The JEWISH
STAR
Chukas • June 22, 2018 • 9 Tammuz, 5778 • Torah columns pages 18 –19 • Luach page 18 • Vol 17, No 24
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OU, RCA, Agudah: Leave the kids alone Combined Sources In a rare move, three major voices of Orthodox Judaism in America have expressed common cause with more liberal Jewish organizations on a hot-button issue in the United States: the separation of young children from their parents in the Trump administration’s aggressive enforcement of border security. The Orthodox Union and the Rabbinical Council of America signed AG Jeff Sessions at onto a joint statement OU conference. OU with at least 25 other organizations “to express our strong opposition to the recently expanded ‘zero-tolerance’ policy that includes separating children from their migrant parents when they cross the border.” Agudath Israel of America issued a separate statement critical of the government’s actions, and the OU issued its own supplemen-
An child is accompanied by officers who were taking a group of Central American asylum seekers into custody near McAllen, Texas, on June 12. John Moore/Getty Images
tary statement. A few days earlier, the OU had come under fire from some quarters by honoring Attorney General Jeff Sesions at its annual Leadership Mission in Washington. The joint statement, addressed to Sessions and Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, said the childseparation policy “undermines the values of our nation and jeopardizes the safety and well-being of thousands of people. “As Jews, we under- OU President Mark stand the plight of be- Bane. OU file photo ing an immigrant fleeing violence and oppression. We believe that the United States is a nation of immigrants and how we treat the stranger reflects on the moral values and ideals of this nation.” In its statement, Agudath Israel of America expressed “very deep concern and disapSee Kids on page 4
Cuomo hangs HAFTR mezuzah at mansion Cover made by students with a 3D printer presented as the governor delivered cash By The Jewish Star All hands were on deck at the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway, as Gov. Andrew Cuomo visited the school’s Lawrence campus to announce a $150,000 state grant to improve security at the school. HAFTR Vice President of Political Affairs Cal Nathan presented Cuomo with a mezuzah whose cover students made using a 3D printer in the school’s STEM lab. Cuomo later affixed the mezuzah to the governor’s mansion in Albany, tweeting: “Thank you to the STEM students from @OfficialHAFTR for this beautiful mezuzah now gracing the GoverSee HAFTR on page 9
Gov. Andrew Cuomo high-fives HAFTR students during his visit last week. Later, he hung a mezuzah students gave him on the governor’s mansion in Albany (left).
Senate bill mandating Shoah ed stalls in Assembly
YOSS remembers: Dora Siegelman was one of two Shoah survivors who met with students at the Yeshiva South Shore. See page 9.
By Anthony O’Reilly , Baldwin Herald The state Senate last week unanimously passed a bill to have the state Education Department tudy — and how — school districts teach their students about the Holocaust. As the legislature prepared to adjourn its session, the bill was stalled in the Assembly. The Senate bill was introduced by Elaine Phillips of Port Washington, its Assembly companion by Nily Rozic of Queens and Chuck Lavine of Glen Cove. A 2018 survey by the Conference on Jewish Claims Against Germany found that 31 percent of Americans, and 41 per-
cent of millennials, believe that two million or fewer Jews were killed in the Holocaust — the actual number is around six million. A 2017 Anti-Defamation League Report found that a quarter of Americans never heard of the Holocaust, and onefifth who did thought it was a hoax. According to the bill, the education commissioner would “conduct a study regarding courses of study on the Holocaust within the state,” focusing on which school districts offers courses on the genocide. It would also review each districts’ teaching guidelines on the subject. “We as a nation have an obligation to
remember and honor the lives of those murdered and to prevent one of the worst calamities in the history of mankind from happening again,” said Sen. Todd Kaminsky of Long Beach, a co-sponsor of the bill. This is the second year the act has passed the state’s upper chamber. Phillips introduced it last year after an Oswego County English teacher asked students to write an essay arguing for or against the Holocaust, to “analyze the issues, provide [their] Nazi point of view for our against the Final Solution and why, and thoroughly explain your support or opposition to the Solution.”