Grapevine June 9, 2024: Courting disaster?

■ PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu has found a means of partially paying the costs of his court cases, which have been dragging on for far too long. 

Netanyahu’s lawyer filed suit last week against journalists Ben Caspit of Maariv and Uri Misgav of Haaretz for implying that the PM had been stricken with pancreatic cancer, and that health-wise he was not fit to serve. According to Netanyahu’s legal representative Uriel Nizri, this is a blatant lie.

Also included in the defamation suit is anti-Netanyahu activist Gonen Ben Yitzhak.

When Ehud Olmert as prime minister was diagnosed with prostate cancer, in October 2007, he immediately disclosed his condition at a press conference. The date of his surgery was also made public.

In March of this year, Netanyahu was hospitalized for a hernia procedure, and has been physically functioning well ever since.

If he wins his defamation case, his bank account may swell by more than half a million shekels.

B'nai B'rith Israel celebrates its 96th annual conference

■ THERE ARE several organizations and associations in Israel that are considerably older than the state. One of them is B’nai B’rith Israel (BBI), which at the end of May, held its 96th annual conference at the ANU Museum in Tel Aviv.

The conference opened with the ceremonial lighting of the traditional seven-branched B’nai B’rith menorah under the direction of Rina Bar Or, chair of the B’nai B’rith Women’s Council.

BBI President Emanuel Cohen presented a summary of B’nai B’rith’s activities since the outbreak of the war and outlined plans for the future.

A memorial tribute was held honoring BBI members who had died during the past year, and victims of the brutal Hamas assault on October 7.

B’nai B’rith was founded in New York in October 1843 with the aim of improving the quality of life of Jews living in the Lower East Side, most of whom existed under deplorable conditions.

From its modest beginnings, the organization grew to one of national, then international influence. Guided initially by humanitarian needs and philanthropy, it progressed to wider fields such as the establishment of the Maimonides Library, the first Jewish Public Library in the US.

In 1856, it sent funds to victims of cholera in what was then Palestine.

In 1868, B’nai B’rith extended its humanitarian relief projects to Jewish communities throughout North Africa and the Middle East.

It subsequently became a leading advocate for Jews in Russia, Romania and elsewhere in Europe who were suffering from antisemitism and persecution.

In 1888 B’nai B’rith founded the Jerusalem Lodge, the first public Hebrew speaking organization in pre-state Israel.

B’nai B’rith’s activities are too many and varied to be listed here, but suffice it to say that wherever Jewish communities in the world require humanitarian aid and advocacy against antisemitism, BB is there. It also works to connect Diaspora Jews with Israel and vice versa.

Some of this was mentioned at the conference.

Special honors were conferred on Adv. Yifat Amit, and Prof. Maoz Azariahu in recognition of their activities.

Among those present were historian Ilan Shchori, a member of the BB executive, who recently published a comprehensive history of Tel Aviv, Alan Schneider, Director of the B’nai B’rith World Center Jerusalem, and Rabbi Noga Brenner Samia, Director-General of Hillel Israel and principal of the Yod Alef Urban High School in Tel Aviv where BB members have been volunteering for many years.

The efficiency of Chabad

■ PERHAPS THE government should turn to Chabad to learn how to get things done swiftly and efficiently.

Chabad emissaries have to create their communal environment wherever they happen to be in the world. At peak, this includes a Chabad House, synagogue, ritual bath (mikveh), yeshiva, Beit Rivka girls’ school, kosher restaurant, kindergarten and a wide range of activities, plus community dinners during Passover and Rosh Hashanah. It also includes making sure that there are sufficient provisions for Passover, especially Matzot and wine. In many places, Chabad emissaries organize for communities to bake their own matzot in one of the Chabad facilities.

All this preamble is part of the success story of Rabbi Yisroel Goldberg and his wife Shosh, who this evening, Sunday, June 9, will celebrate the grand opening of their new center, which has already had a running-in period.

A little over a decade ago, the Goldbergs opened their first Rehavia Chabad House in the capital’s small, historic windmill on Ramban Street. After a couple of years, they had to move out because the rent became prohibitive. They found new store front premises around the corner on King George Street, where they stayed for a much longer period. 

Congregants at their synagogue services increased in number to the extent that for quite some time, they used the basement area of the Great Synagogue for prayer services, and during COVID, the car park of the Mizrachi World Center for outdoor services. For Passover dinners and services, they went to Heichal Shlomo.

To be honest, their third Chabad House, which caters to communities in Nachlaot as well as Rehavia, is not as comfortable as its predecessors, because it’s in a walk-up, converted apartment. However, judging by the attendance on the last day of Passover, that’s not a deterrent. One of the ways the Goldbergs built up a following was to have a weekly kiddush with plenty of food, and hourly readings of the Scroll of Esther in different venues including coffee shops throughout the two Jerusalem neighborhoods. Chabad knows the truth of the adage that the way to a man’s (or woman’s) heart is through their stomach.

The grand opening this evening at the new center on the corner of Ibn Ezra and Keren Kayemet Streets, will fill the area with music and dancing.

Among the expected guests will be Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, Rabbi of the Western Wall; Rabbi Meir Goldwicht, Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshiva University; and Rabbi Michael Malkieli, the Minister for Religious Affairs.

Legal experts

■ IF YOU thought that Law is a Jewish profession, you are only partially right. Yes, there are Jews among the close to thirty members of the editorial board of the recently launched Journal of Law and Empirical Analysis, but there are also a lot of Asian names. Legal experts from a number of Asian countries have made their mark in the global legal community.

The majority of the Jewish legal experts on the editorial board hail from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and include: Ilana Ritov, School of Education and the Federmann Center for the Study of Rationality; Doron Teichman, Faculty of Law; Keren Weishall, Faculty of Law; and David Weisburg Institute of Criminology in the Faculty of Law.

Prof. Eyal Zamir, a former dean of the HU’s Faculty of Law, a founding director of the Aharon Barak Center for Interdisciplinary Legal Studies, and a founding member of the Center for Empirical Studies of Decision-Making and the Law, commented on the significance of the journal’s launch, saying that it “represents a pivotal step forward in legal scholarship, emphasizing the importance of empirical research in understanding the intricacies of legal system.”

Zamir noted that “the four editors-in-chief hail from three academic institutions across North America, Europe and Asia, offering a diverse array of interdisciplinary perspectives in law and economics, law and political science, and law and psychology. With the editorial board’s even broader geographical and disciplinary diversity, the new journal aspires to advance cutting-edge empirical legal analysis globally.

“Without compromising methodological rigor, the journal aims to engage a broad audience, including social scientists, jurists interested in empirical legal studies, the wider academic legal community, and legal policymakers,” he said.

Congressmen back resolution to commemorate AMIA bombing

■ IN THE US Congress last week, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida, 25th District), co-chair of the Latino-Jewish Caucus, was joined by fellow co-chairs, reps. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-Florida, 26th District), Tony Gonzales (R-Texas, 23rd District), and Adriano Espaillat (D-New York, 13th District) in sponsoring a resolution in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires. The resolution demands justice and accountability for those responsible for the attack.

 “It has been three decades since the tragic AMIA Jewish Center bombing, yet there is still no justice for the 85 victims, the hundreds of injured, and countless people who were traumatized,” said Wasserman Schultz. “With antisemitism on the rise around the world, this attack on Argentina’s thriving Jewish community must not go unanswered. Congressmen Díaz-Balart, Espaillat, Gonzales and I are proud to honor the victims of this attack and champion justice for their loved ones.”

Díaz-Balart said that over the past three decades, there has been a continued and tireless demand for justice and accountability for the perpetrators responsible for the attack, including Iran’s current Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi and other terrorist proxies.

“We solemnly remember and mourn the victims of this horrific act; they will never be forgotten,” the congressman said. “Since the terrorist attack against innocent Israelis on October 7, we have witnessed a dramatic rise in antisemitism, hatred, and vitriol against the Jewish community, as well as the attempts to delegitimize Israel both across our country – from campuses to businesses, and even here within the House,” said Diaz-Balart. 

“We know the consequences of ignoring the insidious threat of bigotry and antisemitism and must not let history repeat itself,” he said. “I remain unwavering in my commitment to combating antisemitism and will continue working with my colleagues to hold accountable those who engage in hateful acts.”

Gonzales added: “As leaders of the Latino-Jewish Caucus, we remain a steady hand in Congress in the fight to eradicate the horrors of antisemitism. We will never forget the victims, their families, and all those touched by this horrific tragedy – may justice and accountability prevail.”

Describing the AMIA attack as “the deadliest terrorist attack in Argentine history,” Gonzales said that the bipartisan resolution “demonstrates our unified commitment to ensuring justice for each of the victims as we embrace their families and loved ones. Terrorism and antisemitic hate have no place in our society, and this legislative effort reaffirms our solidarity with the Jewish community of Argentina and around the world.”

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