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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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Trump Insists US Will ‘Take’ Gaza, Jordan’s King Stays Mum on Palestinian Relocation During White House Visit
US President Donald Trump meets with Jordan’s King Abdullah at the White House in Washington, DC, Feb. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US President Donald Trump insisted that America will “take” Gaza and that other countries in the Middle East will absorb the Palestinians currently residing in the enclave while meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan in the White House on Tuesday.
“There’s nothing to buy. We will have Gaza. No reason to buy. There is nothing to buy,” Trump said.
The president suggested that the damage incurred by the ongoing Israel-Hamas war has corroded Gaza’s value and that the United States will simply seize the enclave. However, he did not detail how he plans to facilitate or finance the reconstruction of Gaza.
“It’s Gaza. It’s a war-torn area. We’re going to take it. We’re going to hold it. We’re going to cherish it,” Trump added.
Nonetheless, the president vowed that the US will energize Gaza’s economy and turn the territory into a “diamond” and “tremendous asset” for the Middle East. Trump maintained that Gaza possesses the potential to become a “great economic development” for the region, touting its scenic location on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
However, the president lamented that seemingly “every 10 years” Gaza erupts into explosive warfare, resulting in “death and destruction” for its civilians.
Trump added that he believes “99 percent” that the United States could strike an agreement with Egypt to relocate the residents of Gaza, where the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas ruled before the war and remains the strongest faction.
When asked what he thought of Trump’s ambitions to transfer Palestinian civilians to Egypt, Abdullah revealed that Egypt and other Arab countries are planning to meet in Saudi Arabia to discuss the future of Gaza. Abdullah refused to speak extensively about Trump’s stated goal of removing Palestinians from Gaza, advising reporters to “not get ahead of ourselves” and wait for Arab countries to deliberate about the matter.
“It’s hard to make this work in a way that’s good for everybody,” Abdullah said.
Though the Jordanian king would not commit to taking in large numbers of Palestinians, he said Jordan would be willing to “take 2,000 children that are cancer children or are in [a] very ill state” while Arab countries “wait for the Egyptians to present their plan on how we can work with the president to work on Gaza challenges.”
During Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the White House last week, Trump called on Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab states in the region to take in Palestinians from Gaza after nearly 16 months of war between Israel and the Hamas. Arab leaders have adamantly rejected Trump’s proposal.
Last week, the US president expressed similar sentiments as he did on Tuesday, saying that the US would “take over” the Gaza Strip to build the war-torn Palestinian enclave back up. However, many members of the US Congress across both parties pushed back on Trump’s declaration, accusing him of endangering American troops, destabilizing the Middle East, and floating an ethnic cleansing campaign in Gaza. Trump has also stated that Palestinians would not have the “right to return” to Gaza after being relocated and said no US troops would be needed for his plan without elaborating.
Following his meeting with Trump, Abdullah took to social media to call for a permanent end to the war in Gaza and the creation of a Palestinian state.
“This is the unified Arab position. Rebuilding Gaza without displacing the Palestinians and addressing the dire humanitarian situation should be the priority for all,” he wrote on X/Twitter.
“Achieving just peace on the basis of the two-state solution is the way to ensure regional stability. This requires US leadership. President Trump is a man of peace. He was instrumental in securing the Gaza ceasefire. We look to US and all stakeholders in ensuring it holds,” the Jordanian king added.
The post Trump Insists US Will ‘Take’ Gaza, Jordan’s King Stays Mum on Palestinian Relocation During White House Visit first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Bowdoin College Clears ‘Gaza Encampment’
Anti-Zionist Bowdoin College students storming the Smith Union administrative building on the evening of Feb. 6, 2025, to occupy it in protest of what they said are the college’s links to Israel. Photo: Screenshot
Bowdoin College in Maine has negotiated an end to an anti-Zionist group’s occupation of an administrative building without acceding to any of its demands for a boycott of Israel, The Bowdoin Orient reported on Monday.
The group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)had installed an encampment inside Smith Union on Thursday night in response to US President Donald Trump’s proposing that the US “take over” the Gaza Strip and transform it into a hub for tourism and economic dynamism. The roughly 50 students who resided inside the building vowed not to leave until the Bowdoin officials agree to adopt the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.
Following the action, Bowdoin officials promptly moved to deescalate the situation by counseling the students to mind the “gravity of situation” in which they placed themselves, with senior associate dean Katie Toro-Ferrari warning that their behavior “could put them on the path where they are jeopardizing their ability to remain as Bowdoin students.” No sooner had it sent this communication than it began issuing temporary suspensions to students who rejected appeals to leave Smith Union and return to normal student life.
“You will be placed on temporary suspension, effective immediately, pending a college disciplinary process,” Bowdoin vice president Jim Hoppe wrote to the protesters in a letter, copies of which were sent to their parents. “During your immediate suspension, you may not attend your Spring 2025 courses … Your family will receive a copy of this letter. This temporary status will continue until further notice.”
Facing threats of severer sanctions, SJP agreed to vacate Smith Union on Monday and shared that they had issued a plea for mercy in discussions with college officials which called for them to “understand a context of good faith for the students who have engaged in this action.” By that time, several students had already left the building, according to the Orient.
Republicans in Washington, DC have said that disruptive and extremist political activity on college campuses “will no longer be tolerated in the Trump administration.” Meanwhile, the new US president has enacted a slew of policies aimed at reining in disruptive and discriminatory behavior.
Continuing work started during his first administration — when Trump issued Executive Order 13899 to ensure that civil rights law apply equally Jews — Trump’s recent “Additional Measures to Combat Antisemitism” calls for “using all appropriate legal tools to prosecute, remove, or otherwise … hold to account perpetrators of unlawful antisemitic harassment and violence.” The order also requires each government agency to write a report explaining how it can be of help in carrying out its enforcement. Another major provision of the order calls for the deportation of extremist “alien” student activists, whose support for terrorist organizations, intellectual and material, such as Hamas contributed to fostering antisemitism, violence, and property destruction.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Bowdoin College Clears ‘Gaza Encampment’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Rebuffs Trump’s ‘Worthless’ Call for Israel to Resume War if Terror Group Refuses to Release Hostages
Then-US President-elect Donald Trump makes remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, US, Jan. 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
Hamas has rebuffed US President Donald Trump’s warning that he’ll “let hell break out” if the Palestinian terrorist group does not release all the Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza, saying that the American leader’s threats are “worthless and only complicate matters.”
“Trump must remember that there is an agreement that must be respected by both parties, and this is the only way to get the prisoners back,” Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhr told multiple press agencies, referring to the Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal between the terrorist group and Israel. “The language of threats is worthless and only complicates matters.”
On Monday, Trump advised Israel to cancel the ceasefire and said he would “let hell break out” if Hamas refused to release the remaining hostages. Trump’s comments echoed statements made by his national security adviser, Mike Waltz, last month that the White House would support Israel resuming the war in Gaza if Hamas violated the ceasefire agreement.
“As far as I’m concerned, if all of the hostages aren’t returned by Saturday at 12 o’clock … I would say, cancel it [the hostage deal] and all bets are off and let hell break out,” Trump told reporters on Monday. “I’d say they ought to be returned by 12 o’clock on Saturday, and if they’re not returned — all of them — not in dribs and drabs, not two and one and three and four and two — Saturday at 12 o’clock. And after that, I would say, all hell is going to break out.”
Trump cautioned that Israel might want to override him on the issue and said he might speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump’s comments came after Hamas announced on Monday that it would stop releasing Israeli hostages until further notice over alleged violations of the ceasefire deal. Hamas spokesperson Abu Obeida claimed that Israel has prevented Palestinians from returning to northern Gaza, conducted strikes throughout the Gaza Strip, and impeded the delivery of humanitarian goods.
“The resistance leadership has closely monitored the enemy’s violations and its failure to uphold the terms of the agreement,” Obeida said.
The Israel Defense Forces has insisted that its strikes were conducted for defensive purposes, saying that its soldiers have “operated to distance suspects who posed a threat to them in different areas of the Gaza Strip.”
“The IDF is committed to fully implementing the conditions of the agreement for the return of the hostages,” the military wrote in a statement, adding that their forces are “prepared for any scenario and will continue to take any necessary actions to thwart immediate threat to IDF soldiers.”
Meanwhile, Israel said last week that 12,600 trucks of aid had arrived in Gaza since the beginning of the deal on Jan. 19.
Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists started the war in Gaza when they murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages during their invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in the neighboring enclave. The conflict raged for nearly 16 months until both sides agreed to last month’s ceasefire and hostage-release deal, the first phase of which is set to last six weeks.
Under phase one, Hamas agreed to free a total of 33 Israeli hostages, eight of whom are deceased, and in exchange, Israel would release over 1,900 Palestinian prisoners, many of whom are serving multiple life sentences for terrorist activity. Meanwhile, fighting in Gaza will stop as negotiators work on agreeing to a second phase of the agreement, which is expected to include Hamas releasing all remaining hostages held in Gaza and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the enclave.
So far, 16 of the 33 hostages in Gaza have been released within the first phase of the ceasefire.
The three latest hostages were released on Saturday. Their strikingly thin and emaciated bodies sparked international outrage about Hamas’s treatment of the hostages, with Trump comparing the captives to Holocaust survivors.
The details of the second phase of the ceasefire are still being negotiated. However, Israel has reportedly presented the White House with a plan to advance the truce with Hamas.
The post Hamas Rebuffs Trump’s ‘Worthless’ Call for Israel to Resume War if Terror Group Refuses to Release Hostages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.