February 6, 2014 - 6 Adar I 5774

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OUTREACH

Are In-Marriage and Intermarriage Equal in Reform Judaism?

4 Compelling Reasons Why Every Rabbi and Educator Should Blog

PHILANTHROPY/FUNDRAISING

Paying It Forward

NORTH AMERICA

Orthodox Jewish Girls and Tefilin: The Real Story?

Poll Shows Americans Oppose Obama's Israel Policies

Synagogue Looks to Create Eruv Downtown

Community On The Court

Slammin' the Sermon

UJA-Fed's New Exec Calls For Broader 'Kehillah'

Reform Judaism With Latin Flavor Takes Root in Miami

Century Old Jewish Mural's Hidden History in Vermont

Modern Orthodox Congregations Host Post-Nup Parties

Jewish Day School? Not for this Observant Jewish Family

ISRAEL

10 Brands You'll Have to Give Up if You're Boycotting Israel
Scarlett Johansson Defends SodaStream After Criticism Over Occupation
Three Nasty Memes About Jews and Israel
See the First Photographs Ever Taken of Jerusalem
Palestinian Workers Cheer SodaStream and Scarlett Johansson - Occupation or No
Secret Message on a Bottle in Jerusalem's City of David

INTERNATIONAL

My Spanish Inquisition: A Reporter Exercises His Right of Return

EU's Foreign Minister Neglects to Mention Jews in Holocaust Memorial Day Statement

'Compensating Jews Who Fled Arab Nations is Historic Justice'

Far Right Italian Suspected of Sending Pigs' Heads to Synagogue

Rome's Jewish Sites at Risk of Flooding

ARTICLES OF INTEREST

Opinion: In Marriage Advocates Are Living in the Past

The 2 Most Important Marketing Trends Every Jewish Organization Must Know About

We'll Cross That Bridge When (and If) We Come To It

Domain Name .kosher Gets Closer

Lifting Veil on Science of Counting Jews

Learning How My Father Escaped Execution at Auschwitz

A Formal Jewish Education-You Can Afford It (If You Want To)

To View Our Archives of Past Newsletters

AJOP Board

RABBINIC AUTHORITIES

HaRav Shmuel Kamenetsky

HaRav Yaakov Perlow

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Rabbi Ilan Feldman

Atlanta, GA

Rabbi Yaacov Haber

Jerusalem, Israel

Mr. Richard Horowitz

Los Angeles, CA

Rabbi Yehoshua Karsh

Northbrook, IL

Dr. David Lieberman

Lakewood, NJ

Rabbi Yitzchok Lowenbraun

National Director

Rabbi Shlomo Porter

Baltimore, MD

Mr. Jeff Schachter Esq.

Passaic, NJ

Mr. Frank Storch

Baltimore, MD

HaRav Michel Twerski

Milwaukee, WI

Mr. Jerry Wolasky

Baltimore, MD

ADVISORY BOARD

Mr. Mark Bane

Lawrence, NY

Mr. Jonathan Beren

Denver, CO

Dr. Robert Edelman

Baltimore, MD

Rabbi Avraham Edelstein

Jerusalem, Israel

Dr. Michael J. Elman

Baltimore, MD
Rabbi David Felsenthal
New York, NY

Mr. Howard Tzvi Friedman

Baltimore, MD

Mr. Joseph Friedman

Olney, MD
Mr. Harvey Hecker*

Toronto, ONT

Mr. Stephen Rosedale

Cincinnati, OH

Rabbi Simcha Scholar

Brooklyn, NY

Rabbi Dovid Refson

Jerusalem, Israel

Mr Gary Torgow

Detroit, MI

Rabbi Abraham Twerski, MD

Teaneck, NJ

*Deceased

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Free Download! Tribute Book to HaRav Mendel Weinbach zt"l

Rav Mendel Weinbach zt"l had a tremendous impact on Klal Yisrael. As a Founder and Rosh Yeshiva of Ohr Somayach, he was one of the pioneers of the kiruv movement, a man who successfully dedicated his entire life to educating his fellow Jew.

To commemorate his first yahrtzeit, Ohr Somayach has published a tribute book. Available for free download this volume is an opportunity for you to gain an understanding of who Rav Weinbach zt"l was and what he meant to all who had the merit to know him and interact with him.

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Are In-Marriage and Intermarriage Equal in Reform Judaism?

An Article from JTA

For an article I wrote this week on a recent flare-up in the intermarriage debate, I did two interviews with Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the president of the Union for Reform Judaism.
Continue Reading

4 Compelling Reasons Why Every Rabbi & Educator Should Blog
An Article from Ner Le'Elef

Gone are the days when Jewish organizations and the people who work for them did not use the internet. Continue Reading

Outreacharticle4

Paying It Forward An Article from eJewish Philanthropy I vividly remember the staff meeting I attended as a young pro when the Chairman of the Board addressed us, sincerely expressing the regret that his son could not afford to enter Jewish communal service. Continue Reading

Orthodox Jewish Girls and Tefillin: The Real Story?
An Article from Cross Currents

The controversy du jour deals with the high school girls and their tefillin, and it has prompted the usual litany of responses. Continue Reading

Poll Shows Americans Oppose Obama's Israel Policies
An Article from i24 News

Despite US President Barack Obama's reiteration of support for Israel during his State of the Union address, a majority of the American public do not support his policies in the region, a poll commissioned by the Zionist Organization of America revealed on Tuesday. Continue Reading

Synagogue Looks to Create Eruv Downtown
An Article from The Baltimore Sun

Isaac Hametz doesn't identify as an Orthodox Jew, and neither do many of the Jewish people living in downtown. But the 30-year-old was enlisted by the leader of Lloyd Street's B'nai Israel congregation for a singularly Orthodox quest: Continue Reading

Community on the Court
An Article from The Jewish Week

Jeffrey Kapelus was on the verge of stepping away from his intense involvement with the Jewish Basketball League in Westchester about five years ago, when his twin son and daughter were about to age out of the program. Continue Reading

Slammin' the Sermon
An Article from The Jewish Week

The sermon is a staple of the American Jewish synagogue experience. Continue Reading

UJA-Fed's New Exec Calls or Broader 'Kehillah'
An Article from The Jewish Week

On July 1, when Eric Goldstein reports to work for the first time on East 59th Street as CEO and executive vice president of UJA-Federation of New York, he will be very familiar with his surroundings. Continue Reading

Reform Judaism With Latin Flavor Takes Root in Miami
An Article from The Forward

When Alejandra Schatzky-Cohen and her husband decided to enroll their children in a Reform Jewish day school in North Miami Beach five years ago, they had more on their minds than the average prospective day school parent. Continue Reading

Century Old Jewish Mural's Hidden History in Vermont
An Article from The Forward

An old apartment building in Burlington, Vt. seems like an odd place to find a rare survivor of Lithuanian synagogue art and a relic of American immigrant Yiddishkeit. Continue Reading

Modern Orthodox Congregations Host Post-Nup Parties
An Article from JTA

Seeking to prevent Orthodox women from becoming agunot - so-called "chained" women whose husbands deny them a religious writ of divorce - the three Modern Orthodox synagogues in St. Louis collectively hosted a mass post-nuptial agreement signing this weekend. Continue Reading

Jewish Day School? Not for this Observant Jewish Family
An Article from JTA

"I'm sorry, but we'll have to pass." That was not the answer I wanted to give. It certainly was not the answer my friend expected to hear.

10 Brands You'll Have to Give Up If You're Boycotting Israel
An Article from The Christian Science Monitor

Since 2005, the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS) has called on the international community to pressure Israel economically as "a form of civil resistance to Israeli occupation, colonialism, and apartheid."

Scarlett Johansson Defends SodaStream After Criticism Over Occupation
An Article from The Forward

Scarlett Johansson has defended her decision to represent SodaStream, an Israeli company that operates in the occupied West Bank.

Three Nasty Memes About Jews and Israel
An Article from Jewish News Service

Here are three disturbing memes about Jews and Israel that I've noticed in three separate-but-related news stories recently.

Continue Reading

Israel4

See the First Photographs Ever Taken of Jerusalem
An Article from Smithsonian

Few places in the world are as revered, fought over and thought about as Jerusalem. Continue Reading

Palestinian Workers Cheer SodaStream and Scarlett Johansson- Occupation or No
An Article from The Forward

"I can bring a million people who want to work here," boasted Ahmed Nasser, taking a break from his job as a SodaStream assembly line worker. Continue Reading

Secret Message on a Bottle in Jerusalem's City of David
An Article from The Forward

A skilled paleographer or specialist in ancient writing can sometimes guess what a mere fragment of that writing is about. Continue Reading

My Spanish Inquisition: A Reporter Exercises His Right of Return
An Article from The Forward

The Spanish government expelled the Jews in 1492. In 2012, they said that they wanted us back. At a press conference that November, two ministers announced that any Sephardic Jew who wanted a Spanish passport could have one. Continue Reading

EU's Foreign Minister Neglects to Mention Jews in Holocaust Memorial Day Statement
An Article from The Algemeiner

A statement issued by Baroness Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission, in honor of Holocaust Memorial Day on Monday neglected to mention Jews, leading to criticism and confusion online.

'Compensating Jews Who Fled Arab Nations is Historic Justice'
An Article from Ynet News

A prominent minister and senior politician of Sephardic descent praised Israel's bid to achieve refugee status for Jews who fled their Arab nation homes on the eve of the State's foundation, calling it a "rectification of an historic injustice," echoing claims made other Sephardic Jews.

Far-Right Italian Suspected of Sending Pigs' Heads to Synagogue
An Article from Ynet News

Italian police have identified a far-right radical they suspect of sending pigs heads last week to Rome's Grand Synagogue, Israeli embassy and a museum with a Holocaust exhibition, authorities said on Friday.
Continue Reading

Rome's Jewish Sites at Risk of Flooding

An Article from i24 News

Jewish sites in Rome are in danger of destruction due to recent days' heavy rainfall, the Jewish Telegraph Agency reported on Sunday.

Opinion: In-Marriage Advocates Are Living in the Past
An Article from The Jewish Week

Perhaps it's no coincidence that Groundhog Day is soon upon us, because after reading recently of an "effort by an informal group of about two dozen concerned Jews ... who believe the community is in crisis and doesn't know it," I looked at my calendar to confirm that it is indeed 2014, and not 2004 or 1994.

The 2 Most Important Marketing Trends Every Jewish Organization Must Know About
An Article from Ner Le'Elef

Are you reading this on your mobile phone? Did you check Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat when you woke up this morning?

We'll Cross That Bridge When (and if) We Come To It
An Article from Ner Le'Elef

By now we have been inundated by the story of Chris Christie and the George Washington Bridge.

Domain Name .kosher Gets Closer

An Article from The Jewish Journal

Earlier this month, the world got one step closer to the day when Web sites can end not just with .com, .net or .org - but with the suffix .kosher as well. Continue Reading

Lifting the Veil on Science of Counting Jews
An Article from The Forward

Fueled by KitKats and Cherry Coke, some two dozen people sit hunched over stacks of questionnaires in a windowless conference room in Miami, a phalanx of 1980s-era push-button telephones in front of them.
Continue Reading

Learning How My Father Escaped Execution at Auschwitz

An Article from The Jewish Week

My father, Josef Rosensaft, decidedly did not want to be in Auschwitz. True, no one did, but my father actually did something about it.

A Formal Jewish Education - You Can Afford It (If You Want To)

An Article from Hillel Academy

Recently a father in West Bloomfield wrote an essay to explain why he and his wife could not attend the day school in which I happen to be the Head of School. Continue Reading

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