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AJOP Board | RABBINIC AUTHORITIES HaRav Shmuel Kamenetsky HaRav Yaakov Perlow
BOARD OF TRUSTEES Rabbi Ilan Feldman Atlanta, GA Rabbi Yaacov Haber Jerusalem, Israel Mr. Richard Horowitz Los Angeles, CA Rabbi Yehoshua Karsh Northbrook, IL Dr. David Lieberman Lakewood, NJ
Rabbi Yitzchok Lowenbraun National Director
Rabbi Shlomo Porter Baltimore, MD Mr. Jeff Schachter Esq. Passaic, NJ Mr. Frank Storch Baltimore, MD HaRav Michel Twerski Milwaukee, WI
Mr. Jerry Wolasky
Baltimore, MD
ADVISORY BOARD Mr. Mark Bane Lawrence, NY Mr. Jonathan Beren Denver, CO Dr. Robert Edelman Baltimore, MD Rabbi Avraham Edelstein Jerusalem, Israel Dr. Michael J Elman Mr. Howard Tzvi Friedman Mr. Joseph Friedman Olney, MD
Mr. Harvey Hecker Toronto, ONT Mr. Steven Rosedale Cincinnatti, OH Rabbi Simcha Scholar Brooklyn, NYRabbi Nochum Stilerman Brooklyn, NY Mr Gary Torgow Detroit, MI Rabbi Abraham Twerski, MD Monsey, NY
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| Elul Schmooze by HaRav Noach Weinberg - A Must See
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|  Please Daven for HaRav Yisroel Noach ben Hinda
Click Here to Listen to the Rosh HaYehiva's Most Recent Schmooze on Preparing for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
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Fighting Terror with Kindness - Worldwide Speaking Tour
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|  Shmuel Greenbaum founder of Tradition of Kindness on Worldwide Speaking Tour
After Shmuel Greenbaum's wife was killed by a suicide bomber in a Jerusalem restaurant, he responded to his tragedy not with hatred and anger, but by teaching the world kindness through the personal stories of every day people. His two websites send kindness e-mails to 30,000 subscribers directly and are reprinted in hundreds of publications, which reach over 1.5 million readers.
Shmuel is on a worldwide speaking tour, fascinating audiences from Larnaca, Cyprus to London, England with a dynamic presentation. Rather than focusing on hatred and anger, Shmuel focuses on the positive. Through stories and audience participation, Shmuel plays up the emotions of the crowd and rivets his audience's attention. Participants come away feeling very positive and excited about doing something great.
Shmuel does not charge a fee, other than travel from New York (if he is not already in the area). He travels several times a year to Israel and to Europe.
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Newly Published: Genesis - The Untold Story
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|  New Book by Lisa Aiken Now Available at 15% Discount
Renowned psychologist and author Lisa Aiken and scientist/physician Ira Michaels have combined their knowledge of biology, physics, archaeology, history, psychology, political science, languages and current events to produce Genesis-The Untold Story. This book explains, in a highly readable way, how people can properly understand the stories of Bereishit in light of modern knowledge, and apply the resulting moral and spiritual insights to our daily lives. This book is essential reading for anyone working in outreach, for people who want evidence that Genesis' characters and events really existed, and for all Jews who want to deepen their understanding of Torah and life. The book includes 2 well-researched chapters that counter Bible critics' claims of who really wrote the Torah, and evidence that the Torah we have was written by God.
Order a copy of this acclaimed book (the book got a rave review by Yocheved Golani in the Jewish Press) in time for the New Year by clicking here. Order before Rosh HaShanah and receive a 15% discount off the retail price of $24.95.
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Lisa Aiken North American Speaking Tour
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| North American Speaking Tour Jan. 22-24, Feb 1-11
Chana Leah (Lisa) Aiken is a psychologist and renowned author of 9 Judaica books, including To Be A Jewish Woman. She has spoken in 200 cities worldwide on a wide range of topics, including women's issues, archaeology and the Bible, prayer, dating and marriage, relationships, Israel, and baal teshuva issues. She is currently accepting bookings for her North American winter speaking tour for the following dates: Jan. 22-24, 28, Feb. 1-11. She will be in the NY/NJ area, Pennsylvania, Denver, Orlando, Boca Raton, Chicago, Los Angeles, and more.
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|  OUTREACH
The world of kiruv is constantly changing with new issues that need attention, new advances in technology that help us do our work more efficiently, inspirational people and much more. The following articles are aimed at keepin you as updated and informed as possible in this area.
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Teacher's Birthright' May Get $100M Boost
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|  An Article from The Jerusalem Post
The plan to bring thousands of Diaspora Jewish educators to Israel on free trips could receive over $100 million in state funding, according to initiatives being developed in the Prime Minister's Office, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
The government plan to develop a "teachers' birthright," modeled on the free birthright-Israel trips taken by some 180,000 college-age Jews from the Diaspora, was first revealed in the Post last month. At the time, an internal meeting of advisers in the PMO chaired by Cabinet Secretary Oved Yehezkel had discussed developing a new track for Masa, a government agency which brings Diaspora Jewish youth for five- and ten-month programs in Israel.
Full Story |
Dead Sea Rabbi Creates 'Masada' Bat Mitzvah Extravaganza
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|  An Article from Arutz Sheva
When Sara Elise and Rebecca Paul were planning their Bat Mitzvah in Yardley, Pennsylvania last year, they and their parents spent weeks trying to figure out what kind of ceremony would be meaningful and yet different from the usual run-of-the-mill "big bash." Spending thousands of dollars on a party that lasted less time than it took to fly to Israel made no sense to anyone in the family.
Instead, the Pauls opted for an alternative that has begun to attract a growing number of American Jews - an innovative program created by Chabad-Lubavitch of the Dead Sea called the "Masada Experience."
The idea is to breathe a little life into a female event that brings a young girl into womanhood.
Full Story |
Jewish Day Schools Report Enrollment is on the Rise
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|  An Article from The Jewish Advocate
A crane hoisted a state-of-the-art classroom over the South Area Solomon Schechter Day School and lowered the new addition into place, creating necessary space for an influx of new kindergarten students. Now in its second year on the new campus in Norwood, the Jewish day school is preparing for the largest enrollment in its 20-year history with 240 students, a 13 percent increase over last year. And SASSDS is not unique.
Full Story |
Group Dangles $50K for Jews Who Move to Alabama Town
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|  An Article from Comcast.net
Larry Blumberg is looking for a few good Jews to move to his corner of the Bible Belt. Blumberg is chairman of an organization offering Jewish families as much as $50,000 to relocate to Dothan, an overwhelmingly Christian town of 58,000 that calls itself the Peanut Capital of the World. Get involved at Temple Emanu-El and stay at least five years, the group's leaders say, and the money doesn't have to be repaid.
More Jews are living in the South than ever - about 386,000 at last count in 2001, according to Stuart Rockoff, a historian at the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life in Jackson, Miss. But young Jews are leaving small places like Dothan in favor of cities like Atlanta and Birmingham, Rockoff said, and dozens of small-town synagogues have closed.
Full Story |
Jewish New Orleans Undergoing Dramatic Transformation
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|  An Article from The Jerusalem Post
Three years since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, the face of Jewish New Orleans is undergoing a dramatic transformation.
The traditional Southern community that was nearly destroyed by the hurricane on Aug. 29, 2005 has been energized by an influx of young newcomers and has a new pioneering spirit, community leaders say.
Full Story
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PHILANTHROPY/
FUNDRAISING
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Irv Shuman, Community Leader, Slain
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|  An Article from Jewish News of Greater Phoenix
Longtime Valley philanthropist and real estate developer Irving Shuman was found murdered in his central Phoenix office the night of Sept. 2, Phoenix Police said.
Shuman, 84, former Arizona chairman of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and former president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, was a local community leader for nearly 50 years.
Few details of the murder were available at press time. Police say Shuman's body was found inside the offices of Standard Realty and Development Co. at Seventh Avenue and Camelback Road about 7:15 p.m. His vehicle, a 1998 gold Lexus, was missing.
Full Story |
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NORTH AMERICA
Here are some articles to keep you informed about relevant topics in North America |
Orthodox Join Fight Against Gay Nuptials
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|  An Article from The Forward
The most powerful Orthodox Jewish umbrella group has thrown its support behind a ballot initiative that aims to overturn California's historic decision to legalize same-sex marriage.
In late August, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America joined a coalition of faith-based groups supporting Proposition 8, which, if passed come November, would nullify the California State Supreme Court's May 15 ruling that gay men and lesbians can wed. Since mid-June, when the ruling took effect, hundreds of gay couples here - many of them Jewish - have tied the knot.
Full Story
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Q&A With Rhoda Weisman - Jewish Woman on Top
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|  An Article from The Jewish Journal
Rhoda Weisman, executive director of the Professional Leaders Project,
which is designed to engender and support a new generation of leaders in the
Jewish community, talks about why the Jewish establishment needs to change, why young leaders are just as crucial as big donors and what it's like to be a woman at the top.
Full Story |
A Condo Divided - Controversy Over Shabbos Elevator
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|  An Article from The Jewish Times
Maryland's Commission on Human Relations (MCHR), in a June 3 ruling, determined that there is "probable cause" that discrimination by the Strathmore Tower Condominium Board has occurred against its Orthodox residents.
Gregory Logan, a commission investigator, said that the case could go to a public hearing [tantamount to a trial] to address the issue of whether or not the condo, located on Strathmore at Park Heights Avenue, is discriminating against its Sabbath-observant residents by not installing software equipment to modify one of its two passenger elevators into a Sabbath mode.
Full Story |
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ISRAEL
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US Reform Movement Hopes Nefesh B'Nefesh Will Support 'Flex Aliya' Concept
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|  An Article from The Jerusalem Post
Leaders in the US Reform Movement said Tuesday they hope the privately run aliya organization Nefesh B'Nefesh will support programs developed with the Jewish Agency to attract liberal Jews who want to split their time between Israel and their existing homes in North America.
Nefesh B'Nefesh, which under an agreement announced Sunday will take over North American aliya operations for the Jewish Agency, has largely attracted Orthodox Jews aboard its planes, in part through an early partnership with the Orthodox Union, though it has also recently reached out to the Reform and Conservative movements.
Full Story |
'Only the Jewish Agency can Connect the Jewish World'
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|  An Article from The Jerusalem Post
The Jewish Agency may have "outsourced" the important function of bringing aliya from the world's largest Jewish community, but it remains for the foreseeable future the only body connecting the diverse communities of the Jewish world together, according to agency director-general Moshe Vigdor.
Vigdor was one of the architects of the Jewish Agency-Nefesh B'Nefesh agreement announced last week that gave Nefesh responsibility for North American aliya marketing and implementation. He spoke to The Jerusalem Post this week in the wake of that agreement.
Full Story |
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INTERNATIONAL
The following articles are to keep you updated on the ever changing world around us.
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A Guide to Maimonides' Cordoba
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|  An Article from The Jerusalem Post
Luxury hotels named after rabbis are pretty rare wherever you are in the world. But what makes Hotel Maimonides even more unusual is the fact that it is located in Cordoba, a city without a modern Jewish community. This Andalusian city was the birthplace of Moses Maimonides, the great rabbi and philosopher whose works included the Mishne Torah and Guide for the Perplexed. Ironically, modern Cordoba is a perplexing place and one could use a good guide.
At first glance Cordoba's old Jewish Quarter (Juderia) is a pretty unimpressive sight. Its narrow alleyways, lined with simple whitewashed townhouses and souvenir shops, blend in with the rest of the Old City. Yet, this small and unassuming district is of great historical importance. The Juderia is home to one of only three medieval synagogues left in all of Spain (the other two are in Toledo).
Full Story |
Collective Effort by Translators Helps
Bring Early Holocaust Memoir into English
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|  An Article from The JTA
Early Holocaust memoir translated into English
Like Primo Levi and Elie Wiesel, Rafael Rajzner was one of the few Holocaust survivors who chronicled his traumatic experience in the years soon after the war, when most survivors stayed silent.
But unlike those authors, Rajzner's harrowing, 324-page eyewitness account of the liquidation of Bialystoker Jewry was never translated into English. His memoir, "Der Umkum Fun Byalistoker Yidntum" ("The Annihilation Of Bialystoker Jewry"), was published in Melbourne in Yiddish in 1948. It was the first memoir by a Holocaust survivor published in Australia.
Now, however, the book has come out in English.
Full Story |
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ARTICLES OF INTEREST
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Michelle Obama Has a Rabbi in Her Family
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|  An Article from The Forward
While Barack Obama has struggled to capture the Jewish vote, it turns out that one of his wife's cousins is the country's most prominent black rabbi - a fact that has gone largely unnoticed.
Michelle Obama, wife of the Democratic presidential nominee, and Rabbi Capers Funnye, spiritual leader of a mostly black synagogue on Chicago's South Side, are first cousins once removed. Funnye's mother, Verdelle Robinson Funnye (born Verdelle Robinson) and Michelle Obama's paternal grandfather, Frasier Robinson Jr., were brother and sister.
Full Story |
| | Notice: One or more of the images contained in this newsletter may be protected by the GNU Free Documentation License or the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License. Select links for further information. |
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