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The Lion of Judah is one of the most successful fundraising tools in the world, raising millions of dollars every year and connecting more than 17,500 women around the world. The Lion of Judah is a symbol of today’s Jewish Woman’s strength, a symbol of her caring about the organized Jewish world. For generations, Memphis Jewish…
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Jewish Community Partners President and CEO Laura Linder, or a special guest writer, sits down most Friday mornings to write a personal and timely letter to our beloved Memphis Jewish community. June 11- Longing for an Ordinary Day (by Bluma Zuckerbrot-Finkelstein) May 14- We Stand with Israel, Now and Forever March 25- (Above) Knowing the…
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MJF is thrilled to announce the creation of a new Lemsky Endowment Fund initiative providing travel subsidies for first-time Memphis Jewish adults participating in an organized Israel trip, who have demonstrated financial need. Any Jewish Memphian over age 32 (post Birthright) who joins a Memphis-based Federation, Synagogue or JCC trip to Israel may request from…
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By Stephanie O’Dell The question of how was your trip to Israel is such a hard question to answer. However, it is a question I have been asked a lot since I have returned. I was lucky to have gone on this journey through the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project (JWRP), with 21 other moms from…
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By David Mashinsky This past summer, I went to Israel on NCSY TJJ (The Jerusalem Journey). I had already been to Israel multiple times to visit family. I heard about the trip from a friend and thought I would go because my friends are going. I wasn’t expecting to make any close friends other…
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Earlier this month, violent anti-Semitic messages and imagery were twice spray-painted onto the Rock, a beloved centerpiece of the University of Tennessee Knoxville campus. When the UTK administration responded with a mild message of admonishment, Jews across the state of Tennessee were disappointed and confused by the University’s reluctance to directly label the anti-Semitism and…
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In the wake of two incidents of anti-Semitic messages scrawled on the iconic “rock” at University of Tennessee-Knoxville (UTK), the four Jewish Federations of Tennessee (Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga and Knoxville) sent a joint letter to UT President Randy Boyd and UTK Chancellor Wayne Davis, asking the university system to condemn in stronger terms the anti-Semitism…
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By Batya Salomon In January, I set off on the adventure of a lifetime. I left Memphis and all my friends and family behind to spend a semester in Israel. I was terrified of being gone for four whole months, but I was also sure that I was going to have the time of…
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By Gila Golder Eighty years ago today, the Nazis were preparing to launch a spate of violent attacks targeting Jews in Germany, Austria, and the Sudentenland region of Czechoslovakia. Deadly rioting broke out on the night of November 9, 1938, and continued for 48 hours. Anti-Semitic mobs embarked on a reign of terror while police…
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By Sarah Unowsky Prior to my BBYO trip this past summer, my knowledge of Israel was rudimentary. I had been able to learn the basics: Israel has a parliamentary form of government, Israel’s capital is Jerusalem, Israel is a world leader in technology, etc. What no one had ever attempted to teach me– what you…
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Yesterday in an off-the record briefing held for hundreds of Jewish Federation leaders, Meryl Ainsman, Board of Trustees Chair and Jeff Finkelstein, President and CEO of The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh discussed the stress and trauma of the past week after a gunman opened fire in a local synagogue killing 11 people. “This was…
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Support from Around the World In the wake of the horrific violence at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, community gatherings like the one in Memphis Sunday evening have taken place across the country. Many, like ours in Memphis, were attended by Jews and non-Jews alike, perhaps most notably the clergy from…