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Through Others’ Eyes at Puffin

 
 
 

Through Others’ Eyes, a photographic exhibition named after a unique project of the same name that is organized under the auspices of Givat Haviva, a nonprofit educational institute in Israel, addresses the need for communication between Israeli Arab and Jewish teenagers, who rarely — if ever — have an opportunity to meet one another.

This project allows them to visit each others’ homes and communities under the guidance of an Arab and a Jewish facilitator, and they use photography as the basis for exploring questions of identity and co-existence.

An exhibit at the Puffin Cultural Center in Teaneck highlights a selection of the works created by students who participated in Through Others’ Eyes this year. During the summer, participants go to New York for three weeks, where they participate in Peace Camp at Camp Shomria, as well as special programming in the New York City area.

The Givat Haviva Institute, founded in 1949, has been at the forefront of educating for equality and mutual dialogue and understanding between Arabs and Jews through formal and informal programs. Every year, 20,000 Israeli Jews and Arabs and thousands more teenagers and adults from different countries participate in the institute’s courses, lectures, seminars, and tours of the region.

Givat Haviva’s flagship program, Shared Communities, pairs an Arab village, Kfar Qara, with Pardes Hanna-Karkur, a Jewish town, for joint programs to bridge divides and increase communication and interaction across three generations of residents.

The exhibit opens on July 31. Call 201-836-3499 or go to www.puffinculturalforum.org.

 
 

Masorti rabbi to unveil the ‘magic’ of Prague

Scholar in residence to discuss Jewish life in Central Europe

For the last 13 years, Rabbi Ron Hoffberg has been on a journey that was meant to last a week.

“There was an emergency situation,” he said. “They needed someone in Prague in a hurry, just for a week. That week turned into a year, and that year into 13.”

Hoffberg, spiritual leader of the Masorti (Conservative) community in the Czech Republic, has found that time both exciting and challenging. He will speak about his experiences — and the area he serves — when he visits the Fair Lawn Jewish Center/Congregation B’nai Israel this weekend as scholar in residence.

 

Obama to Israelis: “Ah-tem lo lah-vahd” (You are not alone)

The text of President Barack Obama's address to the Israeli public

Shalom. It is an honor to be here with you in Jerusalem, and I am so grateful for the welcome that I have received from the people of Israel. I bring with me the support of the American people, and the friendship that binds us together.

Over the last two days, I have reaffirmed the bonds between our countries with Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Peres. I have borne witness to the ancient history of the Jewish people at the Shrine of the Book, and I have seen Israel’s shining future in your scientists and entrepreneurs. This is a nation of museums and patents, timeless holy sites and ground-breaking innovation. Only in Israel could you see the Dead Sea Scrolls and the place where the technology on board the Mars Rover originated. But what I’ve looked forward to the most is the ability to speak directly to you, the Israeli people – especially so many young people – about the history that brought us here today, and the future that you will make in the years to come.

 

Faculty layoffs at Moriah

More schools means fewer students at Bergen’s oldest Jewish day school

The Moriah School in Englewood is laying off 19 faculty and staff members as its leaders focus on “tuition sustainability and sustainable excellence” in the face of declining enrollment.

The school projects its enrollment to shrink slightly next year to 790 students from its current 804. But that is a significant fall from its peak enrollment of 1,000 back in 2000.

The decrease in enrollment comes as newer Orthodox schools, including Yeshivat Noam and Ben Porat Yosef, both in Paramus and both founded in 2001, continue to grow — those two schools have more than 1,000 students between them.

 

RECENTLYADDED

Fourth synagogue targeted

Latest attack was most dangerous yet

A firebomb attack on a synagogue in Rutherford is being investigated as an attempted homicide and a hate crime, Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli announced on Wednesday.

“You’re looking at 40 to 50 years in prison,” said Molinelli, addressing the “person or persons who are doing this act” at a Wednesday afternoon press conference.

“Turn yourself in and end this now,” he said. “We will ultimately solve this crime and make arrests.”

Around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, several Molotov cocktails were thrown at Congregation Beth El, an Orthodox synagogue on a quiet residential street in Rutherford. One entered the second floor bedroom of the congregation’s rabbi, Nosson Schuman, and ignited his bedspread.

 

Weiner quits Congress, apologizes for ‘personal mistakes’

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Rep. Anthony Weiner resigned and apologized in the wake of a scandal in which he lied about sexually explicit exchanges on social media outlets.

“I am here today to apologize for the personal mistakes I have made and the embarrassment that I have caused,” Weiner (D-N.Y.) said at a news conference Thursday at a home for the elderly in Brooklyn where in the past he has announced his intention to run for office.

 

From praise to anger, Jewish response to Obama’s speech runs the gamut

WASHINGTON – From accolades like “compelling” to accusations like “Auschwitz borders” to radio silence, to label the Jewish response to President Obama’s speech on Middle East policy as diverse understates matters.

The very breadth of the Middle East policy speech — 5,600 words and covering the entire Middle East and decades of history — helps explain the wildly divergent responses from Jewish groups and opinion shapers, even among some who are otherwise often on the same page.

One could as easily pick out points for Israel — slamming the Palestinian Authority’s pact with Hamas as well as its bid for unilateral statehood — as one could the demerits — for many, the most explicit endorsement of the pre-1967 lines as the basis for future borders by any American president.

 
 
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