Two local institutions have been awarded grants from the Orthodox Union as part of the organization’s day school affordability initiative.
Yeshivat He’atid, which is scheduled to open next year in Bergenfield, is among seven projects receiving a challenge grant. The winners were announced Monday at the end of a two-day “Summit on the Affordability of Jewish Education” arranged by the OU that was held in Woodcliff Lake.
The summit brought together 150 lay and professional day school leaders, communal rabbis, and leaders of foundations, federations, and others who are affiliated with more than 80 institutions primarily across the spectrum of Orthodoxy.
While not everyone can influence government decisions on Israel, anyone can buy an Israeli product, says Frances Zelazny, the force behind Buy Israel Week.
A marketer by trade — and dismayed at the growing strength of the boycott and divestment movement — Zelazny said she decided to fight fire with fire by launching an effort geared to consumers.
Israel’s advocates should start thinking of shopping as a way to support the state, she said, adding, “This is a way to do something, other than just clicking ‘like’ on Facebook.”
WASHINGTON – Rep. Steve Rothman (D-9), a member of the House Appropriations Foreign Operations Subcommittee, said in a statement on Monday that “[t]he United States and our allies are all monitoring the situation on a minute by minute basis and encourage a peaceful and democratic resolution to the current Egyptian unrest. My heart goes out to all of those who have been killed or injured during the mass demonstrations in the Egyptian streets.
Jacques Pluss, arrested Wednesday morning in Ridgewood for allegedly threatening the national director of the Anti-Defamation League and charged with bias intimidation and harassment as well as weapons possession and contempt of court, is no stranger to The Jewish Standard.
In a Jan. 27, 2006 article, then managing editor Jacob Berkman wrote of Pluss’ permanent suspension from his post as an adjunct professor of history at Fairleigh Dickinson University, his membership in the National Socialist Movement, and his appearances on “White Viewpoint,” NSM’s Internet radio program.
Sixteen years ago, facing the usual slow week at the first of the secular year, The Jewish Standard created what has turned into an enduring feature: naming the newsmakers of the year just passed (or, in this case, just passing).
This has been a challenging year, punctuated by an earthquake and storms as well as the continuing harsh winds of the recession. But we have also seen the community rising to meet those challenges in creative as well as tried-and-true ways.
We continue in what has become a tradition by stating our standards:
What makes a newsmaker? Philanthropy? Maybe, but also creative use of resources. Tragedy? Yes, but also survival. Personal accomplishments? Yes, but also efforts on behalf of others. Scholarship? Yes, but also originality. Political daring? Yes, but also political dealing.
p>The community marked Yom HaShoah, the commemoration of the Holocaust, at various sites this week.
UJA Federation of Northern New Jersey held its observance, which also marked the 67th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, at the Frisch School in Paramus on Sunday. Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, was the keynote speaker. (See also page 36.) Foxman, who had been a hidden child, told the audience of some 500 people, “The world knew about the Holocaust, but did nothing about it. Only Bulgaria saved all of its 50,000 Jews, and Albania saved its 20,000 Jews. They did what they could. Today, we stand up and say no to hate, bigotry, and anti-Semitism.”
The Holocaust Resource Center of Greater Clifton-Passaic will hold its annual Yom HaShoah observance on April 11 at the Jewish Community Center, 199 Scoles Ave., in Clifton. The program will include a special tribute to a former New York University dean responsible for saving the lives of Jewish doctors and scientists.
Physicist Albert Einstein, who left Germany in 1933, had been trying, in cooperation with Jewish organizations, to get Jews out of Germany and Austria and into the United States. He asked leaders of scientific and academic institutions to hire Jewish professionals for teaching positions, which would allow them to get visas quickly, thus getting around the waiting periods imposed by the State Department.
Two AMIT graduates shared their experiences with guests — and gave a musical performance — at a recent reception in Englewood. Romi Berlin and Chaim Siton are graduates of the AMIT Bienenfeld Hevruta Yeshiva, a school for boys who have not succeeded in the regular Israeli school system. AMIT Bienenfeld offers a nontraditional curriculum, encompassing major courses of study in music, sports, environmental studies, and animal training and therapy.
“Everything I have today grew out of AMIT Bienenfeld Hevruta Yeshiva,” said Berlin. He was a member of the first class admitted to AMIT Bienenfeld, where he majored in music.
