Amira's Posts

Original Article Published On The JNS

Tough times demand tough Jews. If Jon Loew has his way, Jews in the United States and around the world will invest the time and energy needed to learn self-defense to protect themselves. Loew has been worried about the safety of the Jewish community for years and has been passionately making this case for Jewish self-defense, often feeling that the Jewish world wasn’t listening.

In 2001, the Long Island native who is a lawyer, businessman and firefighter started Fuel for Truth, Israel education and advocacy training in response to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centers in New York City and Pentagon in Washington, D.C. “After I saw the buildings burning on 9/11, I knew this would have implications for American Jews. I was worried about what would happen on college campuses.”

Loew found that most in the Jewish community did not share his level of concern: “Jewish organizations said there was no problem—in academia, the media, etc.”

His self-funded training program continued to expand in its quest to educate college students about Israel. Loew continued to worry about the Jewish community. “With the summer conflict in Gaza (‘Operation Protective Edge’) in 2014, I saw a correlation between the war against Israel and attacks on Jews outside of Israel.”

Again, he found the organized Jewish community to be unresponsive with many saying, “it will never happen—they had their head in the sand—again!”

That same year, in response to what Loew felt was a “rising tide of physical attacks against Jews,” he established the Legion self-defense and counter-terrorism training program.

The nonprofit has grown to facilitate the training of Jews in 12 U.S. cities, including in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, California and Florida. Credit: Courtesy.

Legion’s mission is to train and equip civilians with the skills needed to defend themselves and their families. The founders of the organization sought to establish deterrence so Jews would not be seen as “easy targets.” The nonprofit has grown to facilitate the training of Jews in 12 U.S. cities, including in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, California and Florida. The Legion has also announced the addition of the first two gyms outside the U.S., in Toronto and London. To date, more than 400 men and women from age 20 to 70 have received training from instructors, which include v special-forces veterans from the United States and Israel, senior intelligence officers, combat medics, and MMA (mixed martial arts) and Krav Maga professionals.

Legion is expanding and making it easier for Jews across the country to access self-defense training. “We have become a networking organization to connect gyms and people who want to train there,” notes founder and former chairman Loew. He is committed to “hooking people up with self-defense gyms in their area, wherever they live.” He’s even looking to expand outside of the United States.

Loew is concerned that violence against Jews continues to increase, that Jews are not properly acknowledging the problem and that they are not learning to defend themselves. “We want Jews to increase awareness of the threat, to restore some level of deterrence and to increase their ability to defend themselves,” he explained. “As a result, they will feel more confident.”

Loew even imagines a day when every Hebrew school and Jewish day school will teach self-defense as part of regular PE (physical education). “I want every Jew to be a Ninja!”

Loew is concerned that violence against Jews continues to increase, that Jews are not properly acknowledging the problem and that they are not learning to defend themselves. Credit: Courtesy.

‘Self-defense can no longer be a foreign concept’

Meredith Weiss, co-founder of Legion and its voluntary chief operating officer, shares Loew’s concerns and supports his approach to addressing the problem.

“I fully believe Jews must take a proactive approach in their own safety. It’s all about deterrence. We cannot leave our physical well-being or security in the hands of others.”

Weiss, who grew up in Lawrence, N.Y., has always been strongly connected to Israel and went through Legion’s programs, though she notes that it was a bit challenging in the beginning. “We had people laugh at us when we started up. ‘You’ll never get a room of Jews training.’ We did exactly that. Then, we did it again … and again … and again.”

The first chapter was in Manhattan, and by 2015, they were training a full class of students.

Weiss firmly believes that “self-defense can no longer be a foreign concept to American Jews. It must become the absolute norm.”

She is passionate about the organization and the need for Jews to learn to defend themselves. She playfully, yet seriously, notes that fitting self-defense training into an otherwise busy schedule is both possible and necessary: “Wake up, have coffee, get a day of Zoom meetings in, grab the dog at the groomer, learn how to get out of chokeholds and then be home in time to see the kids before bed!”

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Original Article Published on the JNS

On Tuesday, on the 150 flat kilometers (93 miles) from Redon to Fougeres, Israel Start-Up Nation was blessed with its first top 10 result in this year’s Tour de France. 

Days before the start of the annual Tour de France, cycling’s most prestigious race, the Israeli national team’s star rider and four-time winner of the event, Chris Froome, was enthusiastic and optimistic.

Froome has been working hard to return to his previous level of performance following the severe injuries he sustained in a 2019 crash that occurred while he was previewing the time trial course at the 2019 Critérium du Dauphiné. He suffered a double femur fracture to his right leg, multiple additional fractures and a collapsed lung.

Yet in the “Israel Start-Up Nation” team’s pre-Tour de France press conference, Froome expressed hope that this year’s Tour de France, held from June 26-July 18, “will be a steppingstone to get to my formal level of racing. I am really hoping to be on the starting line and put my recovery process behind me.”

Little did Froome know that a few days after those comments, he would be involved in another, highly preventable crash. On the first day of the Tour de France, a spectator stepped into the path of the riders to unfurl a sign, causing a massive pileup of cyclists. Consequently, seven of eight riders for Israel Start-Up Nation crashed in Stage 1 of the race.

Froome did not sustain any broken bones and the new injury was to his left leg, not the one fractured in 2019. He experienced swelling and bruising to his left inner thigh. He also slightly injured his thorax, which initially affected his breathing. He underwent scans and checks until 1 a.m. and was able to resume riding in Stage 2.

In regard to his left leg, Froome reported, “It’s pretty swollen and pretty painful, it hurts when I stand up but it’s alright. I was able to get through today and if I take it one day at a time, I can try and survive until the time trial. Then I can maybe take it as a recovery day. I hope to come round and give more to the team over the next week.”

Ultimately, all of the Israeli team’s riders completed Stage 1, with experienced Tour de France rider Guillaume Boivin ranking as the team’s best finisher in 31st place. After the stage, Boivin recounted, “My teammates had told me that the first day would be hectic and they were right on the money on that one. For sure, it’s not ideal to start a Grand Tour like this, but we also have to remember that this is a three-week race….We have to put this behind us and look forward. There is still a lot of racing to come.”

Israel Start-Up Nation bounced back during Sunday’s second stage. Michael Woods, the team’s leader, was true to his word from the pre-race press conference. At the time, he reported, “I think I can be quite competitive. I am one of the stronger climbers on the world tour.” Indeed, he was competitive on the climbs and on the uphill finish of Stage 2 on Mûr-de-Bretagne, though he acknowledged the day was tough and that he was shaken up by Saturday’s crashes.

“Mentally, it was a struggle out there today,” Woods said Sunday. “After the crash yesterday, I was pretty scared all day. However, my legs felt really good. When Van der Poel took off, I was a little too far back. I tried attacking but I didn’t want to play the GC (general classification) game, so when the win wasn’t an option anymore, I just sat in. Still, I’m really happy to bounce back like this and see that I’m able to climb with the best guys. This gives me a lot of confidence for the mountain stages.”

Woods finished Stage 2 race in an impressive 11th place. He is humbled to be leading the Israel-Start Up Nation team, saying, “If you had told me earlier in my career I’d be leading a national team, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

Stage 3, from Lorient to Pontivy, also featured several crashes — but the Israeli team was not involved in them. Boivin was the team’s best finisher, in 23rd place. Israel Start-Up Nation’s sports director, Rik Verbrugghe, said Monday, “Today was a really nervous stage, especially towards the end…but the good thing is that we passed this stage without any crashes. Now, we look forward to tomorrow.”

On Tuesday, on the 150 flat kilometers (93 miles) from Redon to Fougeres, Israel Start-Up Nation was blessed with its first top 10 result in this year’s Tour de France.  André Greipel was 10th in the bunch sprint on stage 4.  Teammates Rick Zabel and Boivin Guillaume finished 15 and 21 respectively.

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Original Article Published On the JNS

In a third consecutive year, JNS took home a number of annual Simon Rockower Awards earned by editors, staff members and freelance writers in the American Jewish Press Association’s 40th annual competition for excellence in Jewish journalism for work done in the year 2020—the most to date, in fact.

JNS won its first two Rockower Awards for work published in 2018. Last year, it doubled that, winning four in 2019. And this year, it earned eight.

Editor and columnist Ruthie Blum won the Louis Rapoport Award for Excellence in Commentary. Her first-place pieces included “Let us remember what the survivors are unable to forget” about aging Jews and Yom Hashoah; “Owing the ultra-Orthodox an apology” about overriding blame directed at religious Jews in Israel during the coronavirus pandemic; and “Gang rape at the Red Sea Hotel” about societal ills and how Israel reacted to a horrible crime.

The award, named for the late author and editor of The Jerusalem Post, honors the top regular opinion columnist in Jewish journalism.

Freelancer Heather Robinson won first place in writing about health care for her story, “As race for coronavirus vaccine intensifies, Americans think back to Salk.” She interviewed Peter Salk, the eldest son of Dr. Jonas Salk of polio-vaccine renown, and others as the world grappled with the coronavirus and the creation of a vaccine during 2020.

Peter Salk receives a polio vaccination from his father, Dr. Jonas Salk. Credit: March of Dimes.

JNS news editor Sean Savage earned first place in the category of Writing About Jewish Heritage and Jewish Peoplehood in Europe for his story, “Working to serve needs of Jews in Eastern Europe in age of corona.” The article covered the challenges of reaching out during the pandemic to help the elderly and others in Poland, Ukraine, Russia and other communities where Ashkenazi Jews have long resided. The judges wrote, “Interviews with the chief rabbis of Poland, Ukraine, and Hungary show that—despite being miles and miles away—they pivoted their Torah classes and daily minyan to Zoom, just like us. The excellent, fine-grain reporting that Savage does here with many details gives readers an intimate look at these communities during these difficult times.”

Regular writer Josh Hasten received first place for Excellence in Writing About Food and Wine. His story, “Diplomacy marches on its stomach: One rabbi helps cook up kosher fare for UAE delegation,” describes one of the direct perks of the Abraham Accords that Israel signed with four Arab countries in 2020.

Freelance writer Howard Blas won second place in the sports category for “The education of Deni Avdija on and off the court,” which was one of a number of stories throughout the year on the young basketball talent from Israel who plays for the NBA’s Washington Wizards.

Freelancer Faygie Holt earned first place in business writing for her story, “Jewish businesses start to feel heat as coronavirus affects product acquisition and sales,” about the early economic effects on everything from a kosher Chinese restaurant to Israel travel agents to a fashion designer on Long Island, N.Y. She also took home second place in the education category for “How to teach the lessons of the Holocaust in the school classroom.” 

Members of the Ethiopian Jewish community in Israel take part in prayer on the Sigd holiday at the Armon Hanatziv Promenade overlooking Jerusalem on Nov. 16, 2017. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.

Longtime JNS contributor Deborah Fineblum got second place in a new category about interfaith and intercommunal relations for “Black (and Jewish): Braving the pitfalls, Jews of color find inner and outer peace.” The judges said, “It was a fascinating look at how committed (and very desperate) Jews of color navigate having feet in both worlds, particularly in light of this year’s heated racial debates and demonstrations.” Last year, she earned an honorable mention in the David Frank Award for Excellence in Personality Profiles” for “Meet Michael Schudrich: Rabbi to Poland’s Jews, the living and the dead” about the American-born chief rabbi of Poland.

In the 2020 Pennsylvania Press Club/National Federation of Press Women contest, JNS managing editor Carin M. Smilk received first place in the science and technology category for “New president of Technion seeks ‘soft sciences’ to meld with Israeli high-tech,” and first place in the personal essay category for one of a series of blog entries written during the initial months of the coronavirus lockdown, “Day Seven: Banking on the beer distributor.” She also got third place in personality profiles for a story on Chabad emissary Dini Freundlich of Beijing, guest speaker at the International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Women Emissaries in Brooklyn, N.Y., one month before national lockdowns due to the pandemic. Her science story was also submitted to the national-level competition, where it earned an honorable mention.

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