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These Bronx 8th-graders traveled 4 hours to pay a shiva call to the family of 2 Israelis murdered by Hamas
(New York Jewish Week) – Alyssa Halpert, an eighth-grader at SAR Academy from New Rochelle, had never met, nor even vaguely knew Maurice Shnaider when she traveled 100 miles to his house to make a shiva call.
But it wasn’t a hard decision for Halpert, along with two dozen of her classmates from the Modern Orthodox day school, to get on a bus after school on Wednesday to make the trip from Riverdale to Shnaider’s home in Kingston, New York. They knew his sister and brother-in-law, Margit Shnaider Silverman and Yosi Silverman, were among the 1,400 Israelis murdered by Hamas on Oct. 7.
“After I heard what happened, I just thought it would be a good thing to go,” Halpert told the New York Jewish Week. “He’s going through a really hard time. If we went and made him happy for even two seconds, it’s worth it.”
Alongside the murder of his sister and brother-in-law, who lived in Kibbutz Nir Oz, Shnaider’s niece and nephew, Shiri and Yarden Bibas, and their young, red-haired sons Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 10 months old, became early faces of the hostage crisis after a Hamas video of Shiri and her sons became public on the day of the attack. Kfir, who was using a pacifier in the video, is believed to be the youngest hostage.
The family’s kibbutz in southern Israel was especially hard-hit during the Hamas attack; between a quarter and a third of the kibbutz’s 350 residents were killed or kidnapped. The Bibas family is thought to be among more than 220 people held hostage in Gaza; the Silvermans were initially thought to be among the hostages, too, but their bodies were later identified and they were buried in Israel on Monday.
SAR Academy has a tradition of showing support for Jewish community members in need, especially when it comes to Jewish mourning rituals. Recently, when the father of an eighth-grader died, all the kids in the class visited while the family was sitting shiva, marking a seven-day period of mourning after a funeral.
The school had learned about Wednesday’s gathering in Kingston the day before from an SAR parent, who had been in touch with Shnaider’s rabbi at Chabad of Ulster County.
“We got the message out to students about this opportunity, and when they understood the significance of what was going on, they knew immediately it was worth it,” said Rabbi Zev Hait, the middle school’s director of Jewish life and learning who chaperoned the students on the visit.
At Shnaider’s home, the students were able to sit and chat with the grieving brother for about 20 to 30 minutes, Hait said. Their group was among hundreds of people who came from around the state and beyond, from different Jewish denominations and backgrounds, after an announcement was distributed around WhatsApp groups. “It was an amazing sight, ‘Am Yisroel B’Yachad’ — the Jewish people being together,” Hait said.
Hait said that while it was important for the students to understand the importance of showing up for fellow Jewish people in need, he wasn’t convinced about how much comfort the young teens could provide, especially amongst a sea of mourners.
But as Halpert described it, “a lot of students went up close to talk to [Shnaider]. He was appreciative that we came in, really happy and very surprised. He asked other people to move out of the way,” so he could talk to the students.
Halpert added that she had worried it might be uncomfortable with the stranger in mourning, but it turned out to be much easier than she thought because “he was a very friendly person.”
The students gather around Maurice Shnaider, in blue, for a shiva call at his home in Kingston. (Yael Baker)
“It was sweet in the way only kids can be,” Hait described. “A few of them sat in front of him cross-legged, in a way that an adult never would. He spoke about his sister as someone who never got angry, something for us all to learn from her.” He added that Shnaider emphasized to the students and other shiva attendees that they were here for each other just as much as they were here for him.
The following day, at a public event in front of Kingston’s Chabad synagogue, Shnaider spoke about the outpouring of support from his community.
“I stand before you today deeply moved by the overwhelming outpouring of support from hundreds of people who have reached out to us,” Shnaider said, according to a report from the Daily Freeman. “People from all over and from all walks of life, your presence here, in person and in spirit, has been a source of immense comfort and strength to not only myself but to my entire family, whether they are here with us in the United States or in Israel.”
On the bus ride, which lasted two hours each way, the students discussed the mitzvah of making shiva calls, both to respect and honor those who have passed and to provide even temporary relief of the pain of the mourners.
Shnaider insisted that the kids take some cookies with them for the road, according to people who were present. But what struck Halpert the most was that Shnaider was adamant that they would all meet again soon — when there is good news to celebrate and his family is returned. “He has a lot of faith in Hashem,” she said. “Right now you just have to hope for the best and do all you can to stay positive.”
Hait said the visit was in line with SAR’s “action-driven” values, which he said were themselves in line with the spirit of the moment.
“Since the war broke out, you see this desire to help,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what’s going on, if there’s a test the next day or a basketball practice, if the moment calls for it, we’ll show up and support.”
Halpert, who has cousins and friends in Israel, said that in addition to the shiva visit, the school has been teaching about the war; organizing prayer services and recitations; packing duffel bags of supplies and writing letters of support to IDF soldiers.
“The message that we’ve been giving our kids for the last three weeks has been that the things that you do matter,” said SAR Academy’s principal, Rabbi Bini Krauss, who spent the last week in Israel meeting with the more than 75 SAR alumni who are serving in the Israeli Defense Forces, as well as with former teachers and parents.
“When you get a position to do something, you try to do it,” Krauss said. “We don’t want to scare the kids, but we want to appropriately introduce them to the realities of the world. They had a job to do and they chose to do it.”
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The post These Bronx 8th-graders traveled 4 hours to pay a shiva call to the family of 2 Israelis murdered by Hamas appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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US State Department Revokes Visas of UK Punk Rap Act Bob Vylan Amid Outrage Over Duo’s Chants of ‘Death to the IDF’
Bob Vylan music duo performance at Glastonbury Festival (Source: FLIKR)
The US State Department has revoked the visas for the English punk rap duo Bob Vylan amid ongoing outrage over their weekend performance at the Glastonbury Festival, in which the pair chanted “Death to the IDF.”
The State Department’s decision to cancel their visas would preclude a planned fall concert tour of the US by the British rappers.
“The [US State Department] has revoked the US visas for the members of the Bob Vylan band in light of their hateful tirade at Glastonbury, including leading the crowd in death chants. Foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country,” Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau wrote on X/Twitter on Monday.
During a June 28 set at Glastonbury Festival, Bob Vylan’s Pascal Robinson-Foster ignited a firestorm by leading the crowd in chants of “Death, death, to the IDF,” referring to the Israel Defense Forces. He also complained about working for a “f—ing Zionist” during the set.
The video of the performance went viral, sparking outrage across the globe.
The BBC, which streamed the performance live, issued an on‑screen warning but continued its broadcast, prompting criticism by government officials for failing to cut the feed.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and festival organizers condemned the IDF chant as hate speech and incitement to violence. The Israeli Embassy in London denounced the language as “inflammatory and hateful.”
“Millions of people tuned in to enjoy Glastonbury this weekend across the BBC’s output but one performance within our livestreams included comments that were deeply offensive,” the BBC said in a statement following the event.
“These abhorrent chants, which included calls for the death of members of the Israeli Defense Forces … have no place in any civil society,” Leo Terrell, Chair of the US Department of Justice Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, declared Sunday in a statement posted on X.
Citing the act’s US tour plans, Terrell said his task force would be “reaching out to the U.S. Department of State on Monday to determine what measures are available to address the situation and to prevent the promotion of violent antisemitic rhetoric in the United States.”
British authorities, meanwhile, have launched a formal investigation into Bob Vylan’s controversial appearance at Glastonbury. Avon and Somerset Police confirmed they are reviewing footage and working with the Crown Prosecution Service to determine whether the performance constitutes a hate crime or incitement to violence.
United Talent Agency (UTA), one of the premier entertainment talent agencies, dropped the duo, claming “antisemitic sentiments expressed by the group were utterly unacceptable.”
The band defended their performance on social media as necessary protest, stating that “teaching our children to speak up for the change they want and need is the only way that we make this world a better place.”
The post US State Department Revokes Visas of UK Punk Rap Act Bob Vylan Amid Outrage Over Duo’s Chants of ‘Death to the IDF’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Dem House Leader Hakeem Jeffries Urges Mamdani to ‘Aggressively Address’ Antisemitism in NYC if Elected Mayor
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
US House Democratic leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (NY) urged Democratic nominee for mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani to “aggressively address the rise in antisemitism” if he wins the general election in November.
“‘Globalizing the intifada’ by way of example is not an acceptable phrasing,” Jeffries said Sunday on ABC’s This Week. “He’s going to have to clarify his position on that as he moves forward.”
“With respect to the Jewish communities that I represent, I think our nominee is going to have to convince folks that he is prepared to aggressively address the rise in antisemitism in the city of New York, which has been an unacceptable development,” he added.
Jeffries’s comments come as Mamdani has been receiving an onslaught of criticism for defending the controversial phrase “globalize the intifada.”
Mamdani first defended the phrase during an appearance on the popular Bulwark Podcast. The progressive firebrand stated that he feels “less comfortable with the banning of certain words.” He invoked the US Holocaust Museum in his defense, saying that the museum used the word intifada “when translating the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising into Arabic, because it’s a word that means ‘struggle.’”
The Holocaust Museum repudiated Mamdani in a statement, calling his comments “offensive.”
Mamdani has continued to defend the slogan despite ongoing criticism, arguing that pro-Palestine advocates perceive it as a call for “universal human rights.”
Mamdani, the 33‑year‑old state assembly member and proud democratic socialist, defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other candidates in a lopsided first‑round win in the city’s Democratic primary for mayor, notching approximately 43.5 percent of first‑choice votes compared to Cuomo’s 36.4 percent.
The election results have alarmed members of the local Jewish community, who expressed deep concern over his past criticism of Israel and defense of antisemitic rhetoric.
“Mamdani’s election is the greatest existential threat to a metropolitan Jewish population since the election of the notorious antisemite Karl Lueger in Vienna,” Rabbi Marc Schneier, one of the most prominent Jewish leaders in New York City, said in a statement. “Jewish leaders must come together as a united force to prevent a mass Jewish Exodus from New York City.”
Some key Democratic leaders in New York, such as US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Gov. Kathy Hochul, have congratulated and complimented Mamdani, but have not yet issued an explicit endorsement. Each official has signaled interest in meeting with Mamdani prior to making a decision on a formal endorsement.
The post Dem House Leader Hakeem Jeffries Urges Mamdani to ‘Aggressively Address’ Antisemitism in NYC if Elected Mayor first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Eyes Ties With Syria and Lebanon After Iran War
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar attends a press conference with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (not pictured) in Berlin, Germany, June 5, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Christian Mang
Israel is interested in establishing formal diplomatic relations with long-standing adversaries Syria and Lebanon, but the status of the Golan Heights is non-negotiable, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Monday.
Israeli leaders argue that with its rival Iran weakened by this month’s 12-day war, other countries in the region have an opportunity to forge ties with Israel.
The Middle East has been upended by nearly two years of war in Gaza, during which Israel also carried out airstrikes and ground operations in Lebanon targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah, and by the overthrow of former Syrian leader and Iran ally Bashar al-Assad.
In 2020, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco became the first Arab states to establish ties with Israel since Jordan in 1994 and Egypt in 1979. The normalization agreements with Israel were deeply unpopular in the Arab world.
“We have an interest in adding countries such as Syria and Lebanon, our neighbors, to the circle of peace and normalization, while safeguarding Israel‘s essential and security interests,” Saar said at a press conference in Jerusalem.
“The Golan will remain part of the State of Israel,” he said.
Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981 after capturing the territory from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War. While much of the international community regards the Golan as occupied Syrian land, US President Donald Trump recognized Israeli sovereignty over it during his first term in office.
Following Assad’s ousting, Israeli forces moved further into Syrian territory.
A senior Syrian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Syria would never give up the Golan Heights, describing it as an integral part of Syrian territory.
The official also said that normalization efforts with Israel must be part of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative and not carried out through a separate track.
A spokesperson for Syria‘s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The 2002 initiative proposed Arab normalization with Israel in exchange for its withdrawal from territories including the Golan Heights, the West Bank, and Gaza. It also called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Throughout the war in Gaza, regional power Saudi Arabia has repeatedly said that establishing ties with Israel was conditional on the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
Israel‘s Saar said it was “not constructive” for other states to condition normalization on Palestinian statehood.
“Our view is that a Palestinian state will threaten the security of the State of Israel,” he said.
In May, Reuters reported that Israel and Syria‘s new Islamist rulers had established direct contact and held face-to-face meetings aimed at de-escalating tensions and preventing renewed conflict along their shared border.
The same month, US President Donald Trump announced the US would lift sanctions on Syria and met Syria‘s new president, urging him to normalize ties with Israel.
The post Israel Eyes Ties With Syria and Lebanon After Iran War first appeared on Algemeiner.com.