Join Rockland County both online and in person for a free day of Jewish Learning. This year study’s theme, 70 Faces of Torah, celebrates Judaism’s embrace of multiple and competing perspectives to enrich our understanding of the world, Torah, and ourselves!
This week, many in the Jewish community, especially those in the advocacy space, were up in arms over a Superbowl ad created by Robert Kraft’s Blue Square Alliance and its campaign to #EndJewishHate.
I’ve since seen and heard a tremendous amount of comment and criticism of the piece. In fact, there’s been so much that I don’t think I could do justice to all of it. Many who saw it felt that it portrayed the Jewish high school student as small and weak, and the non Jewish friend who s...
This week’s Haftarah, from the book of Isaiah’s sixth chapter, has a dialogue between the prophet, the Seraphim (angels) and the Almighty. I am fascinated by the fourth pasuk (sentence) which says “And the doorposts shook from the voice of He who called, and the house (the Temple in Jerusalem) filled with smoke.”
The rest of the chapter deals with Isaiah’s worthiness, his sanctification as messenger of the Almighty, and the warning message he was to bring to the Jewish people.
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This week many of us took off our yellow ribbons and removed our hostage dog tags. The last of the captives, Sgt-Major Ran Gvili, of blessed memory, who fell defending his community (he fought to the last bullet, with a broken arm!) on October 7th, 2023, was located, and he finally came home. He was buried on Wednesday in his hometown of Meitar, and the entire country lined the streets to honor him.
It seems to many that not only was a ribbon or a dog tag removed, but a burden was lifted as ...
Over the past few months, I have written a few columns that expressed how being Jewish in America feels like being politically abandoned by both sides. Let me clarify that this sentiment is directed at the extremes of both sides. I’ve touched on feeling lost within my own party, where all of a sudden being liberal means being anti-Israel, and the shock and sadness that people I’ve known forever were suddenly equating my cultural heritage and support for my people with personal responsibil...
Last week, I shared an explanation of why I don’t write critically about contentious issues in Israel in this forum. Today, I’m going to partially break that self-imposed rule. I apologize for the contradiction, not the criticism.
Last week, a lone IDF soldier who had spent more than 740 days in Gaza and who had requested leave took his own life. In itself that would be a tragedy among tragedies. Over a period of 18 months in 2024 and 2025, almost 300 IDF soldiers have attempted suicide,...
Almost as long as I’ve been writing these messages - give or take three years now - many readers have emailed or messaged me asking me to weigh in or take sides on some of the critical and sometimes contentious issues being debated and even fought over in Israel and among the Jewish people today.
I have resisted the call to do so, for several reasons.
My father taught me how to debate, usually around our shabbat table. He had a demanding approach, putting forward an opinion (on a comment...
One of the most important values in all of Jewish life is unity (achdut in Hebrew). And one of the supreme institutions that strives in the finest ways to insure unity in our Jewish community and b...
The connection between Rockland’s Jewish Federation and Kfar Silver Youth Village is a recent one when a group of Rockland County residents visited the school, which is supported by ORT. The agricultural/residential school located just eight miles from Gaza is part of the Zionist dream to make the Negev bloom.
Students come from all over to Kfar Silver, some born in many parts of the FSU…former Soviet Union, as well as students from Ethiopia who were airlifted to Israel with their parents. One third of the student body—750 students—live on the campus. Many come from low socio-economic and single parent families, the disadvantaged part of Israeli society. By the time these kids graduate and move on to the IDF and further educational opportunities, Kfar Silver will have given these kids a leg up they might otherwise not have had.
Rockland County’s Jewish community supports Israel in many ways. Federation’s direct support of Kfar Silver is as much about supporting Israel as it is about supporting a special project we feel a connection with…one we have grown to love.
Rockland’s Adult Jewish Education classes are for you. Background doesn’t matter. Level of education doesn’t matter. A desire to learn and participate in riveting, fascinating classes is all you need. Join our classes taught by fascinating, articulate teachers and enjoy!
Got questions? We have answers.
For young moms and dads, reading stories to their children is something many do every night at bedtime…or even in the middle of the afternoon! PJ Library, which is a program of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, is underwritten in Rockland County by Rockland’s Jewish Federation. It provides Jewish-themed books for children, ages 2-8 every month and gives those moms and dads a wonderful way to help them understand and appreciate what it means to be Jewish…even at a young age.
PJ Library books are wonderful additions to every Jewish family’s library. It doesn’t matter what the family’s background, knowledge or family make-up or observance is. There are PJ Library books for every kind of Jewish family.
But PJ is not only about books. It’s also about Jewish-themed activities…like Zoom classes on cooking for the holidays. And outings where young Jewish families can meet and make friendships with other young Jewish families.
Leket Israel is the largest food bank and food rescue organization in Israel. Rockland’s Federation has had a long-standing relationship with Leket because we know how important it is to take care of the most basic need of making sure people who struggle to feed themselves and their families have food to put on the table each and every day.
During the year of the pandemic, Leket Israel had to change the way it feeds people in need. It went from rescuing good, nutritious food from restaurants, hotels, and even the IDF, and feeding more than 200,000 Israelis per week, to buying 12,000 meals a day because just like here in Rockland County, the need for food increased tangentially as the Pandemic worsened and people lost their jobs.
Here in Rockland County’s Jewish community, we have a strong relationship with Leket Israel. It’s a special project we support directly and that has come to mean a lot to us. Through donations to Jewish Federation, we can see the difference those donations make in the lives of those who are helped by Leket Israel.
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The Community Relations Council is Federation’s advocacy arm. One of its prime roles is as the Rockland Jewish community’s voice with elected officials at every level from national to local. The CRC has developed relationships with many of these people and will contact them when there’s an issue that is of concern, and must be addressed. From gatherings the were highly visible, such as the one that occurred after the Monsey stabbings, to those that are strictly behind-the-scenes, the CRC takes a strong and active role in combatting antisemitism no matter where it occurs.
The CRC makes sure our elected officials understand the pernicious effects the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) has on the State of Israel, and the hateful rhetoric that is too pervasive on certain social media channels and group pages in and around Rockland County. When the CRC becomes aware of such hate speech or any violent threats against the Jewish community, it makes sure our local officials are aware of them so they can be dealt with.
The most important role Jewish Federation plays in the community is in community weaving. Federation has built a platform where all organizations and individuals can come together to share common concerns. Through Community Weaving, Federation brings synagogues and organizations together to work for the common good of Rockland’s Jewish community.
Whether it’s to learn how to apply for security grants, or the PPP during the pandemic, or learning how to set up endowment funds for the financial security of an organization through Life and Legacy, Federation has made Community Weaving the important initiative it is for the community.
