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ALINA BONSELL ANNOUNCES “JEWISH SAFETY” LINE AS SHE EXPANDS COALITION FOR 2026 NEW YORK STATE SENATE RACE

Austin Tang — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 19:27:27 +0000

Listen to “BONSELL ANNOUNCES “JEWISH SAFETY” LINE AS SHE EXPANDS COALITION FOR 2026 NEW YORK STATE SENATE RACE” on Spreaker.

NEW YORK, NY — Alina Bonsell, candidate for New York State Senate District 28, announced today that she will be running on an additional, independent ballot line named “Jewish Safety” alongside her Republican candidacy in the November 3, 2026, general election.

The announcement comes as independent petitioning will start April 14 through May 23, 2026, during which Bonsell’s campaign must collect 5,000 total signatures to ensure at least 3,000 qualified signatures from registered voters across the district.

New York State Senate District 28 spans Manhattan’s East Side, including East 14th Street through East 96th Street, Central Park South, and Roosevelt Island.

“The Jewish Safety line is about bringing people together across party lines around something fundamental: safety, identity, and shared values,” said Bonsell. “This is about building a coalition that reflects the reality of our community, not forcing people into political boxes.”

Bonsell previously ran for New York City Council in 2025, where she built a broad base of support across the district and demonstrated strong crossover appeal among Republicans, Independents, and Democrats alike.

The creation of the “Jewish Safety” line reflects that same coalition-building strategy, aimed at engaging voters who may not align with a single party but want leadership that prioritizes safety, stability, and common-sense solutions.

For Bonsell, the issue is deeply personal. “My family came to this country from the former Soviet Union because of antisemitism,” she said. “Jewish safety is not abstract to me, instead it’s part of my family’s history and part of why I’m running. No one in this city should feel unsafe because of who they are.”

“To move New York forward, we need leadership that is practical, not ideological,” Bonsell said. “People want safer streets, lower costs, and a government that actually works. That’s what I’m running to deliver for my neighbors.”

With a compressed petitioning timeline, the campaign is mobilizing aggressively to meet ballot requirements and is seeking to raise $20,000 to fund staffing and operations necessary to collect signatures across the district.

“This is a grassroots effort with a clear goal,” Bonsell added. “If we want real representation, it takes real participation. I’m asking people across our community to step in, sign, volunteer, and help us get this done.”

Visit Bonsell’s website at www.alinabonsell.com and follow her on Instagram @alinab.nyc to learn more.

###

Contact:

Therese Joffre

Alina for New York

(989) 948-2137

contact@alinabonsell.com
www.alinabonsell.com

WE WIN TOGETHER

Alina is running on the Republican line this election, but her prospects for victory increases if voters can choose her on an Independent, “Jewish Safety” line, with all votes on both lines counting toward her total. This is about protecting the safety of all Jews in New York City and creating legislation that punishes those who commit religious crimes.

To make that possible, we need to hire staff and collect 5,000 registered voter signatures, so that at least 3,000 will be valid. These signatures need to be from any D28 registered voters who have not already signed any other petition.

Your support will directly fund trained petition staff and help ensure we qualify for the “Jewish Safety” Independent line on this November’s ballot.

We need to raise funds to get this done between April 14th – May 26th so we legally qualify our Independent line.

www.alinabonsell.com

Bonsell Media Sheet

Alina
Bonsell
candidate for ny
state senate
Alina Bonsell is a Yorkville
resident, mother, and small
business owner, not a career
politician. In 1989, her family
immigrated to the United States
as Jewish refugees from the
Soviet Union when she was a
small child. She has spent her
life building businesses and
fighting to stay afloat in a city
that is increasingly hostile to the
people who make it run.
With 20 years of experience in
pharmaceutical operations and
private sector leadership,
including roles in regulatory
affairs, executive management,
and complex systems oversight,
Alina brings a track record of
accountability and measurable
results. She will bring that same
discipline to Albany.

We Win Together

She is running because she is tired
of excuses. This campaign is
personal. Alina is fighting for a
safer, cleaner, and fairer New York
for families, small business owners,
and everyday residents who just
want stability. She is not running to
play the political game. She is
running to expose what is broken
and fix it

ALINA’S PRIORITIES

Improve Eastside Public Safety
End wasteful government spending
Tax relief for young adults & new parents
Protect Jewish Safety with Stronger Legislation
Family Court Reform

ABOUT THE RACE

District 28 covers Manhattan’s East Side from East
14th Street to East 96th Street, including Yorkville,
Kips Bay, Murray Hill, Gramercy, Midtown East,
and Roosevelt Island. The seat is currently held
by incumbent Democrat Liz Krueger, who has
represented the district since 2002.

CONTACT

www.alinabonsell.com
campaign@alinabonsell.com
alinab.nyc
alinabonsell

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The post ALINA BONSELL ANNOUNCES “JEWISH SAFETY” LINE AS SHE EXPANDS COALITION FOR 2026 NEW YORK STATE SENATE RACE appeared first on Good News!.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Austin Tang — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 19:37:16 +0000

Liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp by the Red Army, January 1945.

The International Holocaust Remembrance Day, or the International Day in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, is an international memorial day on 27 January that commemorates the victims of the Holocaust, which resulted in the genocide of one-third of the Jewish people along with countless numbers of individuals of other minority groups, by Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1945: an attempt to implement its “Final Solution” to the Jewish question. The choice of 27 January for the annual commemoration aligns with the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp by the Red Army in 1945.

The day commemorates the systematic extermination of 6 million Jews, representing two-thirds of Europe’s Jewish population, alongside the deaths of millions of others perpetrated by the Nazi regime and its collaborators.^[1]^[2] It was designated by United Nations General Assembly resolution 60/7 on 1 November 2005.^[3] The resolution was developed following a special session convened on 24 January of that year to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps and the conclusion of the Holocaust.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

Many countries have instituted their own Holocaust memorial days. Many, such as the United Kingdom’s Holocaust Memorial Day, also fall on 27 January; others, such as Yom HaShoah (27 Nisan on the Hebrew calendar), the commemoration day observed by the State of Israel and much of the broader Jewish community, are observed at other times of the year.

The General Assembly Resolution 60/7

Resolution 60/7, adopted by the General Assembly on 1 November 2005, established 27 January as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The resolution urges every member nation of the UN to honor the memory of Holocaust victims, six million Jews, “one third of the Jewish people, along with countless members of other minorities,” and encourages the development of educational programs about Holocaust history to help prevent future acts of genocide. It rejects any denial of the Holocaust as an event and condemns all manifestations of religious intolerance, incitement, harassment or violence against persons or communities based on ethnic origin or religious belief. It also calls for actively preserving the Holocaust sites that served as Nazi death camps, concentration camps, forced labor camps and prisons, as well as for establishing a UN programme of outreach and mobilization of society for Holocaust remembrance and education.^[3]

Resolution 60/7 and the International Holocaust Day was an initiative of the State of Israel. Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel, Silvan Shalom, was the head of the delegation of Israel to the United Nations.^[8]

The essence of the text lies in its twofold approach: one that deals with the memory and remembrance of those who were massacred during the Holocaust and the other with educating future generations of its horrors.

The International Day in memory of the victims of the Holocaust is thus a day on which we must reassert our commitment to human rights. […]
We must also go beyond remembrance, and make sure that new generations know this history. We must apply the lessons of the Holocaust to today’s world. And we must do our utmost so that all peoples may enjoy the protection and rights for which the United Nations stands.

— Message by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for the second observance of the Holocaust Victims Memorial Day on 19 January 2008^[9]

Commemorations at the United Nations

In 2006, 2007, and 2008, Holocaust Remembrance Weeks were organized by The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme. The programme is part of the Outreach Division of the United Nations Department of Public Information and was established under General Assembly resolution 60/7.

In 2006

On 24 January, the United Nations Headquarters launched Holocaust Remembrance Week with the exhibit “No Child’s Play – Remembrance and Beyond.” Created by Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, the exhibit focused on children during the Holocaust. It showcased toys, games, artwork, diaries, and poems to tell their stories and highlight their struggle for survival amid the horrors of that time. On 25 January, the screening of the movie Fateless by Lajos Koltai took place in the Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium.^{[citation needed]}

On 27 January, the United Nations Department of Public Information held the first universal observance of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day at United Nations Headquarters. In the General Assembly Hall, a memorial ceremony and lecture were held under the theme “Remembrance and Beyond”. It featured welcoming remarks by former Under-Secretary General for Communications and Public Information Shashi Tharoor; a videotaped message by former Secretary-General Kofi Annan; statements by the permanent representatives of Israel and Brazil to the UN, Holocaust survivor, historian, and author Gerda Weissmann Klein, and the Gerda and Kurt Klein Foundation; narration of photographs of Holocaust victims memorialized on “Pages of Testimony” in the Hall of Names at Yad Vashem;^[10] as well as a performance by the Zamir Chorale of Boston; and a lecture by Yehuda Bauer, an academic advisor to Yad Vashem and the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research.^[11]^[12]

In 2007

On 29 January, the second annual observance of the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust was held in the General Assembly Hall at United Nations Headquarters.^[13]

Shasta Tharp, former Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, introduced a programme that began with a video message from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Statements were then made by Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa, president of the sixty-first session of the General Assembly, and Ambassador Dan Gillerman, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations.^[14] The keynote “Remembrance and Beyond” address was given by Madame Simone Veil, a Holocaust survivor, president of the Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah and a member of the Constitutional Council of France.

The observance focused on the importance of infusing today’s youth with the lessons of the Holocaust so that future generations may work to prevent hatred, bigotry, racism, and prejudice. Marie Noel, a College of Saint Elizabeth student, shared her experiences visiting former concentration camps in Poland.

The memorial ceremony also focused on the disabled community as one of the many victim groups of the Nazi regime. Thomas Schindlmayr of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs highlighted the importance of education in promoting tolerance and ending discrimination against all minorities, particularly in light of the adoption by the General Assembly on 13 December 2006 of the landmark Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

A musical performance was also given by HaZamir: The International Jewish High School Chamber Choir, a project of the Zamir Choral Foundation founded and directed by Matthew Lazar. Netanel Hershtik, cantor of the Hampton Synagogue, recited the Kaddish.

During the observance the United Nations Department of Public Information also launched a new website and resource for United Nations member states, educators and non-governmental organizations entitled “Electronic Notes for Speakers” developed for the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme by Yad Vashem – the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes Remembrance Authority, Jerusalem, and the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education and the Mémorial de la Shoah in Paris.^[15] The electronic notes provide survivor testimony and information materials that will equip speakers with the tools needed to conduct briefings on the Holocaust and lessons to be learned from it.

The United Nations bookstore made available ten volumes of autobiographical accounts of Holocaust survivors published jointly by The Holocaust Survivors’ Memoirs Project and Yad Vashem – the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes Remembrance Authority. An initiative of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust Survivors’ Memoirs Project has collected over 900 manuscripts. Its mission is to provide both the victims and the survivors of the Holocaust with the dignity of a permanent historical presence, not as impersonal statistics but as individuals with names, voices, and emotions. The United Nations bookstore also had a discussion by Daniel Mendelsohn about his book The Lost: A Search for Six of the Six Million.

The Department of Public Information also marked Holocaust Remembrance Week with two exhibits in the United Nations visitors’ lobby. The first, entitled “The Holocaust against the Sinti and Roma and Present Day Racism in Europe”, focused on the experience of the Roma and Sinti during the Holocaust. The second exhibit featured artwork created by Holocaust survivors, exploring the meaning and understanding of the Holocaust.^[16]

On 31 January, a special screening of Volevo solo Vivere (I Only Wanted to Live), directed by Mimmo Calopresti, took place. The film tells the moving story of nine Italian survivors of Auschwitz. The following day, Nazvy svoie im’ia (Spell Your Name), directed by Serhiy Bukovsky, was also screened. The film, about the Holocaust in Ukraine, tells the story of local people who escaped brutal execution and those who rescued friends and neighbours during the Holocaust. Both films, produced by the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education, were shown in the Dag Hammarskjold Library Auditorium. On 2 February, the third discussion paper in the Holocaust and Genocide series was published about Hitler, Pol Pot and Hutu Power.^[17]

In 2008

Throughout the week of 28 January 2008, the United Nations Department of Public Information organized a number of events around the world to remember the victims of the Holocaust and underscore the value of human life.^[18] The 2008 observance focused on the need to ensure the protection of human rights for all. It coincided with the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Holocaust Remembrance Day began with the joint launch of a new United Nations Holocaust Remembrance postage stamp issued simultaneously, for the first time, with a national stamp by the Israel Postal Company.^[19] The two stamps bear the same design.

On 28 January 2008, at United Nations Headquarters in New York, the daughter of United States Congressman Tom Lantos, himself a Holocaust survivor, delivered a keynote address, “Civic Responsibility and the Preservation of Democratic Values,” at the memorial ceremony and concert held in the General Assembly Hall.

Other speakers included Srgjan Kerim (Macedonia), president of the sixty-second session of the General Assembly, Ambassador Dan Gillerman, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations, and Kiyo Akasaka, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information.^[18]

The ceremony also featured a concert with the Tel Aviv University Buchmann-Mehta School of Music symphony orchestra in cooperation with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by maestro Zubin Mehta.^[20]

On 30 January 2008, the first permanent exhibit on the Holocaust and the United Nations was unveiled. Produced by the Holocaust and United Nations Outreach Programme, it presents an overview of the Holocaust in the context of World War II and the founding of the United Nations. It is seen by the 400,000 visitors who visit the United Nations Headquarters annually. In preparation for the exhibit opening, Elizabeth Edelstein, Director of Education for the Museum of Jewish Heritage, briefed the United Nations tour guides on the history of the Holocaust to further their understanding of this watershed event.

Around the world United Nations offices organized events to mark the Day of Commemoration. In Brazil, an observance was held on 25 January with the president of the country, Jose Inacio Lula da Silva, and the Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, César Maia. In Madagascar, a permanent exhibit on the Holocaust was unveiled at the United Nations Information Centre.

The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme also coordinated a video conference for students with the United Nations information centres in Antananarivo, Madagascar, Lomé, Togo, and educators at the Mémorial de la Shoah in Paris. At the United Nations office in Ukraine, a round-table discussion was organized in partnership with the Ministry of Education and the Ukrainian Holocaust Study Centre. In Tokyo on 29 January, an educational workshop targeting young students focused on the links between the Holocaust and human rights issues.

Also, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum provided information material in English and Spanish to a number of United Nations information centers for use in their reference libraries.

To help carry out its educational mission, the Department of Public Information participated in a panel discussion with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in the afternoon of 28 January to highlight the importance of Holocaust education, organized by B’nai B’rith International.

A second exhibit, “Carl Lutz and the Legendary Glass House in Budapest”, was co-sponsored by the Carl Lutz Foundation and the Permanent Missions of Switzerland and Hungary. Carl Lutz, the Swiss Vice-Consul in Budapest, had issued certificates of emigration to place tens of thousands of Jews under Swiss protection.^[18]

In 2019

In January 2019, the Albanian Ambassador to the UN, Besiana Kadare, on behalf of Albania co-hosted together with the World Jewish Congress and the United Nations Department of Global Communications an event on the theme “A story of humanity: the rescue of Jews in Albania”.^[21] Kadare delivered remarks at the United Nations at a briefing entitled “Holocaust Remembrance: Demand and Defend your Human Rights”, marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day and reflecting on the genocide of six million European Jews during World War Two, and the little-known record of Albanians during the Holocaust in Albania, which took in thousands of Jews who would otherwise have ended up in the Nazi death camps.^[22]^[23]

In 2020

In January 2020, Chelsea FC unveiled a mural by Solomon Souza on an outside wall of the West Stand at Stamford Bridge stadium to commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day. The mural is part of Chelsea’s ‘Say No to Antisemitism’ campaign funded by club owner Roman Abramovich. Included on the mural are depictions of footballers Julius Hirsch and Árpád Weisz, who were killed at Auschwitz concentration camp, and Ron Jones, a British prisoner of war known as the ‘Goalkeeper of Auschwitz’.^[24]

Commemorations outside the United Nations

Commemorations are held at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC,^[25] and at Yad Vashem, in Jerusalem.^[26]

In Austria, commemorations of the Remembrance Day are held at the Heldenplatz in Vienna since 2012. The broad platform Jetzt Zeichen setzen! calls for participation of the civil society. Speakers include survivors of the Holocaust, antifascist activists and politicians hailing from parties throughout the political spectrum.

In Israel on International Holocaust Remembrance Day government officials, diplomats and ambassadors visit Yad Vashem^[27] and there are ceremonies throughout the country. Every year the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs presents an assessment of the state of global antisemitism at a cabinet meeting.^[28] The report reviews the main trends and incidents of the last year, in terms of antisemitism and combating antisemitism.

Israel’s main national Holocaust memorial day however, known as Yom HaShoah, is on the 27th day of the Hebrew calendar month of Nisan.

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BAD NEWS….Suspects in killing of 15 people at Bondi Beach named — as ‘real-life hero’ bystander identified

Austin Tang — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 14:57:16 +0000

Prayer for the Jewish People as shared by Rabbi Joshua Stanton

As we kindle our Advent lights, we know that it is Chanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights. We hold in our hearts and our prayers the whole House of Israel, who once again have been subjected to an unspeakable assault, this time in Sydney, Australia while celebrating their sacred holiday. May our lights brighten these dark times and our faith inspire us to turn our prayers to acts of friendship and solidarity with the Jewish People.

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/bondi-beach-gunshots-reported-12-14-25

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Dr. David Weill, author of TELL ME I BELONG: A Journey Across Faiths and Generations (Union Square & Co.; December 9, 2025)

Austin Tang — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 14:29:38 +0000

Listen to “Dr. David Weill, author of TELL ME I BELONG: A Journey Across Faiths and Generations” on Spreaker.

“In this fascinating and personal book, Dr. David Weill takes us on a journey to understand his Jewish identity and heritage. It can be a guide for anyone who is searching for an elusive sense of belonging.”

—Walter Isaacson

A heartfelt memoir about the search for religion and identity

“I’m not Jewish.” For years, that’s what David Weill told anyone who asked about his religious background. Yes, his father was a Jew who had left Nazi Germany as a boy. But his mother was a Southern Baptist. Growing up in New Orleans, religion wasn’t something his family discussed, let alone practiced. As an adult, he developed a fervent zeal and profound devotion to his work as a specialist in organ transplants. Transplantation was all he needed to define and fulfill him—until a crisis shook him to the core.

As a boy, Weill’s only experience with religion was when he accompanied Deborah, the family’s domestic help and his second mother figure, to her all-Black Baptist church. As a young doctor, he fell in love with Jackie, a nurse from rural Iowa and a devout Catholic. Much to the chagrin of her parents, they were married in a Dallas hotel rather than a church. After settling in Palo Alto, close to Stanford University Medical Center where Weill headed the heart and lung transplant program, their two daughters were baptized and confirmed at a local Catholic church. When his oldest daughter, Hannah, was around ten and asked him why he never joined them at mass on Sundays, he told her, “I’m not Catholic.” She looked at him, brow furrowed, and raised a question that would prove to haunt him, “What are you then?”

TELL ME I BELONG follows David Weill’s search for the answer. In 2015, after the simultaneous unraveling of his carefully crafted career and the death of his father, Weill began to doubt everything, including his purpose in life. While grappling with emotional pain and sinking deeper into despair, he began to suffer perplexing physical symptoms. In his moment of crisis, he was seized by a strong desire to practice a formal religion. But for Weill, the real question was, Which religion? Eventually, he chose Catholicism and was baptized at age fifty. He found solace in heart-to-heart talks with a priest and his daughters’ happiness at having the whole family at church together. Everything was fine—until 2020, when he learned that his mother had converted to Judaism right before marrying his father. He was born a Jew. And in the eyes of the Jewish faith, he would always be Jewish. That realization sparked his second quest. In an interview, David can talk about:

· What drew his mother, a native of Selma, Alabama, to Judaism—partly because, to quote her, Jews “always seemed like such practical people,” and largely as a rejection of Baptists who preached love for all God’s children and practiced racism.

· His father’s complicated sense of being Jewish, which he viewed as a source of pride for its association with smart and successful people while remaining wary of being ostracized or stigmatized for the religion he was born into.

· His determination, with the help of investigators, to learn more about his grandfather’s time imprisoned in the Buchenwald concentration camp, and the role of his famous relative, the composer Kurt Weill, in orchestrating his family’s escape to the United States.

· His heart-wrenching trip to Berlin, accompanied by his daughter Hannah, to find his father’s first home, and the inner work of defining himself.

Ultimately, David Weill made peace with who he is and where he belongs. “I am not turning away from Catholicism as much as I am embracing Judaism, because it is mine, always was,” he reflects. “It just took me a while to get there.”

DAVID WEILL, MD, is theformer Director of the Center for Advanced Lung Diseases and the Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant Program at Stanford University Medical Center. A sought-after advisor to various transplant programs across the country, he also serves on the Board of TransMedics, a company focused on improving availability of donor organs. Dr. Weill has also served on several non-profit boards including the Tulane Medical School, Xavier University of Louisiana, SFJAZZ, the Isidore Newman School, the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) Foundation, NextGen Personal Finance, and the Bellevue Literary Review. Dr. Weill’s writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Salon, Newsweek, the Chicago Tribune, STAT, the Washington Post, The Hill, LitHub, Tablet, The Times of Israel, TODAY.com, and the Los Angeles Times. His previous books include the memoir Exhale: Hope, Healing, and Life in Transplant (2021) and a novel, All That Really Matters (2024). He lives in New Orleans. For more information, please visit davidweill.com.

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/davidweillmd/

https://www.facebook.com/david.weill/about/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidweillmd/

TELL ME I BELONG

A Journey Across Faiths and Generations

By David Weill

Publication date: December 9, 2025

ISBN: 978-1454961833; $24.99 Hardcover

Union Square & Co.

The post Dr. David Weill, author of TELL ME I BELONG: A Journey Across Faiths and Generations (Union Square & Co.; December 9, 2025) appeared first on Good News!.

The Great Nosh on Governor’s Island

Austin Tang — Tue, 01 Jul 2025 12:12:46 +0000

Summer picnic, packed with NYC’s best restaurants, exclusive chef collabs, immersive art, unexpected Jew-ish cultural connections, and sunshine.

Featuring never-before noshes from epic chef collabs, including:

Thai Diner x Katz’s Deli

Russ & Daughters x Morgenstern’s

Tatiana x Dickson’s Atoboy x Apollo Bagels

Dhamaka x Gertrude’s Hani’s x Breads Bakery

Caroline Schiff x Junior’s

Elbow Bread x Sunn’s

La Boîte x Slow Fires

Zahav x Dame

Eyal Shani x Jake Cohen

Also featuring pop-up wine bar from The Four Horsemen, Susan Alexandra’s “Summer Camp” beading workshop, “Grandmas Tent” hosted by Gail Simmons and Pati Jinich, and more!

The post The Great Nosh on Governor’s Island appeared first on Good News!.

Katz’s Deli: A New York Jewish Food institution

Austin Tang — Sun, 22 Jun 2025 15:02:37 +0000

Listen to “Katz’s Deli_ A New York Jewish Food institution” on Spreaker.

Located on the corner of Ludlow & Houston in New York City, world-famous Katz’s Delicatessen is the city’s oldest and favorite choice for Jewish food and deli amongst locals and visitors alike. Family run since it’s establishment in 1910, Katz’s prides itself on it’s reputation for excellent quality and it’s status as a true icon of New York history and culture.

#katzsdeli #jewishfood

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Jewish Humor Dedicated to Errol Rappaport

Austin Tang — Mon, 16 Jun 2025 16:00:26 +0000

JEWISH WISDOM

On Passover we
Opened the door for Elijah
Now our dog is gone.

Jewish Buddhism:
If there is no self,
Whose arthritis is this?

Beyond Valium,
Peace is knowing one’s child
Is an internist.

After the warm rain
The sweet smell of camellias.
Did you wipe your feet?

Her lips near my ear,
Aunt Sadie whispers the name
Of her friend’s disease.

Today I am a man
Tomorrow I will return
To the seventh grade

Testing the warm milk
On her wrist, she sighs softly
But her son is forty.

The sparkling blue sea
Reminds me to wait an hour
After my sandwich.

Jews on safari —
Map, compass, elephant gun,
Hard sucking candies.

The same kimono
The top geishas are wearing:
I got it at Loehmann’s.

Mom, please!
There is no Need
to put that dinner roll In your pocketbook.

Sorry I’m not home To take your call.
At the tone
Please state your bad news.

Is one Nobel Prize
So much to ask from a child
After all I’ve done?

Today, mild shvitzing.
Tomorrow, so hot you’ll plotz
Five day forecast

Quietly murmured
At Saturday Synagogue services,
Phillies 5, Red Sox 3.

Be here now.
Be someplace else later.
Is that so complicated?

Drink tea and nourish life; With the first sip, joy;
With the second sip, satisfaction;
With the third sip, peace;
With the fourth, a Danish.

Wherever you go,
there you are.
Your luggage is another story.

Accept misfortune as a blessing.
Do not wish for perfect health, or a life without problems.
What would you talk about?

The journey
of a thousand miles
Begins with a single Oy.
Zen is not easy.
It takes effort to attain nothingness.
And then what do you have?
Bupkis.

The Tao does not speak.
The Tao does not blame.
The Tao does not take sides.
The Tao has no expectations.
The Tao demands nothing of others
The Tao is not Jewish.

Breathe in, Breathe out.
Forget this and attaining Enlightenment
will Be the least of your problems.

Deep inside you are ten thousand flowers.
Each flower blossoms ten thousand times.
Each blossom has ten thousand petals.
You might want to see a specialist

Be aware of your body.
Be aware of your perceptions.
Keep in mind that not every physical
Sensation is a symptom of a terminal illness.

The Torah says, Love your neighbor as yourself.
Buddha says there is no self.
So, maybe we’re off the hoo

https://www.monterafuneralhome.com/obituaries/Errol-Daniel-Rappaport?obId=42922954

Errol Daniel Rappaport

March 28, 1944 – June 13, 2025

Errol Daniel Rappaport passed away on June 13, 2025, at Mount Sinai Morningside in New York City. He was 81.

Born in Brooklyn, NY on March 28, 1944, Errol lived a full, dynamic life. He worked in public relations in Los Angeles and Acapulco, later becoming a television and music producer in New York City. He also contributed regularly to Black Tie Magazine and Wonderama Television. A passionate philanthropist. Errol was widely known as the “Goodwill Ambassador” — a role he lived every day by connecting people from all walks of life. Gregarious, funny, with dashing movie star looks He made everyone feel connected. His motto was, “ My reality is most people’s fantasy.” Errol was the epitome of positive energy, life and love.

He served as a medic in the U.S. Air Force during Vietnam and worked closely with legendary acting teacher Lee Strasberg as his assistant. His sense of style — including bright orange Iris Apfel glasses, slicked back hair, and a rotating collection of scarves — made him instantly recognizable wherever he went.

The son of fashion designers David and Frances Rappaport., Damon and Francesca of Damon were featured in major department stores and boutiques nationally. The couple lived for decades in their iconic penthouse at 200 Central Park South.

When their health began to decline, Errol returned from Los Angeles to New York to care for them. After his father’s passing, Errol continued to support his mother until she was placed under guardianship. Errol’s fight to protect her and others caught in similar situations is chronicled in Diane Dimond’s book, We’re Here to Help: When Guardianship Goes Wrong.

Errol co-founded QuinntEssential Productions with his partner and best friend, Quinn Lemley. The two created the talk show Secrets of the Stage on Manhattan Neighborhood Network, Black Tie Magazine, and Spotify, and produced the big band album Remembering Rita, which will be released this Fall.

He is survived by his brothers, Michael and Richard Rappaport, and his godson, Jorel Roth.

Donations in Errol’s memory may be made to the National Meningitis Association., which has now merged with, and is https://www.immunize.org/donate/ based in Florida.

A Celebration of Life service will be announced

Errol Rappaport will be remembered for his zest for life, positivity, and unwavering love for his friends.

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MAZEL TOV & GONG XI

Austin Tang — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 21:35:26 +0000

Listen to “MAZEL TOV & GONG XI” on Spreaker.
Congratulations to trend-setting colleague and Humanitarian Paul Sladkus and lovely Ivy Ma on their wonderful wedding ceremony, blending both Jewish and Chinese traditions, taking place live right now. Many Blessings to you both!

The post MAZEL TOV & GONG XI appeared first on Good News!.

Sylvia Goldin, In spite of having pulmonary fibrosis, sings her heart out

Austin Tang — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 15:15:19 +0000

Listen to “Sylvia Goldin, In spite of having pulmonary fibrosis, sings her heart out” on Spreaker.

#sylviagoldin #pulmonaryfibrosis #heartout #jewish

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Ephraim Isaac, the first professor of Afro-American studies at Harvard University. In recognition of his merits, the Ephraim Isaac Prize for Excellence and so much more for Peace and FREEDOM…

Austin Tang — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 13:57:20 +0000

Listen to “Ephraim Isaac, the first professor of Afro-American studies at Harvard University. In recognition of his merits, the Ephraim Isaac Prize for” on Spreaker.

He was the first professor of Afro-American studies at Harvard University. In recognition of his merits, the Ephraim Isaac Prize for Excellence in African Languages is given annually to the Harvard graduate who writes the best essay in African studies.

Early life
Isaac was born to an Ethiopian mother and a Yemeni Jewish father in Wolega Kifele Hager, Nejo, Ethiopia, in 1936. His actual date of birth is unknown. In high school, he randomly chose 29 May as his nominal birthday. He received his early education in Ethiopia.

Career
Isaac has been a professor at various universities and has published scholarly articles and books. He was the first faculty appointment in Harvard University’s Department of African and Afro-American Studies in 1969, and he played an important role in the early history of the department. Committed to this emerging field of scholarship, Isaac continued as a faculty member until 1977 and taught almost half of the students enrolled in the program.

Isaac has also lectured at:

Princeton University Department of Near Eastern Studies, 1983–1985; introduced the first African language course in 1984; was visiting professor of religion and African American studies 1995–2001; and remains a fellow of Butler College.
Hebrew University (ancient Semitic languages)
University of Pennsylvania (religion, Semitic languages)
Howard University (Divinity School)
Lehigh University (religion)
Bard College (religion, history)
His subjects range from those mentioned above to Biblical Hebrew, rabbinic literature, Ethiopian history, the concept and history of slavery and ancient African civilizations. He was a fellow at the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute for Advanced Studies. He has been a fellow at Harvard University’s W. E. B. Du Bois Research Institute (1985–1986) and at the Center of Theological Inquiry at Princeton (1989–1992).

Isaac had a long-running dispute with the president of Harvard regarding the denial of his strong nomination for tenure by the then Department of African American Studies. After several appeals by the president of Harvard to drop the charges, Isaac won a major victory when the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston ruled in his favor by that rejected the president’s appeal, after which the president proposed to settle the case out of court, offering Isaac a fellowship position and paying all legal fees.

In November 2021, Canadian author Jeff Pearce leaked a video that appeared to show Isaac in a virtual meeting with Eleni Gabre-Madhin and several Western diplomats working to topple Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government to create a transitional government in favor of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) during the Tigray War. Despite both being able to refute the allegations, they were barred from traveling to Ethiopia, and a wide range of condemnation came from within Ethiopia and its diaspora.

Peace contributions and activities
Contributions

As a peace activist, Isaac has made important contributions to peace and reconciliation. He founded an ad hoc Peace Committee at a critical stage in 1989. The committee – a dozen Ethiopian elders – facilitated bilateral negotiations between the government and conflicting parties at home and abroad. This created a forum for a peaceful resolution to the violence and bloody conflict. The committee accelerated the July 1991 end of the 30-year civil war in the Horn of Africa. The committee also helped raise funds to defray the cost of the Addis Ababa Conference for a Peaceful and Democratic Transition at the end of the war. A transitional government of Ethiopia was formed, and the Transitional Council later became the Parliament of Ethiopia. He participated in the conference as an observer, and gave one of the three concluding addresses. In 1992, he organized, with the help of fellow elders, Dr. Haile Sellasie Belay and Dr. Tilahun Beyene, an international teleconference of religious reconciliation – with eight conflicting Ethiopian archbishops and several other religious leaders. It resulted in the resolution of serious religious disputes that arose among the archbishops of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church regarding church administration and appointment of a patriarch.

Between 1998 and 2000, he led an Ethio-Eritrean peace delegation to Ethiopia and Eritrea during the tragic war between the two. This delegation was the only group from the region that both sides found acceptable or welcome. Since 2007, he has promoted reconciliation and repatriation of several Ethiopian and Somali liberation front movements in exile. In 2007, he negotiated the release of 30 Ethiopian political leaders and members of parliament. Isaac has also negotiated the release of about 35,000 prisoners and has helped organize inter-political party dialogues, an election board, national police chiefs and justices seminars. This was done in cooperation with the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York and other experts, and an interfaith symposium to promote the value of democratic and human rights to strengthen peace and reconciliation efforts. In 2009, he was actively engaged behind the scenes in the Ethiopian government treaty with a major branch of the Ogaden National Liberation Front. In 2012, he was involved with the release of two kidnapped Germans and in 2013, the release of two Swedish journalists. He continues his peace and reconciliation work.

Activities
Isaac is currently the international chair of the Horn of Africa Board of Peace and Development Organization (Addis Ababa, Asmara) and the former president of the Yemenite Jewish Federation of America. He founded (1960), and was chair of the Committee for Ethiopian Literacy, the first African/Ethiopian federal tax-exempt organization: the National Literacy Campaign of Ethiopia (NCLO), for which he was executive director from 1967 to 1974, which made millions literate in the late 1960s. In 1959, he organized the founding meeting of the Ethiopian Students Association in North America (ESANA) in Chicago, becoming the first president of the organization.

He is on editorial boards of two international scholarly journals: Journal of Afroasiatic Languages and Second Temple Jewish Literature. Isaac is a member of the board or advisory council of several interfaith and intercultural groups and organizations, nationally and internationally. These include the Temple of Understanding, the Institute of Religion and Public Policy, Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding, Princeton Fellowship in Prayer, Institute for Jewish Community Research, and the Oxford Forum in England. In this capacity, Isaac has contributed to numerous peace and reconciliation dialogues in the Middle East, Africa and Ireland.

In the 1980s he was an active member of the Harvard-Radcliffe Alumni Association against Apartheid. He was nominated twice to the Harvard University Board of Overseers on an Anti-apartheid slate along with fifteen other distinguished Harvard alumni, including those who struggled against South African Apartheid and Archbishop Tutu. In 1993 (Chicago, IL) he was a signatory to the groundbreaking Document Toward a Global Ethic along with the Dalai Lama, the late Joseph Cardinal Bernardin of Chicago, and others, as a Jewish delegate to the Parliament of World’s Religions and a member of the about 150 Assembly of Religious and Spiritual Leaders. He was the first to propose in October 1993 to the Parliament the idea of a “united nations” of world religions (UR) to promote world peace and prosperity. Between 1994 and 2005 (New York, NY), he was an active member of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy at the height of their involvement with the Northern Ireland peace process. In 2004 (Amman, Jordan) he contributed to peace meetings as a member of the peace delegation of Peacemakers in Action of the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding, sponsored by Prince Hassan Ibn Talal with the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding. In 2005 (Amman, Jordan) Isaac also contributed to other peace-building symposia among the three followers of the Religio

#ephraimisaac #afroamericanstudies #harvard #peace #freedom

The post Ephraim Isaac, the first professor of Afro-American studies at Harvard University. In recognition of his merits, the Ephraim Isaac Prize for Excellence and so much more for Peace and FREEDOM… appeared first on Good News!.