JSAM III, Chesvan 5768
Dvar torah for kol dor Shabbat dinner

By YOSEF ISRAEL ABRAMOWITZ
Shabbat shalom.

There is something theologically majestic that global Jewish Social Action Month is inaugurated each year with the universal story of Noah in the Torah and is then followed by the Lech Lecha call to Abraham and followed by the early, particularistic origins of the Jewish people.

A covenant with humanity is followed by a covenant with the Jewish people. Why both? Read more

Five refugees from Sudan who Israel returned to Egypt have been sent back to Sudan, a likely death sentence against them for infiltrating the Zionist state.  Many of us have been saying for over a year now that Egypt is not the place for these refugees because of violence and distrimination, as well as there is no guarantee that they wont be returned to the killing fields.  Israel must never report Sudanese back to Egypt but find a third country via the UNHCR.  The JPost story here.  This is bad public policy, bad refugee policy and undermines the values of Jewish Peoplehood, which understands that we live in the shadow of the Exodus. For the full investigative series I penned on the topic, click here.

November 29th, Sarah, Laura and the cast of the Sarah Silverman Program, along with Rosanne Barr, will be doing an LA  fundraising event for the Arava Institute for Enviornmental Studies, which is located here at Kibbutz Ketura.  Click here for tickets.

The full JPost story, which ran on Page One Friday, is here.  Enjoy.  Below, an exclusive family picture of the Aunties (Laura, Sarah, Jody), Uncle Jimmy and the family. 

It is exciting to witness and be part of a revival of a network, now a network of networks, and to come into contact with so many remarkable, different and talented young Jews from around the world.  Click here for link to the next round of photos; photos from the first day are available here.  I’m told that shortly the fancy-shamancy secret weapon of kol dor, a new kind of Jewish innovation & action networking site developed by the talented Reuven Koret, will have a way of uploading all the photos from the conference from all the participants. It is probably viewable here at www.Amiut.com. This is the conference not-to-miss next year; this is the network to join and participate if you care about the future of Jewish life, have something to contribute and are seeking great other people with whom to scheme, dream and do.

It was a privilege to participate in this third global conference of Kol Dor, especially during Jewish Social Action Month.  The GE and the conference co-chairs deserve our gratitude.   The second best conference not-to-miss is the Herzliya Conference, which takes place in Herzliya during MLK’s birthday in January. 

photos, click here

For the pix of the opening plenary at beit hatsfusot, click here.  Matthew Bronfman keynoted with remarks from various kol dor leadership.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1192380633835&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Thank you to Minister Isaac Herzog and Rabbi Michael Melchoir, and to the wonderous Terry Newman.

Op-Ed Cheshvan Month That Delivers

Social Action Month (JSAM) returns for its third year this month. So, keep your Rosh Hashana honey out and join us in turning this festival-free month into a celebration of positive Jewish social action around the globe.

JSAM is an initiative of KolDor, a global network of young Jewish leaders, the Office of the Prime Minister of Israel and SocialAction.com. In just two years since its launch, JSAM has evoked a remarkable response. Political support has come from the presidents of both Israel and the United States, British parliamentarians, US senators and congressmen, Knesset members and others from around the globe. A wide spectrum of Jewish religious leaders, major institutions, youth groups, communal organizations and many others from around the world endorsed the initiative and created exciting and widespread programs. Read more

For those of you following the personal saga, Zamir was retested today at yosefta hospital in eilat and there is a marked improvement in the right ear because of the steroids.  he’s still not hearing for a conversation.  next step is back to Schneider on Oct 31st, Yoseftal on Nov. 8th and hopefully then have a hearing aid. Then every two weeks a check up.

The photos of today, where are very happy in the context of it all is, can be viewed here.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/20/arts/NA-A-E-BKS-US-JK-Rowling.php

OK, the first item is now true and in public, after the author of Harry Potter outed him. I have been a lone voice that Hermione Granger is Jewish.  Consider the following three clues:

**  She is bookish and smart

**  She goes home for “the holidays” rather than for Christmas

**  Both her parents are doctors.

Case closed.

See Shma.com

Also, my essay on Sudanese refugees in Israel in Sh’ma appears here and below. 

No Longer the Stranger:
Responding to Sudan’s Refugees in Israel
Yosef Israel Abramowitz

In July, the Israeli government announced that it would arrest and deport hundreds of Sudanese refugees who had snuck into Israel and camped outside the Knesset to seek protection. When my daughter Aliza and two of her friends from Kibbutz Ketura heard about this, they hopped on an Egged bus to attend a rally spontaneously organized in support of the Sudanese. To her surprise, instead of finding hundreds of Sudanese there were only a handful. In advance of the police’s arrival, Israeli families had swooped in and whisked refugees into their homes. This is the whole story in a nutshell: It is a conflict between the instincts and moral obligations of the Jewish people and the security-fearful instincts of the state.

Over the past two years, roughly 1,500 Sudanese refugees paid Bedouin smugglers to slip them under the fence along the Sinai-Negev border. Almost every person tells the same tale: Read more