Biden says Trump policies allowed Iran to increase nuclear material

US President-elect Joe Biden slammed Donald Trump’s Iran strategy and reiterated his intention to prevent the Islamic Republic from developing nuclear weapons in a new televised interview. “The bottom line is that we can’t allow Iran to get nuclear weapons,” Biden told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “He has pulled out to get something tougher, and what […]

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Middle East, USA

Include Women with Disabilities in Leadership Programs

As more Jewish programs provide women with increasing leadership and mentorship opportunities, it is important that all Jewish women are given an opportunity to succeed, including disabled women. In 2018, I acquired a disability due to a fall and was diagnosed with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, which affects my sympathetic nervous system in my right arm and leg, causing chronic pain. Twenty-five percent of Jewish adult women in the United States have a disability. Yet, often it is incorrectly assumed that women with disabilities cannot be in leadership roles. [Lauren Appelbaum]

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Lifestyles, USA

A Word of Torah: Appeasing Evil?

This week we read of the brotherly reunion of Yaakov and Esav after their long separation. As a brief reminder Yaakov (Jacob) hurriedly left the house of his righteous parents Yitzchak (Isaac) and Rivka (Rebecca) due to the homicidal rage of his (evil) twin Esav who wanted to murder him. Why did Esav want to murder his twin brother? He was enraged that Yaakov, through stealthy means, acquired his father’s blessing instead of him. Ultimately, everyone agreed-including Esav himself-with Rivka’s assessment that the potent blessing would find an appropriate vessel within Yaakov rather than Esav. [Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort]

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Jewish Religion, Yeruchem Eilfort-Rabbi

Authors Tell Stories of 15 Israelis’ Resilience

In “Isresilience,” we meet 15 Israelis who overcame difficult challenges in their lives and went on to praiseworthy accomplishments.  The sketches are of Israeli sabras and olim, men and women, young and old.  Through the entire narrative, authors Dickson, who is executive director of StandWithUs in Israel, and Baum, a PhD known for her studies of resilience, examine how these Israelis were able to overcome the obstacles that life put in their way.   They suggest that there are three important ingredients to resilience: empathy, flexibility, and meaning making, which might be better understood as a sense of purpose. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Middle East

Jewish Democrats welcome Meeks’ appt. as chair of Foreign Affairs Cmte.

WASHINGTON – Jewish Democrats congratulated Gregory Meeks of New York on Thursday after being elected as the next chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Meeks will replace Eliot Engel, a staunch supporter of Israel, who lost his primary reelection bid and will not serve in the next Congress.“I congratulate my dear friend Greg Meeks

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Middle East, USA

Jimmy Carter joins other ex-presidents encouraging COVID vaccine use

ATLANTA — A day after America witnessed its worst day in coronavirus-related deaths, Jimmy Carter joined three other living former presidents Thursday in encouraging Americans to get a COVID-19 vaccination shot as soon as it becomes available. In a statement, Carter said that he and his wife, Rosalynn, “are in full support of COVID-19 vaccine

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USA

Martin Schram: GOP leaders — don’t wait ’til the morning after!

Attention, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and all the Republican leaders who are your followers: You have maintained your craven silence as President Donald Trump has sabotaged our democracy and is now inciting his cult followers in ways that are endangering patriotic public officials and their families. So today we must ask you: What will

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USA

Biden’s DHS pick reveals immigration vision during virtual summit

Alejandro Mayorkas — President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee tapped to lead the Department of Homeland Security — gave the public a first glimpse Thursday of how he’ll approach his new post overseeing the country’s “broken immigration system.” His public comments via Zoom during a virtual bipartisan immigration summit held by the American Business Immigration Coalition, a

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International, USA

Bahrain to allow occupied West Bank goods to be labeled as ‘Made in Israel’

Goods coming to Bahrain from the Israeli-occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights will be labeled as “Made in Israel”, the country’s Industry, Commerce and Tourism Minister Zayed bin Rashid Al-Zayani said on Thursday. “Without going into details and border lines, Israeli products or services… will be treated like Israeli,” Al-Zayani said according

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Middle East

How to fight Holocaust denial in social media – with the evidence of what really happened

Holocaust survivor Shalom Stamberg holds a book with a photo of himself in Auschwitz, alongside a copy of his concentration camp record. AP Photo/Ariel Schalit One in four American millennials believe the Holocaust was exaggerated or entirely made up, according to a recent national survey that sought to find out what young adults know about

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International, Jewish History, USA

Facebook changing ‘race-blind’ hate speech policy

San Francisco (AFP) – Facebook on Thursday said it is revising its systems to prioritize blocking slurs against Black people, gays and other groups historically targeted by vitriol, no longer automatically filtering out barbs aimed broadly at whites, men or Americans. The change in Facebook’s algorithm is a shift from the social network’s ethnicity and

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USA

Free Exercise of Religion vs. Promoting the General Welfare

It all comes down to “promote the general welfare” vs. “the free exercise…of religion.”

On Nov. 8,  Satmar Grand Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum more than freely exercised his religious traditions by hosting a family wedding in Brooklyn reportedly attended by 7,000 guests at a time when coronavirus cases persisted at high levels of infection. On Nov. 23. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio promoted the general welfare by socking the organizers with a laughable $15,000 fine. On Nov. 26,  our dysfunctional Supreme Court stamped a final judgment on a synagogue attendance case – rooted in Brooklyn – prioritizing “the free exercise…of religion” over “the general welfare.” [Bruce S. Ticcker]

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Bruce Ticker, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, USA