Advocacy group says CUNY law school’s faculty boycott of Israel may be illegal and Study: UNRWA materials urge Palestinians to take up ‘hobby’ of killing Israelis and Western Wall rabbi denounces violence at prayers, urges ‘all sides’ to respect site and Ukraine says it will not allow in Uman pilgrims for Rosh HashanahBY CNAAN LIPHSHIZ

View in browser Yehuda Lave is an author, journalist, psychologist, rabbi, spiritual teacher, and coach, with degrees in business, psychology and Jewish Law. He works with people from all walks of life and helps them in their search for greater happiness, meaning, business advice on saving money, and spiritual engagement. Love Yehuda Lave Join my blog by sending me an email to YehudaLave@gmail.com The Three Musketeers at the Kotel The Three are Rabbi Yehuda Glick, famous temple mount activist, and former Israel Mk, and then Robert Weinger, the world's greatest shofar blower and seller of Shofars, and myself after we had gone to the 12 gates of the Temple Mount in 2020 to blow the shofar to ask G-d to heal the world from the Pandemic. It was a highlight to my experience in living in Israel and I put it on my blog each day to remember. The articles that I include each day are those that I find interesting, so I feel you will find them interesting as well. I don't always agree with all the points of each article but found them interesting or important to share with you, my readers, and friends. It is cathartic for me to share my thoughts and frustrations with you about life in general and in Israel. As a Rabbi, I try to teach and share the Torah of the G-d of Israel as a modern Orthodox Rabbi. I never intend to offend anyone but sometimes people are offended and I apologize in advance for any mistakes. The most important psychological principle I have learned is that once someone's mind is made up, they don't want to be bothered with the facts, so, like Rabbi Akiva, I drip water (Torah is compared to water) on their made-up minds and hope that some of what I have share sinks in. Love Rabbi Yehuda Lave. Ukraine says it will not allow in Uman pilgrims for Rosh Hashanah BY CNAAN LIPHSHIZ More than four months into its devastating war against Russia, Ukraine is sending a new message to the world's Jews: Don't come here for Rosh Hashanah. Tens of thousands of Jews flood into Uman, a central city that is home to the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, a 18th-century Jewish luminary, annually for the Jewish new year. Even in the first year of the pandemic, when global travel ground to a halt and the gathering was officially banned, Jewish pilgrims sought to make their way to Uman. This year, their security cannot be guaranteed, Ukraine's ambassador to Israel, Yevgen Korniychuk, said in a statement posted Thursday on the embassy's Facebook page. "Due to concerns for the lives and well-being of the visitors to Ukraine and in light of the blatant Russian war in our country, despite all efforts, we can not guarantee the security of pilgrims and do not currently allow tourists and visitors to enter Ukraine," Korniychuk wrote. The statement did not say whether it constitutes an official ban on traffic into Ukraine, which receives thousands of arrivals daily through its land borders with Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova. Israelis and Jews from the around the world have been among those entering the country to provide aid and respite to war refugees, who are now estimated to number more than 6 million just within Ukraine's borders. Korniychuk exhorted would-be pilgrims to pray for the end of the war, which began when Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. "Your prayers are important to us. Please pray that before Rosh Hashanah, the war in Ukraine, which broke out due to blatant and cruel Russian aggression, will come to an end and pray for the victory of Ukraine," he wrote. "We hope that the prayers will be fulfilled, and that Ukraine will once again be a country that generously receives visitors from Israel, and especially Jews who come to Ukraine to visit the graves of the righteous.". Advocacy group says CUNY law-school's faculty boycott of Israel may be illegal S.A.F.E. CUNY files complaints with city and state agencies alleging violations of anti-discrimination laws."The CUNY Law Review" is published by the editors and staff at the CUNY School of Law, which is located in Long Island City, Queens, N.Y.  A Jewish advocacy group filed two complaints against the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law alleging that its faculty's adoption of a resolution to boycott Israel is discriminatory under New York City and New York State Law. On Monday, Students and Faculty for Equality at CUNY (S.A.F.E. CUNY) sent complaints to the New York City Commission on Human Rights and the New York State Division on Human Rights. The complaint to the city, addressed to the Commission on Human Rights' Law Enforcement Bureau, claims the faculty boycott of Israel violates Title 8 of the New York City Administrative Code, which prevents boycotts or blacklists based on a number of personal characteristics, including national origin. "[The faculty's] discriminatory boycott not only targets Israeli CUNY students and faculty members but provided identifying personal information with links to names of suspected Israeli and Zionist Jews. The adopted resolution even went so far as to endorse [the] boycott and elimination of Hillel, the most popular Israeli and Jewish cultural student club within CUNY, with a universally welcome presence on over 850 colleges campuses throughout the U.S. It further endorsed the elimination of Israeli student exchange programs and faculty fellowships with any connection to Israelis. In addition, the adopted BDS policy targets all students and faculty members at CUNY having any connection with Israel or Israelis. It institutionalizes an academic boycott of Israeli universities, Israeli scholars, and any other scholars who engage in research and publication with Israeli institutions or Israeli scholars," the complaint reads. A similarly worded complaint sent to the state's Division of Human Rights claims the boycott violates Executive Law Section 219, which prohibits a boycott of someone based on their creed or national origin. The S.A.F.E. CUNY complaint says state law, based on the creed provision, extends protection to all Zionist Jews either on their religious beliefs or shared heritage. Subscribe to The JNS Daily Syndicate by email and never miss our top stories S.A.F.E. CUNY filed a complaint last week against the school with the American Bar Association's law-school accrediting body, alleging that CUNY law school's formal adoption of BDS policy is "discriminatory, infringes upon academic freedom, and violates multiple ABA accreditation requirements," according to a letter released on Monday. There have long been complaints among Jews at CUNY about a hostile environment, culminating with the CUNY law-school commencement address in May by activist Nerdeen Kiswani, whose past vitriol has included the cheering of the death of Israelis during terror attacks and repeated calls for the destruction of Israel. Last week, the New York City Council held a heated committee hearing on anti-Semitism within the CUNY system. Study: UNRWA materials urge Palestinians to take up 'hobby' of killing Israelis The IMPACT-se study cites grammar exercise teaching that "the Palestinians sacrifice their blood to liberate Jerusalem."  JNS) Educational materials produced by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) contain content that encourages jihad, violence and martyrdom, in addition to promoting anti-Semitism, according to an analysis by IMPACT-se. The Israeli NGO—which monitors curricula to assess whether young people are being indoctrinated with hate—focused on materials labeled for use in the Palestinian territories in 2022 that did not appear on UNRWA's new education portal as is required. Among the examples cited by IMPACT-se was a grammar exercise teaching that "the Palestinians sacrifice their blood to liberate Jerusalem." Spelling and vocabulary exercises cited include sentences involving "jihad warriors" fighting against "the occupier [Israel]," as well as a commitment to "resisting the enemy courageously." One poem describes dying as Palestinian martyrs by killing Israelis in terrorist attacks as a "hobby." IMPACT-se noted that the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, recently discussed anti-Semitism in UNRWA education at a House Appropriations Committee budget hearing, calling it "a red line for all of us." She asserted that the Biden administration was working "very closely" with UNRWA, has "monitored their work," and "will be watching what they [UNRWA] do with these textbooks." IMPACT-se CEO Marcus Sheff stressed that Washington is currently financing UNRWA to the tune of $338 million annually, the majority of which goes to education. "Sadly, it is clear that hate teaching in UNRWA schools is increasing rather than abating since U.S. funding was restarted. Surely, the will can be found to enforce policy, given that red lines are being crossed so egregiously," Sheff said. "After a similar scandal last year," he continued, "UNRWA promised that all offending material produced by them would be removed. It seems that UNRWA has interpreted this as removal from the website where it can be scrutinized, rather than removal from actual classrooms." Western Wall rabbi denounces violence at prayers, urges 'all sides' to respect site Week after Haredim disrupted egalitarian event, Rabinovitch appears to also direct ire at Women of Wall; Reform and Conservative Movements urge Lapid to implement frozen compromise By JUDAH ARI GROSS Rabbi of the Western Wall Shmuel Rabinowitz at the site's plaza in 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) The rabbi of the Western Wall spoke out on Thursday against violence at the holy site but appeared to blame "all sides" for the issue, a week after ultra-Orthodox extremists overran the egalitarian plaza of the site, disrupting services. In his statement, which was issued in English, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch denounced the youths who disrupted prayer services in the egalitarian section but also appeared to criticize the Women of the Wall, a feminist group that holds female-led prayer services at the Western Wall. "The verbal and occasional physical violence that erupts among those coming to pray at the Western Wall, stemming from various extremist groups, desecrates G-d's name, creates chasms between people, and harms the holiness of the site that unites the Jewish nation and world Jewry," Rabinovitch said. Into the Land - Dead Sea WalkingKeep Watching "I call upon all sides to remove disputes and demonstrations from this sacred site and preserve the Western Wall as a holy and unifying site in the spirit of Jewish heritage and tradition," he added. Last Thursday, several dozen Orthodox men and boys entered the egalitarian section of the Western Wall, an area south of the main plaza also known as Robinson's Arch, equipped with whistles and signs, as a number of families from the United States were holding bar mitzvah ceremonies for their children there. The youths attempted to disrupt the services, blowing the whistles, calling the worshipers "Nazis" and "animals," and at one point ripping up a prayer book. One boy used a torn page from the prayer book to wipe his nose. Rabinovitch's belated denunciation came after the rabbi met with Jonathon Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, on Wednesday. Greenblatt tweeted that he expressed "great concern" to Rabinovitch over the assault on the service. Ultra-Orthodox youths interrupt a bar mitzvah ceremony at the egalitarian section of the Western Wall on June 30, 2022. (Laura Ben-David) Also on Thursday, the heads of the American Reform and Conservative Movements appealed to Prime Minister Yair Lapid to increase security at the egalitarian section of the wall to implement the long-stalled Western Wall compromise, which would give non-Orthodox Jews representation and official status in the management of the holy site. "We are aware of the complex political situation. But we believe this time presents an opportunity for Tikkun (repair). It is time to begin a new era, which will start to repair the grave injustice which has been occurring on a daily basis at the Wall towards liberal Jews," wrote Rabbi Rick Jacobs, head of the Union for Reform Judaism, and Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, head of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. The two called on Lapid to instruct police to intervene to prevent violent disruptions at the egalitarian section; to ensure that the area remains open to mixed-gender prayer; to fix the facilities at the site to allow worshipers to reach the stones of the Wall; and to make representatives of the movements the official managers of the site. After a week of silence, Lapid condemned the incident on Wednesday only after being asked about the issue by a reporter while on a diplomatic visit to France. "I am against all violence at the Western Wall against people who want to pray as their faith allows them. This cannot continue," Lapid said, speaking to reporters in Paris following a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. Prime Minister Yaïr Lapid makes a statement following his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee palace in Paris, on July 5, 2022. (Ludovic Marin/AFP) Police officers were at the scene last Thursday but largely refrained from intervening, save for when there were overt acts of violence against the worshipers. No arrests were made. Many of those present at the prayer services said they were shocked by the police inaction that day and expressed disappointment at most Israeli politicians' disregard for the incident. See you tomorrow bli neder We need Moshiach now! Love Yehuda Lave Yehuda Lave, Spirtual Advisor and Counselor Jerusalem, Jerusalem  Israel 972-585043210 YehudaLave@gmail.com You received this email because you signed up on our website or made a purchase from us. Unsubscribe