BRIEFS IN A YOM KIPPUR SPEECH, JON OSSOFF CONDEMNED ANTISEMITISM AT GEORGIA HIGH SCHOOLS Jon Ossoff spoke at an Atlanta synagogue on Yom Kippur to denounce two incidents of antisemitic graffiti at local high schools. At the onset of the holy day on Wednesday, Sept. 15, a high school in Cobb County, next to Atlanta, reported that someone had graffitied a swastika and “Heil Hitler” on a bathroom door, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Similar graffiti was found at another nearby high school just days earlier. The school district did not condemn either incident as antisemitism, instead calling it “hateful graffiti” or “hate speech.” Ossoff, 34, the freshman Democratic senator from Georgia, told worshippers at the Reform Temple Emanu-El on Yom Kippur that his reaction to the graffiti was informed by the memory of the Holocaust. Ossoff said his generation was raised “with the words ‘Never Forget’ pressed into our minds. “So, when at Pope High School in Marietta, Georgia, a swastika and a tribute to Adolf Hitler are scrawled on school walls…it must inflame in us the same passion for the survival of our people that burned in the hearts of the generation that emerged from the Shoah and built a future for the Jewish people here in America, around the world, and the Land of Israel,” he said. (JTA) RYAN BRAUN, ALL-TIME JEWISH HOME RUN HITTER, RETIRES FROM MLB Ryan Braun, the Milwaukee Brewers outfielder who slugged more home runs than any Jewish player in baseball history and won a Most Valuable Player award, announced his retirement from Major League Baseball on Tuesday, Sept. 14, ending a 14-year career that was not without controversy. “While it’s impossible to summarize my emotions right now, what I feel most is one, simple thing: gratitude,” Braun said in his video announcement, which was shared on the Brewers’ social media. The 37-year-old California native was drafted fifth overall by Milwaukee in the 2005 Major League Baseball draft, making
his debut two years later. He won the National League Rookie of the Year in 2007 and the league’s MVP in 2011. Braun, a six-time All-Star who played his entire career in Milwaukee, finished as a .296 hitter with 352 home runs, the most by a Jewish player, and 1,154 runs batted in. He has not played in 2021. His accolades do, however, come with an asterisk. Following his 2011 MVP performance, Braun tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs, reportedly lied about it and served a 65-game suspension in 2013. The slugger’s reputation was tarnished, especially among Jewish fans. Occasionally known as the “Hebrew Hammer,” Braun is the son of an Israeli father and has said he is proud of his Jewish heritage, but does not observe the faith. “I do consider myself definitely Jewish,” Braun told USA Today in 2010. “And I’m extremely proud to be a role model for young Jewish kids.” The Brewers planned to honor Braun with a pregame ceremony on Sept. 26 prior to a game against the New York Mets. (JTA)
ISRAELI PHILANTHROPISTS HELP DOZENS FLEE AFGHANISTAN FOR UAE Several Israeli philanthropists have helped bring to Abu Dhabi dozens of asylum seekers, including female athletes, fleeing Taliban rule in Afghanistan. The rescue operation led by Aaron G. Frenkel, an aviation professional who had helped airlift thousands of Jews out of the Soviet Union, ended on Sept. 6, as 41 asylum seekers from Afghanistan reached Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Frenkel, who is the chairman of the Congress, teamed up with the group’s honorary president, Alexander Machkevich, and the Canadian-Israeli billionaire Sylvan Adams to extract the passengers from Afghanistan to neighboring Tajikistan. Adams provided the funds for chartering a private jet from Tajikistan to Abu Dhabi, carrying on board members of Afghanistan’s former women’s cycling team, human rights activists, and members of a robotics team, including women. All were deemed at risk of reprisals from the Taliban, the statement said. The Israeli international humanitarian agency IsraAID and officials from several
4 | JEWISH NEWS | September 27, 2021 | jewishnewsva.org
governments also were involved in the rescue operation. When troubling events such as the current situation in Afghanistan occur in the world, we have an obligation to act as leaders,” Frenkel said. In the 1980s, Frenkel used his connections in the aviation industry to help the Jewish Agency airlift Jews out of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union prior to its collapse. Frenkel had served as Boeing’s representative in Eastern Europe and later established his own aviation group. (JTA)
THIEVES CAUGHT TRYING TO TAKE OVER 200 JEWISH HEADSTONES AT ARGENTINE JEWISH CEMETERY Local Jewish leaders are fuming about repeated security breaches at a large Jewish cemetery in the Buenos Aires area. Just before Yom Kippur, three vandals were caught trying to make off with 223 of the cemetery’s gravestones—the third such robbery in the past month. More than 100 headstones were smashed at the Tablada cemetery the previous week. One of the recent vandals was caught while two others escaped. An investigation is ongoing. “We are very concerned about the lack of action by Argentine authorities to protect the Jewish cemetery,” Eliahu Hamra, secretary-general of BUR, the Orthodox bloc that rules the AMIA Jewish group, says. No antisemitic graffiti has been found in the cemetery after the repeated incidents, but Jewish groups still raised a high alarm. They also praised cemetery workers, who stepped in to stop the robbery without police help. According to AMIA, the Tablada cemetery is the largest Jewish one in Latin America. Inaugurated in 1936, it covers nearly 100 acres and contains more than 130,000 graves. It is located 13 miles east of Buenos Aires. (JTA) MARK ZUCKERBERG AND PRISCILLA CHAN GIVE $1.3 MILLION TO JEWISH CAUSES Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan are contributing $1.3 million to 11 Jewish groups, eJewish
Philanthropy reported, citing a spokesperson for the couple. News of Zuckerberg and Chan’s donations comes as the couple has gradually emphasized its Jewish identity in public in recent years. Privately, Zuckerberg and Chan have also been meeting with rabbis and scholars to discuss Judaism and the Jewish community, according to eJewish Philanthropy. “Mark and Priscilla have made some personal commitments in the past, but these new grants reinforce their interest in learning and deepening their connections with the community,” a spokesperson was quoted. Two of the grantees are national organizations: OneTable, which supports Shabbat dinners hosted by young Jews, and PJ Library, which distributes Jewish children’s books and music for free. But the rest primarily serve local needs in the San Francisco Bay Area. Three educational institutions received funding: Contra Costa Jewish Day School in Lafayette, Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School in Palo Alto and the Jewish Community High School of the Bay. Three summer camps in California, URJ Camp Newman, Camp Ramah in Northern California and Camp Tawonga, also were beneficiaries. The Oshman Jewish Community Center in Palo Alto and the local Jewish Family and Children’s Services are also receiving funding to boost their local offerings. Meanwhile, a grant to the Jewish Community Relations Council will pay for a new social media campaign to educate the public on antisemitism. “Mark and Priscilla are proud to support the important work each of these organizations does in building communities, education, celebrating traditions and faith, and giving people a voice— especially in fighting antisemitism,” the spokesperson told eJewish Philanthropy. The couple that controls much of Facebook became a major philanthropic power in 2015 when it launched the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, pledging to donate 99% of their Facebook fortune to charity. The recent spate of Jewish donations was made out of the couple’s family office, separately from the initiative, according to eJewish Philanthropy. (JTA)
