Daily Archives: July 14, 2005

London Jews Seeing No Backlash

As police in London continued to hunt for those responsible for four terrorist bombings last week that claimed at least 52 lives — including four of the British-born suicide bombers themselves — Jewish leaders vowed to combat any increase in anti-Semitism but said none had arisen.

“In the immediate aftermath, there is nothing of that,” Jon Benjamin, chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, told The Jewish Week Monday. “It was reported in The Times that when they interviewed some young Muslim Bangladeshis in the East End of London and asked their initial thoughts, they said it was probably the Israelis behind it. But that was included in the paper because it was such an outrageous suggestion.”

The enigma of Jeff Goldblum

Jeff Goldblum stoops to shake an admirer’s hand, listening patiently as his attractive blonde publicist introduces the man – a black-hatted, tzitzit-wearing hassid. Goldblum smiles politely.

A few minutes earlier, Goldblum had taken a brief tour of the gleaming new Jewish Children’s Museum in Brooklyn – a state-of-the-art edifice across the street from 770 Eastern Parkway, home of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe and still the spiritual center of Chabad-Lubavitch.

Rabbi Says ‘Shalom’ to Cable Series

Shalom TV wants to provide its viewers with A Cable to Jewish Life.

The network said it will begin airing the half-hour weekly show, hosted by Rabbi Yosef Katzman and born out of the wisdom of Lubavitch Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson.

Among topics the show has covered: the methods of preparation that result in Kosher foods; the story behind the shape of the Menorah; ingredients for a fulfilling and meaningful Yom Kippur; funding for American Yeshivas; the history of the annual Mitzvah Tanks parade through New York before Passover; the joy of Simcha Torah; Jewish activism; and the relationship between African Americans and the Lubavitch community.

“We are privileged to count Yosef Katzman among our first programming contacts, given the breath and depth of his program and audience,” Shalom TV principal Bradford N. Hammer said in a prepared statement.

“Where else would one find an interview with an Orthodox State Supreme Court Justice, or discover the role of the public servant in Jewish life?” he added. “His series enjoyed great success on the International Channel, and we look forward to rekindling this interest and excitement on our emerging digital-cable-television network.”

Holocaust education still lacking

Program helps teachers instruct youths on topic that many schools ignore

Associated Press

NEW YORK – Six decades later, the Holocaust remains a painful and emotionally draining topic — and a special challenge for middle school and high school teachers who have to instruct students about one of the most horrific episodes in human history.

Despite its importance, Holocaust scholarship is still just beginning to work its way into history lessons in much of the country, and teachers volunteering to tackle the subject often find themselves developing courses from scratch, without much formal training.

“My own education about the Holocaust was not close to what I am providing today in my classroom,” said Kimberly Watkin, a history teacher in South Burlington, Vt., who offered her high school’s first full-term course on the Holocaust this school year.

To become better versed on the Holocaust, Watkin joined 30 educators from 11 states, plus Croatia, Lithuania and Poland, at a five-day program at Columbia University last week.