Middle East

The Story Behind ‘Ussishkin’ Street

While strolling around Rechavia, one notices a pattern in the street names of the community: they are almost all named after sages of the Golden Age in Spain. A few examples are Radak, Ibn Ezra, Saadia Gaon, Ramban (Nachmanides), and Ben-Maimon (Maimonides or Rambam) – parenthetically, the street was named Ben-Maimon and not Rambam in order to differentiate it from Ramban, which sounds very similar.
Why was Yehuda Halevi, one of Spain’s most prominent scholars, philosophers and poets during the Medieval Period, missing from the street names? [Gedaliah Borvick]

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Jewish History, Middle East, Travel and Food

Israeli Leaders Thank US After Overwhelming Approval of Iron Dome Funding

(JNS) Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Defense Minister Benny Gantz posted messages of thanks to the United States minutes after the House of Representatives voted in favor of supplying Israel with $1 billion worth of Iron Dome interceptors on Thursday. “Thank you to the United States House of Representatives, Democrats and Republicans as one,

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Middle East, USA

Jewish Federation Updates List of Organizations Condemning AFT 1931 Resolution on Israel

The Jewish Federation of San Diego County has updated its list of Jewish organizations and their leaders who have signed its statement condemning the anti-Israel resolution adopted by Local 1931 of the American Federation of Teachers, which represents faculty at the San Diego Community College District and the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District.  The statement issued Sept. 17 by the Jewish Federation and other elements of the organized Jewish community may be read here.  The AFT resolution that triggered the controversy may be read here. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, San Diego County, USA

After fall of Bashir, Sudan closes door on support for Hamas

Published by Reuters By Khalid Abdelaziz, Nafisa Eltahir and John Irish KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Sudanese authorities have taken control of lucrative assets that for years provided backing for Hamas, shedding light on how the country served as a haven for the Palestinian militant group under former leader Omar al-Bashir. The takeover of at least a

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Middle East

Mainstream Democrats, Bowing to Progressives, Let Israel Down

It was Congress’s first certain body blow to American Jews in modern times, though Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib may feel that they were denied a chance to achieve it on Yom Kippur and had to settle for the first day of Sukkot. The so-called “progressives” in Congress led Democrats to commit an act of war against the Jewish people on Tuesday, when the House leadership slashed $1 billion incorporated into the spending legislation for Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system in an emergency spending package. [Bruce S. Ticker]

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Bruce Ticker, Middle East, USA

Survey Finds Jewish College Students Fear for Their Safety

The first poll to specifically examine rates of anti-Semitism among college students who claim a strong sense of Jewish identity and connection to Israel finds that, among this group, students are feeling unsafe and, as a result, are learning that to avoid antisemitism they must view their religion as something to hide, not celebrate. In fact, the survey indicates that the longer students stay on campus, the less safe they feel and the more they feel the need to hide their identity. [News Release, Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law)

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Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Jewish Trivia Quiz: Submarines

Israel has a fleet of five Dolphin-class submarines, all purchased from Germany. While they have the capacity to fire torpedoes and anti-ship missiles, there is much speculation that Israel also has to capability of launching nuclear weapons from their submarines. What is found on each of Israel’s submarines that is not typically found on other nations’ submarines? {Mark D. Zimmerman]

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International, Mark D. Zimmerman, Middle East, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USA

Escapees, Covid and Sukkahs Major Topics of Israeli News

Three main items on our news. First, security personnel have caught the final two escapees, in Jenin. Apparently with some help from Palestinians via Israel intelligence operatives. Second, Israel continues to give third booster shots to all those above 12 years of age, despite an FDA vote approving third booster shots to those 65 years and older. Third, the City of Jerusalem has destroyed a jerry-built Succah in the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Mea Shearim. [Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D]

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

Good News from Israel (September 19, 2021)

NETANYA, Israel — In the Sept. 19, 2021 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include: 
–3 million Israelis have had their Covid antibodies boosted tenfold.
–Israeli surgeons successfully separate twins conjoined by their heads.
–Israel’s first female Muslim IDF Major.
–An Israeli startup converts text into video read by an animated narrator.
–The value of Israel’s trade with Arab states in 2021 is triple that of 2020.
–Israeli pianist wins international record contract.
–The Land of Israel reveals more Jewish history. [Michael Ordman]

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Business & Finance, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Michael Ordman, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, USA

San Diego Jewish Community Condemns AFT 1931 Resolution on Israel and Palestine

Jewish Federation of San Diego County strongly condemns the San Diego Community College American Federation of Teachers Guild Local 1931’s “Statement Regarding the Occupied Palestinian Territories,” and we do so with the full support of our valued community partners listed below. We are dismayed to find that the union representing community college and continuing education faculty and other employees in the San Diego Community College District and the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District voted in support of this misguided and simplistic statement that has caused sadness, fear, and anger as a result of its false claims and incendiary language. This statement creates an unsafe atmosphere for Jewish and Israeli students, faculty and staff, and other members of the San Diego and Grossmont Community College Communities. Consider how an anxious Jewish student might feel walking into the classroom of a professor who supported this statement. Consider the situation a Jewish junior member of faculty now finds themselves in with a department chair who supported the statement.  [Jewish Federation of San Diego County]

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Middle East, San Diego County, USA

Burlington, Vermont, Grapples with Israel-Palestinian Conflict

Twas two nights before Yom Kippur, when all through Burlington City Hall, a half-mile from Lake Champlain’s eastern shore, many a creature of sorts was stirring…stirring up unrest for Jewish Vermonters, 5,400 miles from the land that inspired a City Council resolution urging “justice and (a) peaceful end to (the) Palestine and Israel conflict.” [Bruce S. Ticker]

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Bruce Ticker, Middle East, USA