AJC Executive Director David Harris blogs for the Jerusalem Post. From his latest entry:
In the first, Mordechai Eliyahu, a former chief rabbi, chose the commemoration of Holocaust Remembrance Day to reveal the “true” reason why so many perished in the Shoah – because of their embrace of Reform Judaism. This is so stunningly obtuse, so mind-bogglingly offensive, that it leaves me breathless.
That it was expressed by a former chief rabbi suggests it can’t be so easily dismissed as the ranting of one individual who may have fallen on his head that morning. To rebut it lends the outlandish allegation too much credibility, yet to ignore it means burying our heads in the sand to the way some Jews might actually think.
Our enemies see us as one people. Why can’t we? [JPost]
Complete list of Harris’s blogs [JPost]
When dialoguing with other ethnic groups – in this instance Latino-Americans – we need to keep one important thing in mind. We are not going to agree with each other on every issue. Church-state separation, for example, is a very high priority for us, less so for the Latino community, where support for school vouchers is strong. There is, however, a commonality of interest on several core concerns, including support for affirmative action, immigration reform and better public education.
Continue reading ‘Benefits of AJC - Latino Partnership’
The enormity of this event lies in its pettiness.
A few weeks ago, Rabbi Micky Boyden, a well-liked Reform rabbi in the town of Hod Hasharon, a quiet Tel Aviv suburb, was invited to recite a prayer at the local commemoration of Israel’s war dead on Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day. Rabbi Boyden, who lost his son Yonatan in combat in Lebanon in 1993, founded the local “Kehilat Yonatan” synagogue and was active in the Yad Labanim organization that memorializes Israel’s war dead. However, a few days before the ceremony, he was called by the organizers and given an ultimatum: Either he agrees to deliver the prayer without the use of his “rabbi” title or he would not be allowed to participate.
Stunned, he refused.
Continue reading ‘Fighting for Democracy and Pluralism in the Jewish World’
As the Passover holiday receded on the Jewish calendar, public attention turned to Yom Hashoah and Holocaust commemoration. Unfortunately, however, we experienced a renewal of internal Jewish tensions and polarization. Former Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu articulated the theological lesson that those who suffered through the Holocaust did so as punishment for the sins of Reform Judaism. One week later, a Reform rabbi and father of an Israeli soldier killed in the line of duty, who had previously been asked to recite the memorial prayer for Israel’s Yom Hazikaron (Remembrance Day), was disinvited because he would not relinquish his right to be called a rabbi. That these incidents occurred at a time of collective Jewish grief only further exposed the degree of internal Jewish intolerance of the Israeli Orthodox Rabbinate.
The issue of assigning theological blame for the Holocaust is by no means new. On the contrary, claiming that suffering results from sin originates as far back as biblical times.
Continue reading ‘The Chief Rabbi, Reform Judaism, and the Holocaust’
Listen: [audio:BaymeEllenson042507.mp3]
Steve Bayme sits down with Rabbi David Ellenson, president of Hebrew Union College, to discuss the tenets of Reform Judaism, tikkun olam (”repairing the world”), the role of Israel in American Judaism, and the former Sephardi chief rabbi’s recent indictment of Reform Judaism.
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To the dismay of many in the Western world, Lebanon was Terror Central in the 1970s and 1980s. The lack of a central government during the Lebanese civil war made Lebanon a very attractive place for terrorist organizations to operate. Terrorists from across the globe set up training camps and a place to meet their contacts with funding from countries that provided financial support, including the former Soviet Union, Syria, Libya and Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. Terrorist organizations across the political spectrum established their headquarters and safe houses there.
Although the era of those terror organizations has come to an end, today Lebanon is plagued with a different generation of terror organizations. Chief among them is Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shi’i terror organization spawned by the radical Shi’a regime in Iran. Interestingly, Al-Qa’ida also maintains a presence in Lebanon – and, despite the group’s Sunni radical roots, Iran has provided safe haven to a number of its top leaders since the 9/11 attacks. Two of the most prominent Al-Qa’ida leaders reported to be in Iran are Saif Al-Adel and Saad Bin Ladin, the son of Osama Bin Ladin.
Iran’s support for both Sunni and Shi’a terrorists has been evident since the 1980s.
Continue reading ‘Terrorist Togetherness’
With the first round of the French presidential elections approaching on Sunday, we in France are watching, for the first time, the emergence of a new generation of political leaders in their 50’s, two of whom are running for the first time in a presidential race.
This is the most keenly contested presidential election in France for a generation. It is also, arguably, the most crucial, with implications not just for France, but also for the future of Europe, transatlantic relations and the international community.
Continue reading ‘AJC Briefing - French Presidential Elections’
As Israel celebrates its 59th anniversary, David Harris, AJC’s executive director, discusses what Israel means to him.
Listen: [audio:WhatIsraelMeans041907.mp3]
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As the evening shadows fall upon Jerusalem, and Yom HaShoah (the memorial day for the Holocaust, according to the Hebrew date of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in 1943/5703) is ushered in, the official ceremony at Yad Vashem is never free of an internal built-in tension. It is an official, orchestrated act of the State of Israel, with all that this entails — the central role accorded to political leaders, the presence of a military guard of honor, the presentations treading the path of a well-established ritual.
Many young people find themselves somewhat alienated by the formal and forbidding proceedings. And yet there are moments of heartbreaking humanity, as the stories of the six torch-lighters — one for every million murdered — are told in their own words; as young Israelis, singers and choirs, give words and music to the agony and loss; and sometimes, when the words spoken, even by officials, do reach beyond the worn phrases and remind us of our duty to commit to what those terrible years have taught us.
This year there were important new notes in two of the central speeches.
Continue reading ‘In a Place of Shadows: Olmert’s Yad Vashem Speech’
On Hitler’s Birthday, April 20, a group of neo-Nazis will either march through Cincinnati or prepare a lawsuit if their demonstration is not permitted. City leaders should not fall into the trap of trying to draw a line between what seems like competing interests – protecting free speech and articulating a strong community response against hatred. It can do both, and at the same time decrease the likelihood of future marches.
In 1994, an Illinois community was faced with a Ku Klux Klan march, and, rather than try to stop it or counter-protest, it developed “Project Lemonade.” Designed to make something positive out of a bad situation, people pledged money. The longer the rally lasted, the more money people promised. Money went to things the white supremacists would despise the most. It worked, and other communities have now used this approach, funding anti-hate educational initiatives, police training and supporting victims of hate crimes. The neo-Nazis did not have their free speech rights infringed, but their speech became no longer “free.” The more hatred they spewed, the more money actually was raised for positive things.
Continue reading ‘Lemonade for Hitler’s Birthday’