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A Reform synagogue in Brooklyn is holding special High Holidays services for Israelis
(New York Jewish Week) — In Israel, the right-wing government’s effort to weaken the country’s court system has divided society, with some of the fault lines forming between Orthodox and secular Jews.
Thousands of miles away, in Brooklyn, a Reform synagogue is hoping that it can provide a space for local Israelis wrestling with the crisis — and seeking to create community that transcends politics, too.
This weekend, Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope will be hosting its first Rosh Hashanah service geared toward Israelis. The service is part of a larger suite of programs at Beth Elohim aimed at bringing Israelis together to pray and practice Judaism in an atmosphere that is inviting to them.
“I wanted to make sure in that moment, when I thought people might really be feeling despair, that they have a sense that there’s going to be a chance to come together as Israelis in Brooklyn, and that CBE as an institution stands in solidarity with them,” said Rabbi Rachel Timoner, who leads Beth Elohim and announced the service in July, right after the Israeli government passed the first component of the judicial overhaul.
The initiative is an example of how the debate over the overhaul is forging new connections between Israeli and American Jews an ocean away. The Rosh Hashanah service comes about two months after a gathering of some 40 Israelis on the roof of Brooklyn’s Kane Street Synagogue on Tisha B’Av, the summer fast day that commemorates the destruction of the two ancient Jewish temples in Jerusalem. At the Tisha B’Av event, participants also lamented the passage of part of the overhaul.
Beth Elohim’s initiative is also the latest in a bevy of efforts to engage a growing community of expatriate Israelis — many of whom do not identify as religious — within traditional American Jewish institutions.
“For Israelis who didn’t grow up with a synagogue tradition, the chagim are really family time,” said Rabbi Josh Weinberg, who will be leading the service, using the Hebrew word for “holidays.” “And so in a place where they don’t have their parents or grandparents, it’s great that we can try to provide something.”
Beth Elohim has offered opportunities aimed at Israelis for years, including a dual Hebrew-English preschool. Dan Nadel, an Israeli Brooklynite and the music director at Manhattan’s B’nai Jeshurun synagogue, used to be a leader of Beth Elohim’s Shira B’ShiShi program. Hebrew for “Singing on Friday,” it was a monthly Shabbat service for Israelis that was led in Hebrew and incorporated Israeli food, song and poetry. The program ended in 2016 due to a lack of funding but Beth Elohim hopes to restart it.
“That was an easier lift in the sense that it was Friday night. There was music, food and community. It’s a recipe for success if you do all those things,” said Nadel. “High Holidays are a different kind of challenge.”
The High Holiday services — which will also meet on Yom Kippur and take place alongside the synagogue’s main service — will be conducted entirely in Hebrew and will incorporate modern Israeli music and poetry. Attendees can expect to hear classic Israeli folk songs like “Al Kol Eleh,” a 1980 standard by Naomi Shemer about the “bitter and sweet” of life, as well as more modern tunes from artists like Ishay Ribo, an Israeli Orthodox pop star who played to a crowd of 15,000 at Madison Square Garden last week.
“An Israeli folk song can actually take on a different dimension when it’s used as a part of the tefillah,” said Weinberg, using the Hebrew word for “prayer.” Weinberg, a Beth Elohim member and the Union for Reform Judaism’s vice president for Israel and Reform Zionism, immigrated to Israel in 2003 and spent a decade there before returning to the United States.
Weinberg added that the services for Israelis are not bound to the traditional framework typically used in American Reform spaces. He would not say how many attendees he expects but said he hopes to “fill the room” and will be happy “as long as they make a minyan,” or prayer quorum of 10 people.
“We really need to aim at a cross-section of Israelis, mostly a secular crowd, that doesn’t have a great deal of synagogue experience,” Weinberg said. “So we are going to include a lot of music, singing, discussion, and learning.”
The services will also commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, a conflict that, in Israel, is mourned as a tragedy in which many families lost loved ones.
Israelis at the service will sing “Lu Yehi,” also by Shemer, which she wrote during the Yom Kippur War as a prayer for Israel’s safety. It was originally inspired by the Beatles’ classic “Let it Be,” and is understood by many Israelis to capture the grief of war and the hope for a brighter future.
There will also be opportunities for attendees to study with each other from source sheets that include both classical Jewish texts and modern sources. Discussion themes will include repentance, new beginnings, Zionism and forgiveness. Weinberg hopes that the High Holiday services will be the start of more Israeli gatherings in Brooklyn, whether or not they are related to the political situation in Israel.
“It’s a diverse group, and people have different opinions and different political leanings,” said Weinberg. “Still, I think it’s an opportunity for people to come together, and to really find more community, a connection to Judaism, to spirituality, and to find a way to celebrate these holidays together.”
For many prospective attendees, finding community at a synagogue will mark a shift. In Israel, the vast majority of congregations are Orthodox, and a large portion of secular Israelis rarely if ever spend time inside them. Religious Jewish Israelis are a key part of the current government’s base, and Omer Granit, another Brooklyn-based Israeli, said some secular Israelis associate Orthodoxy with right-wing politics. Multiple Israelis said that, days before the holiday, they were still unsure whether they would attend.
But Granit recognizes that in the United States, where most Jews are not Orthodox, the landscape is different. And unlike in Israel, where a festive atmosphere pervades the fall, Jews in America need to make more of an active effort to observe the season’s holidays.
“There’s no question of identity in Israel. Everybody celebrates the holidays. But when you come here it becomes an issue,” said Granit, a former Israel Defense Forces officer who has been active in protests against the judicial overhaul. “We do care about the holidays, even if we don’t really relate to the Orthodox way of life.”
He added, “Many Israelis want to keep some of the traditions, and the Reform and Conservative movements make Judaism much more accessible for people like us.”
Nadel said he believes a prayer community for Israelis in Brooklyn can thrive. But he said offering a holiday experience that rings true to Israelis in Brooklyn who have different backgrounds, needs and opinions can be challenging — and Israel’s political crisis could make things harder. “It’s a very thin line to walk because the wounds in Israel are so open right now,” he said.
Yoni Hersch, an Israeli who attended the Tisha B’Av event and is unsure whether he will go to Beth Elohim’s Rosh Hashanah service, said that while those pain points may be difficult to navigate, they also might be what draws Israelis to come together at an American synagogue, more than 5,000 miles from where they grew up.
“In a moment of crisis, people are looking for encouragement and help,” he said. “And what is community if not that?”
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The post A Reform synagogue in Brooklyn is holding special High Holidays services for Israelis appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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US Democrats Demand Release of Pro-Hamas Columbia University Activist Mahmoud Khalil From ICE Detention
US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) addresses attendees as she takes part in a protest calling for a ceasefire in Gaza outside the US Capitol, in Washington, DC, US, Oct. 18, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Leah Millis
Democrats in the US Congress are largely defending a leading anti-Israel agitator at Columbia University in New York following news of his arrest and detainment by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian from Syria who completed post-graduate studies at Columbia in December, was apprehended by federal authorities on Saturday night and transported to an immigration jail in Louisiana. The pro-Hamas activist was informed that his green card had been revoked and that he would be deported from the United States.
In a statement, the US Department of Homeland Security said ICE agents arrested Khalil “in support of” an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump aimed at combating antisemitism on university campuses.
“Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization. ICE and the Department of State are committed to enforcing President Trump’s executive orders and to protecting US national security,” the department said.
US President Donald Trump defended Khalil’s arrest and said it will be the first of many.
“We know there are more students at Columbia and other universities across the country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, antisemitism, anti-American activity, and the Trump administration will not tolerate it,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “Many are not students; they are paid agitators. We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again.”
However, a federal judge in New York City on Monday ordered that Khalil not be deported by the Trump administration until the court ruled on a lawsuit presented by his lawyers. According to ICE, the activist is currently being held at the Lasalle Detention facility in Louisiana. Khalil’s case is set to be heard on Wednesday.
Many observers criticized Khalil’s arrest and detainment, arguing that the Trump administration both violated his right to due process and undermined free speech. Critics also argued that the Trump administration does not possess the right to unilaterally revoke green cards from legal residents.
Congressional Democrats largely condemned the ICE arrest of Khalil, arguing that the Trump administration should release the pro-Hamas activist immediately.
“The warrantless arrest of any legal permanent resident seemingly solely over their speech is a chilling, McCarthyesque action in response to the exercise of first amendment rights to free speech,” said Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY).
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, lambasted the arrest, posted on social media that detaining a legal resident “for exercising his right to free speech is something we’d expect from Russia — NOT AMERICA [sic].”
The official BlueSky account of the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee accused the Trump administration of seeking retribution against Khalil for expressing “his First Amendment rights in a way Donald Trump didn’t like” and condemned the White House for practicing “straight up authoritarianism.”
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), one of the most outspoken critics against Israel in Congress, said that Khalil’s arrest is part of a broader effort “to shred our constitutional rights to free speech and due process.” In addition, Tlaib spearheaded a letter to US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, demanding that Khalil be “freed from DHS custody immediately.” Thirteen other Democrats signed the letter.
The letter argued that Khalil has “not been charged or convicted of any crime” and that the Trump administration targeted him “solely for his activism and organizing as a student leader,” as well as his efforts in opposing Israel’s “brutal assault of the Palestinian people in Gaza.” The missive also claimed that the arrest of Khalil represents another example of the Trump administration’s purported “anti-Palestinian racism” and accused the White House of trying to dismantle the “Palestine solidarity movement in this country.” The lawmakers warned that the Trump administration’s tactics against Khalil “will be applied to any and all opposition to his undemocratic agenda.”
Some observers noted out that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), one of the most vocal opponents of the Jewish state in the US Congress, did not sign onto the letter calling for Khalil’s release. Though Ocasio-Cortez has spoken out in defense of Khalil, some on the political left have repudiated her for not taking more strident anti-Israel stances in the 16 months following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of Israel. The lawmaker came under fire by some of the political left last summer for calling for the release of the Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas to Gaza.
Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) also repudiated the arrest, writing that Khalil is “entitled to First Amendment protections like everyone in this country.”
Despite the widespread backlash over Khalil’s arrest, many congressional Republicans praised the announcement, arguing that the Trump administration has taken aggressive action to protect Jewish Americans and clamp down on antisemitism.
While at Columbia, Khalil spearheaded multiple pro-Hamas demonstrations on campus. He was a participant in Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), a constellation of 100 anti-Israel campus organizations calling for the Ivy League institution to cut ties with the Jewish state.
In the aftermath of Khalil’s arrest, video circulated online showing the activist leading a takeover of a campus building at neighboring Barnard College. During the unsanctioned demonstration, activists spread pamphlets glorifying the Hamas Oct. 7 massacres across southern Israel.
In addition, Khalil helped lead the infamous Hamilton Hall takeover on Columbia’s campus in the final weeks of the 2023-2024 school year.
US Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) defended Khalil’s arrest, saying, “If you are on a student visa and you’re an aspiring young terrorist who wants to prey upon your Jewish classmates, you’re going home.”
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK) condemned Democrats for “fighting for a pro-Hamas foreigner who has made life hell for Jews on campus.”
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) also lauded the detainment of Khalil, writing that “obtaining a US visa is a privilege, not a right. Friends of Hamas — don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”
In the year following the Hamas-led Oct. 7 slaughters across Israel, Columbia University has emerged as a hotbed of anti-Israel student activism. Last spring, anti-Israel students and faculty erected a student encampment, protesting the university’s ties to the Jewish state. Moreover, Columbia has suffered an exodus of financial support from Jewish donors and alumni, alleging that the university has dragged its feet in combating antisemitism on campus.
Last week, the Trump administration cut $400 million in grants originally intended for Columbia, arguing that the university has not done enough to protect Jewish students. Mounting pressure from the Trump administration reportedly caused the university to collaborate with ICE to detain Khalil.
The post US Democrats Demand Release of Pro-Hamas Columbia University Activist Mahmoud Khalil From ICE Detention first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran’s President to Trump: I Will Not Negotiate, ‘Do Whatever the Hell You Want’
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian attends a press conference in Tehran, Iran, Sept. 16, 2024. Photo: WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Majid Asgaripour via REUTERS
President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran would not negotiate with the US while being threatened, telling President Donald Trump to “do whatever the hell you want,” Iranian state media reported on Tuesday.
“It is unacceptable for us that they [the US] give orders and make threats. I won’t even negotiate with you. Do whatever the hell you want,” state media quoted Pezeshkian as saying.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that Tehran would not be bullied into negotiations, a day after Trump said he had sent a letter urging Iran to engage in talks on a new nuclear deal.
While expressing openness to a deal with Tehran, Trump has reinstated the “maximum pressure” campaign he applied in his first term as president to isolate Iran from the global economy and drive its oil exports down towards zero.
In an interview with Fox Business, Trump said last week, “There are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal” to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Iran has long denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon. However, it is “dramatically” accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60 percent purity, close to the roughly 90 percent weapons-grade level, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, has warned.
Iran has accelerated its nuclear work since 2019, a year after then-President Trump ditched Tehran’s 2015 nuclear pact with six world powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled the country’s economy.
The post Iran’s President to Trump: I Will Not Negotiate, ‘Do Whatever the Hell You Want’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syrians Riot in Front of Jewish Museum in Munich Amid Rise in Antisemitic Incidents
Illustrative: Pro-Hamas demonstrators marching in Munich, Germany. Photo: Reuters/Alexander Pohl
Three young Syrian men rioted in front of the Jewish Museum in Munich this past weekend, spitting on photographs of Israeli hostages and deceased soldiers before one of the assailants threatened security personnel with a knife.
The incident, first reported by German media, was one of the latest antisemitic cases in a country that has experienced a surge in open hatred toward Jews since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
During the Gaza conflict, the Jewish Museum has displayed photographs of hostages taken by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists during their Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel as well as deceased Israeli soldiers, along with candles, to honor and remember them.
On Saturday afternoon, three men — Syrian citizens living in Austria — vandalized the memorial by spitting on it while shouting antisemitic slogans, the German newspapers Süddeutsche Zeitung and Jüdische Allgemeine reported.
After witnessing the attack, two employees from the Jewish community’s security service tried to stop the assailants, who responded aggressively. One of the three men, a 19-year-old, allegedly kicked one of the employees before drawing a knife.
Several police officers assigned to protect the Jewish Center, located next to the museum, noticed the incident and intervened. Soon afterward, more than 30 officers arrived at the scene. Police and security guards had to threaten to use their firearms before the teenager dropped the knife.
According to local police, the man and his two accomplices, a 20-year-old and a 31-year-old, have all been arrested and are under investigation for threats, assault, defamation, and insulting the memory of the deceased.
The Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office has taken over the case, with senior prosecutor Andreas Franck, who also serves as the antisemitism commissioner of the Bavarian judiciary, overseeing the case.
Germany has experienced a sharp spike in antisemitism since Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, amid the ensuing war in Gaza.
In just the first six months of 2024 alone, the number of antisemitic incidents in Berlin surpassed the total for all of the prior year and reached the highest annual count on record, according to Germany’s Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism (RIAS).
The figures compiled by RIAS were the highest count for a single year since the federally-funded body began monitoring antisemitic incidents in 2015, showing the German capital averaged nearly eight anti-Jewish outrages a day from January to June last year.
According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), police registered 5,154 antisemitic incidents in Germany in 2023, a 95 percent increase compared to the previous year.
However, experts believe that the true number of incidents is much higher but not recorded because of reluctance on the part of the victims.
“Only 20 percent of the antisemitic crimes are reported, so the real number should be five times what we have,” Felix Klein, the German federal government’s chief official dealing with antisemitism, told The Algemeiner in an interview in 2023.
Earlier this year, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned the ongoing discrimination faced by the Jewish community, calling it “outrageous and shameful.”
Last month, Germany’s federal parliament, the Bundestag, passed a motion to address antisemitism and hostility toward Israel in schools and universities, seeking to combat a surge in pro-Hamas demonstrations on campuses and antisemitic incidents across the country.
Jewish students at German universities widely expressed a growing sense of insecurity and uneasiness following Hamas’s Oct. 7 invasion of southern Israel, amid a slew of incidents purportedly meant to protest the war in Gaza.
The recently passed parliamentary motion stipulates that the federal government — in collaboration with the ministers of education and the German Rectors’ Conference, an association of state and state-recognized universities — must ensure that antisemitic behavior in educational institutions results in sanctions.
“This includes the consistent enforcement of house rules, temporary exclusion from classes or studies, and even … expulsion,” the motion reads.
The post Syrians Riot in Front of Jewish Museum in Munich Amid Rise in Antisemitic Incidents first appeared on Algemeiner.com.