and the facilities for collecting, storing, and packing the food. B’nai B’rith volunteers assemble and deliver the packages. Begun in New York, the program has spread to Boston, Philadelphia, Connecticut, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.

Last year in Philadelphia, 540 families received Passover food.

As a once a year Mitzvah Project, the Sunday before Passover, deliver Kosher for Passover food to our most needy, elderly and isolated Jews in the Philadelphia Region. The Project involves planning, fundraising, and volunteers to ensure success annually.

The Mitzvah Bowl

B'nai B'rith Holocaust Commemoration Draws Global Coverage

4/16/2015

UPDATED: 04/22/2015, 4:58 p.m.

Today in Jerusalem, B'nai B'rith International and Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (KKL-JNF) are memorializing Rabbi Moshe Shimon Pessach (1869-1955), and the “Jewish Rescuers Citation” will be posthumously conferred.

Pessach was an outstanding rabbinic and communal figure who served for 63 years as rabbi, including later in life as chief rabbi of Greece. During the Nazi occupation of Greece, he shepherded the Volos Jewish community of approximately 1,000 people through tumultuous times.

Read highlights from dozens of global media outlets, including articles in the Huffington Post, Times of Israel, Jerusalem Post, Arutz Sheva, Algemeiner and Haaretz, below:

Huffington Post:

The organizers behind the Jewish Rescuers Citation award ceremony view believe it is especially important to expose Jewish youth to the phenomena of Jewish rescue during the Holocaust as a model for Jewish solidarity and courage.

“We believe that the topic of Jewish rescue during the Holocaust for the past 70 years hasn’t received the attention it rightly deserves,” said B’nai B’rith World Director Alan Schneider to Tazpit. “There were thousands of Jewish rescuers who saved countless Jewish lives, who many people don’t know about.”

At the ceremony on Thursday, members of the underground Zionist youth movement in Hungary during WWII will also be recognized for their rescue efforts as will Yaacov (Jacko) Razon, a Greek-Jewish boxer who helped other Jews survive at Nazi concentration camps.

Since the creation of the Jewish Rescuers Citation in 2011, around 100 awards have been presented to Jewish rescuers who operated in Germany, France, Hungary, and Holland.

Huffington Post

Reprinted in The Jewish Link

Reprinted In Baltimore Jewish Life

Reprinted In 5 Towns Jewish Times

Reprinted In San Diego Jewish World

Reprinted in Intermountain Jewish News

Arutz Sheva (Recap):

Holocaust Remembrance Day - known as Yom HaShoah in Hebrew - began Wednesday evening, at the start of the Hebrew calendar day, with a powerful ceremony at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem.

Among the dozens of commemorative events taking place today was a unique ceremony at the Martyr's Forest on the outskirts of the capital, held jointly by the B’nai B’rith World Center in Jerusalem and Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (KKL-JNF).

The event - held now for the 13th consecutive year - is the only one dedicated exclusively to commemorating the heroism of Jews who rescued fellow Jews during the years of torment in Europe. Some 200 Border Patrol Cadets – who will provide an honor guard - and 200 high school students are participating in the ceremony together with Jewish rescuers and survivors.

Jspace News:

During the war, Rabbi Pessach also established a unit of partisans that rescued allied soldiers and fought the Germans. The Greek King Paul and the commander of the Allied forces in the Mediterranean decorated Rabbi Pessach for his actions.

“My grandfather was respected by Jews and Greeks alike and he always gave help and advice to all before and after the war,” said Eskanazi. “He was one of them, my grandfather, and the Jews were accepted by the Greek community.”

Rabbi Pessach’s good friend bishop Alexopoulos was recognized posthumously by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Gentiles in 1977 following the request of the Jewish community of Volos.

Times of Israel:

But the most significant outcome of Roet’s activism is an annual Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony awarding the “Jewish Rescuers Citation,” held by B’nai B’rith World Center in Jerusalem and Keren Kayemeth Le’Israel (KKL-JNF) at a plaza among the six million trees planted in the Martyrs’ Forest near Jerusalem.

While the ceremony is in its thirteenth year, the citation has been awarded only since 2011. Making up for lost time perhaps, over 100 Jewish rescuers who operated in France, Germany, Holland and Hungary have since received the honor.

“When we leave out the Jews, we’re leaving out an important part of the picture,” director of B’nai B’rith World Center Alan Schneider told The Times of Israel just after Wednesday’s Yad Vashem state ceremony.

Schneider applauded Yad Vashem’s increased efforts in the area of Jewish rescue, including a recent Hebrew-language book and several symposiums and seminars.

“But there’s a lot more to be done. This is something that we feel has not gotten the attention over the years, whereas there has been a lot of attention on how Jews were murdered, rounded up, the war, restitution efforts,” said Schneider.

Stories of Jewish rescue of Jews convey important principles to today’s youth, said Schneider.

“Jews should take these examples of Jewish solidarity and use them as educational tools,” he said.

Times of Israel

Jerusalem Post:

The memory of an elderly rabbi who led partisans against the Nazis in occupied Greece during the Second World War will be honored during a ceremony at Jerusalem’s Martyr’s Forest on Holocaust Remembrance Day on Thursday.

The B’nai B’rith World Center in Jerusalem and Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund will co-sponsor the event, which for the past 12 years has been dedicated to honoring the memory of Jews who rescued their coreligionists during the Holocaust.

J-Post Article 1

J-Post Article 2

Algemeiner:

In the Jerusalem Hills, there stands the single largest memorial to the Holocaust in the world, known as Martyrs’ Forest. The forest is comprised of six million trees planted in memory of the six million Jews who perished.

On Holocaust Remembrance Day in the capital, a unique ceremony takes place to commemorate the heroism of Jews who rescued fellow Jews during the Holocaust.

Arutz Sheva (Preview):

Fiercely loyal to his country and to his community, Rabbi Pessach initiated and orchestrated the rescue of his community during the German occupation with the assistance of the Bishop of Volos Joachim Alexopoulos and other non-Jews - efforts that led to the survival of 74% of the Volos Jews.

This was an extraordinary achievement in a country where 85% of the Jews were murdered in the Holocaust.

In addition to these efforts, Rabbi Pessach also led a partisan unit against the German Nazis.

On Rosh Hashana 5703, 30 September 1943, Rabbi Pessach was summoned to the headquarters of the German military governor Kurt Rikert, who demanded that he submit within 24 hours a list of all the Jews in the city and their assets, purportedly for the innocent purpose of determining the amount of food rations needed to sustain them.

Haaretz:

On the Jewish New Year in 1943, Rabbi Moshe Pessah, the chief rabbi of the central Greek city of Volos, was summoned to the German military governor of the city, Kurt Rikert.

Rikert ordered the rabbi to provide a list of all the city’s Jews and their property within 24 hours, claiming that the list was needed in order to arrange food supplies to the residents during the occupation.

Haaretz English

Hebrew Coverage:

לישראל היום

Greek Coverage:

Arutz Sheva: The Difficulty Of Choosing Holocaust Rescuer Honorees

4/15/2015

On Thursday, the B'nai B'rith World Center in Jerusalem will conduct Holocaust remembrance ceremonies for the 13th consecutive year on Yom Hashoah.

One of the most noteworthy annual traditions has been honoring Jewish heroes who risked their lives to rescue other Jews during the Holocaust. This year's honoree is Rabbi Moshe Shimon Pessach, whose heroism saved hundreds of Greek Orthodox Jews during the Nazi occupation.

While his story is compelling, it is one of thousands considered by B'nai B'rith World Center Director Alan Schneider, who established a committee to help make the decision.

Arutz Sheva interviewed Schneider to discuss the difficult process of determining which stories to tell. Read highlights from the article below:

There are literally thousands of stories that Alan Schneider, Director of the B'nai Brith World Center in Jerusalem, has tried to bring to light for Jews in Israel and America. The trouble is choosing which stories should be the ones given particular focus for special ceremonies.

“There is in fact a lot of choice, but we're only able to tackle so many stories a year that we become aware of. So there is a process. On my desk now there are a number of stories that I have had to put aside for this year that I'll have to bring up in coming next years,” he said.

This week’s ceremony will honor Rabbi Moshe Pessach, who was instrumental in the rescue of the Volos Jewish community just days before their expected deportation by the Nazis.

It is a hard process, but the public recognition ceremonies that Schneider has initiated try to focus on Jewish heroes during World War II, awarding the Jewish Rescuers Citation in several ceremonies over the last few years. Sometimes it is a matter of how much a story can be further researched, who might represent the prospective honorees if they have passed away, or even how enveloping the story might be for listeners. In short, while Schneider says they are all worthy, he laments Bnai Brith’s resources are limited to organizing events around so many epic storytellings and presentations.

“We don't have the capacity to give each individual the attention they deserve, for us to become familiar with their story and bring it to the attention of the people.”

“We’ve recognized well over 100 individuals but we know thousands of Jews were involved in rescuing other Jews during the Holocaust. We have a database that includes some of those people. In some countries the documentation is better – France and Hungary for instance – where Jewish organizations formed after the Holocaust have done a lot of the research and brought the stories in both cases of Jews involved in the rescue of Jews.”

B'nai Brith has been running a series of special ceremonies on Holocaust Memorial Day in Israel for the last 13 years. Greece tends not to be on the radar for popular Holocaust history – unlike Poland for instance. When asked if the goal was to find more obscure chronicles and shine a light on those, Schneider says yes.

“We've tried to find also lesser known stories like Rabbi Pessach’s of Volos.”

[...]

“We're focusing on his but we are honoring others from Hungary and Greece. His story in particular is not very well-known at all (at least in Israel), so we thought it would be appropriate to focus our ceremony on him," said Schneider.

Read Full Article

We Walk To Remember 2015: B'nai B'rith & Vanderbilt AEPi (Video)

4/14/2015

B’nai B’rith International is proud to partner with the Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) fraternity to bring Holocaust commemoration programs to college campuses nationwide.

Hundreds of people congregated at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. for the 2015 We Walk to Remember program. This event was coordinated as a Holocaust awareness and remembrance walk, and was also in direct response to anti-Semitic vandalism at the Vanderbilt AEPi house in March, 2015.

Unto Every Person There Is A Name 2015

CNN: B'nai B'rith Meets With Obama To Discuss Iran Nuclear Deal

4/14/2015

B'nai B'rith International was one of 12 American Jewish organizations in a pair of off-the-record meetings with President Barack Obama on Monday, discussing the merit of a nuclear deal with Iran.

Following the P5+1 announcement on April 2, B'nai B'rith took a skeptical approach, expressing concern over Tehran's past double-speak and anti-Israel agenda.

With a June 30 deadline set for a final deal, B’nai B’rith has been monitoring the specifics of the deal, urging all parties to carefully and stringently review the agreement during that time as well.

Read CNN's recap of the meeting, below:

A range of both liberal and conservative Jewish-American groups met with President Barack Obama and other top White House officials Monday to hear the administration's pitch on its nuclear deal with Iran.

[...]

The president spoke for 45 minutes before taking questions at the first of the two meetings. That first gathering lasted two hours, doubling its expected length of one hour.

Obama demonstrated the "depth of his commitment to Israel," said one source who is supportive of the president's efforts to constrain Iran's nuclear program. But he also heard from participants "expressing fear and anxiety in the Jewish community" about the current framework agreement announced on April 2.

[...]

According to a list of the participants obtained by CNN, Obama met with representatives from the following groups: J Street, the National Council of Jewish Women, Union for Reform Judaism, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Jewish Federations of North America, AJC, Anti Defamation League, American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Conference of Major American Jewish Organizations, B'nai B'rith International, Orthodox Union, and the Rabbinical Assembly.

Full CNN Article

Read B'nai B'rith's Letter To Spokane Symphony Orchestra

4/14/2015

B'nai B'rith Dismayed EU Conference Diluting Focus On Anti-Semitism

4/6/2015

The European Union started Passover on a sour note, announcing that the much-anticipated upcoming conference on combating rising anti-Semitism in Europe will not share equal billing with Islamophobia.

While B'nai B'rith International has been an outspoken global advocate of diversity and worked to combat prejudice and discrimination of all kinds, the concern is that adding other issues to the discussion of anti-Semitism allows government officials to avoid real action.

B'nai B'rith International Director of Legislative Affairs Eric Fusfield spoke on behalf of the organization to the Jerusalem Post, highlights of which can be found below:

Jewish organizations worldwide expressed shock and dismay over the weekend following the announcement that the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency is planning on holding a conference that implies an equivalence between anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.

[...]

It will focus on the rise of anti-Jewish sentiment and violence across the continent and the “growing evidence in many European countries, especially in the past two years, of very high rates of anti-Muslim incidents, including acts of verbal and physical violence,” according to the organizers.

Jewish community leaders in Europe and elsewhere told The Jerusalem Post that despite being largely supportive of the FRA’s work, they believed it inappropriate for it to juxtapose hate directed against Muslims with anti-Semitism as if both were one and the same.

“The challenge of combating anti-Semitism would be better served by a stand-alone colloquium fully focused on the problem,” said Eric Fusfield, the legislative affairs director of the B’nai B’rith International Center for Human Rights and Public Policy.

“Opponents of anti-Semitism have tried for years to promote greater understanding of anti-Semitism as a distinct phenomenon with unique dimensions sometimes requiring unique solutions,” he said.

“It is true that some strategies for combating anti-Semitism may apply to other forms of intolerance as well, but the fact is that, for too long, the tendency of governments and international organizations to conflate anti-Semitism with other social illnesses has served as a means of avoiding the problem rather than addressing it head on, even as the crisis facing Jewish communities has intensified in Europe and elsewhere,” he added.

International Business Times: Political Discussions At 2015 Seders

4/3/2015

With contested Israeli elections, the framework of a nuclear deal in place between the west and Iran, and a tenuous peace between Israel and the Palestinians, there is much political fodder for discussion at this year's Passover Seder tables.

The International Business Times featured quotes from B'nai B'rith World Center Director Alan Schneider in an article on the topic. Read highlights from the wide-ranging piece, below:

As much as Mia Warshofsky is looking forward to spending time with her family this Passover, the Florida college student is already bracing herself for the political arguments that she knows will break out over the Seder table on Friday. The subject of Israel has become a point of contention between Warshofsky and her grandparents, following Israel’s 50-day offensive in Gaza last summer, and she anticipates that these disagreements will be further inflamed by more recent political events.

“I would like my Seder table to not be a political minefield,” said Warshofsky, 20, a sophomore at the University of Central Florida in Orlando and a critic of the Israeli government’s policies toward Palestinians. “But all of my grandparents have recently picked up this really wonderful habit of bringing up Israel every time they see me… I don’t like to start debates, but they always seem to steer the conversations toward the hot-button issues.”

Warshofsky’s family will not be the only one navigating potentially charged political discussions this year. Passover comes in the immediate aftermath of Israel’s contentious elections and just after the announcement of a preliminary agreement over Iran's nuclear program, a process Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned will endanger the Jewish state.

These sensitive issues mean that for many U.S. Jews, regardless of political or denominational affiliation, the rituals of the Passover ceremony, which commemorates the Israelites’ freedom from slavery, will be particularly charged this year.

[...]

The implications of the election, which saw the incumbent Israeli leader sweep to a landslide victory after a tightly contested campaign, will be a particularly prominent topic at Seders in Israel, said Alan Schneider, the director of the B’nai B’rith World Center in Jerusalem. However, Schneider argued that for most Israelis, intense debates about Middle East politics are nothing new and that this year’s Passover would not necessarily be a departure from previous year’s holidays.

Continue Reading

Throwback Thursday: Partition Predicted At B’nai B’rith Parley (1941)

4/2/2015

On March 30, 1941, more than 4,000 delegates gathered at the first luncheon of B'nai B'rith's 16th Annual National Convention in Chicago to hear Dr. Chaim Weizmann, a long-time B'nai B'rith member, predict a two-state solution in the Middle East.

At the time, Weizmann was president of the Zionist Organization, and would be elected Israel's first president in 1949 (and serve until his death in 1952).

The effect of his speech went further than headlines, inspiring a commitment of $100,000 from the B'nai B'rith delegates to create a second B'nai B'rith colony in what is now Israel.

The new colony was subsequently named for then B'nai B'rith President Henry Monsky and adjoined the first B'nai B'rith colony established in 1936. The colony was intended for former members of B'nai B'rith, their children and victims of the Nazi persecution.

In addition to this historically significant prediction at the 1941 convention, Weizmann also appears in the B'nai B'rith history books alongside B'nai B'rith member Eddie Jacobson.

Jacobson, a long-time business partner and friend of President Harry Truman, arranged a secret meeting between Weizmann and Truman that is said to have turned the president's opinion in favor of the partition plan and recognize the state of Israel.

Read coverage of his 1941 speech via the Jewish Telegraphic Agency's archive:

March 31, 1941

B’nai B’rith’s triennial national convention today heard Dr. Chaim Weizmann predict a Palestine Jewish commonwealth side by side with an Arab federation after the war and Vice-President Henry A. Wallace stress the importance of equality for all races and religions in the Western Hemisphere.

Addressing a luncheon session at the Drake Hotel, Dr. Weizmann asserted that “the floating and homeless five millions of Jews” could not survive without Palestine. “We have before us the greatest problem of salvaging the lives of Jews in the entire history of Jewish dispersion,” he said.

Speaking of the “difficult Arab problem,” the world Zionist leader asserted: “A solution to that problem must be found in order to achieve our objective. The Jews and the Arabs must live side by side as neighbors and cousins.

“After the victory of the democracies there must come a federation of the great Arab countries. This confederation will extend from the Euphrates to Libya. The democracies too, will realize the historic connection between the Jews and Palestine and that we are entitled to develop an autonomous Palestine, free from shackles, where we can bring these millions of our suffering people so that they can build a country that can fructify and revitalize the whole Middle East. It is possible to have a Jewish commonwealth side by side with this Arab federation.”

“The 500,000 Jews in Palestine who are ready to lay down their lives represent a great arsenal of human freedom as we stand sentinel at the entrance to the Suez Canal,” he declared. “Every man, woman and child in Palestine would rather die than to yield that frontier which is one of the most strategic approaches to the Western Hemisphere.”

Stressing the necessity of “unity of purpose as we prepare against the time when we shall have a word to say in the settlement of our destiny,” Dr. Weizmann urged that Jews be united “on two great purposes–on the restoration of the Jewish rights of which we are brutally deprived outside of Palestine and on the affirmation of a right to build our homeland, unshackled and unfettered, in Palestine.” Dr. Weizmann was introduced by Dr. Solomon Goldman.

Vice-President Wallace addressed 4,000 delegates and guests of the convention at the “inspirational session” at the Civic Opera House this evening. His speech was broadcast over a CBS network and rebroadcast in Spanish to Latin American countries. The subject was “Democracy and the Dignity of Man.”

[...]

“The cost of Nazi terrorism in terms of suffering to Europe is great beyond measurement,” he asserted, “but we in the New World owe a great debt of gratitude to the Nazis for forcing us to make clear our thinking about the meaning of democracy and the part which racial and religious groups must contribute if democracy is to be worthy of its name.

“B’nai B’rith, I know, has caught this vision and will work for it whole heartedly in all of the hemisphere. The New World is a chosen land, not for the Jew or the German or the Anglo-Saxon of the Spaniard or any other one people. The New World is a chosen land in which all of us, tolerantly living together, can allow the dignity of man to be expressed, free from the compulsions of the Old World, but with that sense of duty which is necessary to preserve that which is precious beyond life itself–an efficient yet tolerant constitutional democracy, free from the Gestapo and a greedy ruling class.”

[...]

A message was read from President Roosevelt, who praised B’nai B’rith’s splendid work in the fields of charity and philanthropy” and said “its activities in advancing education and promoting true Americanism are likewise widely known and appreciated.”

Tweets By ‘Daily Show’ Pick Trevor Noah Concern B’nai B’rith

4/1/2015

B'nai B'rith International expressed concerns over Comedy Central's selection of comedian Trevor Noah to replace the departing Jon Stewart as host of the very popular political satire program, The Daily Show.

Over the last several years, Noah has tweeted multiple anti-Semitic, anti-Israel and misogynistic messages, and has based his stand-up material on cheap racial stereotypes.

In a statement released on Tuesday (picked up by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, JNS.org and other outlets), the organization acknowledged the difference between the humor of stand-up comedy and the platform of The Daily Show.

B'nai B'rith expressed optimism that Noah would be responsible and sensitive in his new role. Read highlights from the news coverage below:

JTA:

Two Jewish groups expressed their concerns over past social media posts by Trevor Noah, the choice to succeed Jon Stewart as host of “The Daily Show.”

Since his appointment was announced Monday by Comedy Central, Noah has come under fire for past tweets about Jews and Israel, including one from 2010 that read “South Africans know how to recycle like Israel knows how to be peaceful.”

“B’nai B’rith is concerned about the long history of anti-Semitic, anti-Israel and misogynistic tweets by the new choice to host the popular comedy program, The Daily Show,” the organization said in a statement issued Tuesday. “We recognize that the platform The Daily Show provides its host is different from the stand-up comedy circuit, and we are hopeful that Noah will use this new and larger role responsibly on complex, sensitive issues.

“Entertainment cannot justify promoting hate and misinformation — and no group, including Israelis and Jews, should be considered fair game for bigotry.”

Noah, 31, who has over 2 million Twitter followers, was a surprise selection for “The Daily Show” post, as is he relatively unknown in the United States. He is a star in South Africa, where he has filmed four standup specials.

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Reposted: Jerusalem Post

Reposted: Times Of Israel

Reposted: NY Jewish Week

Reposted: J-Weekly

JNS.org

South African comedian Trevor Noah, the newly announced successor to Jon Stewart as host of the satirical television program"The Daily Show," has come under the microscope for past social media posts that disparaged Jews, Israel, and women.

Stewart, who is Jewish, came under fire in pro-Israel circles last summer for what critics considered to be pro-Hamas bias in his segments on the war in Gaza. On Tuesday, Jewish organizations issued statements that addressed the controversy surrounding Noah's tweets.

"Trevor Noah, tapped to replace retiring Daily Show host Jon Stewart, has repeatedly tweeted comments that are deeply offensive and highly stereotypical, and his anti-Israel comments even border on incitement. Why does he tweet about Jews so much?" B’nai B’rith International said in a statement.

"Though Jon Stewart has always been quick to note that The Daily Show is meant to provide entertainment more than actual news, political comedy in our culture is often a substitute for news," B’nai B’rith added. "Studies have shown that a large number of Americans, particularly young Americans, get their news from such programs. The line between satire and hate can be very fine. As a result, the role of the host on this popular program carries significant responsibility."

Reposted: Breaking Israel News

JTA: B'nai B'rith Blasts Virginia State Bar For Canceling Israel Seminar

4/1/2015

Five weeks ago, Virginia legislators unanimously passed a resolution reaffirming the friendship between the United States and Israel.

But on Friday, the Virginia State Bar made the decision to cancel its upcoming seminar in Jerusalem, citing anti-Israel BDS rhetoric as the deciding factor.

B'nai B'rith International was quick to rebuke the state bar in a statement released on Monday. JBS (formerly ShalomTV) carried the statement as part of their coverage in Tuesday's News Update (2:45 mark).

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (and other outlets) highlighted B'nai B'rith's remarks, an excerpt of which can be found below:

JTA:

The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington and B’nai B’rith International condemned the Virginia State Bar for canceling its legal seminar in Jerusalem.

[...]

“In the face of this information, we felt it necessary and appropriate to forego this trip,” they wrote. “This was not a political decision and is not a ‘boycott.’ We are an inclusive organization and do not discriminate against any religion.”

B’nai B’rith called the decision “highly regrettable” and urged the agency to reconsider, adding that the “situation plays into the hands of the malicious Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.”

“Israel’s entry and exit procedures, while certainly strict, are entirely necessary in light of the country’s onerous security predicament,” B’nai B’rith also wrote.

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Reposted: Connecticut Jewish Ledger

Reposted: St. Louis Jewish Light

Reposted: J-Weekly

Richmond Times-Dispatch:

The Virginia State Bar is experiencing a teachable moment about Middle East politics.

The bar’s decision to cancel a planned November trip to Israel as part of its mission to further legal education of its members has provided the state agency with several painful lessons about planning a trip to the turbulent region.

[...]

The spectacle is particularly dismaying to Tommy P. Baer, a Henrico County immigration attorney who served as president of B’nai B’rith International. “For this to happen almost needlessly, it’s just very unfortunate,” he said Tuesday.

While Baer said he “would like to believe” the bar’s explanation, he is concerned that the body that registers, supports, and polices all attorneys licensed to practice law in Virginia would “wittingly or unwittingly play into the hands” of a movement that seeks punitive economic measures against Israel at a tense time in the country’s relationship with the United States.

“The bar has placed itself in that position,” he said.

Richmond Times-Dispatch

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