Voices For Truth And Humanity held their second annual Remembrance Awards Dinner this past Wednesday evening, November 10, in coordination with the anniversary of Kristallnacht. The organization is on a mission to stop the hate and educate the world of antisemitism. Overall, they promote Holocaust education in schools because the well-worn phase “Never Again” means to never forget. The group believes that fighting antisemitism and all forms of bigotry and discrimination is paramount. Voices for Truth and Humanity forcefully opposes BDS and other hate movements that use lies to delegitimize others. In addition to the Holocaust, Voices for Truth and Humanity promotes education of slavery and other genocides, primarily in public schools. They provide educational materials and factual information to counter the antisemitic voices, lies, violence, and intimidation used to promote intolerance. It is the hope of the organizers to reverse the dramatic increase of incidences of antisemitism and other bias crimes. Held at Crest Hollow Country Club, the event paid tribute to the work of the Wiesel family, and featured honored guests and political figures.

Anti-Israel sentiments have been a recurring theme in mainstream media. The demo release of a video game for the Steam platform entitled “Fursan al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque” allows its users to play as Palestinian freedom fighters designed to eliminate IDF soldiers and take control of the world’s only Jewish state. Steam is the largest gaming site. Concocted over the past decade by veteran developer Nidal Nijm, a Brazilian of Palestinian heritage whose father fought with Fatah, its makers wanted to change “the cliché of portraying Arabs as Terrorists.” Its instructions read: “You will play in missions across Palestine with many objectives to accomplish, epic battles, powerful guns, vehicles to drive, and more.”

It was back to “essential Emet” these past two weekends for dedicated students in Emet Outreach’s women’s and men’s divisions. Shabbatons have always been at the core of Emet’s weekly programming, and after being limited by the challenges of the ongoing pandemic, they are once again in full swing. “Spending Shabbos together is an invaluable experience for our students as they grow in their religious observance,” said Rabbi Akiva Rutenberg, Emet Co-founder and Director. “There is nothing that demonstrates the beauty of the Torah lifestyle like connecting with one another and with host families over Shabbos.”

The Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV) today criticized the Biden administration for abstaining on a UN resolution demanding “compensation” for descendants of Palestinian refugees, who left their homes at the behest of an Arab League bent on genocide, and an unlimited “right of return” that would demographically put an end to Israel as the world’s sole Jewish state. The Trump administration consistently voted No on similar annual efforts targeting Israel.

On Veteran’s Day, this past Thursday, the Village of Cedarhurst held a morning memorial service at the Andrew J. Parise Park. The event included the participation of Mayor Benjamin Weinstock, Deputy Mayor Ari Brown, Trustees Daniel Plaut, Israel Wasser, and Myrna Zisman. The event also showcased the Lawrence-Cedarhurst American Legion Post 339 under the command of Syd Mandelbaum and his first vice-commander Al Landi, as well as his second vice-commander Mitch Dancyger. Dr. Paul Brody, a well-recognized Great Neck activist, joined presumptive Nassau County Executive-elect Bruce Blakeman at Village of Cedarhurst’s Veterans Day celebration.