09/18 Links Pt2: Shapiro: Funding for Terror Supporters Supplements Terrorism; Jerusalem police kill terrorist attempting Yom Kippur stabbing attack; Kippur: The forgotten victory ~ EoZ

From Ian:

Ben Shapiro: Funding for Terror Supporters Supplements Terrorism

Jabarin’s family has received $3,350 from the Palestinian Authority; if he receives a life sentence, that number will increase to $1.7 million.

No wonder Republicans and the Trump administration have cut off funding to the Palestinian Authority. They should. Cash in the hands of terror supporters merely supplements terrorism rather than undermining it.

That simple truth, though, eludes the international Left.

We’ve been told for decades that American taxpayers ought to sign checks to Palestinian governmental groups in order to minimize violence. Underlying this argument is a simple theory: Terrorism is driven by poverty and despair. Alleviate that poverty and despair, and terrorism ought to disappear quietly. That’s been the prevailing view among left-wing Jewish thinkers for a century; that view has been adopted by the left-wing intelligentsia of the West as well. Simply hand over the cash, and violence will cease. Barack Obama put the idea well in his book Dreams From My Father: “I know, I have seen, the desperation and disorder of the powerless: how it twists the lives of children on the streets of Jakarta or Nairobi . . . how easily they slip into violence and despair.”

But that’s not what drives terrorism. As Jeff Victoroff of the department of neurology and psychiatry at the University of Southern California School of Medicine explained in a comprehensive 2005 Journal of Conflict Resolution study, “Middle Eastern terrorists in the late 1990s and early twenty-first century come from a wider demographic range, including university students, professionals, married men in their late forties, and young women.” A 2001 poll showed that among Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, support for political violence was higher among professionals than laborers and more common among those with high-school educations than among the illiterate.

Terrorism is driven by ideology. And ideology determines how money is spent. That means that throwing money at the problem of terrorism doesn’t solve the problem — it actually exacerbates it. As former Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin explained regarding the left-wing Jewish Zionist position on regional peace: “Their flight of fancy led them to the delusion that the Arabs would eventually come to terms with us for the sake of their economic progress. What utter nonsense! Ze’ev Jabotinsky [founder of the revisionist Zionist movement] had too much respect for the Arabs to believe they would come to the peace table for the sake of a mess of pottage.”

Signing checks to terrorist regimes simply means funneling cash to terrorists. That’s true of the government of Iran, the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Hezbollah, or any other terrorist group masquerading as a pseudo-government. No amount of wishing can change the simple fact that terrorism is driven by ideas, not by the pocketbook. But that wishing can turn Westerners into the pocketbook for terrorists.

Jerusalem police kill Palestinian attempting Yom Kippur stabbing attack

A Palestinian attempted to carry out a stabbing attack outside Jerusalem’s Old City on Tuesday evening, and was shot dead by Israeli police, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.

An Israeli police statement reported “an attempted stabbing attack” near Damascus Gate, saying “a police unit at the spot neutralized the suspect,” with the Palestinian Authority’s health ministry saying it was informed of the death of a civilian by gunshots.

According to police the attacker ran at Jewish man and knocked him over onto the ground, he then “continued running toward the police officers while waving a sharp object and trying to harm them.”

The Haaretz website said the man was a 26-year-old from the Qalandiya refugee camp outside Jerusalem, who had been in Israel illegally.

Police did not say if anyone else was harmed in the incident. It occurred just after sunset on Tuesday, as Jews began observing Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

“The widespread deployment of police in Jerusalem and their alertness prevented an attack that could have ended with harsh results.,” police said.

The Top 100 People Positively Influencing Jewish Life, 2018

In honor of The Algemeiner’s fifth annual gala, we are delighted to unveil our fifth Algemeiner ‘J100’ list of the top one hundred individuals who have positively influenced Jewish life this past year. Before you work your way through this exciting list, we wanted to first share some of the thoughts that we discussed as we developed it. If we could group these ideas together, the first would be about creating lists, in general; then, what’s unique about lists and Judaism; some finer points differentiating our honorees from the organizations they lead; and important reflections on all those every day and anonymous-to-us heroes we also want to celebrate without ever knowing their names. And, of course, to thank everyone who helped create the list and worked hard to put together our J100 gala.

On Lists

There are lists, and there are lists. From the Forbes 400 to the Time 100, we are witness today to a proliferation of many lists in various magazines and newspapers. The New Yorker even made a list of The Hundred Best Lists of All Time! Lists have begun spreading in the Jewish media as well. It seems that in the feeding frenzy of our information overloaded society, categorizations and listings get our attention by presumably helping us make sense of the data flooding our psyches. Lists also carry an element of sensationalism – who made the list, who didn’t – feeding the hunger for competition – yet another staple of our superficial times. No wonder we don’t find such popularity contests waged in earlier centuries; living as desert nomads or inside of a shtetl, where everyone knew virtually no one else but their neighbors by name (for good or for bad), did not exactly lend itself to creating a top ten list of favorites. This is an exclusive product of the communications revolution and the global village it created.

Granddaughter of Holocaust Survivor Murdered in Paris: We Cannot Be Silent Anymore

Keren Brosh brought many in the crowd at The Algemeiner’s fifth annual “J100” Gala last Thursday in New York City to tears with her emotional recounting of the brutal antisemitic murder in Paris of her 85-year-old grandmother, Holocaust survivor Mireille Knoll.

Brosh thanked The Algemeiner, which was the first English-language media outlet to report on the March 2018 killing, for its ongoing coverage of the case.

“Israel, where I live, was founded on the promise of, ‘Never again,’” Brosh said. “Never again Jews will be killed for being Jews. And that’s why we have the strongest army in the world. But even me, who served in the IDF for 10 years, who was a captain, even I couldn’t save my own grandma from Judeophobia.”

Brosh added: “How do we make it stop? When do we get to say enough is enough? We have students getting bullied on a daily basis for being Jewish. We have little children shot to death in Jewish schools. And now, grandmas being murdered in their houses.”

“Isn’t it enough already? How do we end it?” she asked. “We end it by telling our story. So the world will know that we have a lot of work to do. And that’s why we need to support The Algemeiner. So they can continue to give us a voice. Because we cannot be silent anymore.”

Melanie Phillips: Crazy world hate-ed at Tufts U, Trump and UNRWA

Please join me here as I discuss with Avi Abelow of Israel Unwired the new Israel-bashing course that has been introduced at Tufts university in the US, and the implications of President Trump’s latest moves towards UNRWA and the Palestinian Authority.

Alan Dershowitz: New Eichmann Film Puts the Lie to Hannah Arendt's "Banality of Evil"

One of the most notorious lines -- and lies -- that grew out of the trial of Adolf Eichmann for his important role in the Holocaust, was what Hannah Arendt called "the banality of evil," meaning that even the most horrific people can appear insipid. Arendt was assigned to report on the 1961 trial of Eichmann in Jerusalem, but according to contemporaries, she rarely attended the trial. She came to Jerusalem having made up her mind in advance that Eichmann in particular and other perpetrators of the evils of the Holocaust in general, were ordinary nondescript functionaries. She reported on the trial with an agenda. It was not necessary for her actually to observe and listen to Eichmann because to do so might undercut her thesis. So instead she wrote a mendacious screed in which she constructed a stick-figure caricature of one of the most significant perpetrators of the Holocaust.

I use the word mendacious deliberately, because it seems Arendt knew better. One of Hitler's key supporters was Professor Martin Heidegger, perhaps the most influential philosopher of his day. Arendt was his student and lover. After the war, she tried desperately to rehabilitate him. He was anything but banal. Nor were Göring, Goebbels, Himmler, Hitler and the numerous doctors and lawyers who were tried at Nuremberg. Neither were the university students who began by burning Jewish books and ended by burning Jewish children. The perpetrators of the Holocaust -- from those who organized it in Berlin to those who carried it out in the death camps and killing fields -- included some of the most brilliant young men and women in Germany. Many left university to participate in the "final solution" and then returned to highly prestigious jobs in post-war Germany.

Adolf Eichmann was also anything but banal, as a perusal of the trial transcript reveals. In the new film Operation Finale, he is played by Ben Kingsley. Although the film partakes of Hollywood liberties -- a romance between a beautiful doctor who in reality was a man and the film's Israeli hero -- Kingsley's fictional portrayal of Eichmann is far more realistic than the allegedly non-fiction account by Arendt.

Kippur: The forgotten victory

This week Israel will mark the 45-year anniversary of the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War. The war came as a complete surprise to the people of Israel, many of whom were at synagogue when the sirens blared. Also caught off guard, however, were the political and military leadership and the intelligence community – who didn't see the war at the gate and didn't prepare the army for its advance. The cost of the failure was close to 3,000 killed and another 7,000 wounded.

We need to revisit this defining moment in the lives of many Israelis, but we must remember and remind ourselves – and certainly the younger generation – that the story of the Yom Kippur War didn't end in how it began, in that moment where Israeli collective memory has seemingly been frozen in time ever since. This story has a continuation and an ending that, after all and in spite of everything, was victory.

Few of Israel's wars have culminated in such resounding, convincing triumph, not to mention the vast strategic consequences for the country's future.

The war's outbreak caught IDF units unprepared and out of position as the enemy launched its offensive on the Sinai front in the south and on the Golan Heights in the north. The Egyptians were able to cross the Suez Canal and seize control of its eastern bank. On the Golan, meanwhile, the Syrians captured the southern heights on the way to the Jordan River crossings.

Within a matter of several days, however, the Egyptian-Syrian attack was turned back. Moreover, after recovering from the initial surprise, the IDF seized the momentum as Israeli pilots won the upper hand in every confrontation with their Egyptian and Syrian counterparts. Israeli tank crews, meanwhile, were doing the same on the ground against the enemy's armored divisions.

The Yom Kippur War: When Israel’s Arabs didn’t rise up

As Israel rushed its reserves to meet the surprise Syrian-Egyptian attack opening the Yom Kippur War in 1973, it simultaneously dispatched border police contingents to Arab Israeli enclaves for fear of unrest.

But Israel’s Arabs did not rise up. Instead, in this most trying period in Israel’s history, they volunteered to replace mobilized Jewish reservists, worked on kibbutz farms, signed up for civil defense work, gave blood, and bought government bonds to help finance the emergency.

For almost two decades after Israel was founded in 1948, its Arabs had lived under martial law, restricted in their movement and closely monitored by security services. They had cheered on the Arab armies which attempted to annihilate Israel at its birth and their loyalty to the Jewish state remained suspect, at best. However, in 1966 the government abolished military rule in the Arab sector, offering residents there a sense of normality for the first time.

“They have lived these recent years in a calm and positive atmosphere,” said Shmuel Toledano, the prime minister’s adviser on Arab affairs, in an interview at the time, referring to the seven years since the end of martial law. “They’ve gotten the feeling that it’s possible to live in Israel as a minority.”
Israeli troops rushing up to the northern frontier with the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War, October 7, 1973. (GPO/Eitan Harris)

The government initially refrained from involving the Arab population in efforts to stabilize the home front. “But after a few days,” said Toledano, “we saw that they were offended by this attitude.” Offices were opened in seven Arab communities to register volunteers. The bonds sold to thousands in the Arab sector had the word “war” deleted from the “war bond certificates” they received. This way, Arab Israelis could express support for the state without overtly supporting a war against Arab states.

Some Israeli observers cautioned against reading too much into such demonstrations of loyalty. “Much of it is organized by Arab leaders who want to establish credit which can be drawn on in the future,” said a kibbutz leader familiar with the Arab community. “There’s nothing wrong with that and the volunteering is certainly a positive step. But we need to maintain perspective.”

Isi Leibler: UK Jews want unity 'at any price'

No doubt that classifies me as intolerant or bigoted to those who believe that respectful dialogue with those defending our killers is the correct path. I take pride in not seeking to display tolerance to those who justify the killing of fellow Jews and if my views are regarded by the bleeding hearts as fanatical or prejudiced, so be it.

Van der Zyl calls for unity irrespective of the circumstances. Would she take a similar attitude to a Jew espousing racism or being a supporter of fascism? Would it be obligatory to welcome such people and ask that they be treated with respect? A Board delegate who expressed blanket anti-Muslim sentiments was rightly not treated with respect nor welcomed. In fact, in contrast to the Hamas apologists, investigations were made as to how the Board could “constitutionally expel him.”

The Board of Deputies should indeed call for unity in the Jewish community. Not merely against the burgeoning antisemitism in the Labour Party, but also in support of the IDF’s efforts to defend Israeli citizens from terrorists – an attitude shared by virtually all Israelis of all political persuasions.

The Board of Deputies rightfully calls on Corbyn to retract his antisemitic outbursts or resign. One of the most contemptible acts (amongst many others) of Corbyn was his laying a wreath on the graves of Palestinian mass murderers. In this context, is it not bizarre and utterly inconsistent for the Board to “welcome” into its ranks those who recite kaddish for terrorists and even call on fellow Jews to “respect” them?

The fact that there do not appear to have been bitter protests by the rank and file for such behavior shows sadly that Anglo-Jewry or at least its leaders have lost the plot or lack a moral compass. If they fail to reject from their midst those embracing terrorists intent on murdering Jews, they should not be surprised to find that such sentiments become legitimate discourse, not only in the Labour Party led by an unrepentant antisemite, but also within the Jewish community itself.

UK PM Vows to Defend Jews and Israel, in Dig at Labour’s Corbyn

Prime Minister Theresa May pledged on Monday to protect British Jewish identity and Israel’s right to defend itself, in an attack on opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn in the run-up to his Labour Party conference next weekend.

May told a United Jewish Israel Appeal dinner she was “sickened” by the idea that some Jews questioned whether Britain was a safe place to raise their children.

Labour has been angrily divided this year over pockets of antisemitism which Corbyn himself has acknowledged. Critics suggest he should step down for failing to tackle the issue.

A poll in Britain’s Jewish Chronicle earlier this month said that 40 percent of Jews would consider emigrating if Corbyn won power in a national election.

In August, former Chief Rabbi of Britain Jonathan Sacks called Corbyn an antisemite and said comments about Zionists made by him in 2013, before he was Labour’s leader, were the most offensive by a senior UK politician in half a century.

Corbyn said five years ago that British Zionists “don’t understand English irony” despite “having lived in this country for a very long time.”

“If we are to stand up for the values that we share — then one of the things we need to do is give young Jewish people the confidence to be proud of their identity — as British, Jewish and Zionist too,” May said.

“There is no contradiction between these identities — and we must never let anyone try to suggest that there should be.”

Corbyn, a veteran campaigner for Palestinian rights who has moved Labour to the left, has pledged to eradicate antisemitism. This month Labour adopted an internationally accepted definition of antisemitism in hopes of ending the row.

Theresa May’s full speech to UJIA dinner

2,500 demonstrate in Manchester against rising UK anti-Semitism

More than 2,500 people demonstrated in Manchester, England against increasing anti-Semitism in the United Kingdom and the problem of anti-Semitism in the British Labour Party.

Some 32 different Jewish groups came together to sponsor Sunday’s rally during a rainstorm in Britain’s second-largest Jewish community.

“Enough is enough,” said Raphi Bloom of North West Friends of Israel in opening the event in the Manchester city center, the Manchester Evening News reported. “We will not be scared, cowed or intimidated by these racists and we demand immediate action against the perpetrators of this anti-Semitism.”

Among the speakers at the event were British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis; Marie van der Zyl, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews; chairman of the Jewish Leadership Council Jonathan Goldstein, and several area lawmakers.

Dame Margaret Hodge, a member of Parliament who has been the subject of on-line anti-Semitic attacks and recently called Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn “an anti-Semite and a racist,” called for an “end to the vile racism against Jews,” according to the newspaper. “I never, ever dreamt that my identity as a Jew and my work as public servant in the Labour Party would lead me to a rally protesting against anti-Semitism in my party, in our politics and in our communities.”

“We’re standing together, we’re shouting to everybody, were making everybody hear that we mean what we say when we say enough is enough,” she also said.

Why does Jeremy Corbyn’s anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism make him so popular in England ?

The myth about Britain's blamelessness against Jews and Israel

A widespread myth exists that the United Kingdom is an irreproachable democracy that has never conducted an anti-Semitic or anti-Zionist policy in the very turbulent period of the first half of the twentieth century.

This myth is based on two main ideas :
- on the one hand, that there was the Balfour declaration of 1917 and that the British mandate on Palestine led to the creation of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948;

- on the other hand, that the United Kingdom remained a democracy throughout the Second World War thanks in particular to the tenacity of Winston Churchill who was Prime Minister between May 1940 and July 1945, five of the six years of war.

But this myth is wrong. The historical reality is quite different.

The gradual abandonment of the Balfour declaration by the English in the inter-war period

After the First World War, the Balfour declaration of 1917 was consecrated in international law by the mandate given on 24 July 1922 by the League of Nations to Great Britain to create a "Jewish National Home in Palestine". The article 6 of the mandate treaty provides that "the administration of Palestine will facilitate Jewish immigration in suitable conditions" and that it "will encourage the intensive settlement of Jews on the lands of the country". But Britain has violated this article.

The rise of totalitarianism in Europe since the end of the First World War, the economic crisis of 1929 and the accession of Adolf Hitler to the office of Chancellor of Germany in 1933 led to an increase in anti-Semitic acts in Europe. first in Poland and the Baltic States, then in Germany.

From 1933 to 1936, Jewish European immigrant flows to Palestine increased considerably. In the year 1933 alone, 37,000 European Jews emigrated to Palestine, almost as many as the previous 10 years. In 1935, with the antisemitic laws of Nuremberg, this figure rose to 66,000 immigrants. At that time, Nazi Germany encouraged the departure of German Jews to Palestine.

But gradually, because of the opposition of the Arab nationalists to the creation of a Jewish home and the anti-Semitic violence provoked by the Mufti of Jerusalem Hadj Amine Al-Husseini which led in particular to the massacre of Hebron in 1929 and the guerrillas Palestine in 1936, the United Kingdom adopted the policy of appeasement with the Arabs. In violation of Article 6 of the aforementioned Mandate for Palestine of the League of Nations, the English have increased the obstacles to Jewish immigration to Palestine by the illegal introduction of entry quotas, thus burying the Balfour declaration de facto.

CAA applauds Church of England for adopting International Definition of Antisemitism, in full, with no caveats

The Church of England has adopted the full International Definition of Antisemitism.

The Council of Bishops took the decision on the recommendation of the Archbishop of Canterbury after he met with the Chief Rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis. Rabbi Mirvis had expressed his concern about the “deep sense of insecurity” among the Jewish community in the UK.

The Council also issued a statement calling on public figures to “reject all language and activity that leads to prejudice, stigma, or hatred towards people on the grounds of their religion, culture, origins, identity, or belief.”

The Church of England’s unquestioning and complete acceptance of the full International Definition of Antisemitism has come just a week after Labour’s National Executive Committee voted to accept the definition with a caveat and an option to revisit the issue at a later date.

Dr David Walker, the Bishop of Manchester, said that the Jewish community should feel reassured that the Church of England will continue to reject “prejudice and bigotry”, and that “[we] will continue to speak out critically”.

Citing BDS, US prof. refuses to write reference for student to study in Israel

A University of Michigan professor refused to send a letter of recommendation for a student who wished to study in Israel, according to an email obtained by The Times of Israel on Monday.

John Cheney-Lippold, an associate professor in the university’s Department of American Culture, had previously offered to write an undergraduate’s reference letter for a semester abroad program in Israel.

But he notified the student, named Abigail, that he missed a critical piece of information in her request that made him change his mind.

“I am very sorry, but I only scanned your first email a couple weeks ago and missed out on a key detail,” he wrote. “As you may know, many university departments have pledged an academic boycott against Israel in support of Palestinians living in Palestine. This boycott includes writing letters of recommendation for students planning to study there.

“I should have let you know earlier, and for that I apologize,” he went on. “But for reasons of these politics, I must rescind my offer to write your letter.”

After dropping his offer to recommend Abigail, Cheney-Lippold told her he would help her with applications for programs in other countries.

“Let me know if you need me to write other letters for you, as I’d be happy,” he told her.

University ‘disappointed’ after professor refuses student reference over BDS

The University of Michigan on Monday moved to distance itself from a staff member who refused to send a letter of recommendation for a student who wanted to study in Israel, saying that it opposes boycotts of the Jewish state.

John Cheney-Lippold, an associate professor in the university’s Department of American Culture, had said he would write an undergraduate’s reference letter for a semester abroad program, but rescinded the offer after finding out she wanted to study in Israel.

In a statement released late Monday, the public university said it was unhappy with Cheney-Lippold’s actions.

“It is disappointing that a faculty member would allow their personal political beliefs to limit the support they are willing to otherwise provide for our students,” the school said.

The university said it “has consistently opposed any boycott of Israeli institutions of higher education.”
University of Michigan Professor John Cheney-Lippold addresses the Chicago Humanities Festival in November 2015 (YouTube Screen Capture)

“No academic department or any other unit at the University of Michigan has taken a position that departs from this long-held university position,” the statement read.

IsraellyCool: Anti-Israel Dumbassery of the Day

The following was yesterday posted on a Facebook page called People of the World United for Palestine. It has since been deleted, no doubt after the page admins were informed of their dumbassery.

Incidentally, the numbskull in the photo is antisemite Robert Martin.

Memo to the antisemites and Israel haters: no-one disputes the fact that before the modern site of Israel was established in 1948, the area was known as British mandate Palestine. Heck, the word “Palestinian” back then was predominantly used to describe the Jews who lived there.

BBC News coverage of terrorism in Israel – August 2018

Attacks recorded in the Gaza Strip sector included 34 attacks with petrol bombs, two shooting attacks and three sniper shooting attacks, 4 attacks using IEDs and two grenade attacks. 68 separate incidents of rocket fire and 15 separate incidents of mortar fire were recorded, with 212 launches.

Five people – four civilians and one member of the security forces – were wounded in attacks that took place during August. A soldier was wounded in a petrol bomb attack on August 6th. Two civilians were wounded in rocket attacks on August 8th and two more – one a foreign national – the following day.

Those reports mention the rocket and mortar attacks that took place on August 8th and 9th – and the resulting injuries – as well as two shooting incidents in the Gaza Strip sector. None of the additional incidents received any BBC news website coverage.

At best, therefore, it can be said that BBC News website audiences saw coverage of 41% of the terror attacks (mostly missile fire) which took place during August.

Since the beginning of 2018 the BBC has reported 22% of the terror attacks that have taken place and 87.5% of the resulting fatalities.

Wisconsin man charged with mailing threats to local JCC

A Wisconsin man was charged with mailing threats to a Jewish Community Center in the state.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment against Chadwick Grubbs, 33, for mailing threats on three different days in May to the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin.

Grubbs already is an inmate at the Winnebago County Jail for unrelated state charges. He now faces three charges of obstruction and attempted obstruction of the free exercise of religious beliefs, according to a statement from the U.S. Justice Department.

In addition to three religious obstruction charges, the indictment also charges Grubbs with three counts of mailing threatening communications and one count of threatening to injure and destroy property by fire and an explosive, the statement said.

Bomb found in New Jersey Jewish cemetery

A homemade explosive device was found affixed to a headstone in a Jewish cemetery in New Jersey.

The device was discovered on Sunday at the B’nai Abraham Cemetery during the Jewish Federation Cemetery Visiting Day, a public event organized by the Jewish Federation of Greater Metrowest. The cemetery was evacuated following the discovery of the device, NJ.com reported.

Police checked the rest of the cemetery for other bombs.

The Essex County Bomb Squad defused the device, News 12 New Jersey reported.

The homemade explosive was made up of a non-military mortar taped to a container of lubricant, the police told News 12. Investigators reportedly said that the device was not capable of exploding.

“There is no indication at this time that the device was targeted as a bias/hate crime incident, but we will be following up with our law enforcement partners at Homeland Security to advise them of the incident,” Jewish Federation of Greater Metrowest NJ CEO Dov Ben-Shimon said in a post on Facebook.

Honoring Polish Rescuers in Warsaw Who Risked All to Save Jews During the Holocaust

The sacrifices of Polish rescuers of Jews living in Warsaw during the Holocaust was honored on Sunday in one of the largest gatherings of Shoah rescuers in the Polish capital—and in what may be one of the last of the annual occasions due to the ages of these righteous gentiles, with some older than 100.

The annual program, hosted by the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous (JFR) at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jewry, has become the largest and most prominent ceremony honoring Polish rescuers.

The JFR, established in 1986, provides monthly financial assistance to around 180 elderly and needy Polish rescuers of Jews during the Shoah. The JFR will send approximately $600,000 to rescuers in 2018 living in Poland, according to the organization.

“These are heroic people of exceptional character who risked their lives, and often the lives of their families, to save Jews during the Holocaust,” JFR executive vice president Stanlee Stahl said in a statement. “This special event is designed to recognize them and given them the proper honor they deserve.”

“You are heroes not only because you have done the right thing, but because it was so hard in the horrible times of the second world war to do so,” Deputy Israel Ambassador to Poland Tal Ben-Ari Yaalon said at the event. “Often, I have thought to myself if I would have been brave enough were I in your shoes. I still can’t honestly say, and I pray to God never to have my courage tested in that way.”

New England Patriots Star Shares Western Wall Photo With Jewish High Holidays Message

New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman posted pictures of himself in Israel, including one praying at the Western Wall, on Instagram on Saturday with a note marking the Jewish high holidays of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.

The NFL player — whose father is Jewish — started off his message but noting that it is a “very special time of year for both Pats nation” and Jewish people around the world in light of the holidays. He added, “I’m usually in such an active mode around this time but this year I’m being more reflective and grateful. I’m so blessed to have a loving family, an incredible daughter and amazing support from the best fans in the world. Remember to let the people you love know that you love them and always be grateful for what you have.”

Edelman concluded his note by wishing his fans a happy new year in Hebrew.

The 32-year-old has not been shy in the past about his connection to Judaism and Israel. In a game against the Denver Broncos in 2014, Edelman was spotted sitting on the team bench wearing a pin of an Israeli flag on his hat, according to JTA.

Israeli Athlete Wins All-Around Silver in Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships

Israeli rhythmic gymnast star Linoy Ashram, 19, received the silver medal in the individual all-around final of the 36th Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, last Friday.

It was her second silver in the competition, as she won second place in the hoops competition earlier in the week. Ashram also took home a bronze for her performance in the ribbon event.

In August, Ashram set a new world record with a score of 20.65 points in the clubs event at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup Championship in Minsk. Ashram also won the gold medal in the all-round phase of the competition, in which gymnasts perform routines using a hoop, clubs, ball and ribbon.

Ashram is considered one of Israel’s best hopes for an Olympic medal at the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo. At the 2016 games in Brazil, Israel’s rhythmic gymnastics team finished sixth in the group all-around.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu phoned Ashram on Saturday night to congratulate her. “You have caused all of us to be proud. You do this with amazing flexibility and great personal ability,” he said.

Now that's what we call #MondayMotivation 💪 pic.twitter.com/COWx6uuOai
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDFSpokesperson) September 17, 2018

Gal Gadot wishes her followers a meaningful Yom Kippur

Israeli superstar Gal Gadot might not be home for the holidays this year. But she's still feeling their impact.

On Tuesday, Gadot posted on Instagram an image of the sun shining through the clouds above the beach.

"No filter needed," she wrote. "Just took this photo.. Today is Yom Kippur. A day when you open your heart and forgive.. A day when you do self examination.. So I am sorry if I ever hurt your feelings. I am grateful to the world and to the people in my life.. And just like this beam of light I hope this year we'll always try to shine light.. It spreads and reflects and making the world positive and brighter. GMAR HATIMA TOVA."

Last week, Gadot also sent out a message about Rosh Hashana, wishing her followers the ability to "always enjoy the simple things in life, be happy with what we have and respectful to each other. May we accept and appreciate those who are different and see the beauty in that.. May we LOVE, LAUGH AND see the world through kids eyes.. I wish you all a great happy and healthy new year!!”

Trump offers blessings to Jewish people ahead of Yom Kippur

US President Donald Trump offered his blessings to the Jewish people Tuesday on behalf of himself and his wife Melania ahead of the High Holiday of Yom Kippur, the traditional day of atonement.

“Melania and I send our warmest greetings to all Jewish people on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish faith,” Trump wrote in a statement.

“Yom Kippur is a day of atonement, prayer and fasting, and is the last day of the Ten Days of Repentance. Yom Kippur provides an opportunity to draw nearer to God through the practice of teshuva in accordance with the words of Leviticus: ‘For on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins shall ye be clean before the Lord.’”

“Melania and I pray that you are all inscribed in the Book of Life and hope this period of reflection and repentance leads to a deeper relationship with God. We send our best wishes for a meaningful Yom Kippur and a Gmar Chatima Tova,” the president concluded.

IsraellyCool: Hassidic Singer Shulem Lemmer Sings God Bless America at Red Sox-Mets Game

His voice is…..godly.

Update: Here he is singing the US national anthem at a San Francisco Giants game.

It is no wonder he has signed a major record deal with Decca Gold, an imprint of Universal Music Group’s Verve Label Group.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.