RJ Blog

This week the RAC hosted Imam Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, Chief Imam of the All India Imam Organization. The All India Imam Organization is the largest imam organization in the world, representing half a million religious leaders and over two hundred million Muslims living in India. Imam Ilyasi has distinguished himself as a leader who powerfully addresses issues of religious extremism and global terrorism and frequently reaches out across religious lines. In particular, he has done considerable work bringing together Muslim and Jewish leaders in the Middle East and around the world and has been recognized internationally for his achievements in [...]

On Monday, Hungarian Member of Parliament Marton Gyongyosi called for the creation of a list registering all Hungarian Jews, with a focus on registering Jewish politicians and those of Israeli descent. He explained away his actions by deeming Hungarian Jews a national security risk. Gyongyosi has now made international headlines for his blatantly anti-Semitic remarks, which were eerily reminiscent of Nazi rhetoric.

Late last night, a Jewish community building in Malmö, Sweden was attacked. Although, thankfully, no one was injured, Rabbi Saperstein reminds us, “Last night’s attack serves as a bitter reminder of the anti-Semitism that has plagued that community for too long.” Our thoughts and prayers are with the members of the Malmö community, who have known too many incidents of violence directed at its members and institutions. Read Rabbi Saperstein’s full statement here.  

by Linda K. Wertheimer “You Jewish son of a b….,” a boy taunted my brother on the school bus one day as I sat nearby. I was 14, my brother, Kevin, 16. The comment made us seethe, but we let it pass. Then a few weeks later, my family, the only Jewish one in our neighborhood and rural Ohio school, woke up to find swastikas etched in wax on our home windows and cars. This time, my family did not let it pass. My parents contacted a deputy sheriff, who was friends with my brother through Boy Scouts. The deputy [...]

by Alden Solovy A prayer for the Jews of France after today’s violence in Toulouse. See also: “At the Hand of Anti-Semitism: A Yizkor Prayer.” Author of life, Man has turned violent, Cutting down children and their teachers In Toulouse, France, Our young and our leaders, Our brothers and sisters, Crushing lives, Upending dreams, Attacking hope with hatred. Source and Creator, Grant a perfect rest under your tabernacle of peace To the victims of murder in Toulouse Whose lives were cut off by violence, An act of witless aggression And calculated anti-Semitism. Remember the survivors of this horror, And the victims of [...]

by Peter ShapiroRead the review of this book in RJ magazineSee other Significant Jewish Book selections Good for the Jews:A Novelby Debra Spark Debra Sparks has recast the story of Esther in modern day Madison, the home of the liberal University of Wisconsin The first letter of the names of the principal characters as well as their respective roles corresponds to those in the Story of Esther.  Ellen, like Esther, is an innocent young secular Jew who reluctantly stands up for her people. Mose (Mordecai) is the Jewish voice of conscience and alarm who encourages and convinces Ellen to act. [...]

by Rabbi David SapersteinDirector, RAC This post originally appeared in the Washington Post‘s On Faith section, where Rabbi Saperstein is a regular panelist. It is reprinted with permission. This week’s On Faith question asks, “Congress is expected to expand federal hate crimes laws to add “sexual orientation” to a list that already includes “race, color, religion or national origin.” Is this necessary? Should there be special laws against crimes motivated by intolerance, bigotry and hatred? Isn’t a crime a crime?” As the quintessential victims of religious persecution in the history of Western civilization, the Jewish community has long supported hate [...]

by dcc(Originally posted on The DCC) The days between the High Holidays are a time of reflection, apology, prayer and introspection for the Jewish people. While Shabbat affords us this opportunity each week, I feel like the Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Shabbat Shuvah, is all the more special and powerful. So last Friday night I joined more than 100 young adults (both in age and in spirit) at Temple Shaarey Tefila for Shabbat Unplugged. This service is a celebration of Shabbat, bringing together people of different backgrounds, creeds and orientations to sing, celebrate and be together as [...]

by Gardening Grandma(Originally posted on larchmont musings) From 1972-74 we lived in Philadelphia, Mississippi, which may be why The Help, a first novel by Kathryn Stockett, held me in its grasp for the past 24 hours. The novel, for those who have not yet heard of it, explores the relationship between black maids and the white women they worked for in the segregated Deep South in the early 1960s. It was an ugly time in our nation’s history and, while the book is set in Mississippi, anyone whose family had a maid will recognize the truth of the narrator’s stories. [...]

by Sherry Levy-ReinerThis week’s URJ Weekly Briefing features an article that appeared on the Washington Jewish Week’s website about Westboro Baptist Church, whose members picket everything from high schools named for the poet Walt Whitman to military funerals protesting the acceptance of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered persons in our society. The article implied that the group’s picketing this week outside Washington Hebrew Congregation and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum indicated a new direction. That’s not true.

By Paul Kipnes(First posted on Or Am I?)Israeli Avram Burg recently raised difficult questions as to whether the Holocaust has become ingrained as a dangerous lens through which Israeli leaders view the world. He suggests that the Holocaust skews their view of reality and leads to a “they are all out to get us” mentality. One may agree with or take issue with Burg’s argument, even as one praises the fact that a democratic society allows such critique from within. Sadly, the Holocaust is being used increasingly in another way, as a “weapon against Jews and the Jewish state.” This [...]

By dccI have a cousin in his mid-80s who often reminds me that it was good for the Jews in Austria before Hitler. He was a scholar, his sister was a lawyer (yes a woman in the 1930s), their family was well connected in Vienna. I often remind him that the United States is not inter-war Europe and we know better now. He then waves his hand at me and calls me naive. On days like today I think he might be right. Reading the award-winning Dallas Morning News Religion Blog I found this gem of a post. A group [...]