The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has alloted more than $1 million in grants toward Fifteen South Florida nonprofit organizations, most of them being Jewish Shuls and Schools.
The grants, which pay for equipment and training but not additional staff, were part of $24 million the federal agency awarded recently to nonprofits. To get the grants, each group had to prove it is at risk of attack and how it would help South Florida recover from a traumatic incident, according to Homeland Security's Web site.
About 80 percent, or 251 of the 308 nonprofit agencies that won the grants nationally, were Jewish organizations, according to United Jewish Communities, the umbrella group for Jewish federations in North America. In South Florida, that includes four Jewish federations, two Jewish community centers, three yeshivas, a nursing home and a synagogue.
"This is an appropriate response from government to assist in helping what they call at-risk communities," said Adam Bronstone, director of Jewish community planning and research for the Jewish Federation of Broward County, which got $75,000.
Bronstone said there have been no security incidents since he started his job about 18 months ago. The campus in Davie has a Jewish community center, a camp, an early childhood center, a school, a fitness center and programs for senior citizens.
He said the federation wants to fence in its 40-acre property and improve its security camera system. The federation also got a $75,000 grant last year in the first year of the program.
The Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County got a $100,000 grant, the highest amount awarded.
"It is critically important to our federation to maintain technical superiority in the area of security and surveillance of our campus," said Bill Bernstein, the federation's president and chief executive officer. "We need the appropriate equipment to make certain we've done everything in our power to forestall an attack by unwanted individuals."
Bernstein said there have been no security incidents in the past year on the campus, which includes a community center, a preschool, a cultural center and a day school. He said about 2,500 people enter the campus west of Boca Raton each day.
But not every group on the list was a Jewish agency. A South Florida Muslim group, a branch of the American Muslim Association of North America, got its first Homeland Security grant from the government for $69,885.
After several years of being considered potential terrorists, the group is thrilled to assist in the protection of Americans, director Sofian Abdelaziz said.
"We are very proud to be on the other side now," he said. "It's the government saying, 'We trust you.'"
Abdelaziz said the American Muslim Association works with 25 Muslim centers in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties to improve their security and help recover from disasters such as hurricanes.
He said there have been several incidents of vandalism and hate crimes at South Florida's mosques, including a nontoxic white powder that was spread throughout the Nur Ul Islam Academy in Cooper City in April.
He said the Homeland Security money will be used to add lights and cameras and train mosque personnel.(SSentinel)
The hungry will not go without turkey on Thanksgiving, as soup kitchens muster up all their resources to provide for them on a night when, traditionally, Americans give thanks by helping those in need.
Though not a well-celebrated holiday among the Charedim, come Thursday night, Masbia - a soup kitchen that serves hot meals five nights a week in the heart of Borough Park - will also partake in the festivities.
Those that come to Masbia will get a taste of two traditions, side by side. Thursday's menu will include a serving of turkey and cholent, as part of a four-course meal planned to begin with coleslaw and pickles and end with dessert.
Weeks in advance, Jews were already calling Masbia, looking to volunteer at the soup kitchen on Thanksgiving - a holiday many use as an opportunity to thank God and give back to the community.
This year, food pantries can use all the help they can get, as shortages have reached an all-time high. The scarcity has been caused by steady cuts to a federal food program over the last five years, combined with growing demand.
The New York City Food Bank's warehouse stock is depleted to three million pounds of food - down from its usual eight - and everyone is feeling the pinch, including the Jewish community, where poverty is on the rise. About 25 percent of the 1.4 million Jews in the five boroughs of New York - roughly 348,000 - live near or below the poverty line, according to the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty.
Met Council, the largest Jewish food pantry network in the country, receives a large chunk of the 4.5 million pounds it distributes annually from the Food Bank. This year, the council is already dipping into Pessah reserves to meet the current needs, food program director Benny Wechsler said.
For Thanksgiving, Met Council distributed 400 turkeys, far below the expected demand.
"I've always been a firm believer that the Pilgrims should have eaten hot dogs instead of turkey. It's easier to prepare and distribute, and much less expensive," said Wechsler.
Masbia's founders witness the growing poverty daily. Not a week goes by when Alexander Rapaport, who co-founded Masbia with Mordechai Mandelbaum, doesn't see a member of his community searching through the garbage bins.
On its opening night two-and-a-half years ago, Masbia served eight meals. Today, it serves 160 dinners a day.
To meet their $500,000 annual budget, Masbia, which does not receive steady government funding, has come to depend on a daily spirit of "thanksgiving." The founders have found a way to resurrect an "old world" ritual and at the same time ensure that the supply at Masbia never dries up.
Today, most of their annual budget comes from newlyweds and their parents, who thank God by sponsoring a meal at the soup kitchen in the days before the wedding celebration.
"The most appropriate thing to do before my wedding was to pay for a hot meal," said Meir Neuman, who got married less than a week ago. "This is the way to give gratitude to God and let the poor join in my simcha."
To sponsor an entire night costs $960, or roughly $6 a meal.
The tradition dates back to the "old world," where the custom was to sponsor a "poor man's meal" in the days before the wedding. The Talmud and Midrash relate stories in which giving to the poor at the time of the wedding saves the couple from potential danger. What evolved was a tradition of giving to the less-fortunate as part of the pre-wedding ritual.
"When Europe was still a bustling Jewish center, everyone made a 'poor man's wedding' for poor people to have good meal," said Neuman.
In America, that tradition largely faded. But Masbia has found a way to bring it back into style.
"If tomorrow will be the day I rejoice the most, at least let others less fortunate rejoice with me," said Neuman, who came to Masbia dressed in his wedding garb. "[At] my wedding, I spend time with my family and friends, but at Masbia, I am with klal yisrael."
Recently, a man visiting from Israel came to eat at Masbia. He came alone, but behind him, a family with small children sat down to eat.
"I couldn't believe what I found here. I never saw it in Israel or anywhere in the world," he said. "Charedim and non-Charedim eat together, goyim [and] not-goyim, everyone eats in harmony."
Come Thanksgiving, he said, "we will all celebrate here together." (Jpost)
A new bill that would establish a plan to release jailed spy Jonathan Pollard was voted down in the Knesset Wednesday.
The bill would have set up a three-pronged effort, including the
appointment of a special minister to head the release effort and public
relations campaign in Israel and America. The government opposed the
bill in its first reading, allowing it to fall in a vote of 43 against
and 32 in favor.
"Kadima and Olmert are not interested in endangering the
security of Israel, but also that of Jonathan Pollard," said MK Gilad
Erdan (Likud), who initiated the bill. "Olmert is unable to do what it
takes and issue a strong request to return [Pollard]."
This week marked the 22nd anniversary of Pollard's conviction in the United States on charges of spying for Israel.
In 1986, Pollard pleaded guilty, waiving his right to a trial in
return for restrictions on sentencing. Israel publicly denied that
Pollard was an Israeli spy until 1998, when he was granted Israeli
citizenship and recognized by Israel as an agent.
Earlier this week, MK Zevulen Orlev (NU-NRP) requested that
State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss investigate the Pollard case and
consider intervening on Pollard's behalf. Orlev said that the State
Comptroller Committee, which he heads, would vote on an official
resolution asking Lindenstrauss to prepare a report on why Israel has
not managed to secure Pollard's release.
MK Estherina Tartman (Israel Beiteinu) also raised the issue of
Pollard's release earlier this week, arguing that instead of releasing
Palestinian prisoners, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert should consider
focusing his efforts on Israeli citizens.(jpost)
Over 7,700 hate crimes were committed in the US last year, according to an FBI report, including violent attacks based on race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation and disability.
The FBI report shows a 7 percent increase in hate crimes across the country as a whole, more than half these racially motivated with two thirds of victims recorded as black and one in five as white.
19 percent of the attacks were based on religion, with 65.4 percent of these victims Jewish and 11.9 percent Muslim.
The study also recoded 1,472 reports of attacks based on sexual orientation, with the majority of victims being male homosexuals.
Northern states reported significantly higher numbers of hate crimes than states in the South, reported the BBC. Alabama reported only one hate crime and Mississippi none, compared with California’s 1,297 and New Jersey’s 759.
The paper cites some states “dismissive” attitudes toward hate crimes and the different ways states define such a crime, as possible reasons for the noteworthy gap.
Black activist groups have also criticized the findings as flawed, saying there are many hate crimes that go unreported.
A string of vandalism targeting religious groups continued this
week, as banners hanging at synagogues and churches in Brooklyn Heights
were torn down by some not-so-merry pranksters.
The banners,
which read, “We are all children of one God,” were put up after a
September incident in which 22 swastikas were scrawled in several
Brooklyn Heights locations, including on the walls of two Remsen Street
synagogues.
Now, the symbolic gesture of unity by the Heights religious community is under assault.
Cops
have not caught the original anti-Semitic vandals, despite a $10,000
reward offered by the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.
Because the investigation is ongoing, cops at the 84th Precinct
declined to comment on the latest incident.
It is unclear if the new crime is connected to the swastika incident, or an unconnected random act of hate.
A new bill that would establish a plan to release jailed spy Jonathan Pollard was voted down in the Knesset Wednesday.
Over 7,700 hate crimes were committed in the US last year, according to an FBI report, including violent attacks based on race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation and disability.
A string of vandalism targeting religious groups continued this
week, as banners hanging at synagogues and churches in Brooklyn Heights
were torn down by some not-so-merry pranksters.
