From the New Council of Young Israel:
http://cts.vresp.com/c/?NationalCouncilofYou/cccbdad4a8/ab42b46ab1/a3ccfac09a
ITEMS OF INTERNATIONAL JEWISH INTERESTInteresting News Items From Around The World That You May Not Have Seen,
But Should Definitely Read1) The top American commander in the Middle East has ordered a broad expansion of clandestine military activity in an effort to disrupt militant groups or counter threats in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and other countries in the region, according to defense officials and military documents.
The secret directive, signed in September by Gen. David H. Petraeus, authorizes the sending of American Special Operations troops to both friendly and hostile nations in the Middle East, Central Asia and the Horn of Africa to gather intelligence and build ties with local forces. Officials said the order also permits reconnaissance that could pave the way for possible military strikes in Iran if tensions over its nuclear ambitions escalate.
While the Bush administration had approved some clandestine military activities far from designated war zones, the new order is intended to make such efforts more systematic and long term, officials said. Its goals are to build networks that could “penetrate, disrupt, defeat or destroy” Al Qaeda and other militant groups, as well as to “prepare the environment” for future attacks by American or local military forces, the document said. The order, however, does not appear to authorize offensive strikes in any specific countries.
In broadening its secret activities, the United States military has also sought in recent years to break its dependence on the Central Intelligence Agency and other spy agencies for information in countries without a significant American troop presence.
General Petraeus’s order is meant for small teams of American troops to fill intelligence gaps about terror organizations and other threats in the Middle East and beyond, especially emerging groups plotting attacks against the United States.
To continue reading this story, click here
(Courtesy of the New York Times)
2) The governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency next month are to discuss nuclear proliferation in the Middle East, the target perversely being the one country in the region whose atomic threat is zero.
That is, of course, not Iran, which has been defiantly enriching weapons-grade uranium. It's Israel, which may or may not possess the bomb as a last-ditch deterrent against being overrun by a ring of enemies.
For almost half a century, the U.S. has backed Israel in cloaking its nuclear capabilities in doubt. This strategic ambiguity has enhanced regional stability in that would-be invaders need worry about risking a strike by launching all-out war.
Now, though, in one more break with the principles that have undergirded American-Israeli relations, the Obama administration has fed momentum at the IAEA and at the United Nations for pressuring Israel to reveal its nuclear secrets on the way to forced disarmament, assuming that Israel is, in fact, a nuclear state.
President Obama must dramatically reverse course. He must apply U.S. muscle to push the IAEA into removing scrutiny of "Israeli nuclear capabilities" from its upcoming agenda. And he must extricate America from an attempt to enforce a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Mideast.
To continue reading this editorial, click here
(Courtesy of the New York Daily News)
3) Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger wrote an enlightening article entitled “No Demographic Time Bomb; It's Demographic Scarecrow Bomb,” in which he debunks the myth that the number of Jews in the State of Israel is shrinking, relative to the “growth” of the Arab population.
“Anyone suggesting that Jews are doomed to become a minority between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean is either dramatically mistaken or outrageously misleading.
In contrast with conventional ‘wisdom,’ there is a Jewish majority of 67% in the combined area of pre-1967 Israel and Judea & Samaria and a 60% majority west of the Jordan River (including Gaza), compared with a 33% and a 8% Jewish minority in 1947 and in 1900 respectively.
The robust Jewish demographic tailwind and Arab demographic headwind are demonstrated through the absolute annual number of Jewish and Arab births in pre-1967 Israel. While the annual number of Arab births stabilized at 39,000 during 1995-2009, the annual number of Jewish births surged by 50% from 80,400 in 1995 to 121,000 in 2009.
The number of Judea & Samaria Arabs is artificially inflated by 66%. It is 1.55MN and not 2.5MN. Thus, the World Bank documents a 32% ‘inflation’ in the number of Palestinian births, a substantial erosion of the Palestinian fertility rate and a significant escalation of Arab emigration from Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Documented entries and exits via international passages feature a 20,000 net Arab emigration from Judea & Samaria in 2009, 17,000 and 14,000 in 2008 and 2007 respectively and only six years of net-immigration since 1950.
The significant decline in Arab population growth rate has been caused by an intensive family planning campaign, an unprecedented reduction of teen-pregnancy, a swift urbanization process, an all-time-high divorce rate and median wedding-age, an impressive expansion of education especially among women and enhanced career mentality among women.
In contrast with international demographic standards, the Palestinians include some 400,000 overseas residents in their census. They also include 250,000 Jerusalem Arabs, who bear Israeli I.D. cards and are therefore doubly-counted: as Israeli Arabs by Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics and as West Bank Arabs by the Palestinians.
Demographic doom’s day projections have been refuted drastically and systematically since the launching of the Zionist voyage by Theodore Herzl. The founders of the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics and their successors have underestimated Jewish fertility, overestimated Arab fertility, ignored Arab emigration and downplayed Aliya prospects. In the 1940s, they projected 2.3MN Jews in the Land of Israel in 2001. They were off by 3.5MN Jews! They dismissed Ben Gurion’s assessments of one million Olim in the 1950s and ridiculed the suggestion that an additional million Olim would arrive from the USSR during the 1990s.
In 2010, there is a demographic problem, but there is no demographic machete at Israel's throat. Most importantly, the demographic tailwind is Jewish, not Arab. Refuted demographic fatalism should be replaced with well-documented optimism, thus expanding security, political, strategic, diplomatic and economic options for Israel.”
4) Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Dr. Shimon Shapira, a senior research associate at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, wrote an article entitled “The Fantasy of Hizbullah Moderation,” in which he analyzes American efforts to build up “moderate elements” within Hizbullah. Dr. Shapira examines the terrorist tendencies of Hizbullah, and explains that despite what the U.S. may think, it is not simply a Lebanese political group, but rather a dangerous terrorist organization that must be stopped.
“Misreading Hizbullah can lead to policy errors. In 2000 it was popularly thought that if Israel unilaterally withdrew from southern Lebanon, then Hizbullah would lose its motivation to keep fighting and would dissolve into a political party that would disarm. Yet it was precisely after the Israeli pullout when Hizbullah began its massive build-up of rockets, including long-range Iranian rockets that were ultimately used in the 2006 Second Lebanon War.
Some analysts have also tried to identify moderate trends in Hizbullah by drawing a false distinction between its ‘military wing’ and its ‘political wing."’ This differentiation between different wings of Hizbullah was advanced by the British government in early 2009. As Middle East expert Tony Badran has astutely observed, this is a false distinction. As he notes, Nasrallah’s deputy, Naim Qassem, told the Los Angeles Times last year that Hizbullah’s leadership controls both the social welfare work of the organization as well as its jihadi activities: ‘The same leadership that directs the parliamentary and government work also leads jihad actions.’ In other words, Hizbullah is a highly centralized organization. Hizbullah’s own analysis of itself contradicts what Brennan has been writing and stating in recent years.
Today, saying that Hizbullah has moderate elements that have moved away from terrorism can lead the political echelons in the West to ignore how Hizbullah is serving its Iranian sponsors by directly threatening Israel’s civilian population. On May 20, 2010, Hizbullah military sources boasted to the Kuwaiti daily al-Rai that Israel will be bombarded with 15 tons of explosives a day if a future war breaks out. Hizbullah clearly does not care about the implications of its military build-up for the people of Lebanon, because it only seeks to serve the interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
To read “The Fantasy of Hizbullah Moderation” in its entirety, click here
5) Mort Zuckeman wrote an opinion piece in U.S. News & World Report entitled “Israel Is a Key Ally and Deserves U.S. Support.” Zuckerman makes a number of salient points about the importance of a strong bond between the United States and Israel and discusses why it so critical that the U.S. solidify its relationship with the Jewish State.
“America's peace broker in the Middle East, George Mitchell, has a hot summer ahead. He will shuttle the few miles between the offices of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. He's already begun what looks to be a long, niggling process of shuttle diplomacy in which the Israelis and Palestinians will not meet face to face, leaving it to Mitchell to try to reconcile the differences that stand in the way of creating the Palestinian state that the Israelis have agreed to in principle.
If the Obama administration wants to leave any kind of decent mark in history for its handling of the Middle East—pretty poor so far—it should do something right now that would clear the air and save Mitchell the four months he's allocated. It's simple. Just invite the Palestinians to do what the Israelis have done for decades, which is to declare in the language of their own people that both sides have genuine claims to this land, that both sides have the right to live in peace, and that a viable compromise is possible. If the Palestinians were to publicly begin the process of reversing Yasser Arafat's relentless delegitimization of the Israeli connection with this land, emblemized by his dismissal of the notion of a Jewish temple in Jerusalem, they would achieve the simultaneous feat of preparing their people for compromise and persuading Israel of its viability. The Palestinian leadership has all along made an honorable peace impossible by falsely stating that the Jews have no legitimate claims to any of the land.
The Israelis are clearly prepared to live with a Palestinian state along their borders. The trouble is precisely that the Palestinians are not. Every day, Fatah (to say nothing of Hamas and Hezbollah) continues to preach Israel's illegitimacy and beat the drums of hate. Jerusalem and Bethlehem provide a lesson in what tolerance means to the Jews and what it means to the Arabs. In Jerusalem, it is only since the Israelis took control of that city that all faiths—Christians, Muslims, and Jews—had safe access to all the holy sites, in living testimony of the principle of freedom of religion. By contrast, in Bethlehem, which is controlled by the Palestinians, Christian cemeteries, churches, and individuals are frequently attacked, provoking an exodus of Christians from the town of Jesus's birth. Fifty years ago, Christians made up 70 percent of Bethlehem's population; today, it is about 15 percent.”
To continue reading “Israel Is a Key Ally and Deserves U.S. Support,” click here
6) In “Reclaiming Language from the Left,” writer Caroline Glick examines how we “have become so overwhelmed by the Left’s propaganda that most of our political leaders and intellectual elite are incapable of even describing the evil that it being advanced against us.”
“Over the past generation, the Left has commandeered our language. It has inverted the terminology of human rights, freedom, morality, heroism, democracy and victimization. Its perversion of language has made it nearly impossible for members of democratic, human rights respecting, moral societies to describe the threats they face from their human rights destroying, genocidal, tyrannical enemies. Thanks to the efforts of the international Left, the latter are championed as the victims of those they seek to annihilate.”
To read “Reclaiming Language from the Left” in its entirety, click here
7) U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and senior members of the House Republican conference introduced the American Self-Defense Protection Act, which is designed to protect U.S. troops from politically-motivated prosecution by the unaccountable International Criminal Court (ICC) as well as to ensure the sovereignty and right to self-defense of the U.S., Israel, and our other democratic allies.
The ICC, and the broad-based power that it possesses, poses a danger to the United States and Israel. With virtually unfettered and unchecked authority, the ICC could choose to charge the U.S. or Israel with “war crimes” because of flawed, politically-based reasons. The danger exists that the ICC may be used as a means through which enemies of the U.S. and Israel could manipulate the process and level serious charges against them that could have widespread repercussions in the international community.
“I completely reject the notion that the International Criminal Court should be allowed to charge U.S. troops serving in Afghanistan and elsewhere with ‘war crimes’ and place their lives at the mercy of unaccountable, politicized international ‘courts,’ said Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen. “The ICC Prosecutor’s claims of jurisdiction over U.S. and NATO operations in Afghanistan, and his decision to consider exercising jurisdiction over our ally Israel’s self-defense measures in Gaza, clearly indicates the ICC is following the same anti-U.S., anti-Israel, anti-freedom path as other international efforts, like the UN Human Rights Council and its Goldstone Report.
“Upcoming attempts to define an amorphous and easily-exploitable ‘crime of aggression’ at the ICC review conference to be held at the end of this month illustrate just how easily the ICC could be used by anti-freedom forces eager to target government leaders from the U.S., Israel, and other democracies over policy disagreements.
“The U.S. is a free, democratic nation which adheres to and upholds the rule of law. Its government is accountable to the American people,” continued Ros-Lehtinen. The legitimacy and legality of the actions undertaken by our troops are derived from this accountability and constitutional parameters. The same holds true for our democratic ally Israel, which is also being targeted by the ICC. Congress must act now to deny this court support or legitimacy, and to protect Americans, Israelis, and other democratic nations from the ICC.”
8) Pastor John C. Hagee, the founder and chairman of Christians United for Israel, wrote an opinion piece in the Jewish Daily Forward entitled “Why Christian Zionists Really Support Israel.” In his article, Pastor Hagee explains the Christian Zionists staunch support of the State of Israel, and while acknowledging that there are those in the Jewish community who may question the motivations of Christians who support Israel, Pastor Hagee makes an appeal that any skeptics make an effort to understand why he and so many other members of the Christian faith consistently stand with Israel.
“As is the case for many Jews, our support for Israel starts with God’s promises in the Hebrew Bible, but it does not end there. Christian Zionists recognize that we owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the Jewish people. As I have stressed to my Christian audiences for years: If you take away the Jewish contribution to Christianity, there would be no Christianity. From the patriarchs to the prophets, from Jesus and his family to the men who wrote down the Bible, Jewish people have provided us with the fundamentals of our faith.
Christian Zionists also recognize that Israel is not the cause of militant Islam’s hatred of America, but an ally in the fight against militant Islam. Until 9/11 and the ensuing events, Israel largely confronted this threat alone. And to this day the frontline of this conflict remains Israel’s backyard. But Christian Zionists understand that Israel is merely militant Islam’s first target. While American and Israeli soldiers do not fight on the same battlefield, they defend the same values.
Given the history of Christian antisemitism, I am not at all surprised that many in the Jewish community are skeptical of Christian support for Israel. Some worry that our efforts are motivated by a desire to convert Jews. Others posit that our Zionism is tied to an effort to speed the second coming of Jesus. Both of these allegations are flat wrong. All we ask of our Jewish friends is that they get to know us before they judge us harshly on the basis of myths such as these.”
To read “Why Christian Zionists Really Support Israel” in its entirety, click here
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1) On Monday, June 14th, 2010, 6:00 PM, at the “Caesars Club” at Citi Field (home of the New York Mets) in Flushing, New York, the American Friends of The Max and Ruth Schwartz Hesder Yeshiva of Sderot will hold their annual dinner. The Guests of Honor will be Aaron and Mrs. Devorah Berger, Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Yocheved Deutsch, Dr. Ben and Mrs. Aileen Kirschenbaum, Mr. Jay and Mrs. Michal Rosenberg. The 2nd Annual“Stalwart of Zion” will be presented in loving memory of Dr. Harold Nierenberg, and in honor of Jay and Judy Kaplowitz.
In order to ensure recognition in the program, reservations must be made by June 4, 2010 either by phone at 516-208-3866, by email at
[email protected], or online at
www.sderot.org/dinnerWith a student body of over 500 pupils from communities all over the country, the Hesder Yeshiva of Sderot combines intense Torah study with Israel’s mandatory army service spreading a sincere love of Torah to the entire Western Negev region. Despite the Qassam rockets, the Hesder continues to grow and to thrive and literally to build in Sderot as the ultimate Torah response to the terror.
2) The following is a story that appeared on Arutz Sheva, which discusses a boycott of all produce grown by Israelis in Judea and Samaria that was imposed by the Palestinian Authority. In light of this boycott, Jews around the world should make a concerted effort to purchase Israeli-grown produce in Yesha, and support our Jewish brethren in their time of economic need.
We are seeing a process in which every time we make another concession, we are spat upon in return,” says a top Yesha Council leader. “After Netanyahu’s two-state declaration, the Palestinians tried to have our IDF officers arrested in Europe. After we announced the construction freeze, they started calling public squares after terrorists. Now we agreed to proximity talks, and they start burning our produce.”
Naftali Bennett, director-general of the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria (Yesha), was called upon on Sunday to address the latest burning issue, that of the PA boycott of Israeli-made produce in Yesha. The boycott is a flagrant violation of the Oslo Accords – specifically, the Paris Agreement of 1994 governing economic relations between Israel and the PA. The agreement stipulates there be no trade borders between the Israeli and Palestinian Authority economies, and is predicated on fair business practices – such as no boycotts.
Leading PA officials, such as prime minister Salam Fayyad, have pushed very strongly for the boycott, and chairman Mahmoud Abbas has joined the bandwagon as well. Abbas said over the weekend that the boycott is not illegal, “because the settlements are illegal.” This, despite the fact that neither the Fourth Geneva Convention nor the original UN Resolutions 242 and 338 declare the settlements illegal.
“The government has not taken any significant action against the PA boycott,” Bennett told Arutz-7’s Hebrew newsmagazine, “except for some weak declarations of discomfort, and so the Yesha Council is trying to fill the void, together with Knesset Members.”
The Council is working on two levels: Encouraging Israelis to purchase the boycotted products, and attempting to have the government restrict PA imports.
“We have translated, from Arabic, the list of boycotted products,” Bennett said, “so that Israelis will know what they should buy [see below]. Many don’t realize that the boycott includes even products made in parts of Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley and the Golan Heights! But most important is that the government should stop PA imports. It is laughable that we allow them to trade with the world while they implement economic terrorism against us.”
A boycott of united Jerusalem areas would affect the boycotters adversely. The Har Chotsvim industrial park, adjacent to the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood which caused Biden and Obama's distress, is home to world famous Teva Pharmaceuticals and Intel, among others.
Bennett said that Israel need not fear that such a move would instigate a wave of protests against Israel. “We must stop making concessions and ignoring their aggressions,” he said. “We should have stopped the proximity talks as soon as this boycott was announced, in keeping with Netanyahu’s old policy of ‘if they give, they will get, and if they don’t give, they won’t get.’”
Israel National News has translated and abridged the Hebrew version of this list and the Yesha website has posted it in Hebrew.
Among the affected businesses are the following:
Beigel & Beigel (pretzels)
B & D (juices, rice cakes, natural spreads)
Abadi Bakery
Golan Dairy
HaSharon Fruits
Achva (halva and cookies)
Tekoa Mushrooms
Maya (spices, dry fruits)
Shamir Salads
Zahavi Yemenite Foods
Tzuriel Cheeses and Yogurts
Tara Dairies
Field Produce (nuts)
Aroma (fresh spices)
Nahar HaYarden [Jordan River] dates
Taaman (chocolates, canned foods, juices)
Achiya olive oil
Mei Eden mineral water
Adanim Tea
Super Drink
Golan Wineries
Carmel Wineries
Barkan Wineries
Rav Bariach locks and doors
Schick Design furniture
Beitili furniture
Fried blankets, towels
Carmel carpets
Palphot student aids, greeting cards
Tal-El recycling
Bianco cleaning products (Nicole, scotch-brite)
Zro’ot Barkan (electronic product stands)
Multi-Lock
Supergum rubber, plastic, insulation
Brita water filters
Gazoz carbonated drinks
Progressive kitchen utensils
Adir plastics
P.V. Ran – plastic and paper
Lipsky plastic piping
Amgazit gas products
Fibertech piping
Ay Tech computer accessories
Dr. Byte computer and office accessories
Intellinet security and marketing
Zrichah Industries
AFIC printing
Ahava mineral products
Mineral Kar
3) The following is a call to action by Rabbi Pesach Lerner, the Executive Vice President, of the National Council of Young Israel, relating to a yeshiva/shul in Israel that has been slated for destruction by the Israel government. We must rise up, make our outrage know, and urge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to rescind the order of destruction.
Dear Fellow Jews:
We cannot let a yeshiva/shul in Israel be destroyed. Allow me to explain.
The following article appeared on Arutz Sheva news on Sunday, May 9, 2010:
The IDF's Civilian Administration issued a demolition order Sunday against the spacious building that houses Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva at Yitzhar, in Samaria.
Local residents believe that authorities are purposely punishing the yeshiva because of a confrontation with the IDF that took place on Independence Day, and also because security forces hold the yeshiva's students responsible for various attacks against Arabs in recent months and years, including the burning of a carpet in a mosque at the nearby village of Yassuf.
“It turns out that the authorities are making special efforts to hurt the yeshiva in an unfair and vindictive way,” a yeshiva spokesman said Sunday. “It should be noted that the building is an ornate permanent structure, with an area of 1,300 square meters, which was built with the aid of the Ministry of Housing and was approved by the various authorities to serve as an educational institution.”
The destruction order, the residents said, cited an 11 year old work-stoppage order – one that they had never heard of until now. The building took years to build and cost over $1 million.
I could not believe what I was reading. How could it possibly be that in Israel, Jews were going to destroy a yeshiva/shul building?
As I researched the situation and tried to ascertain what exactly was transpiring, it seemed obvious that the Israeli government was using the pretext of a seemingly 11-year old building violation to punish the yeshiva and its students who seemingly have become a nuisance to the government.
But to destroy a yeshiva - a place of Tefillah and Torah study - in Israel? In the event that something was amiss and the situation had to be rectified, perhaps the individuals responsible should be held accountable, but to destroy a yeshiva is quite excessive.
To continue reading this story, click here
YOUNG ISRAEL NEWS
1) In a unique ceremony Monday morning at the Beit Yaakov synagogue in Jerusalem’s Ramat Eshkol neighborhood, 52 deaf and hearing-impaired children celebrated their bar and bat mitzvas.
Proud parents, family and friends looked on as the children experienced the rite of passage with the aid of the Judaic Heritage Program for Israel’s Deaf and Hearing Impaired (JHPIDHI), sponsored by the Council of Young Israel Rabbis in Israel.
“This program works to connect [deaf and hearing impaired] children with both their own Jewish community and the greater community of Israel,” explained Rabbi Chonoch Yeres, Program Coordinator of the JHPIDHI. “The obligations for Jewish children to take part in a bar or bat mitzva has no lines or boundaries.”
Like any other bar mitzva, the boys wrapped their arms in tefillin, were draped in tallitot (prayer shawls) and received an aliya to signify their coming of age. The girls recited the hadlakat nerot, the blessing over Shabbat candles, and were called up to the pulpit for a collective recital of the Shema Yisrael prayer.
A sign language interpreter accompanied every speech and blessing.
“We are deeply proud to be able to share this stellar occasion with these young people and their families,” stated Rabbi Chaim Wasserman, president of the Council of Young Israel Rabbis in Israel. “The emotional charge seeing these challenged youth be able to participate as all others in this rite of passage in life is indescribable unless you witness the event personally.”
“After providing them with the education in Jewish religion, Jewish ethics and Jewish heritage, we bring them together in Jerusalem as the apex of the program,” said Rabbi Yeres. “This not only provides the students and families from all over Israel with a joyful visit and celebration, but a way create bonds for the future.
Started 15 years ago, the Council of Young Israel Rabbis in Israel’s Judaic heritage program works to provide the deaf, hearing impaired and deaf-blind people of Israel with religious education and the ability to serve as active Jews and people in both the religious and secular worlds.
The program receives partial sponsorship from the Jewish Agency for Israel and works in close ties with the Association of the Deaf in Israel.
(Courtesy of the Jerusalem Post)
Click here to view video of this story
To view photos from the Judaic Heritage Program for Israel’s Deaf and Hearing Impaired Bar Mitzvah celebration, click here
2) Sasson V’Simcha, Toronto, the National Council of Young Israel, the Orthodox Union, and futuresimchas.com, are sponsoring a weekend retreat for Orthodox singles between the ages of 27 and 38. The retreat will take place from Friday, May 28, 2010 through Sunday, May 30, 2010 at the Holiday Inn Grand Island, which is located at 100 Whitehaven Road in Grand Island, New York.
Six singles met their match at a previous Sasson V’Simcha weekend retreat, which typically draws singles from throughout North America, in addition to numerous matchmakers, facilitators, and speakers.
The program will feature a presentation by guest speaker Rabbi Reuven Bulka, Ph.D, a well-known author and lecturer from Ottawa, Canada; speed dating and interactive games; a great Motzei Shabbos program and Melava Malka; great workshops and fun activities; and a 24-hour Tea Room.
To register for the weekend retreat or to get more information, contact Sasson V’Simcha at (416) 256-4497, or send an email to
[email protected].
3) Shalom Singles and the National Council of Young Israel will present a unique Shabbaton for all Orthodox singles over the age of fifty. “Bashert in Baltimore!” will take place from June 11 – 13, 2010 at the Suburban Orthodox Congregation Toras Chaim, which is located at 7504 Seven Mile Lane in Baltimore, Maryland.
The cost of the Shabbaton is $180. To register or for more information, call Susan at 443-352-8538, or Wayne and Denise at 443-929-3339, or email
[email protected] or
[email protected].
The National Council of Young Israel has been addressing the needs of singles for many years and is pleased to present quality programs for a variety of ages and hashkafas. Please visit
http://www.youngisrael.org/content/connections.cfm to see what events are available throughout the United States.
For more information about the Young Israel Movement’s programs for singles, contact NCYI Director of Programming Rebbetzin Judi Steinig at 212-929-1525 x112 or by email at
[email protected].
4) National Council of Young Israel President Shlomo Z. Mostofsky will be a featured guest on an upcoming cruise organized and hosted by Suite Life Kosher Cruises. The cruise, which will feature Glatt Kosher and Cholov Yisroel gourmet cuisine, will take place from August 15-22. The cruise will be traveling to Canada and New England. Mostofsky will be joined by Rabbi Aron Galt, MD, the Assistant Rabbi at the Young Israel of Woodmere.
If you mention the National Council of Young Israel, you will receive a $300 group rate discount and a donation will also be made to NCYI. For more information, call (866) 604 9838, (732) 367 2029, or email
[email protected].
5) The Young Israel of Jamaica Estates is sponsoring a 5K Run/Walk for Israel on Sunday May 30. The 5K Run/Walk for Israel was begun in 2001 by the Young Israel of Jamaica Estates Coalition for Israel Action, Queens, New York. Begun during Israel’s first intifada, the committee’s goals continue to be to raise consciousness and funds for the assistance of Israeli terror victims. Since 2001, YIJE has raised more than half a million dollars, disbursing humanitarian aid and contributing to Israel’s security needs. The race that attracts over 500 runners takes place Sunday, May 30 at Cunningham Park and begins with Youth Sprints at 9:30 AM. For more information and 5K mega raffle with the grand prize trip to Israel and 70 other prizes, please click here
6) In honor of the 43rd Yom Yerushalayim, the National Council of Young Israel, together with more than 15 of today’s most popular Jewish music stars, have compiled a CD and MP3 of their songs about Yerushalayim, which is entitled “Songs of Jerusalem.” Over one hour of continuous music beginning with the liberation of the Old City and the famous audio file in which Colonel Motta Gur excitedly proclaims “Har Habayit b’Yadeinu” (the Temple Mount is in our hands) and ending with Shlomo Carlebach live at the Kotel, will help you appreciate the importance of maintaining a united front in order to ensure that Yerushalayim remains under Jewish control.
Some of the biggest names in the Jewish music industry are participating in the Young Israel Movement’s musical tribute to Yerushalayim, including Abie Rotenberg, Aryeh Kunstler, Avraham Fried, Blue Fringe, C Lanzbom, Chaim Dovid, Eitan Katz, JudaBlue, Rav Shlomo Carlebach, Shalsheles, Shalsheles Junior, Six13, Shlock Rock, Soulfarm, and Yaakov Chesed.
The “Songs of Jerusalem” CD can be purchased for $12, which includes shipping and handling. The cost of downloading the MP3 file is $10.
To order “Songs of Jerusalem,” download the MP3 file, or for more information, click here
7) The Spring issue of the National Council of Young Israel’s Viewpoint Magazine is available for download from our website by clicking here
The current issue features an extensive, in-depth look at Zionism and an impressive array of insightful and enjoyable articles about our Jewish homeland. Go to our website and read Viewpoint today!
8) This week’s Divrei Torah Bulletin, featuring leading Rabbis in the Young Israel Movement, can be read by clicking here. This week's Dvar Torah features Rabbi Dr. Boaz Tomsky of Congregation Oheb Zedek in Belle Harbor, New York.
9) To view previous issues of the National Council of Young Israel’s Weekly E-Update, go to
http://www.youngisrael.org/content/wu/wu.cfm10) As always, please visit our website at
www.youngisrael.org for current news from the National Council of Young Israel and Young Israel branches around the country, Divrei Torah, Political Action Alerts, and zmanim for any city.
11) We need your help so that we can continue our work on behalf of the Jewish community. The National Council of Young Israel is at the forefront of education, activism, and support for greater Eretz Yisrael, greater Jerusalem, Yehuda, and Shomron. Please join us in our endeavors in support of the State of Israel. To donate to these efforts click here
Join the National Council of Young Israel on the Internet –
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If you have any comments about our Weekly E-Update, send an email to
[email protected]Shabbat Shalom,
Shlomo Z. Mostofsky, National President
Rabbi Pesach Lerner, Executive Vice President
Topic: NCYI Newsletter - May 28th, 2010 (Read 531 times)