by Rabbi Alan Silverstein, PhD Muslims in the Middle East live in an increasingly religious environment. In contrast to groups of secular pragmatists like Fatah, Hamas promotes an Islamist message — via mosque sermons, radio and television broadcasts, social media, schoolrooms, youth movements, summer camps, and by honoring as civic heroes the “shahid,” the “martyr,” who […]
MERCAZ USA is a signatory on this statement issued by the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations and the Jewish Federations of North America. Members of the United States Senate, We write to urge immediate passage of the Antisemitism Awareness Act. The purpose of this legislation is to assist the Department of Education in determining whether investigations […]
This year, in the aftermath of the devastating October 7 attacks and ensuing war, the act of honoring our fallen IDF soldiers and terror victims carries new weight. Tragically, our list of individuals we must remember and pay tribute to this Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day, has grown much longer. The recognition of Israel’s establishment […]
They who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.” (Ps. 126:5) Somehow that statement lacks of full comprehension of the depth of the pain. Sometimes sorrow simply colors everything, to the point that there is no joy in the outcome. In the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Ta‘anit, the Rabbis explained the verse as referring […]
BACKGROUND – TALKING POINTS – ACTIONS – STORIES Israeli and Jewish communities around the world solemnly commemorated the 6,000,000 Jews killed in the Holocaust on May 6 – Yom HaShoah. They also honored the heroism of survivors and rescuers. This year’s theme of destroyed Jewish communities resonates with the Israelis traumatized by the Iran-backed 10/7 Hamas attack and American […]
BACKGROUND – TALKING POINTS – ACTIONS – VOICES – STORIES Pro-Hamas protestors at more than 50 universities – from Yale to Arizona State, from Minnesota to Texas and Canada to Australia – are engaged in major anti-Israel protests often with tent encampments aimed at disrupting campus life for all Americans. The protests are part of […]
MERCAZ USA is a signatory on this statement issued by the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations and the Jewish Federations of North America. Members of the United States House of Representatives, We write to urge immediate passage of H.R. 6090, the Antisemitism Awareness Act. The purpose of this legislation is to […]
BACKGROUND – TALKING POINTS – ACTIONS – DISPELLING MYTHS ‘Let My People Go’ Passover is the sacred holiday when Jews gather annually with their families to commemorate the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The thought of celebrating this year’s holiday is unbearable for the Jewish families whose loved ones are still being […]
BACKGROUND – TALKING POINTS – ACTIONS – DISPELLING MYTHS – VOICES – STORIES The unprecedented Iranian attack against Israel on April 13 terrorized the entire nation – proving that the Islamic Republic is dedicated to the destruction of Israel and the annihilation of the Jewish people. Iran launched more than 300 drones, rockets and […]
by Rabbi Alan Silverstein, PhD Dr. Micah Goodman — a distinguished author and research fellow at Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem — said, in mid-October 2023, “I’m asking the lovers of Israel to make a neder now. To make a neder, to make a vow that, weeks and months from now, you will stand with […]