Judaism

After 27 years, Mariaschin retires as CEO of B’nai B’rith International

Throughout his decades at the helm, Mariaschin has led B’nai B’rith with unwavering dedication, remarkable diplomatic skill and deep expertise, strengthening the organization’s voice and influence on behalf of Israel and the Jewish people around the world. [Press Release]

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Antisemitism, International, Israel, Jewish History, Press Release, USA

Jewish communal executives from 50+ countries compare notes in Amsterdam

Participants examined the growing security, political, and societal challenges facing Jewish life worldwide, with particular attention given to the continued rise of antisemitism, violent extremism, online radicalization, developments in AI, and relations with national governments. [Press Release]

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Antisemitism, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Press Release, Travel and Food

Richard Cravatts, Brandeis Center board member and SDJW contributor

For decades, Richard educated, wrote, and spoke with remarkable conviction and integrity. His advocacy helped shape the modern fight against antisemitism and inspired countless others to stand up for truth in the face of hostility. [Press Release]

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Antisemitism, Israel, Jewish History, Obituaries & memorials, Richard L. Cravatts, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Kabbalah and the Holocaust 

Kabbalah and the Holocaust: Healing a Broken Cosmos is among Rabbi Samuel’s most ambitious theological works. Instead of asking only the usual, most often heard question, “Where was God during the Holocaust?” he investigates how Jewish mystical thought attempts to understand the existence of evil without diminishing God’s justice and human responsibility. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Holocaust, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Staff and Bylined Contributors

How rabbis write their High Holy Days sermons

“This year, I will get all my High Holiday sermons done by July, and then I will be able to just edit or update them closer to the date to reflect any changes in the world.” Once this plan is put into your Rabbi’s mind, they will immediately abandon it and never speak of it again, until the following May. [Joshua Kail]

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Israel, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Huckabee cites shared values as reason for deep U.S.-Israel friendship

Huckabee said the historic US-Israel relationship was built on shared Judeo-Christian values, with the U.S. Founding Fathers inspired by the Jewish People and the Ten Commandments in drafting the Declaration of Independence – and more Americans should appreciate that. (Press Release)

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Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Our journey from U.S. residents to Israeli citizens

In the summer of 1991, we sold our house and car and made Aliyah with our two young sons. Our sons struggled at first in school but by the following September they were acclimated and had many friends. They were speaking Hebrew ok by then; Michal and I still speak only simple Hebrew, but English is quite common.

We moved from our 1st-year rental in Ra’anana and bought a house in Alfe Menashe, just over the Green Line, the informal border separating Israel from Judea and Samaria – the Jewish homeland. [Steve Kramer].

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Antisemitism, Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Steve Kramer, Travel and Food, USA

Brandeis Center lodges civil rights complaint against Boston Medical Center

sdjw

“The broader problem is that Americans will be denied the best available healthcare if top young professionals are marginalized and excluded from health programs because of their Jewish background, as we saw a century ago. When a student reports offensive conduct and is then isolated, marginalized, and penalized for speaking up, serious civil rights concerns are raised, as are serious concerns about the future of healthcare in this country. We urge HHS OCR to carefully review these allegations and ensure that all students are able to participate equally in federally funded healthcare programs.” [Press Release]

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Antisemitism, Israel, Jewish History, Press Release, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

True stories from the Holocaust create strong connection

When students learn about a child who was murdered in the Holocaust and paint a butterfly in honor of that child’s life, they become grounded in history in a way that textbooks alone cannot accomplish. They understand that the Holocaust was not just a historical event, but a collection of individuals with lives, hopes, and dreams just like their own. [Debra Feldstein]

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California, Holocaust, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Jewish biography: Karl Schwarzchild, astrophysicist

His work on the theory of relativity contained the first exact solutions to the equations of general relativity with spherical symmetry—the so-called Schwarzschild inner solution for a non-rotating spherical body of homogeneous fluid and the Schwarzschild outer solution for static empty space around a spherically symmetric body (the latter is now usually referred to simply as the Schwarzschild solution). [Alex Gordon]

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Alex Gordon, International, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors

‘The Sacrificial Service’: Leviticus teaches valuable lessons

Grossman argues that sacrifices are not primitive rituals intended merely to appease God. Instead, they are symbolic acts through which worshippers express gratitude, repentance, devotion, dependence, celebration, and reconciliation. (Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin)

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion, Staff and Bylined Contributors

JCC Camp aromas will trigger future memories

Years from now, one of those familiar scents may suddenly bring a camper back to the friendships they formed, the counselor who believed in them, the joy of singing Shabbat together, and the discovery that being Jewish is not simply something you learn, it is something you live. [Betzy Lynch]

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Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Opinion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors