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Three NYC synagogues raise more than one-third of UJA-Federation of New York’s $105M Israel Emergency Fund
(New York Jewish Week) — When Tracey Weiner’s rabbi, Elliot Cosgrove, took the unusual step of asking her to pull out her phone during services last Friday night, at the beginning of the first Shabbat after a massacre of more than 1,300 Israelis, she listened.
Weiner hadn’t necessarily planned to donate to an Israel Emergency Fund opened by New York City’s Jewish federation, but sitting in the sanctuary of Park Avenue synagogue, she scanned a QR code and gave.
“When you hear your rabbi asking for something for a crisis you just can’t not help,” said Weiner, a mom of three on the Upper East Side.
In making the donation, Weiner joined thousands of other New Yorkers in contributing to an aid effort that is widely considered unparalleled in recent times.
Her behavior also reflected the degree to which a handful of institutions have played an outsized role in the city’s fundraising efforts. Park Avenue is on its way to bringing in $18 million to an Israel Emergency Fund at the UJA-Federation of New York, while an Orthodox synagogue a few blocks away has raised $7 million, and a Reform synagogue two miles south announced it has raised $15 million.
Together, the three synagogues contributed nearly half of the $90 million the UJA fund brought in by early this week. As of Friday, that number had increased to $105 million, according to UJA-Federation’s public relations director, Emily Kutner.
“We’re seeing unprecedented generosity beyond anyone’s wildest expectations,” said Mark Medin, UJA-Federation’s executive vice president. (UJA-Federation is a funder of 70 Faces Media, New York Jewish Week’s parent company.) He said the number of donations are “fully understandable given the gravity of the situation in Israel and the desire of New Yorkers to want to help.”
The spike in giving follows a pattern set out by American Jews in 1967 and 1973, the last two times Israel faced invasions from neighboring territories. But the amount flowing to UJA, which as the city’s federation collects and distributes philanthropy according to local needs and priorities, is actually less than in those years.
The $20 million that UJA raised in one week in 1967 would be more than $184 million today. The $27.5 million raised in 1973 would be $190 million today.
One change is that, compared to half a century ago, U.S. Jews can now donate with relative ease directly to Israeli charities and to research a wide array of possible destinations for their financial support. That means the fundraising totals reported by UJA and other federations are likely to reflect a smaller proportion of the total transfer of resources from the United States toward Israel since Oct. 7.
Synagogues are also less powerful forces than they were half a century ago. In 1970, just under half of American Jews said they belonged to a synagogue. According to the most recent Pew survey of U.S. Jews, in 2020 the proportion was about one third.
Still, traditional fundraising venues, including synagogues, have proved during the current crisis to still be effective at generating donations. “People are looking for guidance during this time. Rabbi Cosgrove is so amazing at providing that, so when he speaks and when he asks, people respond,” said Meredith Sotoloff, another Upper East Side mom who donated to UJA at Park Avenue’s behest as well as donating to other Israel causes on her own.
Within New York City, synagogues have taken a wide range of approaches to helping members give to Israel.
Some are pushing their members to give directly to UJA’s Israel Emergency Fund, even setting up dedicated links so their congregants’ giving can be tracked.
As the news emerged about the attack on the morning of Oct. 7, which was both Shabbat and the first of a two-day holiday in the Diaspora, Kehilath Jeshurun, a Modern Orthodox synagogue on the Upper East Side, started to lay the groundwork for giving right away — even though collecting money would violate traditional Jewish law.
“That morning, we had donors raise their hands during services and pledge to give,” said Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz. After continuing the campaign over email throughout the week, Steinmetz said KJ members had donated more than $7 million to the UJA Israel Emergency Fund.
Members at the Reform Central Synagogue have contributed over $15 million directly to UJA’s Israel Emergency Fund, Senior Rabbi Angela Buchdahl told the New York Jewish Week. She added that the congregation has its own, separate Israel Emergency Fund, which has raised over $400,000 and will be distributed to organizations in Israel to help the victims of the terror attack.
Many synagogues are offering their congregants a wide array of options, or collecting funds themselves to distribute directly to needy recipients in Israel without necessarily going through the middleman of UJA.
At Lincoln Square Synagogue, an Orthodox congregation on the Upper West Side, for example, an emergency relief fund for Israel has raised “tens of thousands” of dollars, the entirety of which are going to verified causes to support Israel, according to executive director Tamar Fix.
Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, a Reform congregation, has established its own humanitarian relief fund that has raised nearly $100,000 to support relief efforts in Israel.
And Temple Emanu-El on the Upper East Side, for example, has raised $300,000 that it is distributing to different aid organizations, according to a spokesperson. It also purchased an ambulance for the American Friends of Magen David Adom, Israel’s version of the Red Cross, and is donating funds to repair the children’s medical center at Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon, which was bombed early in the war.
“As American Jews whose lives have planted us outside of Israel, we may not be able physically to stand beside our brothers and sisters there, but we are not without responsibilities,” said Senior Rabbi Joshua Davidson. “One is to make certain Israel has everything it needs right now to care for and protect its people. And the second is to speak clearly in defense of Israel’s right to protect its people.”
Many synagogues are working to ensure that their members know how to donate their time and energy in addition to their money.
Temple Emanu-El has mobilized congregants to purchase and pack medical and first-aid supplies that are needed in Israel. A synagogue press release offered a long list of specialized supplies that were dropped off in the building’s lobby.
B’nai Jeshurun, a nondenominational synagogue on the Upper West Side, is conducting letter-writing initiatives to Israeli soldiers and children and collecting donations of toiletries, toys and clothes for Israeli families who have been displaced from their homes in the south. It has also curated a list of vetted charities, including but not limited to UJA’s emergency fund.
The congregation’s senior rabbi, José Rolando Matalon, told the New York Jewish Week via email that the wide array of giving options was intentional.
“Rather than duplicating the many fundraising efforts already in place,” he wrote, “we have aggregated specific funds and initiatives that align with our community’s values to help amplify those opportunities to our members looking to give.”
At UJA, Medin told the New York Jewish Week that, of the millions raised, more than $29 million has already gone out in grants to 74 different organizations on the ground in Israel.
He added that historically, the UJA has primarily raised its funds from the New York Jewish community exclusively. But as companies like Fox and Paramount publicize UJA as a place to donate, contributions have been coming in from across the country and the globe.
“We have dozens of partners on the ground in Israel that are doing the work of social services, trauma relief, relocation of people affected by the terror, direct cash assistance to victims of terror,” Medin said. “It’s extraordinarily rewarding to see the incredible generosity of the Jewish community at this critical time.”
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The post Three NYC synagogues raise more than one-third of UJA-Federation of New York’s $105M Israel Emergency Fund appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Israel Closes Embassies Worldwide, Jews Abroad Urged to Be Vigilant Following Iran Strikes
Smoke billows following missile attack from Iran on Israel, at Tel Aviv, Israel, June 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Gideon Markowicz ISRAEL
Israel has closed its embassies worldwide and is urging citizens to remain vigilant and avoid displaying Jewish or Israeli symbols in public, amid fears of Iranian retaliation following a series of Israeli strikes on Iran.
According to statements posted on embassy websites on Friday, Israel suspended consular services and urged citizens to cooperate with local authorities if threatened, without indicating how long the closures would last.
“In light of recent developments, Israeli missions around the world will be closed and consular services will not be provided,” the statement said.
Israel launched a broad preemptive attack on Iran overnight on Friday, targeting military installations and nuclear sites across the country in what officials described as an effort to neutralize an imminent nuclear threat, as nuclear negotiations between the United States and Tehran appear on the brink of collapse.
The Israeli strike killed several of Iran’s top military commanders and significantly weakened the country’s ability to retaliate, raising concerns of the risk of a broader conflict in the Middle East.
After Iran’s so-called “supreme leader,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned, of “severe punishment,” the country deployed a wave of drones toward Israel, followed by two barrages of ballistic missiles, most of which were intercepted.
However, Jerusalem and many observers fear that Tehran may retaliate by targeting Jewish and Israeli interests worldwide, especially given Iran’s compromised ability to strike directly at Israel.
Iran has a long history of orchestrating violence against Jewish and Israeli targets abroad, including support for terrorism and assassination plots in the West.
Tehran has regularly called for Israel’s destruction and supported terrorist groups worldwide — including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen — by providing funding, training, and weapons.
US President Donald Trump suggested that Iran had brought the attack upon itself by rejecting Washington’s demands in nuclear negotiations to limit the country’s uranium enrichment program.
He urged Tehran to reach a nuclear deal, warning that “the next attacks already planned will be even more brutal.”
In response to Israel’s warnings of potential attacks on Jewish communities abroad, Jewish sites worldwide are strengthening their security measures.
Following a security cabinet meeting on Friday and a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced that Germany is increasing security measures for Jewish and Israeli sites.
The German leader also urged both Israel and Iran to avoid actions that could further escalate tensions, while emphasizing Israel’s right to defend its existence and the security of its citizens.
“Germany is ready to use all diplomatic means at our disposal to influence the parties to the conflict,” Merz said in a statement. “The goal must remain that Iran does not develop nuclear weapons.”
Elsewhere in Europe, Sweden has stepped up visible security around the Great Synagogue of Stockholm and other Jewish sites.
In the United States, the Secure Community Network, a leading Jewish security organization, has called on Jewish communities to “remain on heightened alert and maintain robust security measures.”
“SCN stresses that, while there is currently no credible or specific threat against the Jewish community, this development occurs amid an already intensified threat environment,” the organization wrote in a post on X.
“This environment is fueled in part by Iranian-linked actors, designated foreign terrorist organizations, violent extremists, and politically motivated groups – entities which continue to incite violence globally, including against Jewish civilians and communal facilities, often under the pretext of perceived grievances related to Israel’s war with Hamas and related military or political developments,” the statement read.
In New York City, police ramped up security at Jewish and Israeli sites amid the ongoing Iran-Israel conflict.
“The NYPD [New York Police Department] is tracking the situation in the Middle East. Out of an abundance of caution, we’re deploying additional resources to Jewish, Israeli & other sites throughout NYC,” the department posted on X. “We’re coordinating with our federal partners & we’ll continue to monitor for any potential impact to NYC.”
The post Israel Closes Embassies Worldwide, Jews Abroad Urged to Be Vigilant Following Iran Strikes first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US Lawmakers Offer Mixed Reactions to Israeli Strikes Against Iranian Nuclear Sites
US House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks to members of the media at the Capitol building, April 20, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ken Cedeno
US lawmakers offered mixed reactions to Israel’s strikes on Iran overnight on Friday, with responses largely falling along ideological lines: Republicans broadly defended Israel’s right to act unilaterally, while many progressive Democrats expressed concern over the potential for regional escalation and what they viewed as the lack of prior US coordination.
“Today, Israel has determined that it must take decisive action to defend the Israeli people,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, (R-SD) said on X/Twitter. “The United States Senate stands ready to work with President [Donald] Trump and with our allies in Israel to restore peace in the region and, first and foremost, to defend the American people from Iranian aggression, especially our troops and civilians serving overseas.”
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) also defended Israel’s preemptive strikes against Iran, arguing that Tehran’s nuclear ambitions are unacceptable.
“Israel and the United States have been united, including in our shared insistence that Iran must never obtain a nuclear weapon. President Trump and his administration have worked tirelessly to ensure that outcome. Unfortunately, Iran has refused to agree and even declared yesterday its intent to build a new enrichment facility,” Johnson wrote on X/Twitter.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee added, “We back Israel to the hilt, all the way,” white vowing that if “the ayatollahs harm a single American, that will be the end of the ayatollahs.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of the foremost supporters of the Jewish state in Congress, wrote on X, “Game on,” adding, “Pray for Israel.”
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) said, “I ask every American to join me in praying for the safety of US personnel in the Middle East and the safety and success of Israel as it takes action against a leading state sponsor of terrorism and our shared enemy, Iran.”
Meanwhile, while many more centrist, moderate Democrats offered support for Israel, some were much more critical of Israel’s strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities, urging the White House and Jerusalem to seek a diplomatic resolution.
Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), the highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, slammed Israel’s military operations as “reckless.”
“Israel’s alarming decision to launch airstrikes on Iran is a reckless escalation that risks igniting regional violence,” Reed said in a statement.
Progressive Democrats lambasted Israel for its military operation.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), one of the most anti-Israel voices in Congress, repudiated Israel’s attack on Iranian nuclear sites, warning that Jerusalem could lead the US into a hot war with Tehran.
“The Israeli government bombing Iran is a dangerous escalation that could lead to regional war. War Criminal Netanyahu will do anything to maintain his grip on power. We cannot let him drag our country into a war with Iran. Our government must stop funding and supporting this rogue genocidal regime,” Tlaib wrote, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), another staunch critic of the Jewish state, lambasted Jerusalem’s preemptive actions against Iran, suggesting that Israel behaves with impunity.
“Regardless of what Trump thinks, Israel knows America will do whatever they want and feels confident about their ability to get into war and have the American government back them up. Israel also knows they can always rely on getting America to protect and serve its needs. Everyone in America should prepare themselves to either see their tax dollars being spent on weapon supplies to Israel or be dragged into war with Iran if this escalates,” Omar said.
Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer (NY), the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in Congress, was one of the top Democrats not to criticize Israel’s strikes against Iran.
“I have long said that Israel has a right to defend itself and that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Schumer said in a statement on Friday. “Ensuring they never obtain one must remain a top national security priority.”
He added, “The preferred path to preventing a nuclear-armed Iran and for supporting security and stability in the region has always been a strong, unrelenting diplomatic effort backed by meaningful leverage, and every effort must be made to move toward the path of a diplomatic solution.”
Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), a member of the Armed Services Committee, also defended Israel’s decision to strike Iranian nuclear sites.
“Israel acted in self-defense against an attack from Iran, and the US must continue to stand with Israel, as it has for decades, at this dangerous moment,” Rosen wrote.
In the early hours of Friday morning, Israel launched a large-scale military operation against Iran, named Operation Rising Lion, targeting key nuclear and military sites across the country. The strikes resulted in the deaths of several high-ranking Iranian officials, including Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Major General Hossein Salami, and two prominent nuclear scientists, Fereydoon Abbasi and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi. Explosions were reported in Tehran and other provinces, with significant damage to facilities in Natanz, Isfahan, Khondab, and Khorramabad.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) described the operation as a preemptive measure to prevent Iran from advancing its nuclear weapons program. In retaliation, Iran launched over 100 drones at Israel, most of which were intercepted, as well as two barrages of ballistic missiles that reportedly caused about two-dozen injuries. The Trump administration condemned Iran’s actions and reaffirmed its commitment to Israel’s defense, while distancing itself from the Israeli strikes by saying it was not involved in the operation.
The post US Lawmakers Offer Mixed Reactions to Israeli Strikes Against Iranian Nuclear Sites first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Rome Synagogue Defaced With Nazi Graffiti as New Report Reveals Antisemitic Prejudice Rampant Across Italy
Security footage of the alleged assault of a Jewish boy in Rome on Jan. 29, 2025. Photo: Screenshot/Castelli Notizie
A masked vandal struck a synagogue in Rome on Saturday shortly before midnight, security camera footage shows, using black marker to leave behind a swastika and antisemitic statements — “Sieg Heil” and ”Juden Raus”— on a sign outside the building’s entrance.
Rabbi Menachem Lazar discovered the crime at Beis Shmuel the next day and filed a report with law enforcement which resulted in the opening of an investigation by Italian law enforcement. Clean-up work and restoration began shortly after uncovering the antisemitic vandalism.
The incident came before a report released on Wednesday by Eurispes — an Italian research institute that focuses on politics, economics, and social issues — revealed the extent of antisemitism in Italy today. The research came as part of an agreement signed in April with Pasquale Angelosanto, the national coordinator for the fight against antisemitism.
The researchers polled a representative sample of the country’s population and found that 37.9 percent of Italians think that Jews “only think about accumulating money” while 58.2 percent see Jews as “a closed community.” In January, the Anti-Defamation League released the newest results of its Global 100 survey which found that 26 percent of Italians — 13.1 million adults — embrace six or more antisemitic stereotypes.
A sizable minority also misperceived the number of Jews in the country: 23.3 percent believed 500,000 Jews lived in Italy while 16.5 percent thought Jews numbered 2 million, both groups amounting to nearly 40 percent of the population misinformed. The Institute for Jewish Policy Research estimates the number of Jews in Italy as ranging from 26,800 to 48,910 depending on which standards of observance one selects. Eurispes places the number at 30,000 with 41.8 percent of respondents answering correctly.
Likewise, a minority of respondents believed historically false ideas about the Holocaust. While 60.4 gave the correct number of 6 million Jewish Holocaust victims, 25.5 believed the number only reached two million and others said even smaller figures, amounting to approximately 40 percent of the population with an inaccurate understanding of the scope of the Nazi-perpetrated genocide.
The report also showed elevated levels of anti-Israel belief among younger Italians, with 50.85 percent of those 18-24 thinking that “Jews in Palestine took others’ territories.” This figure contrasted with 44.2 percent of the general population and tracked alongside ideological self-descriptors as 50 percent of center-left voters agreed while 35 percent of center-right and right-wing voters did.
A majority of respondents — 54 percent — regarded antisemitic crimes as isolated incidents and not part of any broader trend, contrary to the findings of the Antisemitism Observatory of the CDEC Foundation in Milan which saw a surge of 877 reported antisemitic incidents in 2024. Between the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack on southern Israel and the end of that year, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi says the government counted 135 antisemitic incidents.
The wave of antisemitic incidents, often fueled by anti-Israel animus, has continued into this year.
In Italy’s Tuscany, for example, the regional council just voted to cut ties with Israel, a decision that came alongside the country’s president condemning conditions in Gaza as “inhumane and dangerous” while warning that Palestinian suffering would increase global antisemitism.
Last month, a restaurant in Naples ejected an Israeli family, telling them “Zionists are not welcome here.”
In November, a hotel manager in Rome canceled an Israeli couple’s booking a day before the start of their trip. He wrote to them, “Good morning. We inform you that the Israeli people as those responsible for genocide are not welcome customers in our structure.” The manager offered that the hotel “would be happy to grant free cancellation.”
On Jan. 29, a homeless Egyptian man in Rome attacked a Jewish boy and wounded the shopkeeper who intervened. At a protest on Jan. 11 in Bologna, demonstrators vandalized a synagogue, painting “Justice for a free Gaza.” Jonathan Peled, who serves as Israeli ambassador to Italy, described the incident as a “serious antisemitic attack which must be condemned with absolute firmness.”
In April, Tel Aviv University’s Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry and the Irwin Cotler Institute for Democracy, Human Rights, and Justice published an analysis naming Australia and Italy as two of the countries with the largest post-Oct. 7 bursts of antisemitism.
The report’s co-author Dr. Carl Yonker said that “in Italy, you see large drive in terms of anti-Israel activism, anti-Zionism activism that manifested itself as antisemitism in Italy.”
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