May 1, 2014 - 1 Iyar 5774

Sefiras HaOmer Resources
The Shabbos Project: Keeping It Together
AJOP Rabbis Conference Scottsdale, AZ

Rabbi Yehoshua Karsh: My Personal Account From the Rabbis Conference

OUTREACH

Taglit-Birthright Restrictions Eased as Numbers Head Downward

PHILANTHROPY/FUNDRAISING

Giving Donors Data on a Charity's Impact Doesn't Always Lead to More Gifts

High Court Ruling Heaps Power on the Rich and Burden on Charities

NORTH AMERICA

Brandeis' Ban on a Critic of Islam Reveals New Academic Intolerance

Jewish Convert to Islam Incarcerated for Threatening Jewish Groups

Suffolk University Defends Choice of Foxman as Commencement Speaker

Jewish Cincinnati Resident Left Shaken After Swastika Painted on His Door

Film at 9/11 Museum Sets Off Clash Over Reference to Islam

Venezuelan Jew Sues Alabama Prison for Kosher Food

Social Injustice: Unfair Portrayal of Ramapo School Board

ISRAEL

Israel Divestment Votes at California Schools Garner Mixed Results

INTERNATIONAL

Europe: Jewish Life 'Unsustainable' Due to Rising Antisemitism

2,000 Germans Block Neo-Nazi March in Berlin

Guide to School Islamisation, by 'Ringleader' of Trojan Horse Plot

Report: Antisemitism Heard at Major Islamic Conference in France

Tony Blair: World Must Take a Stand Against Radical Islam

As Poland Touts Rescuers, Filmmakers Address Holocaust Era Treachery

Poland's Dueling Holocaust Monuments to 'Righteous Gentiles' Spark Painful Debate

Old Traditions, New Faces at Polish Seders

Reform Jews Land Victory in Lawsuit Against Hungary

ARTICLES OF INTEREST

Newly Sainted Popes John XXIII and John Paul II 'Heroes' to Jews

VISA Pledges to Review Advertising Policy Following Egyptian Blood Libel Article

ADL Slams Jews for Jesus Recruitment Video as 'Cynical Abuse of the Holocaust'

Holocaust Museum Exhibit Examines Nazi Lies

The Secret Jewish History of William Shakespeare

Third Generation Seeks Own Ways to Remember the Shoah

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

Sefiras HaOmer Resources An Article from Ner Le'Elef This page offers links to a multitude of websites, online tools and more that will allow you or your student to walk away with a slew of information on all things Sefiras HaOmer related. Continue Reading

The Shabbos Project : Keeping It Together The Shabbos Project is going international! This year it will take place on the 24-25 October, Parshat Noach. To bring The Shabbos Project to you city go theshabbosproject.com Click Here to watch the official video

AJOP Rabbis Conference Scottsdale, AZ

On Wednesday and Thursday, February 19-20, AJOP, in conjunction with Ahavas Torah: The Scottsdale Torah Center hosted a 2 day conference for Shul Rabbanim of kiruv oriented shuls.

Attracting over 30 Rabbanim from diverse locations throughout the US and Canada, the conference aimed to give these individuals some much needed chizuk, as well as sessions pertinent to their unique roles. Presenters included HaRav Yaakov Hopfer, noted posek and Mara D'asrah of Shearith Israel Cong. in Baltimore, MD, Rabbi Ilan Feldman of Cong. Beth Jacob in Atlanta, GA and Rabbi Yaakov Meyer of Aish Denver.

Click Here for the full article and for photos of the conference

Rabbi Yehoshua Karsh: My Personal Account From the Rabbis Conference


Username: ajop Password: ajop613

Taglit-Birthright Restrictions Eased as Numbers Head Downward An Article from The Forward Concerned about declining interest in its free 10-day trips to Israel, Taglit-Birthright has hired a marketing agency to seek out new participants, targeting college students with little or no connection to the Jewish community. Continue Reading

Giving Donors Data on a Charity's Impact Doesn't Always Lead to More Gifts

An Article from The Chronicle of Philanthropy

Providing data on a charity's impact doesn't necessarily translate into more gifts from prior donors, says a new report.
Continue Reading

High Court Ruling Heaps Power on the Rich and Burden of the Charities
An Article from The Chronicle of Philanthropy

This month's Supreme Court campaign-finance ruling to further relax limits on how much Americans can give to political candidates should concern nonprofits. Continue Reading

Brandeis' Ban on a Critic of Islam Reveals New Academic Intolerance
An Article from The Weekly Standard

From Brandeis on the Atlantic to Azusa on the Pacific, an iron curtain has descended across academia. Continue Reading

Jewish Convert to Islam Incarcerated for Threatening Jewish Groups
An Article from Haaretz

The founder of a radical Islamic website that praised figures like Osama bin Laden and Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for using the site to threaten Jewish groups.

Suffolk University Defends Choice of Foxman as Commencement Speaker
An Article from JTA

Despite protests from some student groups, Suffolk University affirmed its selection of Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham Foxman as the law school's commencement speaker.Continue Reading

Jewish Cincinnati Resident Left Shaken After Swastika Painted on His Door
An Article from The Algemeiner

A Jewish resident of Price Hill, Cincinnati, said he fears for his safety after he discovered a swastika spray-painted on the front door of his home on Thursday morning, local TV station WLWT5 reported. Continue Reading

Film at 9/11 Museum Sets Off Clash Over Reference to Islam
An Article from The New York Times

Past the towering tridents that survived the World Trade Center collapse, adjacent to a gallery with photographs of the 19 hijackers, a brief film at the soon-to-open National September 11 Memorial Museum will seek to explain to visitors the historical roots of the attacks. Continue Reading

Venezuelan Jew Sues Alabama Prison for Kosher Food
An Article from The Forward

A Jewish man being held in a jail in Alabama has filed a federal lawsuit demanding that prison authorities serve him kosher food.
Continue Reading

Social Injustice: Unfair Portrayal of Ramapo School Board
An Article from The Jewish Week

It was Albert Camus' insight that bad things often result from ignorance, and that "good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence if they lack understanding." Continue Reading

Israel Divestment Votes at California Schools Garner Mixed Results An Article from JNS Resolutions to divest from Israel were resoundingly defeated in votes by the student governments of two California state schools, but a divestment measure was passed at one school, following marathon debates that lasted into the early hours of Thursday morning. Continue Reading

Europe: Jewish Life 'Unsustainable' De to Rising Antisemitism
An Article from Arutz 7

President of the European Jewish Congress Dr. Moshe Kantor spoke Sunday about the fact that Jews feel less welcome and more insecure in large parts of Europe during the release of the findings regarding the situation of anti-Semitism worldwide in 2013.

2,000 Germans Block Neo-Nazi March in Berlin
An Article from RT

About a hundred fascists were only allowed to march 300 meters from their gathering point as left-wingers, trade unions and ordinary Berliners joined forces to stop a neo-Nazi march.

Guide to School Islamisation, by 'Ringleader' of Trojan Horse Plot
An Article from The Telegraph

The alleged ringleader of the Trojan Horse plot wrote a detailed blueprint for the radical "Islamisation" of secular state schools which closely resembles what appears to be happening in Birmingham.

Report: Antisemitism Heard at Major Islamic Conference in France
An Article from JTA

A major conference on Islam in Paris featured anti-Semitic speeches, according to a sociologist who listened to the lectures.Continue Reading

Tony Blair: World Must Take a Stand Against Radical Islam

An Article from Haaretz

The world must take a stand against Islamic fundamentalism and support the principles of religious freedom and open economies, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Quartet representative to the Middle East, was to say Wednesday in a speech at the Bloomberg London H.

As Poland Touts Rescuers, Filmmakers Address Holocaust Era Treachery
An Article from JTA

After reburying the bones of her parents in a neglected Jewish cemetery, a soon-to-be Polish nun quietly crosses herself with earth-covered fingers. Continue Reading

Poland's Dueling Holocaust Monuments to 'Righteous Gentiles' Spark Painful Debate
An Article from The Forward

In Poland, where 3 million Polish Jews died at Nazi hands, not one but two new monuments are being planned in Warsaw that will memorialize - and, some fear, distort the role of - the several thousand non-Jewish Poles who tried to save them. Continue Reading

Old Traditions, New Faces At Polish Seders
An Article from The Jewish Week

The American-born chief rabbi of Lower Silesia stood at the head table of the community seders in the historic White Stork Synagogue here last week and witnessed, in a single glance, the changes in the last 25 years of post-communist Polish Jewish life. Continue Reading

Reform Jews Land Victory In Lawsuit Against Hungary
An Article from The Jewish Week

European Reform Jews landed what they said was an important victory in their legal fight for equal recognition and funding from the governments of Hungary and Poland. Continue Reading

Newly Sainted Popes John XXIII and John Paul II 'Heroes' to Jews
An Article from The Forward

The late Popes John XXIII and John Paul II, who will be made saints on Sunday, did so much to end two millennia of Catholic anti-Semitism that a Jewish human rights group calls them "heroes to the Jewish people".

VISA Pledges to Review Advertising Policy Following Egyptian Blood Libel Article
An Article from 5 Towns Jewish Times

Credit card giant VISA Inc. on Thursday pledged to review its advertising policy after a public uproar last week when its ads were seen as a lead sponsor of Egypt's El Kebar magazine, which published a lengthy article presenting myths-as-fact about the Jewish blood libel - that human blood is a key ingredient of Passover matzah.

ADL Slams Jews for J Recruitment Video as 'Cynical Abuse of the Holocaust'
An Article from The Algemeiner

The Anti-Defamation League on Thursday condemned a recruitment video produced by the missionary group Jews for Jesus as a "cynical abuse of the Holocaust for purposes of proselytizing."

Holocaust Museum Exhibit Examines Nazi Lies

An Article from The San Diego Jewish World

An ongoing traveling exhibit from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum challenges visitors to think about their responsibilities as consumers of information and how they can confront harmful messaging today. Continue Reading

The Secret Jewish History of William Shakespeare
An Article from The Forward

Had William Shakespeare never died, he would be turning 450 years old this month, which would put him in biblical territory for longevity. Continue Reading

Third Generation Seeks Own Ways to Remember the Shoah

An Article from The Jewish Week

In Edinburgh, Scotland, youth worker Jonathan Litewski McKean, whose grandmother was a Holocaust survivor, decides to honor her legacy in a personal way. Continue Reading

Please note: The views expressed in the articles featured in this newsletter reflect the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the thinking of the Association for Jewish Outreach Professionals. AJOP serves to disseminate pertinent news to its subscribers.

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