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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| Legacy Retreat & Conference Center Now Opening
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|  Ohr Somayach Retreat Center
Legacy is proud to announce the opening of our brand-new ultra-Luxurious Legacy Retreat & Conference Center... we will be hosting mens college retreats all winter long .. feel free to check out the video on youtube... This new retreat center is truly exciting... an essential first class program in ruchnius & gashmius for the kiruv community... All men's college retreats have been graciously sponsored and are being run highly subsidized. Space is limited
View 'Tour' of Retreat Center (on YouTube) |
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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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Jewish Learning Conference to be Held for FSU Immigrants
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|  An Article from The Jerusalem Post
A two-day conference on Jewish culture and learning for Israelis from the former Soviet Union opens in Ashkelon on Thursday, in an attempt to strengthen their Jewish identity.
The first-ever Limmud FSU event is based on the 28-year-old Jewish cultural and study event that originated in England and is now being offered in 35 cities around the world, organizers said.
The 27-hour half-million dollar conference, which is being primarily funded by US Jewish federations and philanthropists, aims to offer new and veteran immigrants an intense dose of Jewish culture in a pluralistic setting.
Full Story |
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NORTH AMERICA
Here are some articles to keep you informed about relevant topics in North America |
'US Textbooks Misrepresent Jews, Israel'
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|  An Article from The Jerusalem Post
American elementary and high school textbooks contain many "gross misrepresentations" of Judaism, Christianity and Israel, according to a book-length study released this week by the San Francisco-based Institute for Jewish and Community Research.
"It is shocking to discover that history and geography textbooks widely used in America's elementary and secondary classrooms contain some of the very same inaccuracies about Christianity, Judaism and the Middle East as those [used] in Iran," the IJCR said in a summary of the findings of the five-year study.
Full Story |
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ISRAEL |
Paul McCartney, Hayarkon Park, Tel Aviv
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|  An Article from The Independent
The Hebrew was on the basic side but no less appreciated for that by the crowd of 45,000 in Tel Aviv's Hayarkon Park last night. "Shalom Tel Aviv, shana tova," ("happy new year"), Sir Paul McCartney told them before wheeling into "Hello Goodbye".
But as one of the great audience wooers of modern times he kept at it, striking a special chord with "ha shir haze mukdash le Linda" ("This song is for Linda") before sitting at the piano on a huge stage to pay a widower's homage to his first wife with "My Love".
Full Story |
Messianic Jews Promote Ethiopian Aliya
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|  An Article from The Jerusalem Post
Under Operation Tikva, through which thousands of people in Ethiopia are provided with clean water, money for food and educational services, they are also reminded often that they are Jews and that the people of Israel are waiting for them.
What makes Operation Tikva different than other Jewish aid programs in Ethiopia, however, is that neither the Israeli government, the Jewish Agency for Israel, nor any other recognized aliya organization is involved in it. In fact, The Jerusalem Post has learned it is a program run by Messianic Jewish missionaries, and very few people in Israel even know about it.
Full Story
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Report: Israel Home to Largest Jewish Population for First Time
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|  An Article from Google News
Israel is now home to the largest Jewish community in the world, just ahead of the United States, a semi-governmental organisation said Friday.
There are currently 5.55 million Jews living in Israel and 5.3 million in the United States, according to a report by the Jewish Agency, which is responsible for encouraging and facilitating Jewish immigration.
The two countries account for the vast majority of the world's 13.3 million Jews. The third-largest community resides in France, which has a Jewish population of 490,000, the report said.
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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Last Jews of Calcutta Have One Last Guardian
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|  An Article from The Jerusalem Post
The stooped man in the yarmulke fights his way through this chaotic city, the weight of generations heavy upon his shoulders.
SEIKH OSIM shows a portrait of David Joseph Ezra, the pioneer of building synagogues in Calcutta. Once a bustling center of Jewish life in the 30s and 40s, now there are fewer than 35 Jews remaining in the city.
He squeezes past tea stalls and sidewalk electricians, past idle rickshaws and honking cars. He edges through rows of vendors selling sparkly hair clips and, finally, pushes open a rusty gate hidden from the street.
Full Story |
Germany: Iran' s U.N. Speech "Blatant Anti-Semitism"
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|  An Article from Reuters
Germany's foreign minister on Friday blasted the Iranian president's speech at the U.N. General Assembly as "blatant anti-Semitism" and urged the 192 U.N. member states to join in condemning it.
On Tuesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad railed against "Zionist murderers" and dwelled on what he described as Zionist control of international finance.
"The statements of the Iranian president about Israel are irresponsible and unacceptable," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told the General Assembly.
Full Story |
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ARTICLES OF INTEREST
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Financial Crisis Sparking Wave of Online Anti-Semitism
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|  An Article from The Jerusalem Post
The worldwide financial meltdown has triggered an uptick in anonymous anti-Semitic comments blaming Jews for the crisis on mainstream Web site message boards, the Anti-Defamation League said on Thursday.
"Jews are greedy, rotten slimeballs," wrote one surfer on a Yahoo Finance group, according to the ADL statement.
"It's difficult, if not impossible, for one honest investor to neutralize the efforts of thousands of Jewish swindlers," another added.
Full Story |
How Jewish Were the Beatles?
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|  An Article from The Jerusalem Post
With Sir Paul McCartney performing in Tel Aviv tonight, it's a good time to consider just how Jewish the Beatles were - or weren't:
McCartney's most famous wife, and all but one of his children, were Jewish. Linda Eastman McCartney was the daughter of American Jews. Her father changed his name from Leopold Vail Epstein to Lee Eastman. Linda grew up in Scarsdale, New York, an area with many wealthy Jews. Despite rumors to the contrary, the family was not related to the owners of Eastman Kodak.
Full Story |
A Good Year for the Jews
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|  An Article from Haaretz
Looking back on the product of a year's writing on the Jewish world, there is one thing that springs out, at least to my eye. The Jewish year 5768 was the year in which anti-Semitism, while not dying out completely, certainly lost most of its vital signs.
This might come as a surprise to those who are used to reading in the papers, almost every week, reports of desecrations of cemeteries across Europe and stories of Jewish school children pushed and spat at on the street. It will certainly sound sacrilegious to those who devote much of their careers to recording every instance, and fighting manifestations, of the ancient hatred.
But when you read the annual reports of various organizations and research centers, you will notice that even the experts are having trouble differentiating between attacks and acts of vandalism that specifically target Jews and those that are just regular juvenile street crime or signs of the general wave of xenophobia washing over Western society.
Full Story |
| Report from Orthodox Chaplain in Iraq
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|  Update as of September 25, 2008
Well after spending one absolutely wasted week at Fort Benning, Georgia learning what it meant to deploy to a combat zone ( helpful for the civilian contractors , totally useless to two thirds of the military folks on their second, third, or even forth combat deployment) I left and made it to theater. There is nothing more reassuring then the pilot saying welcome to Kuwait where the temperature is now only 102 degrees Farinheint as we have had a cool spell recently. I'm in Baghdad for Shabbos and then on my way up North right after Shabbos ends for Rosh HaShanah, etc.
Much has changed here since I left. Living conditions are significantly better, transportation is just as bad, the average life of an Iraqi is definitely better, and soldiers are now gaining weight instead of losing it as they are being fed unbelievable meals four times a day.
What absolutely has not change, d is the shortage of Rabbis and the desperate need for them here in theater and at bases around the world.
This week we talk of Parshat Neitzaveim. We should all be standing before HaShem but as a play on words we should be standing and standing out as Jews and Rabbis in the military.
I had not been off the plane ten minutes when a young Marine Corporal who happened to be African American saw my kippah and approached me about whether or not I was a Rabbi and had I come to lead services. He said that the few people he asked about services wouldn't believe he was Jewish but now he saw a Rabbi he felt he could express himself and get support to come to services. Others also come and approach in the dining facility as they watch my kosher MRE steam up if I'm actually eating it hot. At the base I am on the lay leader told me how many Jews he knew of, walk around with a kippah and ask a few questions and now I have five extra names for the lay leader ( that was just from a few hours).
One of the mottoes of the Chaplain Corps is to bring G-d to soldiers and soldiers to G-d. I wonder how we as Jews can fulfill that motto with our own if we are absent from the field. For every Rabbi we do not have to teach Torah and be a role model there are 20 Messianic and Hebrew-Christian Chaplains waiting to be the Rabbis to the military (with a few already in). How can we bring these fine men and women of our Armed Forces closer to Torah if we are not there. Kiruv is wonderful and easy from the vantage point of living is wonderful Jewish communities like Baltimore , NY, or LA or even Chicago or Boston, Be a Lubavitcher in DeBuque or a military Rabbi in Fort Hood Texas and its a whole other story. In the military I gained a new appreciation for shlichus.
I ask myself when will the Jewish community and specifically its Rabbinate stand up and encourage three years of service for G-d, Country, and the Jewish people for those mentally and physically capable. This Rosh HaShanah every Rav should speak of the thousands of Jewish men and women of the armed forces and how they need Rabbis. Do you know a Rabbi capable, do you know a Rabbinical student interested, am I ready to take that leap. I hear too often I'll fight for Israel but not America but we are Americans and America has given us much and we should show our appreciation. It makes one cry knowing what could be accomplished for lack of a few good Rabbis.
This note may not be as reflective as some of my past ones and I will most likely get better but it pains me to see this time and time again and see the appreciative faces of those that finally get to meet a Rabbi, like the yound man I ran into the other day, 14 months in Iraq and I was his first Rabbinical visit.
All I ask is that you think about it and think of those who could fill the void and let me know who they are, I'll be happy to work on them. I doubt I will write before Rosh HaShanah but I thank all of you especiall Shomrei Emunah for your assistance and to Beth Tfiloh, Rabbi Wohlberg, and the Coleman family for allowing me to bring a sefer Torah here, which is already a conversation piece.
To all my friends and family, may this be a year of peace, for Klal Israel, for the Land of Israel, and for those who fight our nations wars and protect our liberties and way of life. A Happy Healthy , and Sweet New Year.
Rabbi Mitchell S Ackerson
Chaplain (Colonel) USAR |
| 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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