Rabbi Miller writes the NY Times; Jewish casino employee wins suit
FEDERATIONS HELP ISRAEL RESPOND
The Jewish Agency for Israel is one of the 32 institutions and programs funded by The Birmingham Jewish Federation Annual Campaign and is one of the Federation movement's major partners in Israel. The following are edited excerpts from a report posted on the Jewish Agency's website. The report highlights the impact our Federation dollars make in Israel.
Since Friday morning, the cities and towns of the south of Israel and surrounding the Gaza Strip had been under attack though tensions have now been reduced. The escalation was triggered by Thursday's terrorist attack along Israel's Egyptian border.
To date, there have been nine Israelis killed, 30 wounded and countless others who have suffered from shock, from the terrorist attack and the ensuing missile barrage. As we do in national emergency situations, the Jewish Agency mobilized to provide assistance in a variety of areas:
-- Fund for the Victims of Terror. This fund provides emergency assistance to every family whose home was destroyed and to people physically wounded by a direct hit. The assistance, in the sum of $1,000, is meant to provide for immediate necessities that those affected have not yet received from the local authorities. The Jewish Agency also assists with supplementary grants after cases are evaluated. The Fund has approved allocating up to $250,000 for this crisis.
-- Absorption Centers. In the areas that were affected by the missile strikes there are eight absorption centers serving 2,400 new immigrants. The vast majority of these immigrants arrived in Israel after the military conflict between Israel and Hamas in late 2008 and early 2009, and therefore had not lived through this kind of crisis.
Since last Friday, the absorption centers have been operating in an emergency mode which requires a 24 hour staffing of the center. In the past few months, the centers' residents have had briefings from the Home Front Command. The staff is also preparing for social/psychological activities based on the needs and situation assessments.
-- Amigour Residents. At the Jewish Agency's Amigour sheltered housing facilities, maximum attention is given to Israel's low-income elderly immigrants to enrich their quality of life, maintain their well-being and ensure that they live in comfort and dignity. Some 7,500 families, who are Amigour housing residents, are in the affected areas. This group includes many Holocaust survivors.
Photos are from the Jerusalem Post's coverage of the situation in southern Israel the past few days.
RABBI MILLER WRITES THE NY TIMES
Rabbi Jonathan Miller, of Birmingham's Temple Emanu-El, continues to speak out on important issues locally, nationally and internationally. In response to an off-putting piece by New York Times columnist Roger Cohen that appeared in the Times over the weekend, Rabbi Miller (pictured here) sent a letter to the paper.
In a column focusing on British anti-Semitism, Cohen, a persistent critic of Israel, wrote, "The lesson is clear: Jews, with their history, cannot become the systematic oppressors of another people. They must be vociferous in their insistence that continued colonization of Palestinians in the West Bank will increase Israel's isolation and ultimately its vulnerability."
"I can only wonder why it is that Roger Cohen ("Jews in a Whisper") cannot muster outrage against anti-Semites in Britain and around the world who see Jewish conspiracies and who perpetuate vicious anti-Jewish stereotypes, both of which have caused untold suffering for Jews and have encouraged brutish behavior by hateful mobs," wrote Rabbi Miller.
"He takes Diaspora Jews to task for his view of the Israeli settlement policy, as though anti-Semitism and the conflict in Israel/Palestine are organically linked. There is no connection. The world heaped abuse on the Jewish people before a Palestinian nation was ever imagined. This is not a new phenomenon. And it might well continue long after the Israelis and Palestinians come to some reconciliation."
Click for Roger Cohen's column.
JEWISH CASINO EMPLOYEE WINS BIAS SUIT
A federal jury has found that a Mississippi man was fired from his casino job because he's Jewish.
Marc Silverberg was fired from his job as food and beverage director at Sam's Town Casino in August, 2008 because of what his former employer claimed was poor performance. Silverberg disagreed and sued.
In a recent verdict, the jury found for Silverberg, awarding him $102,000 in back pay, $76,500 for mental anxiety and $400,000 in punitive damages. "I didn't do anything wrong. They put together a concerted effort to get rid of me because of my Jewish heritage," Silverberg told The Jackson Clarion-Ledger. "The jury vindicated me."
Silverberg said in his lawsuit that the trouble started when a new general manager was hired at the Tunica casino. The manager apparently was prejudiced against people who didn't share his ethnicity, and particularly "despised Silverberg because he was Jewish," according to the lawsuit. Two former casino employees testified they heard the man refer to Silverberg as a "G.D. Jewish slug."
Above is from Jewish Telegraphic Agency, a worldwide Jewish news service, and one of 32 agencies and programs funded by The Birmingham Jewish Federation Annual Campaign.
Click for more from the Jackson Clarion-Ledger.
