B’nai B’rith International President Charles O. Kaufman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:
 
The acquittal in an Argentine federal court of a defendant in the 1994 terror bombing of the AMIA building in Buenos Aires is a disgraceful miscarriage of justice.
 
Carlos Telleldin stood accused of preparing the explosives used in the car bombing of the Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) building, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 300. The attack is widely acknowledged to be the work of Iranian operatives in Argentina, with the assistance of local Argentines.
 
The court only provided this explanation of its work: “to acquit Carlos Alberto Telleldin for the facts that he was accused.”
 
This outrageous ruling sends the message that this terror attack on the heart of the Jewish community in Latin America is acceptable. It has been 26 years and still no one has ever been brought to justice for the terror attack.
 
We fully support the appeal planned by the AMIA and DAIA groups.

B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org.

(Washington, D.C., Dec. 23, 2020)—B’nai B’rith International President Charles O. Kaufman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement: 

The B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem and the Committee to Recognize the Heroism of Jewish Rescuers during the Holocaust inducted seven new recipients of their joint Jewish Rescuers Citation at a meeting on Dec. 17, bringing the number of recognized rescuers to 341 since the inception of the citation in 2011. Only one of the recipients—Professor Simon Raymond Schwarzfuchs (age 93), who was active in the Jewish underground in France in rescuing Jews and fighting the Nazis—is still alive, in Jerusalem. 

The other, posthumous, inductees: 

Shalom (Simcha) Zorin (1902–1974) was a Jewish Soviet partisan commander in Minsk. 
While hiding in the forest, he established a partisan unit that gave refuge to Jewish families fleeing the ghettos. Some 500 Jews survived the war thanks to Zorin. 

​Peretz (1927-2013) and Zalman (1929-1996) Hochman were bothers who were 10 and 12 when their native Warsaw was invaded by the Germans in 1939. They escaped the Warsaw Ghetto in 1943 to the Aryan side where they survived the war as members of a band of Jewish children who posed as non-Jews, interacting with the Nazi occupiers and peddling cigarettes in Three Crosses Square near Gestapo headquarters. In the course of their ordeal and despite their young age, they endangered their lives to help two other Jews survive. 

Dr. Alina Brewda-Bialostocka (1905-1988) served as a gynecologist and obstetrician in the Warsaw Ghetto, in the Majdanek concentration camp and in Auschwitz where she became known as the “angel of Block 10.” She took advantage of her position to save many Jewish women from death, risking her own life. 

David Dadu Rosenkranz (1905-1965) was a lawyer and leader in the war-time Jewish community in Romania. Along with Fred Saraga and Itschak Artzi (who were recognized in the past with the Jewish Rescuers Citation), Rosenkranz lead three dangerous missions in 1943 and 1944 to Transnistria, an area of German-occupied Ukraine given by Hitler to his ally, Romanian General Ion Antonescu, where hundreds of thousands of local and deported Jews lived in appalling conditions. Rosenkranz brought physical aid and succeeded in repatriating some 3,000 Jews to Romania, including nearly 500 orphans. 

Rachel Ida Lifchitz (1917-2003) was a social worker in Paris who worked until World War II in the Rothschild family’s philanthropic enterprises for Jewish children. During the German occupation of France, Lifchitz worked for the Nazi-appointed central Jewish organization U.G.I.F. while clandestinely rescuing Jewish children and hiding them with non-Jewish families in association with WIZO, the Women’s International Zionist Organization. 
The Jewish Rescuers Citation was established to help correct the generally held misconception that Jews failed to come to the aid of fellow Jews during the Holocaust. To date 341 heroes who risked their lives in attempts to rescue fellow Jews in Germany, Austria and across Nazi-allied or occupied Europe have been honored with the citation. 

Until the Jewish Rescuer Citation, there had been virtually no attention paid to the phenomena of Jewish rescue. Even with 341 honorees, we still are working to bring more attention to these heroes. 

Many who could have tried to flee preferred to stay and rescue others; some paid for it with their lives. With great heroism, Jews in every country in occupied Europe employed subterfuge, forgery, smuggling, concealment and other methods to ensure that Jews survived the Holocaust, or assisted them in escaping to a safe heaven, and in doing so foiled the Nazi goal of total genocide against the Jews. 

B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org.

(Washington, D.C., Dec. 23, 2020)--Despite the pandemic, B’nai B’rith is continuing its good work over this holiday season. In past years, the Achim/Gate City (Atlanta) B’nai B’rith Lodge has organized the Pinch Hitter program to send volunteers to work in non-medical positions in hospitals and senior living facilities on Christmas Day to give staff a day off to spend with their families. 

This year, due to the pandemic, the program could not operate as usual, so B’nai B’rith found another way to thank employees working in these important positions, while also bringing joy to residents and patients: the B’nai B’rith Pinch Hitters Gift of Talent Extravaganza. The new program collected videos from 25 volunteers sharing their talents and turned it into an almost two-hour video that was shared with hospitals and senior care facilities to be shown on Christmas Day. Performers ranged from a grade schooler to a 94-year-old resident at a B’nai B’rith Senior Housing building in New Jersey, and talents included singing, piano playing, interpretive dance, parody and more. 

“In addition to providing entertainment for the residents or patients at the facilities, we are also saying thank you to the essential workers at these locations for being ‘heroes on the job’ throughout this pandemic,” Achim Gate/City Lodge Chairman Harry Lutz said. 

The video was shared in hospitals and nursing homes in Atlanta, the VA Hospital in North Haven, Connecticut and offered to the B’nai B’rith Senior Housing Network for its residents. 

Recipients expressed their appreciation for Pinch Hitters and the Gift of Talent video. 

“You have no idea how many times I have told someone how much I miss Pinch Hitters being at The Cohen Home. I watched the video on YouTube, I’m excited to show it to the residents, I think they will really enjoy it from beginning to end,” said Alison D. Maddox, life enrichment and activities director at the Cohen Home. 

The Pinch Hitter program began in 1980 with 18 volunteers visiting Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital, and now provides hundreds of volunteers every year. In 1990, President George H.W. Bush recognized the program as his 335th Point of Light Award. 

“To many people all over the world, Christmas is one of the most sacred holidays. It is a day of worship, goodwill and celebration. In hospitals, assisted senior living communities, nursing homes, police stations and fire stations, however, employees must report to work. The business of caring for the sick and injured and responding to victims of unfortunate situations is a daily task, with no regard for a holiday schedule,” said Achim/Gate City Lodge President Helen Scherrer-Diamond. 

Pinch Hitters is organized by the Achim/Gate City Lodge—one of B’nai B’rith’s oldest lodges—established in 1870. The lodge organizes and promotes many volunteer community service programs throughout the year. 

B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org.

(Washington, D.C., Dec. 21, 2020)—B’nai B’rith International President Charles O. Kaufman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement: 

We commend Congress for reaching an agreement on the bipartisan COVID-19 relief bill. 

We welcome the $268 billion in economic relief that will help so many workers and families in need across the country, as they struggle from the fallout of the dire health and economic situation the pandemic has created. 

We are encouraged the bill includes expanded Paycheck Protection Program benefits to aid small businesses and nonprofits. We advocated for these additions in previous stimulus discussions. 

However, we are disappointed that there were no provisions made for low-income senior housing in this stimulus bill. As the largest national Jewish sponsor of low-income, nonsectarian housing for seniors in the country, we are focused on the urgent needs of this population. We would have appreciated funds for more supplies, staffing, service coordinators and Wi-Fi accessibility for subsidized housing for seniors. 

We hope Congress will continue to provide support for families impacted by the pandemic and that future legislation will include relief for affordable senior housing. 

B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org.

(Washington, D.C., Dec. 17, 2020)—B’nai B’rith International President Charles O. Kaufman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement: 

We applaud the U.S. Senate for unanimously passing the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Act of 2019. Approval of this bipartisan legislation sends a strong message that the U.S. will not tolerate anti-Semitism anywhere in the world. 

​​The bill provides the State Department’s Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism with new resources to bolster the fight against global anti-Semitism. It also solidifies combating anti-Semitism as a priority of U.S. foreign policy and will help the Special Envoy confront other governments about this persistent social illness. 

We would like to thank Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) for introducing the Senate legislation, as well as the Democratic and Republican Senators who co-sponsored the bill and pushed for its passage. We also thank Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), one of the bill’s original co-sponsors, for noting B’nai B’rith’s support of the legislation in her statement on the bill’s passage. 

We urge the House of Representatives, which passed its own bill in 2019, to quickly approve the Senate version of the legislation. We call on President Trump to then sign the bill into law. 

B’nai B’rith has argued for a State Department Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism since the creation of the position with the passage of the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act of 2004. We view the ability of such an official to bring the prestige and authority of the U.S. government to bear on this issue as invaluable to the global effort. 

​B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org.

B’nai B’rith International President Charles O. Kaufman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:
 
B’nai B’rith International is deeply dismayed at today’s ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) allowing EU member states to impinge on ritual slaughter. The ruling grants EU countries the right to require stunning prior to the religious slaughter of animals. Pre-slaughter stunning is forbidden under traditional Jewish law. The ECJ’s decision violates the fundamental right to freedom of religion and is a blow to Europe’s Jewish community.
 
This morning’s ruling comes in response to the query on a preliminary ruling concerning exceptions for religious slaughter in the Belgian regions of Flanders and Wallonia.
 
The court’s ruling was made in spite of the recommendations of the Advocate General (AG) to the ECJ, Gerard Hogan, who provided his official opinion by noting that such impositions would run counter to EU-law, counter to the rights of religious minorities and counter to the respect for deeply-held religious beliefs in Europe. The by-passing of the opinion of the AG is unusual.
 
In light of the ruling, Yohan Benizri, president of the Belgian Federation of Jewish Organisations (CCOJB), the governing body of Belgian Jewry, lambasted the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union, remarking that “The ECJ’s decision to ignore the AG’s recommendation, in this case, and thus allow the ban on religious slaughter is not only disappointing, but undemocratic. No democracy can exist when its citizens are denied basic human and civil rights. We plan to pursue every legal recourse to right this wrong.”
 
Belgium, which includes a large religiously observant community in Antwerp, is home to one of Europe’s largest Jewish communities. Such a ruling could no doubt have damaging consequences, not simply for local Jewish communities in Belgium, but for Jewish communities across the continent. B’nai B’rith has a strong and long-lasting presence in Europe and will continue to support Jewish communities across the continent in any way possible.

B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org.

(Washington, D.C., Dec. 16, 2020)--In its latest effort to assist communities struggling with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, B’nai B’rith created 3,000 COVID-19 relief kits – each with a face mask and hand sanitizer – to be distributed in 12 cities across the United States. 

B’nai B’rith community coordinators around the country will donate kits on behalf of B’nai B’rith to local agencies dedicated to serving their community. Each kit contains a cloth face mask and travel-sized hand sanitizer, both imprinted with the B’nai B’rith logo. 

Senior Vice President and Chair of the B’nai B’rith Disaster and Emergency Relief Committee Rebecca Saltzman said, “Every community in America is facing the challenge of responding to the needs of vulnerable populations. We want to be part of the solution and help make sure everyone stays safe.” 

As the U.S. experiences a high level of transmission of the virus, this project will help people follow the CDC recommendation for the “consistent and correct” use of face masks, as well as guidance to use hand sanitizer when soap and water are not readily available. 

Since it began in March 2020, the B’nai B’rith COVID-19 relief campaign has supported projects around the world to help keep people safe and alleviate the effects of the pandemic. 

The B’nai B’rith Disaster Relief Fund has responded to man-made and natural disasters around the world since 1865. 

B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org.

(Washington, D.C., Dec. 10, 2020)— B’nai B’rith International President Charles O. Kaufman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement: 

The agreement to normalize relations between Israel and Morocco announced today is another huge breakthrough in the effort to achieve peace in the Middle East.
​ 
We praise the leaders of Israel and Morocco for taking this important step forward together, and the United States for brokering the historic deal. 

The agreement establishes diplomatic relations, promotes economic cooperation and allows air travel to and from Israel from Morocco, among other important provisions, and will not only improve Israel and Morocco’s bi-lateral relationship, but the lives of their citizens as well. The storied history of the Moroccan Jewish community adds a special element to today’s announcement. 

With this agreement following in the footsteps of those made between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan, 2020 has been a very positive year for advancing peace and stability in the region. 

We look forward to the future and further agreements that will continue to promote peace and coexistence. 

B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org 

Winter Issue Also Spotlights the Effort to Restore the Run-Down Jewish Cemeteries in Europe

(Washington, D.C., Dec. 7, 2020)—“Oyneg Shabes” — or “Sabbath delight” — is usually associated with a joyful social gathering. But, from 1940 to 1943, the phrase also served as the name for a brave group of Polish Jews who clandestinely gathered materials to chronicle the life of Jews in Nazi-occupied Poland, in the hopes that it would reflect their true history. In the winter issue of B’nai B’rith Magazine, Beryl Lieff Benderly tells the story of this daring group and how its wish – to preserve the record of the persecution of the Jews of Warsaw–  was fulfilled, in her cover story, “Secret Shabes: How the “Sabbath Delight” Hid an Astonishing Archive.”

Also in this issue: Scattered across Eastern Europe are Jewish cemeteries that, for decades, were ravaged and forgotten. Read about the individuals and organizations working tirelessly to locate and restore these cemeteries in the feature story, “Unfinished Business: Restoring Eastern Europe’s Desecrated Jewish Cemeteries.”

Before and after World War II, American diplomats visited Poland following reports of targeted attacks on Polish Jews, only to dismiss or explain away the violence. Hugh Gibson in 1919 and Arthur Bliss Lane in 1946 both saw their primary role to be supporting Poland and ignored the suffering of Polish Jews. In his feature, Kenneth D. Ackerman exemplifies the challenge of recognizing what is legitimate public discourse and what is just a convenient excuse for anti-Semitism.

In his President’s Column, Charles O. Kaufman shares his vivid memories from his first visit to Israel in 1980 and reflects on how Israel has grown and developed from the 1948 declaration of independence, to his first visit to today.
​ 
B’nai B’rith International CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin marks the upcoming 125th anniversary of the seminal pamphlet Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State), written by Theodor Herzl, through an exploration of B’nai B’rith’s long history of contributions and dedication to a strong, united Jewish State.

Read those stories and so much more in the winter issue of B’nai B’rith Magazine, available here.

B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org.