Media Synagogue Honors Community Agency
Congregation Beth Israel of Media named the Community Action Agency of Delaware County the winner of its 2018 Friend of the Community Award.
The private nonprofit agency, which was founded in 1979, was cited for its role in reducing poverty and offering assistance in housing, employment and social services. CEO Edward T. Coleman said the agency’s job will never be done.
“I have seen cities and states say their goal is to eliminate homelessness. Well, homelessness has been around forever and it probably will be, for a lot of societal issues, drugs and alcohol, whatever the problems are; the nature of homelessness has changed somewhat, and poverty has changed somewhat because of the deterioration of families,” he said.
The synagogue will present the award to Coleman after Shabbat services on May 4.
Local Rebbetzin Speaks at New York Event
Lower Merion Synagogue Rebbetzin Adina Shmidman, the founding director of the newly formed Department of Women’s Initiatives at the Orthodox Union, spoke April 29 at that organization’s Torah New York event.
Shmidman’s address was titled “Life Lessons from Tumah and Tahara: Understanding the Struggle Between our Body and Soul.”
Shmidman was named in October 2017 to head the Department of Women Initiatives, which will “help propel the [female Orthodox leaders] community forward in a positive, halachically permissible fashion,” according to an Orthodox Union press release.
First-round NFL Draft Pick Called Anti-Semitic Slurs During Games
UCLA star Josh Rosen, who was just selected in the first round of the NFL draft by the Arizona Cardinals, said anti-Semitic trash talk often is directed at him during games, JTA reported.
“I get a lot of Jewish things,” the quarterback told NFL.com. “My nose, particularly. I get, like, ‘Stay the f— down, you Jewish bastard. … I’m gonna break your f—in’ nose, you Jew.’”
Rosen said he’s OK “when people try to get in my head,” noting that, “It gets my competitive juices flowing.”
Although Rosen had a Bar Mitzvah and attends a seder every Passover, he attended a Catholic high school and said in a 2014 interview that he is “kind of an atheist.”
Lurie, Kraft Critical of Trump on National Anthem Kneeling Issue
Two prominent Jewish NFL owners — including the Philadelphia Eagles’ Jeffrey Lurie — were critical during an October meeting of President Trump’s comments in opposition of players kneeling during the national anthem, Reuters reported.
In an audio tape of the confidential meeting obtained by The New York Times, Lurie called Trump’s presidency disastrous and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft criticized the president. That’s noteworthy because Kraft is a personal friend of Trump and contributed $1 million to his campaign.
“The problem we have is, we have a president who will use [kneeling] as fodder to do his mission,” Kraft said. “I don’t feel [this] is in the best interests of America.”
Lurie told players to stay united and noted that all involved should be cautious in their responses.
“We’ve got to be careful not to be baited by Trump or whomever else,” Lurie said.
