Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
Two Miami area residents named as semi-finalists in Jewish Community Heroes Awards - Orthodox Miami - MiamiHerald.com
Two Miami area residents named as semi-finalists in Jewish Community Heroes Awards - Orthodox Miami - MiamiHerald.com
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/11/28/2522529/two-miami-area-residents-named.html#ixzz1f3oGMmOA
By Michelle Blundell
Orthodox Miami
It has been announced that Rabbi Josh Broide of Boca Raton and Marly Silverman
of Coral Gables have both been named as part of the top 20
semi-finalists of The Jewish Federations of North America’s third annual
Jewish Community Heroes Awards: a national online contest that recognizes and promotes selfless acts of volunteerism in the North American Jewish community.
Over 239,000 votes were cast for the 300+ individuals who have been nominated by their peers. On December 7, a panel of judges will announce four finalists and a winner. The winner will receive $25,000 to support his/her generous role within the Jewish community.
20-million Americans suffer with Neuro-Endocrine Immune diseases. For at least 25% of these patients, a diagnosis means permanent disability and little hope. Marly Silverman, creator of PANDORA has been determined to change all that.
Marly began Pandora in 2002, but has worked for those impacted by NEIDs since 1999. In that time, Marly has constantly and consistently addressed the issues that affect the life of persons diagnosed with NEIDs. Through Pandora, Marly is working to create some of the first treatment centers for NEIDs. In addition, Marly created the Walk In My Shoes Campaign to raise awareness and garner much needed funding for research and a cure.
Josh Broide is the creator of the Boca Raton Jewish Experience (BRJE) offers free classes to Jews about their history and heritage. Josh Broide also runs a daily radio show called Jewish Pride Radio along with many other events and programs.
Over 239,000 votes were cast for the 300+ individuals who have been nominated by their peers. On December 7, a panel of judges will announce four finalists and a winner. The winner will receive $25,000 to support his/her generous role within the Jewish community.
20-million Americans suffer with Neuro-Endocrine Immune diseases. For at least 25% of these patients, a diagnosis means permanent disability and little hope. Marly Silverman, creator of PANDORA has been determined to change all that.
Marly began Pandora in 2002, but has worked for those impacted by NEIDs since 1999. In that time, Marly has constantly and consistently addressed the issues that affect the life of persons diagnosed with NEIDs. Through Pandora, Marly is working to create some of the first treatment centers for NEIDs. In addition, Marly created the Walk In My Shoes Campaign to raise awareness and garner much needed funding for research and a cure.
Josh Broide is the creator of the Boca Raton Jewish Experience (BRJE) offers free classes to Jews about their history and heritage. Josh Broide also runs a daily radio show called Jewish Pride Radio along with many other events and programs.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/11/28/2522529/two-miami-area-residents-named.html#ixzz1f3oGMmOA
Thursday, November 24, 2011
An amazing letter from an Israeli Soldier
The letter below was sent to us by our son Aron who is doing IDF reserve duty on the Egyptian border. I would humbly comment that it would be a Kiddush Hashem for the world to see this.
Please feel free to pass it on to whomever you please, including to the editors of newspapers.
Thank you,
Marilyn & Josh Adler
--------------------------
My name is Aron Adler. I am 25 years old, was born in Brooklyn NY, and raised in Efrat Israel. Though very busy, I don’t view my life as unusual. Most of the time, I am just another Israeli citizen. During the day I work as a paramedic in Magen David Adom, Israel’s national EMS service. At night, I’m in my first year of law school. I got married this October and am starting a new chapter of life together with my wonderful wife Shulamit. 15-20 days out of every year, I'm called up to the Israeli army to do my reserve duty. I serve as a paramedic in an IDF paratrooper unit. My squad is made up of others like me; people living normal lives who step up to serve whenever responsibility calls. The oldest in my squad is 58, a father of four girls and grandfather of two; there are two bankers, one engineer, a holistic healer, and my 24 year old commander who is still trying to figure out what to do with his life.
Most of the year we are just normal people living our lives, but for 15-20 days each year we are soldiers on the front lines preparing for a war that we hope we never have to fight. This year, our reserve unit was stationed on the border between Israel, Egypt and the Gaza Strip in an area called “Kerem Shalom.” Above and beyond the “typical” things for which we train – war, terrorism, border infiltration, etc., - this year we were confronted by a new challenge.
Several years ago, a trend started of African refugees crossing the Egyptian border from Sinai into Israel to seek asylum from the atrocities in Darfur. What started out as a small number of men, women and children fleeing from the machetes of the Janjaweed and violent fundamentalists to seek a better life elsewhere, turned into an organized industry of human trafficking. In return for huge sums of money, sometimes entire life savings paid to Bedouin “guides,” these refugees are promised to be transported from Sudan, Eritrea, and other African countries through Egypt and the Sinai desert, into the safe haven of Israel.
We increasingly hear horror stories of the atrocities these refugees suffer on their way to freedom. They are subject to, and victims of extortion, rape, murder, and even organ theft, their bodies left to rot in the desert. Then, if lucky, after surviving this gruesome experience whose prize is freedom, when only a barbed wire fence separates them from Israel and their goal, they must go through the final death run and try to evade the bullets of the Egyptian soldiers stationed along the border. Egypt’s soldiers are ordered to shoot to kill anyone trying to cross the border OUT of Egypt and into Israel. It’s an almost nightly event. For those who finally get across the border, the first people they encounter are Israeli soldiers, people like me and those in my unit, who are tasked with a primary mission of defending the lives of the Israeli people. On one side of the border soldiers shoot to kill. On the other side, they know they will be treated with more respect than in any of the countries they crossed to get to this point.
The region where it all happens is highly sensitive and risky from a security point of view, an area stricken with terror at every turn. It’s just a few miles south of the place where Gilad Shalit was kidnapped. And yet the Israeli soldiers who are confronted with these refugees do it not with rifles aimed at them, but with a helping hand and an open heart. The refugees are taken to a nearby IDF base, given clean clothes, a hot drink, food and medical attention. They are finally safe. Even though I live Israel and am aware through media reports of the events that take place on the Egyptian border, I never understood the intensity and complexity of the scenario until I experienced it myself. In the course of the past few nights, I have witnessed much.
At 9:00 PM last night, the first reports came in of gunfire heard from the Egyptian border. Minutes later, IDF scouts spotted small groups of people trying to get across the fence. In the period of about one hour, we picked up 13 men - cold, barefoot, dehydrated - some wearing nothing except underpants. Their bodies were covered with lacerations and other wounds. We gathered them in a room, gave them blankets, tea and treated their wounds. I don’t speak a word of their language, but the look on their faces said it all and reminded me once again why I am so proud to be a Jew and an Israeli. Sadly, it was later determined that the gunshots we heard were deadly, killing three others fleeing for their lives.
During the 350 days a year when I am not on active duty, when I am just another man trying to get by, the people tasked with doing this amazing job, this amazing deed, the people witnessing these events, are mostly young Israeli soldiers just out of high school, serving their compulsory time in the IDF, some only 18 years old. The refugees flooding into Israel are a heavy burden on our small country. More than 100,000 refugees have fled this way, and hundreds more cross the border every month. The social, economic, and humanitarian issues created by this influx of refugees are immense. There are serious security consequences for Israel as well. This influx of African refugees poses a crisis for Israel. Israel has yet to come up with the solutions required to deal with this crisis effectively, balancing its’ sensitive social, economic, and security issues, at the same time striving to care for the refugees.
I don’t have the answers to these complex problems which desperately need to be resolved. I’m not writing these words with the intention of taking a political position or a tactical stand on the issue. I am writing to tell you and the entire world what’s really happening down here on the Egyptian/Israeli border. And to tell you that despite all the serious problems created by this national crisis, these refugees have no reason to fear us. Because they know, as the entire world needs to know, that Israel has not shut its eyes to their suffering and pain. Israel has not looked the other way. The State of Israel has put politics aside to take the ethical and humane path as it has so often done before, in every instance of human suffering and natural disasters around the globe. We Jews know only too well about suffering and pain. The Jewish people have been there. We have been the refugees and the persecuted so many times, over thousands of years, all over the world. Today, when African refugees flood our borders in search of freedom and better lives, and some for fear of their lives, it is particularly noteworthy how Israel deals with them, despite the enormous strain it puts on our country on so many levels. Our young and thriving Jewish people and country, built from the ashes of the Holocaust, do not turn their backs on humanity. Though I already knew that, this week I once again experienced it firsthand. I am overwhelmed with emotion and immensely proud to be a member of this nation.
With love of Israel,
Aron Adler writing from the Israel/Gaza/Egyptian border.
Marilyn & Josh Adler
--------------------------
My name is Aron Adler. I am 25 years old, was born in Brooklyn NY, and raised in Efrat Israel. Though very busy, I don’t view my life as unusual. Most of the time, I am just another Israeli citizen. During the day I work as a paramedic in Magen David Adom, Israel’s national EMS service. At night, I’m in my first year of law school. I got married this October and am starting a new chapter of life together with my wonderful wife Shulamit. 15-20 days out of every year, I'm called up to the Israeli army to do my reserve duty. I serve as a paramedic in an IDF paratrooper unit. My squad is made up of others like me; people living normal lives who step up to serve whenever responsibility calls. The oldest in my squad is 58, a father of four girls and grandfather of two; there are two bankers, one engineer, a holistic healer, and my 24 year old commander who is still trying to figure out what to do with his life.
Most of the year we are just normal people living our lives, but for 15-20 days each year we are soldiers on the front lines preparing for a war that we hope we never have to fight. This year, our reserve unit was stationed on the border between Israel, Egypt and the Gaza Strip in an area called “Kerem Shalom.” Above and beyond the “typical” things for which we train – war, terrorism, border infiltration, etc., - this year we were confronted by a new challenge.
Several years ago, a trend started of African refugees crossing the Egyptian border from Sinai into Israel to seek asylum from the atrocities in Darfur. What started out as a small number of men, women and children fleeing from the machetes of the Janjaweed and violent fundamentalists to seek a better life elsewhere, turned into an organized industry of human trafficking. In return for huge sums of money, sometimes entire life savings paid to Bedouin “guides,” these refugees are promised to be transported from Sudan, Eritrea, and other African countries through Egypt and the Sinai desert, into the safe haven of Israel.
We increasingly hear horror stories of the atrocities these refugees suffer on their way to freedom. They are subject to, and victims of extortion, rape, murder, and even organ theft, their bodies left to rot in the desert. Then, if lucky, after surviving this gruesome experience whose prize is freedom, when only a barbed wire fence separates them from Israel and their goal, they must go through the final death run and try to evade the bullets of the Egyptian soldiers stationed along the border. Egypt’s soldiers are ordered to shoot to kill anyone trying to cross the border OUT of Egypt and into Israel. It’s an almost nightly event. For those who finally get across the border, the first people they encounter are Israeli soldiers, people like me and those in my unit, who are tasked with a primary mission of defending the lives of the Israeli people. On one side of the border soldiers shoot to kill. On the other side, they know they will be treated with more respect than in any of the countries they crossed to get to this point.
The region where it all happens is highly sensitive and risky from a security point of view, an area stricken with terror at every turn. It’s just a few miles south of the place where Gilad Shalit was kidnapped. And yet the Israeli soldiers who are confronted with these refugees do it not with rifles aimed at them, but with a helping hand and an open heart. The refugees are taken to a nearby IDF base, given clean clothes, a hot drink, food and medical attention. They are finally safe. Even though I live Israel and am aware through media reports of the events that take place on the Egyptian border, I never understood the intensity and complexity of the scenario until I experienced it myself. In the course of the past few nights, I have witnessed much.
At 9:00 PM last night, the first reports came in of gunfire heard from the Egyptian border. Minutes later, IDF scouts spotted small groups of people trying to get across the fence. In the period of about one hour, we picked up 13 men - cold, barefoot, dehydrated - some wearing nothing except underpants. Their bodies were covered with lacerations and other wounds. We gathered them in a room, gave them blankets, tea and treated their wounds. I don’t speak a word of their language, but the look on their faces said it all and reminded me once again why I am so proud to be a Jew and an Israeli. Sadly, it was later determined that the gunshots we heard were deadly, killing three others fleeing for their lives.
During the 350 days a year when I am not on active duty, when I am just another man trying to get by, the people tasked with doing this amazing job, this amazing deed, the people witnessing these events, are mostly young Israeli soldiers just out of high school, serving their compulsory time in the IDF, some only 18 years old. The refugees flooding into Israel are a heavy burden on our small country. More than 100,000 refugees have fled this way, and hundreds more cross the border every month. The social, economic, and humanitarian issues created by this influx of refugees are immense. There are serious security consequences for Israel as well. This influx of African refugees poses a crisis for Israel. Israel has yet to come up with the solutions required to deal with this crisis effectively, balancing its’ sensitive social, economic, and security issues, at the same time striving to care for the refugees.
I don’t have the answers to these complex problems which desperately need to be resolved. I’m not writing these words with the intention of taking a political position or a tactical stand on the issue. I am writing to tell you and the entire world what’s really happening down here on the Egyptian/Israeli border. And to tell you that despite all the serious problems created by this national crisis, these refugees have no reason to fear us. Because they know, as the entire world needs to know, that Israel has not shut its eyes to their suffering and pain. Israel has not looked the other way. The State of Israel has put politics aside to take the ethical and humane path as it has so often done before, in every instance of human suffering and natural disasters around the globe. We Jews know only too well about suffering and pain. The Jewish people have been there. We have been the refugees and the persecuted so many times, over thousands of years, all over the world. Today, when African refugees flood our borders in search of freedom and better lives, and some for fear of their lives, it is particularly noteworthy how Israel deals with them, despite the enormous strain it puts on our country on so many levels. Our young and thriving Jewish people and country, built from the ashes of the Holocaust, do not turn their backs on humanity. Though I already knew that, this week I once again experienced it firsthand. I am overwhelmed with emotion and immensely proud to be a member of this nation.
With love of Israel,
Aron Adler writing from the Israel/Gaza/Egyptian border.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Israel Inside Trailer
ISRAEL INSIDE (A New Documentary on WPBT2) Premiering on Tuesday, November 29 at 8 pm. Make sure to tune in!
This feature-length documentary explores the secrets of Israeli success from a humanistic and psychological perspective. The film sidesteps the usual conversation of politics, conflict and violence and focuses on Israel’s human side and its global contributions. Featuring former Harvard lecturer Dr. Tal Ben Shahar, who gave up a prominent position at Harvard as the school’s most popular teacher, to live in Israel, we discover that deep-seated values such as freedom, education, family, and responsibility (tikkun olam) directly contribute to Israel’s accomplishments in both the economic, technological, and humanitarian spheres.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
March of the Living 2011
A look back at another incredible experience on the March of the Living. Looking forward to MOTL 2012 with the Southern Region!!
Friday, November 18, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Israeli Prime Minister is experienced and qualified
When it comes to achievements in life, not to many Presidents in this country, not to mention others, reach the sole of Netanyahu, and just for that he deserves a lot of respect as opposed to Hussein Obama or Monsieur Sarkozy.
So this is the Israeli Prime Minister who the eminently experienced and qualified Barack Hussein Obama trash-talked about to the French (the French!):
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU
1949: Born – ONLY Israeli Prime Minister born in State of Israel
1967: Graduated High School: Cheltenham (Pennsylvania)
1967-1972: ENLISTED in Israel Defense Forces
Served in elite commando special forces unit, SAYERET MATKAL, specializing in operations behind enemy lines
War of Attrition 1970
Hostage rescue of Sabena Flight 571 in 1972
1972-1976: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, B.S. Architecture
1973: Returns to Israel as IDF Captain in Yom Kippur War
1977: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, M.S. Business Management
1976: Discontinues PhD in Political Science at MIT and Harvard when his brother, Yoni—the Commander of the Raid on Entebbe, is killed in the raid
1977-1982: Boston Consulting Group/Rim Industries Ltd.
1978: Forms Yoni Netanyahu Anti-Terror Institute
1980: Author- International Terrorism: Challenge and Response
1982-1984: Deputy Chief of Mission, Israeli Embassy, Washington, D.C.
1984-1988: Israeli U.N. Ambassador
1986: Author- Terrorism: How the West Can Win
1988-1993: Member of Knesset
Deputy Minister, Foreign Affairs
Chief Liaison to U.S. in 1991 Gulf War
1992: Author- A Durable Peace: Israel and Its Place Among Nations
1993-1996: Likud Party Chairman
1996: Author- Fighting Terrorism: How Democracies Can Defeat Domestic and International Terrorism
1996-1999: Prime Minister
September 24, 2001: First Anti-Terror Expert called before Congress
2002-2003: Foreign Minister
2003-2005: Finance Minister
2004: Israel’s 3-year recession turns around to 4.2% expansion
2006-2009: Member of Knesset
2009 - : Prime Minister
Commonly estimated I.Q.: 180
So this is the Israeli Prime Minister who the eminently experienced and qualified Barack Hussein Obama trash-talked about to the French (the French!):
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU
1949: Born – ONLY Israeli Prime Minister born in State of Israel
1967: Graduated High School: Cheltenham (Pennsylvania)
1967-1972: ENLISTED in Israel Defense Forces
Served in elite commando special forces unit, SAYERET MATKAL, specializing in operations behind enemy lines
War of Attrition 1970
Hostage rescue of Sabena Flight 571 in 1972
1972-1976: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, B.S. Architecture
1973: Returns to Israel as IDF Captain in Yom Kippur War
1977: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, M.S. Business Management
1976: Discontinues PhD in Political Science at MIT and Harvard when his brother, Yoni—the Commander of the Raid on Entebbe, is killed in the raid
1977-1982: Boston Consulting Group/Rim Industries Ltd.
1978: Forms Yoni Netanyahu Anti-Terror Institute
1980: Author- International Terrorism: Challenge and Response
1982-1984: Deputy Chief of Mission, Israeli Embassy, Washington, D.C.
1984-1988: Israeli U.N. Ambassador
1986: Author- Terrorism: How the West Can Win
1988-1993: Member of Knesset
Deputy Minister, Foreign Affairs
Chief Liaison to U.S. in 1991 Gulf War
1992: Author- A Durable Peace: Israel and Its Place Among Nations
1993-1996: Likud Party Chairman
1996: Author- Fighting Terrorism: How Democracies Can Defeat Domestic and International Terrorism
1996-1999: Prime Minister
September 24, 2001: First Anti-Terror Expert called before Congress
2002-2003: Foreign Minister
2003-2005: Finance Minister
2004: Israel’s 3-year recession turns around to 4.2% expansion
2006-2009: Member of Knesset
2009 - : Prime Minister
Commonly estimated I.Q.: 180
By: Evan Berger
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