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Thousands of Jews gather in Times Square to ‘Shine a Light’ on antisemitism
(New York Jewish Week) — Thousands of New Yorkers gathered in Times Square on Monday night to watch as performers, social media stars and elected officials celebrated the second night of Hanukkah while bringing awareness to the growing frequency of antisemitism.
The event, called “Shine a Light on Antisemitism,” was co-hosted by a range of Jewish groups, including UJA-Federation of New York, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League.
It featured appearances from New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James and comedian Ariel Elias. Rapper Nissim Black and the cast of National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene’s “Fiddler On The Roof in Yiddish” performed.
Sharing the outdoor stage with a Hanukkah menorah and multiple elected officials, James called antisemitism “a malignant cancer” that must be wiped out.
Hochul, who said she has always supported the Jewish community, denounced “antisemitism in all of its forms.” The governor just introduced multiple initiatives to combat hate in New York, including a new unit in her office, stronger education programs and millions of dollars in security funding for synagogues.
As we light the @JCRCNY Menorah in Times Square, we send a clear message to the world that we are proud to stand with our Jewish neighbors!
New York wouldn’t be what it is today without our Jewish community. We’ll always support Jewish New Yorkers & stand up to antisemitism. pic.twitter.com/jeVhLVIFV5
— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) December 20, 2022
Elias, who had a video go viral after someone threw a beer can at her while she was performing in a comedy club, spoke about how the incident ultimately felt antisemitic.
“What I was talking about was being Jewish and growing up in Kentucky,” Elias said. “But because antisemitism doesn’t always look the way it used to, it took a long time for me to connect the dots when it first happened.”
UJA-Federation CEO Eric Goldstein told the New York Jewish Week that putting on an event like this in a public place is important in order to show that Jews are standing up to antisemitism.
He added that “a really important piece of this is to live [a] proudly public, happy Jewish life.”
“Crisis shouldn’t define us,” said Goldstein, who also spoke at the event. “The goal here is not to simply have sound speeches, but to celebrate Hanukkah. This is a time to get together in celebration.”
The event, called “Shine a Light on Antisemitism,” was co-hosted by a range of Jewish groups. (Photo courtesy Jewish Community Relations Council of New York)
“Shine a Light” is an initiative of more than 80 North American Jewish and non-Jewish organizations, calling itself “a platform for organizations, companies, individuals and institutions to unite in shining a light on antisemitism in all its modern forms.”
The New York Police Department reported that antisemitic attacks in the city in November 2022 were up by 125% when compared to the same month last year.
A report from the Anti-Defamation League counted 2,717 antisemitic incidents across the country in 2021 — a 34% increase from the previous year, and the highest since it began tracking in 1979.
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The post Thousands of Jews gather in Times Square to ‘Shine a Light’ on antisemitism appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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VIDEO: Historian Vivi Laks tells history of the London Yiddish Press
די ייִדיש־ליגע האָט לעצטנס אַרויפֿגעשטעלט אַ ווידעאָ, וווּ די היסטאָריקערין וויווי לאַקס דערציילט וועגן דער אַמאָליקער ייִדישער פּרעסע אין לאָנדאָן.
צווישן 1884 און 1954 האָט די לאָנדאָנער פּרעסע אַרויסגעגעבן הונדערטער פֿעליעטאָנען פֿון אָרטיקע שרײַבערס וועגן אָרטיקן ייִדישן לעבן.
די קורצע דערציילונגען זענען סאַטיריש, קאָמיש און רירנדיק, אויף טשיקאַווע טעמעס ווי למשל קאַמפֿן אין דער היים צווישן די מינים; פּאָליטיק אין די קאַפֿעען, און ספֿרי־תּורה אויף די גאַסן. די דערציילונגען האָבן געשריבן סײַ גוט באַקאַנטע שרײַבער (למשל, מאָריס ווינטשעווסקי, יוסף־חיים ברענער און אסתּר קרייטמאַן), סײַ היפּש ווייניקער באַקאַנטע.
שבֿע צוקער, די ייִדיש־לערערין און מחבר פֿון אַ ייִדישן לערנבוך, פֿירט דעם שמועס מיט וויווי לאַקס. זיי וועלן פֿאָרלייענען אַ טייל פֿון די פֿעליעטאָנען אויף ענגליש און ייִדיש, און אַרומרעדן די טעמעס וואָס די פּרעסע האָט אַרויסגעהויבן.
וויווי לאַקס איז אַ היסטאָריקערין פֿון לאָנדאָנס ייִדישן „איסט־ענד“, ווי אויך אַן איבערזעצער און זינגערין. זי איז די מחברטע פֿון Whitechapel Noise און London Yiddishtown, ווי אויך אַקאַדעמישע און פּאָפּולערע אַרטיקלען. זי איז אַ קולטור־טוערין אין לאָנדאָן און האָט מיטאָרגאַניזירט סײַ דעם גרויסן ייִדישן פּאַראַד, סײַ דעם Yiddish Café Trust. זי זינגט פּאָפּולערע לידער אויפֿן „קאָקני־ייִדיש“ מיט די גרופּעס קלעזמער־קלאָב און קאַטשאַנעס, און פֿירט שפּאַצירטורן איבער דעם „איסט־ענד“.
The post VIDEO: Historian Vivi Laks tells history of the London Yiddish Press appeared first on The Forward.
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Puppet Monty Pickle is guest on the Forward’s ‘Yiddish Word of the Day’
It’s not every day that a kosher dill pickle puppet gets a chance to learn some Yiddish.
Monty Pickle, star of the children’s series The Monty Pickle Show, recently joined Rukhl Schaechter, host of the Forward’s YouTube series Yiddish Word of the Day, for an episode teaching viewers the Yiddish words for various wild animals.
Or as they’re called in Yiddish: vilde khayes.
The Monty Pickle Show, a puppet comedy on YouTube and TikTok, aims to show young viewers what it means to be Jewish in a fun, lively way. The series was created by the Emmy Award-winning producers of Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock.
So far, he’s met a number of Jewish personalities, including rabbis, musicians and chefs, and explored holidays like Rosh Hashanah, Hanukkah and Passover.
Sitting alongside Rukhl during the lesson, Monty eagerly tries to guess what each word means, providing for some very funny moments.
The post Puppet Monty Pickle is guest on the Forward’s ‘Yiddish Word of the Day’ appeared first on The Forward.
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IDF Nabs Islamic State Terror Suspect in Syria
Guns seized in the course of the operation. Photo: IDF Spokesperson via i24
i24 News – Israel Defense Forces soldiers conducted an operation on Wednesday in the area of Rafid in southern Syria to apprehend a suspected terrorist affiliated with ISIS, the military spokesperson said on Saturday.
The announcement comes as Washington announced a major operation to eliminated Islamic State terrorists in Syria after three Americans lost their lives in a jihadist attack in Palmyra.
The Israeli soldiers completed the operation in Syria “in cooperation with IDF intelligence,” the statement read, adding that “the suspect was transferred for further processing in Israeli territory.”
Additionally, during the operation, weapons were found and seized.
IDF troops “continue to remain deployed along the Golan Heights border in order to protect the State of Israel and its citizens,” the statement from the spokesperson concluded.