This week in the Jewish world – WJC President Ronald S. Lauder addresses Kyiv Jewish Forum

As a featured speaker at the Kyiv Jewish Forum, World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder addressed the rise in global antisemitism and the role of governments to fight it, the potential for peace brought by normalized relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, and the significance of the preservation of Holocaust memory and artifacts in advancing Holocaust education. Read More… 

Following the announcement, JCE Chief Rabbi Yehuda Sarna declared, “The JCE will be a lighthouse community in the Gulf for dialogue and interfaith cooperation and looks forward to leveraging the WJC’s global community network to enhance new opportunities in the region.” The JCE is expected to formally become a WJC affiliate at the next WJC Plenary Assembly, scheduled for May 2021. Read More… 

Following the German federal government’s online conference about strategies to combat antisemitism, Executive Vice President of the World Jewish Congress Maram Stern said, “Conspiracy myths and hatred disseminated online demonstrate that antisemitism does not stop at national borders….The World Jewish Congress is therefore very grateful that the German federal government is advocating strongly for a common and uniform strategy to combat antisemitism across the European Union.” Read More… 

The World Jewish Congress joined members of the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force – Multi Faith Advisory Council (MFAC) for a virtual gathering entitled „Faith in the United Nations: A global online conference.” The conference, which occurred a week before the opening of the 75th United Nations General Assembly on 15 September, commemorated the 75th anniversary of the founding of the organization. Read More… 

The World Jewish Congress has compiled a brief review of some of the concerning trends and incidents witnessed and recorded over the course of August 2020. We will continue to monitor developments as they arise and remain committed to working together with our communities to ensure a safer and more tolerant world for all. Read Now… 

The words “Stop Dan Andrews” were smeared on a road in Melbourne along with a Magen David replacing the “a” in Dan, and a swastika instead of the “s” in Andrews. Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin lamented, “[t]his is absolutely appalling. When segments of society descend into conspiratorial thinking the evil of antisemitism always surfaces.” Read Now… 

While 2020 has been a difficult year for many people around the world, there have been some positive steps in Europe and around the world to counter antisemitism, racism, and xenophobia. Watch Now… 

Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera announced plans to open a diplomatic mission in Jerusalem. If the promise is fulfilled, Malawi would become the first African nation with a diplomatic representation in the capital of Israel. As of September 2020, Israel has diplomatic missions in 12 African countries.. Watch Now… 

The ceremony is expected to be attended by world leaders from other countries in the region but the exact list of guests is still in the works, an administration official said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed will lead their respective delegations. Read More… 

Two Jewish girls from north-eastern France found themselves in great danger when Germany invaded 80 years ago. But while their parents and younger sister were caught and murdered, they survived – along with dozens of other Jewish children – thanks to the bravery of a nun in a convent near Toulouse. Read More… 

The City Municipality of Vilnius, Lithuania and the Baltic country’s Ministry of Culture announced a plan last Friday to commission an architectural memorial project honoring Lithuanians who saved Jews during the Holocaust. The final design of the memorial will be chosen from among those submitted as part of an open public tender. Read More… 

The agreements were the result of secret negotiations that followed West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer’s landmark 1951 speech signaling West Germany’s readiness to address responsibility for the acts of Nazi Germany culminating in the Holocaust. The Jewish people were represented in the negotiations by the Conference on Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference), founded in 1951 by Nahum Goldmann, then co-chairman of the Jewish Agency and acting president of the World Jewish Congress. Read More… 

As we mark the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks that took the lives of nearly 3,000 Americans, we soberly remember our lost loved ones and think about the unrelenting efforts of those who seek to harm us and our community. Watch Now… 

From her hometown of Chernivtsi, and all the way to her resting place of Czernowitz, Ukraine, Jewish actress and singer Sidi Tal dedicated her life to preserving the beauty of Yiddish despite countless obstacles. Watch Now… 

There is a longtime Jewish custom of sending loved ones greeting cards for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. The cards have taken on many distinct characteristics over the ages. Watch Now…