Wednesday, November 27, 2024
At 93, Sephardi charity head decides it’s time to retire
At 93, Lucien Gubbay is stepping down after more than a decade in charge of the charity responsible for reviving ordination for central Orthodox rabbis in the UK.
But while he has retired as chairman of the Montefiore Endowment, he will be maintaining his active association as its life president.
Over many decades of communal service, he has been a prominent lay member of the S & P Sephardi Community and a champion of the Western Sephardi heritage.
He served on the board of the endowment for two decades, helping to invest the legacy of the Victorian philanthropist Sir Moses Montefiore in Jewish education.
The S & P's Senior Rabbi, Joseph Dweck, said he had served it with "grace, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to ensuring the strength and future of our heritage".
In a letter to Gubbay, he said, "You have always had the wisdom to safeguard our history, combined with a clear vision for the future, ensuring that the Endowment is not only a custodian of the past but also a living source of support and inspiration for generations to come."
Incoming chairman of the endowment, Alan Bekhor, praising his predecessor's "wonderful achievements', said, "Lucien Gubbay has been an extraordinarily dedicated and effective chairman. Together with Rabbi Abraham Levy he has developed the charity into an important pillar of the training of leadership and higher education within Anglo-Jewry."
When the London School of Jewish Studies (formerly Jews' College) ended its semichah programme, the Montefiore Endowment stepped into the breach a few years later, launching a new ordination course in 2005. With the late Rabbi Levy, the spiritual head of the S & P for many years, Gubbay devised a training scheme that sought to give rabbis practical skills for communal roles and a Torah outlook that was engaged with the wider world.
Since then, nearly 30 graduates have gone into the pulpit, Jewish schools and other educational institutions.
The endowment then went one better by launching the first training course in the UK for future dayanim, celebrating its first graduates who included United Synagogue rabbis earlier this year.
It has also opened a scheme to train women as yoatzot halachah, advisers in certain areas of Jewish law, funded gap year students to study in Israel and run a diploma course for adults.
Gubbay has helped with translations for prayerbooks for the S & P and four years ago compiled Memorable Sephardi Voices, a collection showcasing the halachic moderation of Sephardi rabbis, which was published by the endowment.
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Tuesday, November 26, 2024
14-Year-Old Jewish Schoolgirl Injured in Suspected Hate Crime in Stamford Hill
A 14-year-old Jewish schoolgirl was rushed to the Royal London Hospital on Monday evening after being struck by glass bottles thrown by a male attacker in Stamford Hill, according to local neighbourhood security group Shomrim.
Attack on Schoolgirls
The attack occurred on the Woodberry Down Estate as a group of visibly Jewish girls walked from a bus stop to Beis Chinuch Girls' School for a rehearsal. The attacker, positioned on a balcony, hurled around a dozen glass bottles and plates at the group, Shomrim reported.
One of the girls sustained significant head and facial injuries, including a large hematoma and cuts, and was treated at the hospital before being discharged. Shomrim stated that the girls were left "badly shaken and traumatised by the ordeal."
Evidence Suggests Intent
Shomrim indicated that the attack was premeditated, noting:
"Evidence suggests the perpetrator had prepared the bottles and plates in advance, deliberately targeting the girls due to their visibly Jewish appearance."
The force of the attack was evident, with shattered glass discovered as far as the school's front gate.
Police Investigation
The Metropolitan Police are treating the incident as a potential antisemitic hate crime. CCTV footage led officers to the suspect's flat, where an arrest inquiry was conducted at 11 p.m. on Monday. However, the suspect was not present and has yet to be located.
A police source confirmed:
"We are investigating this incident as a potential hate crime and are working to trace and apprehend the suspect."
Rising Concerns in Stamford Hill
The Stamford Hill neighbourhood, home to a large ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, has seen a troubling rise in targeted attacks. Earlier this year, a 16-year-old Jewish boy was chased by three males throwing stones. Community leaders and residents have expressed growing concerns over safety and the need for stronger protection against hate crimes.
Community Reaction
Local leaders and organizations have condemned the attack, calling for justice and increased security measures. Shomrim praised the swift response of Hatzalah emergency services, who transported the injured girl to the hospital, and the ongoing efforts of the police to investigate the incident.
This attack highlights ongoing challenges faced by Jewish communities in the UK, with calls for greater action to combat antisemitism and ensure the safety of all residents. Further updates are expected as the investigation continues.
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Monday, November 25, 2024
Chabad emissaries say 'its hard to walk down the street with visible Jewish symbol'
Since the kidnapping and murder of Rabbi Zvi Kogan, a Chabad emissary in Dubai, security measures have been heightened at Chabad centers worldwide to prepare for potential attacks or threats. However, fears and incidents of antisemitism didn't begin with this tragedy.
Around 6,000 Chabad emissaries, inspired by the vision of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, serve as beacons of Jewish life and support communities across the globe. Their mission, which began after World War II to revive Jewish identity, has grown into a global network of outreach and connection.
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Friday, November 22, 2024
Texas Jews are ‘deeply concerned’ about Christian material in proposed public school curriculum
Most of the time, as the senior rabbi of Temple Beth-El in San Antonio, Rabbi Mara Nathan's focus is on Jewish families. But this week, she's finding herself thinking about Christian ones, too.
That's because Texas is poised to adopt a public school curriculum that refers to Jesus as "the Messiah," asks kindergartners to study the Sermon on the Mount and presents the Crusades in a positive light.
The curriculum, Nathan said, "gives Christian children the sense that their family's religion is the only true religion, which is not appropriate for public school education, at the very least."
Nathan is among the many Texans raising concerns about the proposed reading curriculum as it nears final approval. Earlier this week, the Texas State Board of Education narrowly voted to proceed with the curriculum, called Bluebonnet Learning. A final vote is set for Friday.
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Thursday, November 21, 2024
California Jewish families sue school district over antisemitic incidents
A group of Jewish families has filed a lawsuit against Sequoia Union High School District in California, alleging the administration failed to protect students from what they describe as rampant antisemitism, discrimination, and harassment from both students and faculty members.
"Antisemitism is on the rise and somehow becoming culturally acceptable," Sam Kasle, one of the parents who filed the lawsuit, told Fox & Friends First host Carley Shimkus on Tuesday.
In an interview with Fox & Friends First, Kasle described an incident where his daughter encountered propaganda from a teacher wearing "Free Palestine" clothing. According to Kasle, during a vocabulary matching test, students were instructed to define "Palestine" as a country formally recognized by the UN in 1947. He added that the same class included a definition of Hamas as "a political party continuing the fight against Israel."
"When she brought this up to the teacher... he belittled her, made an example of her," Kasle alleged during the interview.
The legal action highlights several similar incidents that began following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack in Israel that resulted in over 1,200 deaths and sparked the ongoing war with the terrorist organization. Since the war's outbreak, thousands of protests have emerged across US college campuses.
According to the lawsuit, SUHSD officials and teachers allegedly distributed antisemitic materials, permitted anti-Jewish jokes and slurs, and reportedly advised Jewish students to hide their religious identities to avoid harassment.
The legal filing also describes an incident where a swastika was found etched into the pavement at Woodside High School's campus. When alerted, district authorities allegedly dismissed the symbol as "spiritual symbol[s] from Japanese Buddhism" rather than addressing it as a hate symbol, according to the lawsuit.
This trend extends beyond the district, with a recent StopAntisemitism report revealing that 72% of Jewish college students in the USA feel "unwelcome" on their campuses, with more than half reporting experiences of antisemitic incidents.
Kasle and other parents expressed disappointment with the district's response. "The administration basically circled the wagons over the past year," he told Fox & Friends First. "And regardless of their formal processes, they really didn't lift a finger. Their number one responsibility is not to protect themselves or the teachers, but to protect the children."
When reached for comment by Fox & Friends First, the Sequoia Union High School District did not respond.
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Wednesday, November 20, 2024
4 University of Rochester students arrested over 'wanted' posters targeting Jewish staff members
Four students were arrested on felony charges after buildings at the University of Rochester in New York were defaced with "wanted" posters targeting several Jewish faculty members, officials said.
The four students were charged with felony criminal mischief and a fifth is being investigated, Quchee Collins, the university public safety chief, said in a news release Tuesday.
Their names have not been released.
"I am incredibly satisfied that through a thorough investigation we were able to identify those who are allegedly responsible and hold them accountable for the deliberate and deplorable actions targeted toward members of our University community, including members of our Jewish population," Collins said.
University President Sarah Mangelsdorf said she was "saddened" that members of the school community were harassed and intimidated.
"The posters identifying faculty, staff, and board members have instilled credible fear among those depicted, their families, and other members of our Jewish community," Mangelsdorf said in a message to the community. "On behalf of my senior leadership team, the Board of Trustees, and myself, I want to underscore that antisemitism will not be tolerated. I want each of those who were targeted to know that they have our wholehearted support."
The university Department of Public Safety was made aware of the posters last week and immediately began removing them. Collins had said taking down the posters was challenging because they had a strong adhesive that was causing "damage to walls, floors, chalkboards, and other surfaces."
They were found in buildings across campus, including classrooms.
The posters named certain university staff members and professors, alleging war crimes related to the conflict in Gaza, NBC affiliate WHEC of Rochester reported.
Collins said that the incident does not "meet the legal threshold for being a hate crime" but that that could change "over the course of the legal proceedings."
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Monday, November 18, 2024
Attempted Robbery of Jewish Man in Brooklyn Puts Orthodox Community on Edge
The Jewish community in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York was the target of another attack on Thursday evening, as three men attempted to rob a Hasidic man after stalking him through the neighborhood.
Footage of the incident was shared on X/Twitter by Yaacov Behrman, liaison of Chabad Headquarters and founder of the Jewish Future Alliance (JFA) nonprofit. It shows the men, whose faces were concealed by hoods and ski masks, chasing the man into the street and through the neighborhood after attempting to accost him.
No arrests have been made.
"He doesn't give in easily, and I don't think they got anything," Behrman tweeted. "The Jewish Future Alliance is deeply concerned not only about the increase in crime but also the fact that, once again, the perpetrators were wearing masks. We need to reinstate mask laws."
The explosion of an antisemitic hate crime spree in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn has set the Orthodox Jewish community on edge in recent weeks.
Last Tuesday, two men beat a middle-aged Hasidic man after he refused to surrender his cell phone in compliance with what appears to have been an attempted robbery. According to multiple accounts, the assailants were two Black teenagers.
That incident was the third time in eight days that an Orthodox resident of Crown Heights was targeted for violence and humiliation. Before then, an African American male smacked a 13-year-old Jewish boy who was commuting to school on his bike in the heavily neighborhood, which is heavily Jewish, and less than a week earlier, an assailant slashed a visibly Jewish man in the face.
Most recently, a masked man was caught on video approaching a visibly Jewish father walking with his two sons and grabbing one of the children in broad daylight. He was unable to secure possession of the child, whose father fought back immediately and did not let go of his son. Police later identified the man as Stephan Stowe, 28 — a suspect gang member with an extensive criminal history which includes 33 prior arrests — and arrested him for attempted kidnapping and endangering the welfare of a child.
In each case, the suspect was allegedly a Black male, a pattern of conduct which continues to strain Black-Jewish relations across the Five Boroughs.
Black-on-Jewish crime is a social issue which has been studied before. In 2022, a report published by Americans Against Antisemitism (AAA) showed that Orthodox Jews were the minority group most victimized by hate crimes in New York City and that 69 percent of their assailants were African American. Seventy-seven percent of the incidents took place taking in predominantly Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods in Brooklyn. Of all assaults that prompted criminal proceedings, just two resulted in convictions.
"We've never seen anything like this," AAA founder and former New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D) told The Algemeiner. "Shouldn't there be a plan for how we're going to deal with it? What's the answer? Education? We've been educating everybody forever for God's sake, and things are just getting worse."
The problem has become acute in recent years. In July 2023, for example, a 22-year-old Israeli Yeshiva student, who was identifiably Orthodox and visiting New York City for the summer holiday, was stabbed with a screwdriver by one of two men who attacked him after asking whether he was Jewish and had any money. The other punched him in the face. Earlier that year, 10- and 12-year-olds were attacked on Albany Avenue by four African American teens.
According to a report issued in August by New York state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, antisemitic incidents accounted for a striking 65 percent of all felony hate crimes in New York City last year. The report added that throughout the state, nearly 44 percent of all recorded hate crime incidents and 88 percent of religious-based hate crimes targeted Jewish victims.
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Friday, November 08, 2024
Hasidic Man Attacked in Third Antisemitic Assault in Brooklyn in Eight Days
An antisemitic hate crime spree in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York struck its latest victim on Wednesday, wreaking an "excruciating" beating on a middle-aged Hasidic man.
According to Yaacov Behrman, a liaison for Chabad Headquarters — the main New York base of the Hasidic movement — the victim was accosted by two assailants, one masked, who "chased and beat him" after he refused to surrender his cell phone in compliance with what appears to have been an attempted robbery.
"The victim is in excruciating pain and is currently in the emergency room," Behrman tweeted. "The police are investigating the incident."
The perpetrators were two Black teenagers, according to COLlive.com, an Orthodox Jewish news outlet.
Tuesday's attack was the third time in eight days that an Orthodox resident of Crown Heights was targeted for violence and humiliation. In each case, the assailant was allegedly a Black male, a pattern of conduct which continues to strain Black-Jewish relations across the Five Boroughs.
On Monday morning, an African American male smacked a 13-year-old Jewish boy who was commuting to school on his bike in the heavily Jewish Crown Heights neighborhood
Less than a week earlier, an assailant slashed a visibly Jewish man in the face as he was walking in Brooklyn.
Numerous antisemitic hate crimes have occurred in Crown Heights in recent years. In July 2023, for example, a 22-year-old Israeli Yeshiva student, who was identifiably Orthodox and visiting New York City for the summer holiday, was stabbed with a screwdriver by one of two men who attacked him after asking whether he was Jewish and had any money. The other punched him in the face. Earlier that year, 10- and 12-year-olds were attacked on Albany Avenue by four African American teens.
According to a report issued in August by New York state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, antisemitic incidents accounted for a striking 65 percent of all felony hate crimes in New York City last year. The report added that throughout the state, nearly 44 percent of all recorded hate crime incidents and 88 percent of religious-based hate crimes targeted Jewish victims.
Meanwhile, according to a recent Algemeiner review of New York City Police Department (NYPD) hate crimes data, 385 antisemitic hate crimes have struck the New York City Jewish community since last October, when the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas perpetrated its Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, unleashing a wave of anti-Jewish hatred unlike any seen in the post-World War II era.
Beyond New York, anti-Jewish hate crimes in the US spiked to a record high last year, and American Jews were the most targeted of any religious group in the country, according to a report published by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in September.
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Tuesday, November 05, 2024
Jewish boy slapped in Orthodox Crown Heights neighbourhood of NYC
A 13-year-old Jewish boy was slapped in the face on his way to school in the Crown Heights neighbourhood of Brooklyn on Monday, prompting outrage amongst New York City's Orthodox Jewish community at the city's lack of action against rising antisemitism in the area.
Local Jewish leader Yaacov Behrman posted on X that the boy had been "riding his bike between Winthrop and Clarkson, near the hospital, when a man slapped him," adding that "he arrived at school shaken."
According to multiple accounts cited by NYC-based newspaper Algemeiner, the assailant was a black male.
Behrman, who is a liaison for Chabad Headquarters, the main New York hub for the Hasidic movement, said the school contacted the boy's parents as well as Crown Heights Shomrim, a neighbourhood patrol organisation that also monitors local antisemitism. Behrman also noted that the boy had filed a police report.
The incident marks the second assault on an Orthodox Jewish person in the Brooklyn neighbourhood in just a week, after a 30-year-old Jewish man was slashed in the face by an assailant last Tuesday.
"I'm fuming to the point I've got a migraine… You have kids who are 13 or 14 and have grown up with the attitude of 'if you get assaulted in the street, just take it because nothing is gonna be done'," Yisraeli Eliashiv, a teacher of the boy who was assaulted on Monday, told Algemeiner. "Those are the symptoms not of a sick but of a dead and decaying society.:
Eliashiv added that the assailant, who remains at large, "smacked [the boy] across the face for no reason other than hate. Thankfully, he got away before anything else happened."
According to Algemeiner, Eliashiv noted that his student did not initially think to notify the police because he did not believe the assailant would receive any punishment.
Crown Heights is home to a significant portion of the New York Jewish community, with Hasidic Jews representing roughly 25 per cent of the neighbourhood's population. It has also been the site of numerous crimes against Jewish residents in recent months, with over 385 antisemitic hate crimes taking place in the area since the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023, according to a review of the New York City Police Department's (NYPD) hate crimes data.
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Monday, November 04, 2024
Young Jewish-Iranian man executed by Islamic Republic
Arvin Nathaniel Ghahremani, a twenty-year-old Iranian Jewish man, was executed in the Islamic Republic of Iran on Monday morning, Iran Human Rights and Israeli media reported.
Iran Human Rights is an NGO that tracks executions carried out by the Islamist regime in Tehran.
According to the organization, Ghahremani was arrested at the age of 18 on murder charges and was subsequently handed a death sentence.
The young man was reportedly executed at Kermanshah Central Prison.
Why was he sentenced to death?
Ghahremani's execution was postponed by Tehran authorities in May. He was sentenced to death over the alleged murder of Amir Shokri, who died following a street fight two years ago.
Advocates petitioned the court for a retrial but were rejected.
Ghahremani was reportedly ambushed outside a gym by Shokri and seven other men, according to documents obtained by the New York Post, and he fought back to defend himself.
The young Iranian Jew was sentenced to qisas, a sharia law. Shokri's family needed to forgive Ghahremani for the alleged killing in order to spare his life.
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Friday, November 01, 2024
Illegal immigrant accused of shooting Jewish man and police charged with hate crime
The suspect who shot and injured a 39-year-old Jewish man and fired at first responders in Chicago is facing felony charges.
Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi is believed to have targeted people of Jewish faith at Rogers Park during the weekend.
Detectives sifted through digital evidence to establish this case. Evidence from the offender's phone indicated he planned the shooting and specifically targeted people of Jewish faith. This evidence, allowed us to secure the terrorism and hate crime charges," Chicago Police Department Superintendent Larry Snelling said at a news conference Thursday.
Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx said, "We were able to determine that this individual plotted this particular community, sought out this particular community, sought out this particular faith, that the efforts to engage in this crime were not spur of the moment. They were not simply to rattle at the time, but to inflict terror.
Evidence shows Abdallahi was working alone, Snelling added.
Authorities have said the 22-year-old suspect fired several shots at the man who was walking to Temple on Saturday morning. He then fired at responding police officers and paramedics several times. Police returned fire, striking the gunman. Abdallahi, who was injured, remains hospitalized and hasn't been interviewed.
At the same news conference, Mayor Brandon Johnson and Foxx highlighted the city's zero-tolerance policy for antisemitism and the commitment to justice and community safety.
"There is absolutely no place in Chicago, for antisemitism. There's no place in our city or hatred directed towards our Jewish community," said Johnson."My administration and I, are committed to continuing this work with our partners across the city, to again ensure that we are all working together to put an end to the hatred towards our Jewish siblings. Antisemitism in Chicago does not reflect the soul of Chicago."
This charge sends a clear message any acts that seek to destabilize our communities through fear and hatred will face the fullest measure of accountability under the lost by simply hate has no choice," said Foxx.
Abdallah was also charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery, aggravated discharge of a firearm, and attempted murder of a police officer.
Abdallahi is a Mauritanian national who was encountered by U.S. Border Patrol in San Ysidro, California, on March 31, 2023, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement provided to CNN.
ICE "lodged an immigration detainer with Cook County Jail" on Tuesday, following Abdallahi's arrest, agency spokesperson Erin Bultje disclosed in the statement.
The shooting victim was released from the hospital on Saturday.
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