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Adas Yeshurun Herzlia Congregation to present famed anti-terrorist fighter Nitsana Darshan-Leitner

How much responsibility do social media groups bear for fomenting terrorist and extremist behaviour?
That question lies at the heart of a momentous lawsuit that has been making its way through the US legal system and which is about to be decided by the United States Supreme Court this June.
The driving force behind the legal challenge, which aims to curb the ability of social media giants to serve as conduits for terrorist messaging, is Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, head of Shurat Ha-Din (or the Israel Law Centre, as it is known in English).
On Sunday, May 7, Darshan-Leitner will appear live from Israel via Zoom to explain how, for years, Shurat Ha-Din has been using the courts in various countries, to attempt to mitigate the terrible toll that terrorist activities have had on Jews and non-Jews alike, in Israel and beyond.

Following is some background information about Shurat Ha-Din’s latest court challenge:
Terror and extremist groups have been using social media to broadcast hateful propaganda, incite murder, recruit members, disseminate orders, and generate donations for 3 decades. We have grown accustomed to videos of terror attacks and photos of terrorists celebrating death and mayhem around the world. The world stood by helplessly as the expanding power of social media shaped opinion and fostered intolerance. Meanwhile, social media platforms have done little to address the toxicity that festers online, and social media shareholders have profited from growing viewership and use.
Social media platform owners have consistently rejected responsibility for their role in supporting terror because Section 230 of the US 1996 Communication Decency Act states that “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.”
Section 230 has provided terrorists with unlimited opportunities to promote themselves and their actions on social media platforms for 22 years – in spite of the 2001 Anti-Terrorism Act forbidding US companies and citizens from providing support to designated terrorist groups.
Shurat HaDin – Israel Law Center shifted attention from interrupting terror financing to understanding California-based social media giants’ role when terror groups started urging online followers to commit lone-wolf attacks in Israel in 2014. Dozens of Israelis were killed, and scores of by-standers were wounded in a series of stabbings and car-ramming attacks during “the Facebook Intifada”.
Shurat HaDin realized that social media algorithms amplified terrorist messages, and suspected complaints about hateful content were handled subjectively if at all. To prove their suspicion, Shurat HaDin created 2 identical posts targeting different groups, and then raised concerns with Google. The post targeting Arabs was immediately removed. The post targeting Jews remained online. 
Shurat HaDin reached out to Facebook to demand that proprietary algorithms be created to block dangerous content. When those efforts failed, Shurat HaDin sued on behalf of the victims of the Facebook Intifada in state and federal courts and lost. Section 230 was interpreted at every level of the judiciary to protect Facebook, even though aiding and abetting the murder of Jews, Israelis and American citizens was illegal and in direct conflict with anti-terrorism legislation.
When ISIS murdered 130 people in Paris on November 13, 2015,  the sole American casualty was a twenty-three-year-old exchange student named Nohemi Gonzalez. Her parents sued Google, arguing that the tech giant used its algorithms to promote and recommend terrorist videos and propaganda for profit in direct violation of the Anti-Terrorism Act. Faced with Google’s army of attorneys and lobbyists, Shurat HaDin again repeatedly lost in state and federal courts.
Nohemi’s parents remained resolute and after years of legal defeat, the US Supreme Court decided it would hear their case, Gonzalez vs. Google. Oral arguments were presented by Shurat HaDin lawyers in February 2023, and a ruling is expected in June 2023. If the Supreme Court decides in favour of Big Tech, Congress has already indicated it will amend the law. The Internet will be radically altered because of the unrelenting efforts of Shurat HaDin on behalf of terror victims around the world.
Nitsana Darshan – Leitner, President of Shurat HaDin – Israel Law Centre, will join us live from Israel to discuss her team’s remarkable journey to the US Supreme Court on Sunday, May 7th. You are invited to attend Nitsana’s Zoom presentation in person at Adas Yeshurun Herzlia, 620 Brock Street at 12:30 pm, or watch via Zoom from home. A dessert reception will follow the presentation at the synagogue. Contact Adas Yeshurun at 204-489-6262 or reception@adasyeshurun.ca for more information.

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First year medical student Tim Rozovsky founds new association for local Jewish medical students

By MYRON LOVE In the face of a concerning surge in antisemitism over the past nearly three years, I am happy to report a good news story in that regard.  Tim Rozovsky, the founder of the new Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba, reports that he and his fellow Jewish students enrolled in the University of Manitoba’s Max Rady College of Medicine are not experiencing any significant issues involving antisemitism.
Hopefully, the matter of the notorious Med school Valedictorian who used his podium to attack Israel was a one-off.
“My goal in forming the Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba,” says the first year medical student, “was to create a safe, supportive environment for my fellow Jewish medical students.”
He reports that the current first year class at the school has eight Jewish students – an increase over more recent years – with maybe a dozen more in the other years.
For a new medical student, Rozovsky already has an impressive resume. He was born in Russia and grew up in Israel. After the completion of his army service in 2018, the then-22-year-old rejoined his parents, Dr. Katya and Alexander, who had moved to Winnipeg a few years before.  
Prior to coming to Winnipeg, Rozovsky had completed a personal trainer program out of The Academic College at Wingate in Jerusalem. Some readers may know the young man from his work as a Master Personal Trainer at the Rady JCC.
Shortly after arriving here, he enrolled in a kinesiology program at the University of Winnipeg. He graduated with a BKin Honours in 2023 and did post graduate work at the University of Manitoba. Last fall, he received his MSc in Physiology and Pathophysiology  – earning two gold medals, along with 32 awards and scholarships in the process.
Rozovsky says that it was his mother who inspired him to pursue a career in medicine. Dr. Katya Rozovsky is an associate professor at the University of Manitoba and an attending radiologist, specializing in pediatric diagnostic imaging. 
(Tim also adds that his wife, Irina Gelzin, whom he married about a year ago, is training to be a nurse.)
Insofar as the  Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba is concerned, Rozovky reports that the group gets together multiple times a year. One of its programs was a joint Chanukah celebration with the Jewish Physicians Association of Manitoba.
There was also a joint program with the Christian Medical and Dental Students’ Association of Manitoba.
“More recently, we have been helping prospective Jewish medical students with their applications,” he says. “Hopefully we will be able to get together over the summer with the incoming Jewish students.”
As to his own future plans, Rozovsky notes that it is too early for him to be deciding on a specialty.  “My goal,” he says, “is to work hard and get good grades and become the best doctor that I can be.”

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Gray Academy to Represent Manitoba at National Reach for the Top Competition

Gray Academy staff (l-r): Daniele Miller, Lindsey Leipsic, Nick Maier

By NOAH STRAUSS Posted June 6) Gray Academy’s Reach for the Top team is headed to Moncton, New Brunswick, to represent Manitoba at the National Reach for the Top tournament.
Reach for the Top is a Canadian school league that quizzes teenagers on a variety of different topics, from science and history to pop culture. Reach started out in 1961 in Vancouver, where a local CBC station broadcasted the new show; it eventually became a national broadcast starting in 1966. Alex Trebek, who famously hosted Jeopardy!, started out by hosting Reach for the Top.
Gray Academy’s very own team, made up of Grade 7 and 8 students, will travel to Moncton, New Brunswick, to compete as Team Manitoba. By winning the provincial Reach tournament, they secured their spot in the national competition.
Faculty members at Gray Academy are very supportive of the program. The Jewish Post spoke with three different staff members at the school. Coach and high school teacher Danielle Miller says she is excited for the trip; although she will not be accompanying the team herself, shehas coached them all year.
“This year we had over 20 students come to the club to join us, they practice twice a cycle at lunch,” Miller said. Due to the large turnout this year, two teams had to be formed. At lunch practices, students split into two teams of four where each player has a buzzer. The two teams compete to see who can answer the most questions correctly.
One of the two teams did exceptionally well at various tournaments throughout the year and will be traveling to nationals as the sole team representing Manitoba.
Co-coach Micah Doerksen described Reach as a great academic competition where young minds are tested on various topics through quick,fast-paced questions.
High school guidance counselor Lindsey Leipsic said, “We have athletes, non-athletes, we have students who are really involved and students who are not as involved at school, and we have quiet leaders, and we’ve seen friendships be built in Reach.” Some of her favorite memories of Reach involve seeing students from across Winnipeg come to Gray Academy and bond with one another. Lev Chisick, who is competing at nationals, agreed, saying, “Moncton is going to strengthen our school spirit and make us a better team.”
As the junior team makes their way to Moncton, the senior team will head to provincials. Later this week, students from the senior team will travel to Virden, Manitoba, to compete at the provincial level. The team qualified after placing high enough at their most recent tournament, which took place at St. Paul’s.
Confidence is high as the school heads into these final tournaments. When Nath Goldenberg, who is also competing at nationals, was asked what he is most looking forward to, his answer was short and sweet:“Winning.”

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