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RSS500+Lb. Man & 88 yr. Old War Vet in Race to Save Kids’ Lives
Apr 01
local stories/community No Comments
Cordoba House Imam Surprise Guest at Newark Event
Feb 27
local stories/community, new jersey news, people, social action No Comments
by Jeanette Friedman
Newark – A dialogue on Black-Jewish relations by the leaders of The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding — Rabbi Marc Schneier of the Hamptons Synagogue and hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons — expanded its focus with the unplanned arrival of Imam Feisal Rauf of the controversial Cordoba House planned for Lower Manhattan.
The event, which also featured Newark Mayor Cory Booker, was held at the Newark Art Museum and was attended by members of the Newark Municipal Council, local activists, and a handful of concerned Jews.
Rauf entered the museum hall as Schneier, rabbi at the Hamptons Synagogue, was describing the media storm surrounding “the mosque at Ground Zero.” Schneier made the point that media can be used to almost instantaneously change the public perception of a group. “Overnight you could see how credibility could be shattered. There are so many examples of how the media can influence people to turn,” he said.
Simmons echoed those concerns. “The level of tolerance has dropped dramatically in the last twelve months. Things that were unacceptable twenty years ago are now allowed,” he said.
RYNJ celebrates new wing Dedication looses torrent of memories
Dec 18
local stories/community No Comments
Jeanette Friedman • Local
Published: 17 December 2010
The Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey celebrated another milestone in its 73-year history on Sunday night with the dedication of its new wing on Kinderkamack Road in River Edge. The yeshiva dates to 1937, when Yeshiva of Jersey City and its eight students were housed in the Five Corners Shul. Today the school has almost 1,000 students.
Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the event’s keynote speaker, quipped that his best title is saba (grandfather). Hoenlein’s grandchildren attend the school, and his family was present in the crowd of 150.
chabad.org: Lighting Up in Public
Dec 06
holidays, interfaith relations, life cycle events and celebrations, liturgy, local stories/community, social action No Comments
It’s become almost commonplace for hundreds of thousands of people to attend grand public Chanukah menorah lightings in metropolises and in front of statehouses dotting the American landscape. But the first such ceremony, in Philadelphia’s Old City in 1974, included less than a handful of Jews; they watched as a Soviet émigré stood in front of the Liberty Bell and lit a small menorah.
As he stood there celebrating religious freedom and the Chanukah message of light’s victory over darkness, Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Avraham Shemtov prayed from the depths of his soul that his small public act would fuel a groundswell of religious pride. Three years later, President Jimmy Carter would welcome the first National Menorah on the Ellipse in front of the White House; seven years later, President Ronald Reagan would endorse Shemtov’s hope in the form of a letter after the first presidential Chanukah party.
Diverse group rallies to Stop the Hate in Edison
Oct 02
local stories/community, new jersey news No Comments
THURSDAY, 30 SEPTEMBER 2010 20:01
Clergy and community leaders join to make a commitment
BY JEANETTE FRIEDMAN
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
Almost 200 people attended “A Stop the Hate Rally” in Edison on Monday night, September 27th, organized by the Metuchen-Edison Interfaith Clergy Association under the leadership of Rabbi Bernhard Rosenberg, a son of Holocaust survivors. Edison Mayor Antonia Ricigliano, Police Chief Thomas Bryan, Acting Superintendent of Schools Ronald Bolandi, and Assemblyman Peter Barnes took to the podium to pledge to work harder to educate parents and children to respect each other and to learn about each other.
Senator Robert Menendez, who as a State Assemblyman helped author New Jersey’s bias crime law and is currently co-sponsoring hate-crimes legislation in the U.S. Senate, sent a message that said, in part, “[This] gathering …is critically important in helping to create understanding among all people and for the fight to combat bias crimes, a problem which has been increasing not only in Edison, but throughout the country… It is my belief that when someone is harassed, assaulted or killed simply because of the type of person they are, this is an assault against the entire community and the underlying values we cherish in the United States….We cannot remain silent…”
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