42.6 F
New York
Friday, March 29, 2024
Home Blog Page 1595

Letters to the Editor

0

Increasing Crime on NYC Transit

Dear Editor:

How should we deal with fare evasion, vandalism and crime on NYC Transit subway and buses?. Perhaps it is time to return to the good old days when a transit police officer was assigned to ride and patrol most stations and trains. This, along with installation of security cameras on trains and at stations might serve as a deterrent against crime, fare evasion and vandalism. There also may be the need to increase fines and penalties as a deterrent for those who don’t pay their fare, commit crime or vandalism.

Sincerely,
Larry Penner

(Larry Penner is a transportation advocate, historian and writer who previously worked for the Federal Transit Administration Region 2 New York Office. This included the development, review, approval and oversight for billions in capital projects and programs for the MTA, NYC Transit, Long Island and Metro North Rail Roads, MTA Bus, NYC Department of Transportation along with 30 other transit agencies in NY & NJ).

 

Auschwitz Exhibit at NY Holocaust Museum

Dear Editor:

The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust recently announced there are only three months left to see the internationally acclaimed and popular exhibition, Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away., before it leaves New York City. The exhibition will be on view at the Battery Park City-based Museum through May 2, 2021.

Produced by the international exhibition firm Musealia and the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland, the groundbreaking exhibition Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. is the largest ever on Auschwitz with more than 700 original objects and 400 photographs.

The exhibition has been extended twice since it was opened in May 2019, due to the record number of visitors – more than 168,000 people, including more than 35,000 students – until the Museum temporarily closed because of COVID-19. The Museum reopened on September 13, albeit at 25% of the Museum’s previous capacity to maintain proper social distancing.

Currently, the Museum is open three days per week—Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays—rather than the previous six, and with limited hours, from 10 AM to 5 PM. General admission, timed-entry tickets purchased online in advance allow access to all Museum galleries. On the other days, the Museum deep cleans all public spaces.

Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. explores the dual identity of the camp as a physical location—the largest documented mass murder site in human history—and as a symbol of the borderless manifestation of hatred and human barbarity.

Sincerely
MJH – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust

 

“MaskParade” on Purim Holiday

Dear Editor:

In advance of the upcoming Purim holiday on February 25th, and amid the pandemic’s limitations, Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) will hold its inaugural “FIDF’s MaskParade,” a unique competition in which FIDF supporters are invited to design and submit creative Purim masks out of their Covid-19 masks. Winning masks will be produced and given to IDF soldiers.

“FIDF’s MaskParade” is seizing an opportunity to celebrate the mask, which over the past year has been purely associated with negative circumstances and uncertainty, and bring joy during the festive holiday of Purim.

Submissions will be judged in the following categories: weirdest, blingiest, funniest, cleverest, Purim-iest, FIDF-iest mask. Schools, synagogues, youth groups, etc., that submit 300 or more masks will receive a special certificate of recognition from FIDF.

Finalists in each category will be determined by FIDF’s judging panel and will be featured in three FIDF national emails. FIDF supporters will then be invited to vote for their favorite entries in each category on FIDF’s social media pages.

Contestants are asked to submit their designs for “FIDF’s MaskParade” by Feb. 24.

Sincerely
Friends of the IDF

 

Patriotism at the Super Bowl???

Dear Editor:

Do you remember Super Bowl XXXIX, when Americans were proud of our nation? When the opening to the game was filled with patriotism? When players of all colors stood while the Anthem was played and sung by uniformed, young patriots? That’s all gone, and now we must fight together, tooth and nail, for our survival.

Thanks,

            Alan

Six Actions Biden Should Take to Hold the ICC & Palestinian Leaders Accountable

0
The judges and guests of the International Criminal Court at the opening of the ICC judicial year on Jan. 18, 2019, in The Hague. Credit: International Criminal Court

The International Criminal Court is a broken, corrupt political institution. The Biden administration needs to adopt serious measures against it and the Palestinian leadership for the protection of U.S. national security interests and allies, including Israel.

By: David Milstein

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague issued an illegitimate and politicized decision on Friday, falsely claiming that it has jurisdiction to open an investigation focused on false allegations of Israeli “war crimes.”

The Feb. 5 ruling is the latest development in the Palestinian Authority’s diplomatic lawfare campaign against Israel. The P.A. is also engaging in economic warfare in the form of BDS, supporting terrorism through incitement, glorifying violence, and making payments to terrorists and their families.

In a video statement released by his office, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted the decision. “The ICC has again proved that it is a political body—not a judicial institution,” he said. “The ICC ignores the real war crimes and instead pursues the State of Israel, a state with a strong democratic government that sanctifies the rule of law, and is not a member of the ICC.”

He went on: “In this decision, the ICC violated the right of democracies to defend themselves against terrorism and played into the hands of those who undermine efforts to expand the circle of peace. We will continue to protect our citizens and soldiers in every way from legal persecution. … When the ICC investigates Israel for fake war crimes, this is pure anti-Semitism.”

He concluded: “The court, established to prevent atrocities—like the Nazi Holocaust against the Jewish people—is now targeting the one state of the Jewish people. First, it outrageously claims that when Jews live in our homeland, this is a war crime. Secondly, it claims that when democratic Israel defends itself against terrorists who murder our children [and] launch rocket on our cities, we’re committing another war crime. Yet the ICC refuses to investigate brutal dictatorships like Iran and Syria, which commit horrific atrocities, almost daily.”

Though the Biden administration also condemned the ICC decision, there are indications that it wants to reverse the strong policies against the ICC adopted by its predecessor, the administration of former President Donald Trump.

Instead, however, Washington should take the following actions to impose consequences on the ICC and the Palestinian leadership:

First, it should implement Trump’s Executive Order 13928 to impose additional sanctions, such as the blocking of property and revoking of visas of “ICC officials, employees, and agents, as well as their immediate family members” who are part of this decision against Israel.

Trump firmly asserted that “any attempt by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute any United States personnel without the consent of the United States, or of personnel of countries that are United States allies and who are not parties to the Rome Statute or have not otherwise consented to ICC jurisdiction, constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, and I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat.”

His administration then imposed sanctions on ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and her aide, Phakiso Mochochoko, for launching an illegitimate investigation into alleged “war crimes” by U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Israel expressed support for the U.S. sanctions. But the European Union, along with more than 70 countries, announced opposition to them.

Unfortunately, the Biden administration is now reviewing those sanctions and may acquiesce to the pressure campaign to lift them as part of a softer approach to the ICC. This would be a big mistake.

Second, the Biden administration should use Trump’s E.O. 13938 to impose sanctions on individual P.A. leaders who have been materially assisting or providing support for this charade against Israel. After acceding to the 2015 Rome Statute, P.A. leader Mahmoud Abbas appointed a 45-member “higher national supervising committee,” chaired by the late PLO Executive Committee Secretary General Saeb Erekat, to pursue legal action against Israel in the ICC.

Erekat told Palestine TV that the committee was made up of the “the complete spectrum of Palestinian political factions,” including Hamas, the PFLP and DFLP—and that P.A. Foreign Minister Riyadh al-Maliki served as its official liaison to the ICC.

In other words, the P.A. has been collaborating with members of State Department-designated foreign terrorist organizations that seek the destruction of Israel to provide material against it to the ICC. This is in addition to public statements by Abbas, al-Maliki, P.A. Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh and Hamas encouraging and lauding ICC actions against Israel.

Third, the Biden administration should make it clear that will not re-engage with the Palestinian leadership, and withhold financial assistance to the Palestinians, until Ramallah ends its lawfare campaign against Israel and officially withdraws from the ICC—as both Burundi and the Philippines have done in recent years.

Fourth, the Biden administration should reverse its intention to reopen diplomatic missions that were closed by the Trump administration. One such mission is the PLO office in Washington, which was closed in compliance with the law that prohibits a PLO office unless the president can certify that the Palestinian leadership is not supporting ICC actions against Israel. In the case of the PLO mission, he was unable to do so.

Unfortunately, the Biden administration is trying to reopen the PLO office, by working to amend a law signed by Trump stating that the PLO office would provide jurisdiction for U.S. courts to hold the PLO and P.A. accountable in cases where they have already been found liable for supporting terrorism against U.S. citizens. Congress should ensure there are no changes to U.S. law, stand with American victims of Palestinian terrorism and keep the PLO office closed in response to its hostility towards Israel.

Fifth, the Biden administration should not keep its campaign promise to reopen the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem to serve Palestinians—and if it does, Congress should block any funding for it. The Trump administration made the right move by closing it down and merging it with the new U.S. embassy complex in Jerusalem.

The Palestinians should not be treated to a separate American diplomatic mission in any part of Israel, especially Jerusalem, which the U.S. recognized as Israel’s eternal capital—in compliance with the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995. Furthermore, the U.S. Senate voted late Thursday night to keep the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem and not return it to Tel Aviv.

Sixth, the Biden administration and Congress should encourage U.S. allies that are top financial backers of the ICC—such as Brazil, Japan, France, Germany, Canada, United Kingdom and Italy—to withhold funding, along with the countries that filed amicus briefs arguing against ICC jurisdiction.

The ICC, which is going after Israel unjustly while it wouldn’t even investigate China for the mass detention and persecution of Muslim Uyghurs and other religious minorities, is a broken, corrupt political institution. The Biden administration needs to take all the above measures against it and the Palestinian leadership—for the protection of U.S. national security interests and allies, including Israel.

            (www.JNS.org)

David Milstein served as special assistant to the U.S. ambassador to Israel and as a legislative aide in the U.S. Senate.

If You Thought the 2020 Elections Were Chaotic, Just Wait

0
H.R.1 packs into one 791-page bill every bad idea about how to run elections and mandates that the states must adopt — the very things that made the election of 2020 such a mess. Photo Credit: iStock

By: J. Christian Adams

H.R.1 packs into one 791-page bill every bad idea about how to run elections and mandates that the states must adopt — the very things that made the election of 2020 such a mess. It includes all of the greatest hits of 2020: Mandatory mail ballots, ballots without postmarks, late ballots and voting in precincts where you don’t live. It includes so many bad ideas that no publication has satisfactory space to cover all of them. The Senate companion bill, S.1, might be even worse.

These bills rearrange the relationship between the states and the federal government. The Constitution presumes that states regulate their own elections, but the Constitution has a big “but” in what is called the Elections Clause. The Constitution says, “but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations.” For over 200 years, Congress rarely used this power. After all, the power was put in the Constitution only to prevent the states from suffocating the federal government out of existence by never holding federal elections.

Do not assume that the bills will stall and wither in the process. They are named H.R.1 and S.1 for a reason. The bills are the top priority of the newly empowered Democrats in Congress.

Dissatisfied with the effectiveness of the last federal mandate — 1993’s Motor Voter law — H.R.1 dispenses with the idea that an American should go affirmatively register to vote.

In 2020, states such as Nevada and New Jersey sent ballots through the mail to anyone on their registration lists despite having voter rolls full of errors. The Public Interest Legal Foundation documented thousands of ineligible registrations in Nevada alone that received mail ballots. Some were sent to vacant lots, abandoned mines, casinos and even liquor stores.

States also would be blocked by H.R.1 from signature verification procedures.

H.R.1 rigs the system for any lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the law. All lawsuits can only be filed in one court – federal court in the District of Columbia. And all opposition must be consolidated into one brief with only one attorney being able to argue the merits. It also grants automatic intervention to any legislators who want to join in the fight against the lone opposition.

It prohibits states from conducting list maintenance on the voter rolls. That means deadwood and obsolete registrations will stack up.

HR.1 and S.1 are omnibus bills that would change every American citizen’s — and foreigner’s — relationship to voter registration.

Universal automatic voter registration has, for years, been a top priority of the institutional left. In fact, H.R.1 would do away with actual voter registration and instead make the voter rolls merely a copy of anyone already on a government list — such as welfare recipients and other social service beneficiaries. The bills would expand well beyond to federal entities like the Social Security Administration, Department of Defense, Customs and Immigration, and elements of Health and Human Services.

Naturally, a giant federal database would serve as the home for this list of people who must be automatically registered to vote, whether they know it or not.

Imagine the number of government databases in which your information is contained. Do your names and addresses all match? Does Social Security know you moved out of your birth state? Are your married and maiden names different? Did you get a driver’s license before obtaining American citizenship?

You can see the pitfalls. One person will be “registered” to vote multiple times, with slight variation in names, and perhaps greater variation in residence addresses.

Making it “easier” to get registered to vote through automatic registration from government lists might seem attractive, until you consider the disaster of universal auto-mail voting as we saw in 2020.

H.R.1 and S.1 will force states to push ballots into the mail. It builds slack into the election system. Decentralized mail elections introduce error because of error-filled rolls. Mail-in ballots delay results, create uncertainty and push the elections into kitchens and bedrooms where election officials cannot observe the voting process and cannot protect the voter from coercion.

H.R.1 takes the absolute worst emergency rule changes of 2020 and enshrines them as federal law. Gone also are state witness and notary requirements during the mail ballot application process. Nor may states enact identification requirements of “any form” for those requesting a ballot. That means no more voter ID as a matter of federal law.

States also would be blocked by H.R.1 from signature verification procedures.

It gets worse. The 791-page bill also includes:

“Congress can reduce a state’s representation in Congress when the right to vote is denied.” Without qualification or definition, Congress could rely on this sentence unilaterally to cut the number of House members from any state it claims is denying the right to vote.

It criminalizes anyone who uses state challenge laws to question the eligibility of registrants wrongly. The penalty is up to one year in prison per instance.

It prohibits states from conducting list maintenance on the voter rolls. That means deadwood and obsolete registrations will stack up.

It criminalizes publishing “false statements” about qualifications to vote and “false statements” about which groups have endorsed which candidates. Information banned from being published includes false qualifications to vote and the penalties for doing so. What is a false statement will apparently be in the minds of the Justice Department lawyers who bring the charges. And if they do not act, the law provides a private right of action to individual plaintiffs to drag speakers to court. You can be sure this provision would be used as a merciless weapon against political opponents.

And in case it was not clear that H.R.1 was dismantling state power to run their own elections, the bill makes it clear: “The lack of a uniform standard for voting in Federal elections leads to an unfair disparity and unequal participation in Federal elections based solely on where a person lives.” In other words, state laws which have the Constitutional authority to determine the voting eligibility of its residents, will be preempted by a federal uniform standard.

                  (www.GatestoneInstitute.org)

Will the Trump Successes in the Middle East Survive?

0
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, President Donald Trump, Bahrain Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa and United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan react on the Blue Room Balcony after signing the Abraham Accords during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

By: Guy Milliere

December 22, 2020. 9:30 am. A plane takes off from Ben Gurion Airport in Israel for Morocco’s capitol, Rabat. Economic, political, cultural and strategic agreements between Morocco and Israel are signed for a full normalization of relations between the two countries. Morocco is the fourth Arab Muslim country in 2020 to sign such an agreement with Israel.

The Abraham Accords, solemnly signed on September 15, 2020 at the White House by Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and the United States, set in motion a new peace process that many observers would have considered unimaginable just a few years ago. This new peace process has continued well beyond the 2020 U.S. elections and are at the heart of a broader revolution that has changed the Middle East and the Arab world. It is a revolution that is one of the major achievements of the Trump presidency.

With the new administration in Washington, DC showing an eagerness to drag everything that bears Trump’s name through the mud, it may be important to analyze this revolution and the strategy that made it possible – starting from the situation in the region when President Donald J. Trump arrived at the White House.

Syria was ravaged by a catastrophic civil war that left more than 400,000 people dead and millions of refugees. A jihadist terrorist organization had occupied a vast territory in eastern Syria and northwestern Iraq, called it the” Islamic State”, and was using it as a base for preparing bloodthirsty worldwide jihadist attacks.

In Iran, the mullahs’ regime was destabilizing the entire region and advancing toward regional hegemony. Iran ruled Lebanon through Hezbollah; areas of Syria that are still in the hands of Bashar Al-Assad through thousands of Revolutionary Guards and militiamen dispatched by Tehran, and half of Yemen’s territory through the Houthi militias it was financing and arming. It was also financing and arming Hamas in the Gaza Strip and continuing to move towards possessing nuclear weapons, despite the July 2015 nuclear agreement (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA), which had served no purpose other than allowing the regime to dispose of billions of dollars, become the main financier of global Islamic terrorism, and continue its uranium enrichment toward a legitimized nuclear breakout.

The countries of the Sunni Arab world were weak and shaken. Egypt was just beginning to find calm after years marked by the fall of Hosni Mubarak; the rise to power in 2012 of the Muslim Brotherhood; its overthrow a year later by large demonstrations; the rise to power of Abdel Fattah al Sisi, and ongoing Islamist uprisings that the army has severely repressed.

Libya, since the destruction of the Gaddafi regime, has been in ruins, and abandoned to Islamic terrorist groups. Yemen has been largely destroyed. Saudi Arabia was threatened both by Iran and Islamic State, which had launched attacks in the east of the country. Sudan was in the hands of Omar al-Bashir, a bloodthirsty ruler who accepted the use of his country for Iran to transfer arms to the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Authority, after abandoning all negotiations, proceeded to organize bloody anti-Israeli attacks without receiving the slightest reprimand from the Western world, and carry out with impunity a campaign committed to delegitimizing Israel in international organizations.

Israel had been under constant pressure from the Obama administration, as well as from President Barack Obama himself, who constantly stressed the “imperative” of creating a Palestinian state within the “1967 borders”. Obama, apparently hoping to create a Palestinian state on his way out the door, had decided not to veto a UN Security Council resolution on December 23, 2016, which described Israeli settlements as “territories occupied by force”, including the Old City of Jerusalem, and Israel as “acting in violation of international humanitarian law”.

In addition, the Obama administration and Obama had explicitly supported the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak and the ascent of the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. The Obama administration had also distanced itself from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf monarchies; contributed to the destruction of Libya’s Gaddafi regime; signed the JCPOA enabling Iran to enrich uranium and possess nuclear weapons — a deal Iran never signed — and had poured more than $150 billion into Iran’s coffers.

President Trump, from the moment he took office, acted quickly and decisively. He destroyed the Islamic State. By December 2017, the group controlled only 5% of the territory it had controlled ten months earlier. By March 2019, it had lost its last stronghold.

On May 21, 2018, Trump moved to incapacitate the regime of Iran’s mullahs by announcing that the United States was abandoning the “nuclear deal”. He then implemented sanctions aimed at curtailing Iran’s adventurism.

Trump also distanced himself from the “two-state solution,” stillborn in diplomatic circles by a Palestinian veto of any suggestion, as well as other untenable Palestinian demands.

Trump improved U.S. ties with much of the Muslim Arab world, and in May 2017, made a crucial trip to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. There, he told the 54 leaders from Sunni Muslim countries gathered for the occasion that the United States would be on their side in facing Iranian threats, and that the US was ready to help them overcome instability on the strict conditions that they lead a fight against terrorism and radical Islam, and that they modernize.

Trump, clearly aware that discreet meetings had been held between Israeli leaders and leaders of several Sunni Muslim countries, suggested that regional economic and strategic rapprochement would help move towards peace. He referred to “citizens of the Middle East” in general and added that if “the three Abrahamic Faiths can join together in cooperation, then peace in this world is possible”.

Trump saw that the intransigence of the Palestinian leadership, which the leaders of the Arab world had long supported, was now seen by them as an obstacle. While in Riyadh, Trump did not say a single word about the Palestinian Authority.

He traveled on the first flight from Riyadh to Israel; visited the Western Wall — the first President of the United States in office to do so — and affirmed his unwavering support for the US ally. He then went to Ramallah, where he accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of being a supporter of terrorism and a liar.

In November 2017, Trump asked a team led by his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to draw up a peace plan that respected Israel’s security imperatives and that took into account not the demands of the Palestinian Authority, but benefits for the Palestinian people.

During the following months, he asked the Palestinian Authority to stop its terrorist activities. When the Palestinian Authority refused, Trump reduced the financing granted to it by the United States, and ceased to treat its leaders as constructive and legitimate interlocutors.

On December 6, 2017, Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and decided to locate the U.S. Embassy in Israel there. It was a way of saying that Israel’s presence in Jerusalem was fully legitimate and that no one would be permitted to push Israel around. The US embassy was inaugurated less than a year later, on May 14, 2018.

On September 7, 2018, Trump asked the US Department of State to issue a statement saying that from now on, the US would recognize as refugees only the Arabs who had personally left Israel in 1948-49 and added that the US would no longer fund the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), an organization that claims there are more than five million Palestinian refugees, almost all of whom have never set foot in Israel and who therefore cannot claim to “return” to lands where they have never been. (UNRWA includes all the descendants of actual refugees through the generations, in a method of accounting not done by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.)

Trump said that the idea of a “return” to Israel of millions of people who are not actually refugees was no longer on the negotiating table.

Trump’s peace plan, at least its economic component, was presented in Manama, Bahrain, on June 25 and 26, 2019. Representatives from 39 countries, including Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Gulf countries were present, as well as businessmen from all over the Arab world.

The plan, presented at the White House on January 28, 2020, talks about a Palestinian state, but stipulates that Israel’s security would be guaranteed. If a Palestinian state were to come into being, it would be demilitarized, have borders controlled by Israel and no border with an Arab state. The plan offered the prospect of sovereignty, within this security framework, to the Palestinian Arabs. The proposal allows Israel to retain a necessary control of the Jordan Valley, and pledges that Israel would be sovereign over 30% of Judea and Samaria — a percentage that many Israelis considered woefully insufficient, considering that historically, Judea and Samaria have been part of Israel.

Above all, the plan says that a Palestinian state can only come into being if the leaders and the Palestinians fully renounce and end terrorism.

Palestinian leaders immediately rejected the offer. A few days later, at the insistence of the Palestinian Authority, the Arab League condemned the plan, however Arab representatives present in Manama continued to prepare the next step.

The Abraham Accords soon followed. They were in line with the prospects for peace mentioned by President Trump in May 2017. They had not been condemned by the Arab League.

As anticipated by Trump in May 2017, the Abraham Accords have both an economic and a strategic dimension. They not only offer economic opportunities to all the signatories but also reinforce their military strength. As the plan includes the Palestinian Arabs, the Arab signatories can say that by signing the agreement, they did not forget the Palestinian population.

             (Gatestone Institute)

Feature Documentary About Fashion Designer Elie Tahari to be Released in March

0
Fashion Designer and Mogul Elie Tahari, has been living the American Dream for more than 50 years. He came to New York in 1971 with less than $100 in his pocket, slept on benches in Central Park, and went on to build a billion dollar fashion empire.

Directed & Produced by David Serero

Edited by; TJVNews.com

Fashion Designer and Mogul Elie Tahari, has been living the American Dream for more than 50 years. He came to New York in 1971 with less than $100 in his pocket, slept on benches in Central Park, and went on to build a billion dollar fashion empire.

“The United States of Elie Tahari” is the first documentary ever produced about Elie Tahari, filmed during 2020. Directed & Produced by David Serero, this highly anticipated documentary tells the life of Elie Tahari from his birth and origins (born in Israel with Iranian parents) throughout all of his achievements and legacy. Part of the documentary is also dedicated to Tahari’s creative process and endurance in the fashion world. Several fashion personalities such as Fern Mallis (aka the Godmother of Fashion), Fashion designers Nicole Miller and Dennis Basso, Arthur S. Levine, WallStreet Journal Fashion Journalist Terri Agins, Instagram influencer Julia Kananovich, artist Lynna Davis, Disco music, models, Studio 54 and more, are part of this documentary, from which the trailer is released today.

« In this documentary, you’ll discover the whole inspiring story of Elie Tahari and his fashion world and process, as rarely shown before. David Serero added, « I want this film to be loved by fashion lovers and connoisseurs, as well as the ones who are not familiar with that important artistic environment. This documentary is educative, inspiring, and a celebration! You’ll feel joining a large party! said Serero. Elie Tahari is the definition of courage, determination, kindness, and…chutzpah! His parents fled Iran and moved to Israel, where he lived in a refugee camp Ma’Abarot’, then moved to New York without speaking English and has contributed to the New York fashion life for more than 40 years with his iconic and visionary signatures such as the Tube Top, the Woman Suit and more. »

 

About ELIE TAHARI

For more than 40 years, Elie Tahari’s keen understanding of fashion and design has ensured him a unique position in the luxury world. The internationally-renowned brand has a global presence on five continents and is sold in over 600 stores in over 40 countries. The brand has expanded to include women’s shoes, sunglasses and accessories, and menswear and has come to define modern sophistication with the designers inspired collections of understated grace and elegance.

At the start of the 1970s, Elie Tahari emigrated from Israel to the United States and began working in New York City’s garment center while moonlighting at a boutique in Greenwich Village. After he succeeded in popularizing the tube top, Tahari began designing his eponymous label Tahari in 1973. In the following years, Elie Tahari opened his first boutique on Madison Avenue, posted the company’s first billboard in New York City, and held his first fashion show at Studio 54.

In the 1980s, Tahari expanded in the eighties, turning his attention to the tailored suit that helped define a decade. His first advertisements appeared in Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.

In 1989 his first shop in Bloomingdales NYC opened, followed by Saks Fifth Avenue, and Tahari was named one of Crain’s most successful 40 under 40.

In the 1990s, Elie Tahari began the decade with his first cover of Women’s Wear Daily featuring a Tahari wool suit highlighted as the season’s trend and is admitted to the Council of Fashion Designers of America. The brand moves into new headquarters in the Grace building on West 42nd Street and is now carried by all major department stores. Tahari initiated a significant expansion campaign including licensing and international sales.

Television Networks also started to take notice of the brand with pieces from the collection being showcased on Ally McBeal, The X files and Will & Grace. Tahari was the featured designer in the annual Macy’s Passport fashion show in Los Angeles, which helps to raise over 2 million dollars for AIDS research, and was invited to the White House to meet with President Clinton. In 1997 Tahari became the founding partner and creative director of Theory and designed his own label.

In 2002 the company name was changed from Tahari to Elie Tahari, and the designer purchased 510 Fifth Avenue, which became the brand’s design center. Tahari opened freestanding boutiques in Soho, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Boston, East Hampton’s Main Street, and Boca Raton, Florida.

The company continued its global expansion in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East and opened freestanding boutiques in Istanbul, Turkey, and Dubai, as well as US boutiques in Newport Beach, California, Washington, D.C., Dallas, and a pop-up store at 510 5th Avenue, named The Vault as well as the E-commerce site elietahari.com. To mark the brand’s 40th anniversary, Tahari created a capsule collection “Elie Tahari 1974,” which featured updated silhouettes from the brands four decades in fashion.

Mayor Bloomberg proclaimed September 4th, 2013 “Elie Tahari Day,” honoring his 40 years in business. Fashion Group International honored the designer with a Brand Vision award, and Tahari served as a guest judge on Project Runway All-Stars for three seasons. In 2014 the designer launched eyewear, home, and the Elie Tahari Sport collection and partnered with photographer Steven Klein to shoot the brand’s ad campaigns.

In 2020, he received the Pomegranate Award from the New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival.

 

About DAVID SERERO

David Serero is a critically acclaimed and awards-winner opera singer, actor, director, and producer. He has performed more than 2,500 performances in more than 45 countries, directed and produced nearly 100 theatrical productions, starred in over 100 films and TV series, recorded and produced over 100 albums and, played more than 50 lead and title roles (in several languages) from the opera, theatre, and musical repertoire. In New York, he starred Off-Broadway as iconic roles such as Shylock, Cyrano, Othello, Barabas, Yiddish King Lear, Don Giovanni, Figaro, Romeo, Nabucco, as well as new works such as Napoleon by Kubrick, Queen Esther, Anne Frank a Musical, among others. In his native Paris, he also starred as Don Quixote (Man of La Mancha) and Happy Mac (Beggar’s Holiday by Duke Ellington).

He entered the prestigious Who’s Who America for demonstrating outstanding achievements in the entertainment world and for the betterment of contemporary society. In 2019, he received the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award, the Morocco Day Distinguished Achievement Award, the Trophy of the Culture of Morocco, and named among the fifteen most influential Moroccans worldwide by Morocco’s airline Royal Air Maroc. David is a member of the Recording Academy and the Television Academy and a voting member of both the Grammys and Emmys. In 2020, David Serero received the Award for Diversity by the UNESCO in Paris and became an Honorary Member of the United Nations of Arts and Science. He has conducted over 1,000 interviews on his iHeart Radio show. He won the 2020 BroadwayWorld Awards for Best Performer of the decade, Best Producer of a Musical and of a Play of the decade. www.davidserero.com

On Stage At Kingsborough Presents: JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL

0
THE BOOK THIEF (On Demand February 15-28)

ROSENSTRASSE & THE BOOK THIEF
Q&A with the Screenwriter & Cinematographer

Edited by: TJVNews.com

On Stage At Kingsborough, a leading performing arts presenter in Brooklyn, is pleased to present two moving and beautiful films that reveal lesser-known stories and human truths of the Holocaust. A virtual q&a with Pamela Katz, Co-Screenwriter for “Rosenstrasse” and Florian Ballhaus, ASC, Cinematographer for “The Book Thief” will take place at the conclusion of the On Demand screening period.

“We are proud to be able to present this unique Jewish Film Festival, revisiting the artistry and important messages these films hold. The ability to talk with leading artists from each film will afford us unique insights into the films and the creative process for each,” said Anna Becker, Executive Director of On Stage At Kingsborough.

 

ROSENSTRASSE (On Demand February 22-28)

Directed by Margarethe von Trotta

Screenplay by Margarethe von Trotta and Pamela Katz

In the cold Berlin winter of 1943, hundreds of Aryan women stood, and waited, in defiance of the Nazis who had suddenly imprisoned their Jewish husbands and children in a factory on a street named Rosenstrasse. While countless Jews had already been sent to concentration camps for execution, Jewish husbands of Aryan wives had, until then, been allowed to survive because of their mixed marriage. Suddenly, every single Jew in Berlin was threatened with deportation. Their wives, who had lost almost everything, refused to accept this final blow. On that street these women stood in protest, in the name of love until they were reunited with their men. This is the striking story of Rosenstrasse: where the power of the human will stands inconquerable. Featuring Maria Schrader (Emmy Award, “Unorthodox”) and multi-award-winning actresses Katja Riemann and Jutta Lampe.

Running Time: 2 hr 16 min. In German and English, with English subtitles.

 

THE BOOK THIEF (On Demand February 15-28)

Directed by Brian Percival (“Downton Abbey”)

Cinematography by Florian Ballhaus, ASC

In 1938, young orphan Liesel (Sophie Nélisse) arrives at the home of her new foster parents, Hans (Oscar, Emmy & Tony Award-winner Geoffrey Rush) and Rosa (Oscar-Nominee Emily Watson). When Hans, a kindly housepainter, learns that Liesel cannot read, he teaches the child the wonders of the written language. Liesel grows to love books, even rescuing one from a Nazi bonfire. Though Liesel’s new family barely scrape by, their situation becomes even more precarious when they secretly shelter a Jewish boy whose father once saved Hans’ life.

Running Time: 2 hr 15 min, in English.

 

TICKETING INFORMATION

A festival ticket includes access to view “Rosenstrasse” and “The Book Thief,” and attend the interactive Zoom discussion with Pamela Katz and Florian Ballhaus.

Tickets are available on a “pay what you can” basis, with a suggested price of $15, as follows:

Online:https://ci.ovationtix.com/35698/production/1036795

By Phone: (718) 368-5596 (due to the current health crisis, calls will be returned within 24 hours on weekdays).

 

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Pamela Katz is a screenwriter most known for her work with legendary director, Margarethe von Trotta, including “Hannah Arendt” (One of The New York Times critic A.O. Scott’s top ten films), “Rosenstrasse,” “The Other Woman,” and “Forget About Nick.” Other films include “Remembrance,” starring David Rasche, and an original comedy, “Home Sweet Home.” She is currently writing “Kasztner’s Ark,” which tells the controversial story of Rezso Kasztner, the Hungarian Zionist who agreed to trade 10,000 trucks for the lives of one million Jews. His so-called “deal with the devil” is furiously debated until today. As an author, she has published essays and articles, as well as the book, The Partnership: Brecht, Weill, Three Women and Germany on the Brink, published by Doubleday/Nan A. Talese. The New Yorker proclaimed “Katz restores the women to their proper place in the story, with levity, strong characterization, and beguiling descriptions of an interwar German milieu crackling with politics, art, and a sense of possibility.” Ms. Katz is an Adjunct Professor of screenwriting at the NYU/Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Film program.

Florian Ballhaus was born in Germany, and began his career in America at the age of 16. He started out working as a second camera assistant for his father, the renowned cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, and worked his way up in the industry to second unit cinematographer with directors like Martin Scorsese, James L. Brooks, and Mike Nichols. He began his own career as a cinematographer in 1997, shooting his first American feature films with directors such as Alan Rudolph (Secret Lives of Dentists) and Adam Brooks (Definitely, Maybe.) He enjoys close collaborations with director David Frankel (5 films including The Devil Wears Prada); Robert Schwentke (7 films including Flightplan and “The Captain.”). The critically acclaimed “The Captain” won a cinematography award at the San Sebastian Film Festival as well as the 2018 German Camera Award.

For the most up-to-date scheduling and line-up for all programming, including video previews, follow OSK via the below links for information.

Website: http://www.onstageatkingsborough.org

Twitter: @OnStageAtKCC

Facebook: On Stage At Kingsborough

Award Winning Israeli Director Looks to Come Home For His Next Film

0
Acclaimed Israeli-born film director Dekel Berenson. Courtesy.

By: Simona Shemer

For a nomad like filmmaker Dekel Berenson, going into quarantine isn’t easy. The Israeli-born director and screenwriter, who has been traveling the world since he finished his army service in 2006, has been holed up in Cyprus, awaiting the end of Israel’s third lockdown so he can wander the country freely to make his first full-length feature film, Aliya.

The award-winning director, who has already teamed up with The Vampire Diaries’ actor and producer Paul Wesley for the project, has also partnered with four-time Academy Award-nominated director and producer Alexander Rodynansky and Israeli producer Marek Rozenbaum for the feature this month.

Aliya, the story of a young Ukrainian-born female soldier in Israel grappling with being a drill sergeant after she is sexually assaulted, is about identity, acceptance, and the human character. For Berenson specifically, the feature is a chance to return to a country that he left 15 years ago because of its complicated nature.

A still from the short film Anna. Courtesy.

“There are like seven different Israels and we’re not even able to agree on anything,” he tells NoCamels, “I realized this and it’s mixed together with me going to travel abroad.”

Berenson was born in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, but has spent time in more than 60 other countries, including Hungary, Thailand, New Zealand, and the US. He has also directed films in Nepal, Ukraine, and the UK.

It’s these rich experiences around the world that have paved the way for the unique storylines behind his short films, Berenson explains. Those movies feature hard-hitting social and humanitarian issues like financial hardship, identity, social consciousness, poverty, and love.

“I have all these stories from the countries where I traveled,” he says. “They have also made it easy for me, as a person, to just take my backpack, buy a one-way ticket to Nepal, and make a film there because I’ve been backpacking for 15 years. I just need my passport and my laptop and just throw me somewhere. And I can either climb a mountain or start a local coffee shop or shoot a short film. I’m just very comfortable traveling and very comfortable on my own.”

Aside from being bitten by the travel bug, Berenson also uses a healthy dose of Israeli chutzpah to find producers, actors, cinematographers, and crew members, to take part in his movies. It can’t be easy building up this network without knowing locals, but he still manages to piece together stunning works of art featuring unlikely feminine heroines speaking the local language. Berenson’s three most recognizable movies were filmed in the UK, Nepal, and Ukraine with actors speaking English, Nepalese, and Ukrainian.

In his third short film, Anna, a single mother bored with her job in a meat processing plant, finds herself taking part in organized international “love tours,” or parties that bring male tourists from the US to war-torn Eastern Ukraine to find women they’d like to marry and bring back to America.

“It’s a story of an older woman, a middle-aged woman, but it’s also a story which has a lot of layers and meaning,” he says, “It’s a very emotional story that you can enjoy even if you don’t understand any of those other aspects because it’s funny, and it’s sad and ironic and there’s some humor in it.”

The complicated emotions depicted in the film, as well as its social themes are just some of the aspects that have captivated audiences worldwide.

“Its also how the film is made,” Berenson explains, “It starts in the first shot where there are these pieces of meat that are hanging from the ceiling. It gives you the theme of the film immediately. It’s the theme of the meat market, that these women go to parties and they’re sort of seen as pieces of meat for the guys.”

A still from the short film Anna. Courtesy

Then there’s the film’s unique subject matter. Berenson discovered these “love tours,” or parties, when he first visited Ukraine in 2011 after he and a friend bought a van and traveled Central and Eastern Europe for seven months.

These parties in Ukraine are well-known, but not to the tourist or outsider, he explains. “When you write the script for a short film, you really want to find an interesting story. It has to be original because otherwise, nobody’s going to care. There are 20,000 short films a year.”

Despite the large numbers of short films currently being produced, something has grabbed the attention of film critics and academy members alike. Anna has premiered at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival, where it was one of 11 films from more than 4,000 entries selected to compete for the Palme d’Or award. It also won a British Independent Film Award and was shortlisted for a BAFTA, the film award from the British Academy. It was nominated for a Ukrainian Film Academy award and an Ophir, the award given by the Israeli Academy of Film and Television. It has made the rounds at the Toronto International Film Festival, the Athens Film Festival, the Stockholm International Film Festival, and many others.

The film could even be up for an Academy Award this year. A spokesperson for Berenson tells NoCamels the film Anna has been screening for voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since the winter of 2020. Official voting by the Academy for the upcoming Oscars takes place beginning February 1.

 

‘I was just very lucky’

Growing up in Israel, Berenson and his brother were “very creative kids” who used to develop short skits modeled after The Comedy Store, an Israeli entertainment program from the mid-90s that consisted of weekly nonsense styled comedy sketches.

“People today use TikTok as an outlet. Back then we didn’t have that, so we would write stories and put up shows for our parents,” he says.

After completing his army service, Berenson backpacked through South America, but unlike most Israelis, decided he wouldn’t come back to the country for time being. He funded his travels by working as a website builder and graphic designer.

After a longer stint in the UK and three short months at the London Film School that should have been two years, Berenson used money earmarked for tuition to fund and film his first short in the UK. The film, The Girls Were Doing Nothing, didn’t garner the same recognition at film festivals as his later works, but it made Berenson realize he wanted to create five films about five different women from five countries with very different backgrounds.

His next film, Ashmina, was the second in the series, but it also won several prizes as a standalone short film, including Best Narrative Short at the Jerusalem Film Festival. As the story of a young Nepali girl who assists paragliding tourists for money, Berenson calls Ashmina a “social realist” film and says he wanted to capture a traditional society “challenged by the flood of tourists who visit daily. “

After Israel, Berenson says he wants to go to Brazil and film his next short film there. He has already filmed half of it, but production was halted due to the pandemic. The Brazilian short will be the fifth element of his five-part film series.

Behind the scenes of the film Anna by Dekel Berenson. Courtesy

“I was just very lucky. It’s luck, but also hard work to make these films. I have an advantage that I am a little bit older than people usually start to make short films and this experience of traveling abroad and living abroad and my life experiences,” he tells NoCamels.

(www.NoCamels.com)

Q&A: Rabbi Shmuel Kaplan on His New Book, ‘Eclectic Thoughts of Meaning’

0
Rabbi Shmuel Kaplan holds a copy of his new book, Eclectic Thoughts of Meaning.

Essays address a myriad of topics for those in search of a more meaningful life

By: Menachem Posner

The Jewish library was recently enriched by a gem of a book, Eclectic Thoughts of Meaning, authored by Rabbi Shmuel Kaplan and published by Ktav. As its name suggests, the 416-page book contains a little more than 200 brief essays addressing topics of interest to the contemporary reader in search of a more meaningful life.

Having served as chief Chabad-Lubavitch emissary to the state of Maryland since 1974, Rabbi Kaplan was responsible for the establishment of 33 Chabad centers, as well as a day school and advanced yeshivah. He serves as the spiritual leader of the Shul at the Lubavitch Center in Baltimore. The content of the book was culled from weekly emails that the author has been sending to a select group of supporters and congregants.

For 33 years, he hosted a popular radio show in the Washington, D.C., area and hosted an award-winning TV show for five years. He is known to Chabad.org viewers as the host of a popular series of classes on prayer and a well-received course on the same subject.

In this book, we see a more personal side of the rabbi—the father of eight, and grandfather of many who lives with his wife, Rochel, in Baltimore. Here, Rabbi Kaplan shares some of the genesis of the book, which has already been eagerly received by the public, as well as what he hopes it will accomplish for readers.

Q: What inspired you to create this book?

A: It began with my weekly emails. I often received feedback from my readers and saw how the messages had impacted them. Once I had around 250 emails to choose from, it just made sense to select the better ones and put them into book form.

Q: This is not your first book. How is this different from your past work?

A: My previous work, theSiddur Illuminated by Chassidus, is a scholarly endeavor, not the kind of thing you can read relaxing on the couch. Nor is my personality or voice seen there in a significant way.

This book is personal. Every essay is different, but a lot of them contain snippets of my life, what I was experiencing at the time I wrote them and how I perceive the world around us.

By the same token, this book—like the emails that birthed it—is directed at just about anyone, regardless of background or level of Jewish education, including non-Jews.

Q: What do we hope a reader will walk away with?

A: I want them to see a Torah view on everyday life and how everything leads to a purpose, a meaning and a lesson. I wrote these essays on whatever caught my attention at a particular time, something happening in my life or the world at large. But each time, I see it from the lens of Torah and relate it to Judaism.

Each essay is different, so it’s hard to say that reading them all will develop a person’s view on any particular topic, but if someone learns to view the world this way as well—looking to Torah for perspective on whatever they are seeing or experiencing—I will have accomplished my goal.

Q: How do you recommend someone enjoy this book?

A: Don’t read it all at once; it will drive you nuts. Each essay is a standalone thought that you need to think about. Give it a couple of days. Think about it. Then read another.

It’s like a dessert. Take a little bit and move on. If you stuff yourself, you won’t get the benefit.

One of the readers of my weekly emails told me, “I need to force myself to open your message every week since it makes me think, but once I do, I am always glad I did.” We are so used to casually reading, especially on the Internet, and moving on. My goal is to get people to continue to think about the subject, even after they finished reading. For that to happen, you need to pay attention.

Q: Can you share a little more about the format of the book?

A: The essays are all around 500 words since I know people will not read much more. Anyone can read 500 words. It literally takes a minute or two.

The style is conversational, as if I am speaking directly to the reader. I’ve been speaking to people, in person and on-air, for nearly 50 years, and this continues in that vein. I also tried to incorporate a little humor, just to keep things light and friendly.

The content is divided into sections, such as “True Education,” “Heal Thyself,” “Nature and Climate,” “Torah and Spirituality” and “Current Events.” Each entry in the final section (“Current Events”) is dated since it is necessary to appreciate the events the essays were written to address. Yet the lessons are all timeless and can be applied at any time to any person.

Q: Can you share an example of how an essay from this book changed a person’s perspective?

A: Here is an anecdote: I recently saw an op-ed in The New York Times by an academic calling for Islam to follow Christianity in reforming its approach to non-believers. I directed him to my essay (on page 261) on the Jewish notion of being the Chosen Nation. People often get uncomfortable about that idea since they interpret it as Jews seeing ourselves as superior to others. In the essay, I turn the notion on its head, explaining that chosenness, and not expecting everyone to be Jewish, actually means that Jews have no problem with people who are not Jewish. Thus, Judaism does not struggle with the legitimacy of outsiders in the way that Christianity and Islam do. In other words, the chosenness of Judaism is actually a most liberal and tolerant approach to religion.

It was gratifying to see that the essay gave him food for thought and will hopefully influence what he writes in the future.

Q: Do you have any final thoughts for our readers?

A: I wrote these essays as an expression of my personal experiences—to share this book is to share my thoughts and feelings with the public. To know that others are reading these essays and sharing my life journey with me is humbling and exciting.

(www.Chabad.org)

“Live Another Day” – A Riveting Holocaust Memoir of Survival

0
Live Another Day – How I Survived the Holocaust & Realized the American Dream

Edited by: TJVNews.com

Michael Edelstein was headstrong and independent, a self-described mamzer. He was 10 years old when he rolled under barbed wire and escaped the roundup of the Jewish townspeople of Skala-Podolsk on the morning of Sukkoth 1942.

Six months later, he escaped again from the Borshchov ghetto on the eve of its liquidation. Then he survived another year of hiding in forest bunkers and the ruins of buildings until the Nazis were finally driven from western Ukraine in 1944.

Edelstein spent his adolescent years in refugee camps in postwar Germany, arriving penniless in New York in 1951. He served in the U.S. Army, built a business as a roofing contractor and raised a family in Brooklyn—achieving the middle-class American dream. Then, later in life, he amassed a fortune in New York real estate, while also giving back through philanthropy on behalf of Israel and Jewish causes.

What gave Michael Edelstein the inner strength to survive the horrors of the Holocaust? How did those experiences shape the man he would become, and set him on a course for business achievement and personal fulfillment? How did he rediscover humanity in himself and the world?

These are the questions raised in a compelling tale of Holocaust survival and triumphant personal reinvention. The same mamzer qualities that allowed Edelstein to survive the Holocaust—his courage, determination and practical resourcefulness—were those he applied to compete as a savvy businessman and come out on the top of the heap.

Now 88, Edelstein finally takes the opportunity to narrate the details of his fascinating life story. From his trials in the forests and bunkers, to the purgatory of post-war Poland and Germany, to his early years in the U.S. as a Korea-era GI and self-made small businessman, to his ultimate successes in real estate and philanthropy, Edelstein fills his story with richly remembered details and relates it with characteristic Yiddish humor.

Michael Edelstein had to survive before he could thrive. In defying the odds to accomplish both, he also rediscovered his essential humanity—his menschlichkeit—the one thing even the Nazis couldn’t kill.

“Live Another Day” was written by renowned journalist Walter Ruby and Dan Ruby.

Live Another Day – How I Survived the Holocaust & Realized the American Dream is available on Amazon.com. Click here to buy the book: https://www.amazon.sg/Live-Another-Day-Survived-Holocaust/dp/1735433713

Descendants of Jews Saved by Heroic Pole Find Each Other

0
Wladimir Riszko hid 16 Jews for two years during the Holocaust.

By: Dr. Yvette Alt Miller

For years, Sara Bank Wolf searched for information about her family. “I grew up completely surrounded by Holocaust survivors,” she explained in a recent Aish.com interview, speaking from her home in Israel.

The families of Sara’s mother and father were decimated during the Holocaust. Sara’s father, Dov Feingold, along with his parents Chaim and Sara, had spent two harrowing years when he was a little boy hiding underground in his native town of Przemysl in Poland, evading the Nazis.

Although Sara heard some of this tragic family history growing up in America, there was much she didn’t know. As a teenager, she formally interviewed her grandparents about their wartime experiences, but much of what her grandparents went through remained unsaid. Sara’s grandfather Chaim did mention that he, her grandmother and her father were saved by a Ukrainian man living in Przemysl who hid them along with 13 other Jews for two years, but Sara never knew the name of this brave rescuer.

Chaim Feingold, Salya (Sara) Feingold (nee Sperling) and their son Dov Feingold

Sara’s grandmother died before she was born; she’s named after her. Her early demise was related to the two long years she spent hiding under the house of the mysterious benefactor: during that time, she developed strep throat which went untreated and probably developed into rheumatic fever, permanently damaging her heart. After her grandfather died, it seemed she’d never be able to find out the name of the man who’d hidden her family. Sara’s father Dov was only a young child during the Holocaust and couldn’t remember many details of his family’s hiding place, nor the other Jews they hid with.

 

Remembering the Past in London

Meanwhile, in London, Julie Hart Russell another daughter of Holocaust survivors, also had questions about her family’s wartime experiences – including her uncle Meyer Dornbusch.

“Growing up a second-generation Holocaust survivor, none of this was discussed in our family,” Julie explained in an Aish.com interview. “It was just buried.” Her mother had survived the notorious Krakow

Ghetto and many other relatives perished or had their own harrowing stories of survival. “I knew that my grandfather was one of ten and I knew that some died in the war,” she explained. Much of her family history went unspoken.

Julie has fond memories of her Uncle Meyer, who lived in Paris. Meyer Dornbusch – also known as Marcel – was a “strong, charismatic man,” Julie recalls. “He was larger than life; he had a very good sense of humor.” When she was younger, Julie spent a year studying in Paris and recalls visiting him with fondness – though now she wishes she’d asked him how he survived the war. “Now I would sit him down and ask questions.”

Unbeknownst to Julie, her Uncle Meyer was also one of the Jews hidden in that underground site in Przemysl. He, along with his niece Regina Dornbusch, were two of the Jews rescued by the mysterious Polish man.

 

Asking for Details Again

Last January 18, 2021, a late-night phone call changed Sara’s life. Sara was taking a course on teaching about the Holocaust and her online class ended at 10 PM Israel time. Tired and trying to unwind, she phoned up her mother and asked questions about their family’s wartime history. “I asked her what she knew about when my grandfather was in hiding.”

Reminiscing over the past, Sara’s mother now recalled a detail that she’d heard years before. She seemed to remember hearing that the Polish man who’d saved the Jews married one of the Jewish women he saved and later on moved to New Zealand. Hearing this new detail of her family history, Sara suddenly was full of energy, ready to investigate this detail from the past.

She wrote to a Holocaust museum in New Zealand, telling them the basic details of her search: she was looking for a Gentile man who hid sixteen Jews in the town of Przemysl during the Holocaust and moved to New Zealand. Did they have any information? Sara didn’t expect to find much, and soon received a short, polite response saying there didn’t seem much to go on and the museum was unable to help.

Sara didn’t realize it at the time, but her email to the museum in New Zealand had also been seen by Dr. Ann Beaglehole, a celebrated Hungarian-born New Zealand writer who has researched the experiences of immigrants in New Zealand. Dr. Beaglehole saw a copy of her email and recognized the details in the story. She had once interviewed the children of an immigrant to New Zealand and she believed the man who saved and sheltered the 16 Jews during the Holocaust might have been their father.

Meyer Dornbusch (in glasses), with his brother Oscar and nephew Phillippe

Apparently Dr. Beaglehole passed along Sara’s email to them because the next day, Sara woke up in Israel to a new letter in her email inbox. “I’m crying!” the short email declared. At first Sara was puzzled, but after more emails back and forth, she realized she’d found the children of the man who’d saved her father.

George Riszko, the son of this incredibly brave hero, had written to her, crying while he typed. He knew the story of his father’s heroism. It seemed incredible that after so many years he and the daughter of one the Jews his father hid were finally able to connect.

 

Honoring Wladimir Riszko

George’s father’s name was Wladimir Riszko. If he’d been caught hiding Jews, he faced certain death.

After World War II, Wladimir married Rennie, one of the Jewish women he’d saved. They moved to New Zealand where Wladimir worked as a dockworker. Their daughter Eva Woodbury lives in Wellington, and soon she and Sara connected on the phone too. Eva cried, she later recalled: “I felt the release of having my father honored at long last.”

Eva explained that her mother, Rennie Riszko, was “really traumatized” for much of her life, particularly after Wladimir died in 1978. Rennie passed away in 2011. While her parents were alive, they told Eva all about the other 15 Jews her father saved. In fact, Eva told Sara, she had a list of all sixteen Jews her father hid.

Sara immediately started researching the names that Eva shared with her. Some included last names; others were only first names which she has so far been unable to trace. Using genealogical websites and aided by a cousin who’s interested in genealogy, Sara soon had identified several of the people who hid together with her father and grandparents. “We were like a detective agency.”

Then she penned a Facebook post asking people with knowledge of these individuals to “Please help us” by forwarding the post:

“Miraculously we have just learned the name of the righteous gentile, Wladimir Riszko who saved the lives of my father and his parents, Chaim Feingold, Salya (Sara) Feingold (nee Sperling) and my dad Dov. Altogether he hid 16 Jews for 2 years, including Rivka Schildkraut,” Sara wrote in her January 24, 2021 post.

“Mayer Dornbusch and his niece Regina, someone who went by the name of Juper/Chuper and the following individuals for whom we have no last name: Sam, Max, their sister, her husband, daughter and her brother in law. Sam’s girlfriend Frania, her sister Ruzia and Sam’s nephew, Juzek. Please contact me.”

Within days, several descendants of some of these Jews – in places as far flung as London, Paris, Israel and Chicago – were finally able to speak to each other over Zoom.

 

Momentous Phone Call

“Our first Zoom call was on Holocaust Memorial Day,” recalls Emma Russell, Julie’s daughter in London. The occasion felt momentous. “My heart was pounding,” Sara recalls.

Soon after, Sara identified a descendent of the daughter of Regina Dornbusch living in Chicago. Sara phoned Regina’s daughter, “I found your cousins,” some of whom had been hidden by Wladimir Riszko too. They had an emotional conversation – followed by another Zoom call, even though by then it was the middle of the night in Israel. “My mom was in the supermarket,” Sara recalls; “she left her cart to go join the call. We had an unbelievable reunion for close to two hours.”

 

Contacting Yad Vashem

Now that they know their families’ histories, some of the descendants of the Jews that Wladimir Riszko hid are reaching out to Yad Vashem to ask them to investigate and declare him a Righteous Gentile.

Julie Hart Russell notes that her daughter Emma is taking an active role in this. After the emotional excitement of recent weeks, Emma has a new goal: “The aim is to get him listed as Righteous Among the Nations.”

(www.Aish.com)

What It’s Like to Be a Chabad Woman in Istanbul, Turkey

0
Rabbi Mendy and Chaya Chitrik and family.

Chaya Chitrik will be keynote speaker Sunday at International Conference

By: Rochel Horowitz

Straddling Europe and Asia, and extending into the Bosphorus Strait, the city of Istanbul, Turkey, boasts 700 years of rich Jewish history. Chaya Chitrik, who will be this year’s keynote speaker at the International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Woman Emissaries, says it’s been an honor and quite the positive learning experience to serve the Jewish community there along with her husband, Rabbi Mendy Chitrik, and their eight children.

Taking a break between the online sessions of this year’s international convention, Chitrik tells Chabad.org how as a newly married couple, she and her husband traveled to Istanbul in the hope of further enriching the long-established Jewish community there. Leaving behind her siblings and her parents in Florida wasn’t easy. But young and inspired, they set out to learn a completely new language and to adapt to a foreign culture. Chitrik says that the culture of the Sephardic Jewish community was strikingly different from what she was used to at home.

The Chitrik home in Istanbul has always maintained an open-door policy—one where local residents and tourists are welcome to stop by for a chat, attend a Torah class or participate in a delicious and uplifting Shabbat meal.

“We work together with the existing Jewish community in Istanbul, which has been around for hundreds of years,” she says.

Their Chabad House, Beit Chabad, which operates out of their home, has always been a hub for holiday events, Torah classes and Shabbat meals. Since the coronavirus pandemic began, most programming and weekly classes have gone virtual. Chitrik says it’s been tough to not be able to have physical interactions with members of their community, but they’ve been connecting in other ways.

Due to the pandemic, Istanbul is under a strict daily curfew with movement severely limited for seniors and children. On weekends, residents are barred from leaving their homes from 9 p.m. on Friday until 5 a.m. on Monday. This obviously poses a challenge for their large family, which has been spending lots of quality bonding time together in close quarters.

Chitrik says she always knew she wanted to be a shluchah (woman emissary). She feels that her idealism mirrors the idealistic outlook that most young Chabad men and women possess: “I think that everyone that goes through the Chabad schooling system has an idea in their mind that they’re going to be part of some form of shlichus. There’s a fervent desire to give back and reach out to fellow Jews in one way or another. Did I think I would end up in a country five thousand miles away from home? No, I did not.”

In line with the theme of this year’s Kinus, Lechatchila Ariber (“jump over from the outset”), the Chassidic concept of powering through challenge and adversity despite all odds, she hopes to impart a message of hope and courage. As she emphasizes: “We’re not always in control of the situations that happen to us, but we are very much in control of our response to them. There is always a way forward.”

She says that as Jews, the response should always be to forge ahead and to look for the underlying positivity in all situations “because there’s always positivity to be found.”

            (www.Chabad.org)

Austrian Jew Leaves Fortune to French Town that Saved His Life

0
A commemorative plaque of the rescue of Jews during their WWII persecution is affixed on the village school of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

By: Dr. Yvette Alt Miller

When Vienna-born Jew Eric Schwam recently passed away at the age of 90, he left an unusual bequest. He left the small fortune he’d managed to save up in a lifetime working in the pharmaceutical field to Le Chambon sur Lignon, a town of fewer than 2,500 people in southeastern France. Eighty years ago, the residents of Le Chambon sur Lignon saved the life of Mr. Schwam as well as thousands of other Jewish refugees during the darkest days of the Holocaust.

Mr. Schwam was just thirteen years old when he arrived in Le Chambon sur Lignon with his parents and grandmother in 1943. Little is publicly known about the family’s journey other than the fact that when they arrived in France they were imprisoned in France’s notorious Rivesaltes Camp, near France’s border with Spain. France’s Nazi collaborationist Vichy government banished approximately 8,000 Jews, Gypsies and other “undesirables” to Rivesaltes. Many were sent from there to Auschwitz and other extermination camps. The camp was closed in 1942 and most of the remaining Jewish prisoners were sent to their deaths; it’s not known how the Schwam family managed to escape.

Le Chambon sur Lignon, a town of fewer than 2,500 people in southeastern France. Photo Credit: Aish.com

They made their way to Le Chambon sur Lignon in 1943. Perhaps other Jewish refugees told them that the town was fast becoming known as a haven for desperate Jews. Local residents welcomed the Schwam family and sheltered them in a schoolhouse for two long years, until the end of the war. The grateful Schwam family joined thousands of other Jews who were hidden and sheltered by the town’s citizens – and people who lived in small villages nearby to Le Chambon sur Lignon, often at great personal risk.

Le Chambon sur Lignon had been actively resisting the pro-Nazi government for years. When Nazi Germany invaded France in 1940 and installed the collaborationist Vichy Regime governing much of the country, Le Chambon sur Lignon’s local Pastor, Andre Trocme, and his wife Magda urged the townspeople to hide Jews. Pastor Trocme called Jews “the people of the Bible,” and built on a strong tradition of respecting Jews that had long flourished in the area. Word spread that the town was a haven for persecuted Jews. Jewish refugees began making their way from across Europe to Le Chambon sur Lignon and its surrounding villages.

When France started deporting its Jews to death camps in 1942, Pastor Trocme stepped up his rhetoric, and encouraged his congregants to shelter Jews, hiding them from Nazi and Vichy authorities who were now seeking to arrest them and send them to concentration camps and death camps. Many local residents stepped up to the task.

Andre Trocme’s wife Madga discreetly identified local families who were willing to shelter Jews in their homes or on their property. Townspeople hid Jews in their homes. Local farmers sheltered Jews in their barns and other buildings. Volunteers waited at local railway stations to identify and greet Jewish refugees and ferry them to Le Chambon sur Lignon and safety. One local religious leader, Pastor Edouard Theis, led Jews on secret journeys to the Swiss border where he worked with Protestant activists in Switzerland to smuggle Jews to safety there.

Andre and Magda Trocme

This work was incredibly dangerous. Soon, Le Chambon sur Lignon was a major target for the Vichy authorities who were tasked with rounding up Jews – and with punishing anyone who helped hide desperate Jewish families. Matters came to a head in 1942 when Vichy policemen entered the town. “These people came here for help and for shelter,” Pastor Trocme told them, refusing to divulge the whereabouts of the town’s hidden Jews. More visits from Vichy authorities followed and tensions in the town increased. “Do the will of God, not of men,” Pastor Trocme kept urging his congregants, imploring them to keep sheltering and aiding Jews.

In February 1943, Nazi officials arrested Pastor Trocme and several other town leaders. One of the men arrested was Daniel Trocme, Pastor Andre Trocme’s brother. Daniel Trocme ran a children’s home in Le Chambon sur Lignon, which he’d used to shelter Jewish refugees. For this “crime,” the Nazis deported Daniel Trocme to Buchenwald where he perished.

Pastor Andre Trocme was held in a camp near the historic town of Limoges for five weeks. Ordered to sign a document promising to uphold all Vichy government orders, he refused. Even though their religious leader was absent from the town, the residents of Le Chambon sur Lignon and nearby villages continued their vital work shielding Jews.

Jewish children saved in Le Chambon sur Lignon

Miraculously, Pastor Andre Trocme was released. He returned to Le Chambon sur Lignon and resumed his activities helping Jews, though in a much more secretive way than before.

After the end of the war, Eric Schwam’s parents returned to Vienna. His father was a doctor; perhaps he planned to resume working there. Eric remained in Le Chambon sur Lignon, living in the town until 1950, when he moved to the French city of Lyon to study pharmacy. Mr. Schwam doesn’t seem to have been closely connected with the Jewish community during his life – he married a non-Jewish French woman and they had no children – but he seemingly harbored a life-long attachment to the town that saved him and so many other Jews.

A few years ago Mr. Schwam and his wife got in touch with Le Chambon sur Lignon’s mayor, Jean-Michel Eyraud, about the possibility of leaving their savings to the town in their will. Mr. Schwam passed away on December 25, 2020. A few weeks later, his executor got in touch with the town, letting them know that Mr. Schwam, who was by then a widower, had indeed left his life savings to the town.

“It’s a large amount for the village,” Mayor Eyraud told reporters. The bequest is thought to total as much as 2 million Euros – about 2.4 million dollars. Following Mr. Schwam’s wishes, Le Chambon sur Lignon plans to use it to help fund programs for children’s educational and other youth activities.

Mr. Schwan’s gift isn’t the only recognition the town received for sheltering thousands of Jews during the Holocaust. Yad Vashem named Andre and Magda Trocme – along with 32 other residents of Le Chambon sur Lignon – “Righteous Among the Nations” for risking their lives to save Jews. It’s thought that between 3,000 and 5,000 Jews were ultimately sheltered by town residents during the Holocaust.

In 1998, Yad Vashem presented the entire town with a special Diploma of Honor for their bravery and humanity during those years of darkness and terror.

(www.Aish.com)

Parshas Mishpatim – The Stuff of Unity

0
G-d designated the Bnai Yisroel (Sons of Israel) as the Chosen People because they were chosen to serve humanity as examples and teachers of monotheistic morality and ethics

By: Rabbi Aron Tendler

There are families whose hold on Judaism and Jewish tradition is so tentative that the word “holy” is thought to be a reference to Jewish food, something having to do with bagels and lox. Yet, that same family will stubbornly insist that their children only marry other Jews. Why?

G-d designated the Bnai Yisroel (Sons of Israel) as the Chosen People because they were chosen to serve humanity as examples and teachers of monotheistic morality and ethics. At the same time we are commanded to be different than the surrounding nations. We are commanded to eat differently, worship differently, live only in Eretz Yisroel (the Land of Israel), and only marry our own. How are we supposed to model for the other nations values that are supposed to be universal while steadfastly holding on and cherishing our differences? How are they supposed to learn to emulate our ways if we insist on being insular and escaping behind the protective walls of community, Halacha (Jewish law) and tradition?

When traveling abroad, especially in Europe, the sight of another Jew brings a smile to our lips and a feeling of greater security and comfort. Why?

How is it that a child can be away from his parent’s home for years and upon returning to the home of his childhood feel completely comfortable and secure? Following the hugs and kisses the returning adult-child will feel comfortable enough to go directly to the frig, open it up, look inside and say, “What’s there to eat?” Why is that?

Sitting down to a meal in a restaurant you chance upon a side dish that tastes exactly the way your mother used to make it. Assuming that you liked your mother’s cooking, the immediate association infuses you with fond memories and feelings of warmth, comfort, and security. Why?

For almost 40 years (if not longer) NCSY has brought back tens of thousands of young adults into the fold of their tradition with the formula, “Just one Mitzvah (commandment).” Over the course of a Shabbaton (weekend retreat) the otherwise unaffiliated and uninitiated are encouraged to take the small chance and commit themselves to doing “Just one Mitzvah.” There are thousands of fully engaged religious, traditional, Jews who will attest that the one Shabbos not turning on the TV, or not talking on the telephone, or making Kiddush, or lighting Shabbos candles and eating a piece of Challah changed their lives forever! Why? How does one small Mitzvah change a person’s life?

Following the extraordinary experience of Kriyas Yam Suf (Parting Of The Sea – Parshas B’shalach) and Matan Torah (Revelation – Parshas Yisro), G-d commanded Moshe to teach the Jews the basic laws of social engagement and responsibility (this week’s portion – Parshas Mishpatim). The placement of these social laws immediately following the giving of the Torah makes it obvious that G-d expected His Torah to elevate His Chosen People into paradigms of ethical and moral social behavior.

That this is G-d’s intention is reinforced through Hillel’s response to the convert who asked to be taught the entire Torah while standing on one foot. Hillel answered, “That which is hateful to you do not do to your friend. Now go and study the rest of the Torah!” Meaning, G-d’s primary concern is the manner in which you interact with your fellow human being. That is the essence of the Torah! The rest of the Torah is intended to develop the ethical and moral human being by addressing all physical and spiritual aspects of the human experience.

If successful, the truly religious personality will be evident in how he or she interacts socially. If the individual’s interaction with society is concerned, sensitive, honest, and respectful, the person may also be G-dly and religious. If however the person’s social interaction is abusive, insensitive, uncaring, dishonest, and disrespectful that person is definitely neither G-dly nor religious! How religious and devotional he or she may appear to be is of zero consequence if the person is not socially moral and ethical.

However, how do we know if that which is hateful to me should also be hateful to you? How do I know if that which I find enjoyable should also be enjoyable to my friend? How do I know if my likes and dislikes are reflections of truth and morality?

The answer was contained in Hillel’s last words, “Now go and learn the rest of the Torah!” The only way to know whether our thoughts and feelings, desires and aspirations are true and moral is if we study G-d’s word. Through the intense study of Torah we are awoken to the absolute truths of G-d’s intentions and expectations. Torah becomes the template and scale by which we can guide and evaluate our relationship with G-d and society.

The bedrock of G-d’s expectations for our social behavior is belief in G-d and belief in the value of the individual. For example, a single moment of human life is as important to us as 120 years of life; it is neither more nor less valuable – it is of equal importance. Just as we must transgress Yom Kippur to save a person who might live to be 120 so too we are obligated to transgress the Yom Kippur to save a moment of life. Life is of infinite value and a little bit of infinity is no less infinite.

The essence of Parshas Mishpatim is the infinite value of the individual human. It, more so than any other value, is the basis of all true moral and ethical codes. It, more so than any other factor, is the essence of fairness and justice. Only a society that fully embraces the unalienable right of every single human to life can hope to succeed.

Following the giving of the Torah and our designation as G-d’s kingdom of priests and holy nation, G-d commanded Moshe to instruct the Bnai Yisroel in the basic laws of social interaction. In doing so, G-d gave us the means for accomplishing our national mission as His chosen teachers.

The prerequisite for Matan Torah was for the nation to attain the level of “As one man with one intent (heart).” The Bnai Yisroel had to be individually and collectively committed to doing G-d’s will with singular focus. The unity of the Jews was both the prerequisite and the ultimate goal; however, the ultimate goal was to extend that Achdus (unity) to the entire world, Jew and non-Jew alike. The ultimate goal of Achdus was for all of humanity to have equal commitment and devotion to the will of G-d. The Jew would always be the teacher. The Jew would always be commanded in more Mitzvos than the non-Jew, but the commitment and devotion to G-d would be exactly the same.

Unity does no require that everyone be and do the same thing. Just the opposite! It is far more difficult to find unity with two leaders who share equal talent, power and position than when there is unity between a single leader who delegates to his staff, each according to his or her abilities. I do not suggest that the Jew must be the ultimate king of humanity. There may be others (Eisav) far better equipped to “run the world;” however, the Jew will always be the teacher of G-d’s intention and wishes. It will always be the Jew who directs humanity toward their destinies as G-d’s servants.

The goal of the Jew, the goal of Matan Torah, was to effect unity in the nation and then the world. Parshas Mishpatim shows us how. Unity does not need sameness in appearance or thought. Unity does not require similar approaches to problem solving or organization. Unity requires that all components share the same goals and the same values. Starting with the value of human life, the most basic and fundamental of all values, the Torah commanded the Jew to be concerned, sensitive, honest, and respectful to everyone, regardless of social station or means. So long as the person is human, so long as the person has the capacity to serve G-d as G-d intended, we must respect the essence of that person’s existence.

            (www.Torah.org)

Parshas Mishpatim – How to Relate to Your Fellow Man

0
We learn that, even as G-d gave the Ten Commandments at Sinai, so too were the civil laws given at Sinai. Not only are the commandments regulating our relationship with G-d immutable, but so too are the ethical laws upon which our relationships with our fellow man are formulated. Photo Credit: YouTube

By: Rabbi Osher Jungreis

The parashah opens with a most unusual expression, “V`eileh hamishpatim asher tasim lifneihem – And these are the commandments that you shall place before them.” (Exodus 21:1)

Normally, the Torah instructs Moses with the words, “speak”, “command”, or “teach”–so why is Moses here commanded to “place”?

Rashi, whose commentaries are a key to understanding Torah, gives a brief but cryptic explanation: “Placed in front of them like a set table.” But this leaves us even more puzzled. Our revered grandfather, HaRav HaGaon Avraham HaLevi Jungreis, explains that a good mother prepares a beautiful table for her children, bearing in mind the needs and tastes of each of them (one may like meat, the other prefers chicken, sweet or spicy, etc.). And once her children are seated at the table, the mother urges them to taste the many other delicacies that are available there. Similarly, when imparting the commandments, the Torah teacher must bear in mind the needs of each of his charges. He must offer something that will draw the student to the table. He must invite the student to experience the many other mitzvos and thus imbibe the wisdom of the Torah.

This commandment speaks to us with great relevance, for ours is a generation that has seen many young people fall through the cracks and lose their way. We must find a way to bring them to the Torah table and reach their hearts, and this teaching reminds us how we may do so. We need only set a beautiful table for them, taking into account their special needs, and, with the help of G-d, the transformation will surely take place.

This week`s portion also deals with Laws concerning our interaction with our fellow man, be it in the workplace or in a social venue. “V`aleh Hamishpatim,” — “And these are the judgments that you shall place before them” (Exodus, 21) are the opening words of the parsha. To commence a sentence, let alone an entire portion with the word “And” is most unusual. Our sages explain that whenever the word “And” is used, it is in order to connect the passage with the previous portion of the Torah.

Since we studied about the giving of the Ten Commandments in last week`s parsha, there is a very profound message inherent in this connection. We learn that, even as G-d gave the Ten Commandments at Sinai, so too were the civil laws given at Sinai. Not only are the commandments regulating our relationship with G-d immutable, but so too are the ethical laws upon which our relationships with our fellow man are formulated.

There are those who believe that moral and ethical laws are so logical that even had they not been promulgated at Sinai, man would have deduced them on his own. But this is totally erroneous. Firstly, there is no code of behavior that comes even close to the high standard that the Torah requires of us. Secondly, even on a most elementary level, twenty-first century man has yet to accept “Thou shalt not kill.” From Hitler to Arafat to Bin Laden to Ahmadinejad, it is obvious how desperately man needs G-d to regulate his behavior.

Moreover, the Ten Commandments open with “I am the L-rd Your G-d.” By placing the laws of business ethics after the Ten Commandments, the Torah teaches us that he who is not ethical in business does not really trust G-d, for if he believed in Divine providence, he would understand that it is G-d who provides, it is He who determines our income and therefore, it is futile to cheat, steal, or give vent to greed. Finally, this connection reminds us that we adhere to our moral and ethical laws, not because they appeal to our logic, but because they were given by G-d and are therefore not subject to change or compromise. They are our eternal guiding light.

  (www.Hineni.org)

Chefchaouen: Exploring the “Blue Pearl” of Morocco & its Jewish Heritage

0
Chefchaouen- New York Jewish Travel Guide

By: Meyer Harroch

Among my favorite stopovers in Morocco is this artsy, blue-washed mountain village of 45,000 people. It is a uniquely beautiful small city in the northwest part and set against the backdrop of the Rif Mountains. This quirky town is probably one of the prettiest I have seen in Morocco because of its gorgeous blue alleyways and blue-washed streets and buildings. That’s why it is nicknamed “the Blue Pearl of Morocco.” Chefchaouen’s medina is certainly one of the loveliest in all of Morocco, small, uncrowded and easy to explore. It’s a popular town in Morocco that is often considered one of the best places to visit in the country.

Chefchaouen was founded in 1471 in the Rif Mountains by Jews and Moors fleeing the Spanish Inquisition. There are a lot of different theories about why Chefchaouen is blue. One is that the Sephardic Jewish community that escaped the Spanish Inquisition in the 15th century settled in and brought along their tradition of painting buildings blue. Some say it was painted blue by Jewish refugees in the 1930s fleeing Germany and others say it was to keep the mosquitos away and to prevent malaria, while others just said it represented the color of the sea. In Judaism, blue represents the sky and heaven, reminding all to live a life of spiritual awareness.

Some houses were painted in blue and some in white, while others were half painted – NY Jewish Travel Guide

There is a strong tradition among the Sephardic communities of painting things blue and blue walls spread outward from the city’s Jewish quarter until the entire city was aglow in blue. And another version is that one of the Jewish men fell in love with a Spanish woman but could not be together with her; her house was blue, so as a reminder of her he painted the entire city in that hue. Whatever the true reason for the blue color, even today the locals still apply a fresh coat of paint on their houses twice a year and a month before Ramadan.

Some houses were painted in blue and some in white, while others were half painted. Yousef, our guide explained that while Jews and Muslims were living in the same neighborhood, to distinguish each other’s homes the Jews painted half the wall in blue and the Muslims painted theirs white. “The Jews believed that the color blue represented the power of God and for the Muslims the color of white and green.” He added, ”Jews painted the bottom blue because they couldn’t reach the top and the same with Muslims.” The joke is that they could only paint half because they were too short!

There is a large Chinese community that operates five Chinese restaurants and hotels. Chefchaouen is a popular destination for Chinese tourists because of the popularity of social media sites such as Instagram; it is a very picturesque destination and a photographer’s paradise

The narrow street of the city was built in stone steps marching straight up the slope, giving your legs a good workout. But when you get to an open street in a public square, look above the city and toward the nearby Rif Mountains. The mountains above give the appearance of two horns, and it’s believed this is where the name Chefchaouen comes from (literally meaning “watch the horns” in a local Arabic dialect). Be aware of the different door shapes: “The square doors are for shops and the round ones are for houses. If someone wants to make changes to these doors, they need permission from the city architecture office,” Youssef, a local tour guide, said.

He pointed out that these front door house keys have been kept for more than seven generations of residents and were brought by their ancestors from Andalusia in the hope that one day they will return to their birthplace. The old medina is a delight of Moroccan and Andalusian influence with red-tiled roofs, bright-blue buildings, and narrow lanes converging on busy Plaza Uta El Hammam and its restored kasbah.

Busy Plaza Uta El Hammam and its restored kasbah.

Chefchaouen has a total of 150 hotels, including guest houses or about 2,000 rooms, and it is not enough for the growing tourist population. There is a large Chinese community that operates five Chinese restaurants and hotels. Chefchaouen is a popular destination for Chinese tourists because of the popularity of social media sites such as Instagram; it is a very picturesque destination and a photographer’s paradise. Visitors come to produce music videos and commercials but also to explore the other parts of the town and activities such as hiking and viewing the national parks and waterfalls. It offers many native handicrafts that are not available elsewhere in Morocco, such as wool garments and woven blankets. According to the Ministry of Tourism, the number of visitors coming to Chefchaouen is approximately 500,000 each year and is now the second most popular day-trip destination for the Chinese after Marrakesh.

In 1918 there were 22 Jewish families or 200 people out of a total population of 7000. Today, the population is 50,000 inhabitants and no Jews. You will find in each neighborhood for jews and Muslins five common elements: Mosque or a Synagogue, Fountain, School, Public Oven, and Hamman (similar to a Turkish bath). The last Jewish family emigrated to Israel in 1968. We visited the former Jewish Mellah where we met an artisan who had worked with the Jewish families for centuries and where he had learned his trade in making donkey saddles and baskets. He told NYJTG “life was good living with the Jewish families and even now the families’ descendants come back to visit us at the shop, from England, France, and Israel”. “these families emigrated to Israel for a better life as well as the Christians left for the same reason.” he added.

(New York Jewish Travel Guide)

Campus Racial Thought-Crimes – Part 2

0
Students & alumni at the University of Central Florida held a protest against controversial professor Charles Negy. Photo Credit: Pinterest

The consequences of perpetuating minority student victimhood

By: Richard L. Cravatts

(Continued from last week)

Another of Kane’s posts suggested that, due to race preferences, over 90 percent of Black students at Williams College would not have been admitted if it were not for their “Black’ness” [sic], and question why, while Williams College publicly condemned a white supremacist group, the college did not similarly condemn the Black Lives Matter movement and Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.

A second government professor at Harvard, Diana J. Schaub, also became a target for her alleged racism in suggesting that black people were responsible for some of the social and economic conditions in which they find themselves. Schaub, a visiting professor who was teaching a course at Harvard on African American political thought, is a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), and has actually served as a visiting professor at Harvard before.

In a 2010 article in National Affairs, “America at the Bat,” as one example of what students found objectionable, Schaub noted that “The trend [of the absence of blacks in baseball] has been noted, lamented in some quarters, but nowhere adequately explained. My strong hunch is that the declining interest and involvement in baseball is a consequence of the absence of fathers in the black community.”

In a 2000 article in The National Interest, Schaub observed, “I suspect that the contemporary phenomenon of angry middle-class blacks derives in substantial part from the erosion of both Bible-based faith and faith in Progress. Charitable and hardy souls have been replaced by suspicious and fragile selves, hypersensitized to perceived slights and perpetually aggrieved.”

And in a 2010 article in the Baltimore Sun that tracked reasons behind Baltimore’s population loss, Schaub suggested that, “The decline of marriage, particularly among African-Americans, is all too familiar. Not as well-known is that Maryland has a very high abortion rate (third highest among the states in 2005 . . .). The breakdown by jurisdiction reveals that Baltimore City is driving those deadly numbers, and also that the abortion rate among African-American women is at least triple the white rate.”

The opinions—and even the facts—presented in these articles apparently were too much for some Harvard students, including a Crimson editor majoring in government who wrote that Schaub’s articles are, “if not outright bigoted, ignorant, and deeply concerning.” Kane and Negy, too, articulated opinions which caused great discomfort for many who want to reveal endemic racism where it may or may not even exist, primarily because academia is in the thrall of diversity and inclusion and is more committed to perpetuating the victimhood of minority students than it is for dealing with facts, statistics, and opposing views about personal responsibility and academic performance. Those moral heretics who dare to express alternate, even factual, views about race are summarily censured, maligned as racists, and sometimes even purged from the campus community.

In writing about the Kane situation, for example, the censorious Editorial Board of the Harvard Crimson actually called for the professor’s firing. “The posts are unacceptable,” the editorial said. “Our issue with them goes beyond mere differences in political opinion . . . [and] if the allegations that the posts authored by “Field” were written by Kane are true, the suggestion that 90 percent of Black students at Williams don’t belong there and the defense of literal Nazism have irreparably damaged Kane’s ability to serve as an instructor . . . He simply cannot serve as an effective preceptor — certainly not to the Black students whose belonging at higher education institutions (and evidently in this country) he allegedly challenges, but also not to anyone with a basic intolerance for bigotry. In short, David Kane, assuming the allegations are true, must be fired.”

In June, UCF students and alumni held a protest against Negy while holding signs that read: “If UCF Keeps Racist Teachers, Then UCF=Racist,” “UCF Fire Negy. He is leaving a negative impact on your institution,” and “Don’t Let Racists Teach.” The message here was clear: not that the protestors and professor could engage in debate and dialogue about the complex issue of race, but that self-appointed guardians of the truth had decided that the professor’s views were fundamentally racist and worthless, and that the only acceptable response was his termination.

The efforts to rectify racial injustice have included such efforts as affirmative action in college admissions, robust and obsessive diversity and inclusion initiatives at universities, and the creation of programs to directly ameliorate purported racism. These endeavors are seen as reasonable and justifiable reactions to lingering racism in American society and are ostensibly designed to give substantive advantages to blacks to compensate for their historic marginalization.

As demonstrated quite saliently by the experience of these professors, however, anyone who questions either the utility or even the moral, legal, and ethical justification by which these efforts are maintained can expect to be denounced as a racist—and especially now as the country is experiencing paroxysms of racial reckoning and atonement. To question the hypocrisy and fairness of affirmative action, for example, is to step on moral landmines. And to claim, as professor Negy did, that, despite the normal assertions about America’s endemic racism, there is actually something one could consider the be “black privilege” is the type of radical notion that can cause someone to be subject to condemnation and cancellation, just as he has experienced.

The frequency with which students, faculty, and administrators have moved to suppress, and punish, viewpoints about race should be alarming, particularly in the time since campuses were thrown into a race frenzy in the wake of the killings of black victims by police last spring. But in their zeal to create campuses they believe to be free of bias and hatred, and which serve as sanctuaries—safe spaces—for marginalized individuals, the campus censors have shut off intellectual engagement and often moved to suppress dissenting thought.

This poses a grave threat to academia because, as John Stuart Mill astutely observed in On Liberty, “to refuse a hearing to an opinion, because they are sure that it is false, is to assume that their certainty is the same thing as absolute certainty. All silencing of discussion is an assumption of infallibility,” something clearly lacking on the part of those on campus who cannot and will not abide opposing thought.

 (FrontPageMag)

Richard L. Cravatts, Ph.D., is a Freedom Center Journalism Fellow in Academic Free Speech, President Emeritus of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, and author of Dispatches From the Campus War Against Israel and Jews.