We are excited to welcome to Portland one of the newest members of the Portland Trail Blazers, Deni Avdija. Deni is currently the only Israeli in the NBA. He was traded from the Washington Wizards on Wednesday prior to the NBA draft. We look forward to his arrival in Portland. Plus, I can only imagine how proud and excited Harry Glickman (z”l) would be!

Let me share something extra special. The Jewish Federation of Greater Portland played a significant role over the last two years in relocating the final group of Jews from Ethiopia to Israel. Forty-seven Jewish Federations, including the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, raised $9 million to help bring these people to Israel and provide food and medicine in Gondar and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

This special operation included 3,710 Ethiopian Jews, making up 754 families. Interestingly, 74% of the people were under the age of 35, including 1,600 children (43% of the people) under the age of 7. Moreover, 235 of the women who arrived were either pregnant or nursing mothers. The process required 19 chartered planes, 9 commercial flights, and upon arrival, they moved into 18 absorption centers around the country to begin their new lives in Israel.

In 2004, I was fortunate to visit Ethiopia and then travel to Israel with a plane load of Ethiopian Jews making aliyah. I remember helping them through the immigration process at the airport and then taking them to their new home at an absorption center. We must remember that for most of them, they had not lived with modern conveniences in life – running water, toilets, air conditioning, etc. When we brought them to their new homes, we had to show them how to use the sink, flush the toilet, and learn what a refrigerator was. It was quite an extraordinary experience, and we hope this new group has an easy time with their acclimation to Israeli life.

I am pleased to share with you these slides/infographics and this video highlighting the impact on their lives.

I am proud to say that our advocacy efforts are working in combating anti-Israel messaging in state/city-run agencies. A state employee shared with the Jewish Federation that anti-Israel propaganda was posted on their agency’s internal website. This agency has over 700 state employees and the “information” is not appropriate to be on a government website, government server, and one managed by government employees.

The JCRC made state legislators aware of this issue and Senator Elizabeth Steiner contacted the agency’s administrator. This is the response she received:

Senator Steiner,

Thank you for writing, I appreciate it. I'm so sorry you saw that message. I gave direction to the DEI Council last week that they could not send that message on statewide email (that was the request) and I explained why it was inappropriate for the state system. Unbeknownst to me, they posted it anyway on an internal web page. It will be taken down today. I'm terribly sorry and yes, I completely understand why this is upsetting.

The employee shared this message:

I would like to express my gratitude for your help and swift action. I just got confirmation from another employee that the internal website we discussed no longer exists.

I am impressed by your smart professional approach to the issue and fast resolution of the problem. Unfortunately we need to be vigilant and fight any form of antisemitism in modern America today. You have really made a difference by standing for our values.

A new poll came out earlier this week asking Americans about their feelings on the protests on college campuses. The study was conducted in May 2024 by NORC at the University of Chicago and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). Here is what the study showed:

• 72% believe campus protesters who participated in the encampments should be punished.

• 63% said the campus protests had no impact at all on their level of sympathy for Palestinians in Gaza.

• 17% said the protests made them sympathize less with the Palestinians. 16% said they sympathized more.

• 79% said defacing university property is never acceptable.

Few American universities managed to avoid the loud anti-Israel protests. In the Ivy League, Dartmouth College is the only college that has not faced a federal civil rights investigation over its handling of allegations of antisemitism and Islamophobia on campus.

Dartmouth had its share of protests, but the president of the school, Sian Beilock, would not allow any encampment to last on campus beyond a few hours. The school was clear that “protests can be an important form of free speech. But there is a difference between protest and then taking over a shared space for one ideology and excluding another. That is taking over someone else's free speech. That is not at the heart of our academic mission. As such, we have been very clear about the consequences of having encampments on campus.” 

I hope other universities follow suit when the next school year begins this fall.

This week, Harvard University released its recommendations to combat antisemitism at the school. The suggestions were divided into six areas: clarify Harvard’s values; act against discrimination, bullying, harassment and hate; improve disciplinary processes; implement education and training; foster constructive dialogue; and support Jewish life on campus. Unfortunately, many Jewish leaders at the school felt the document did not truly address the systemic nature of antisemitism at the school.

Here is an excellent article written by Rabbi David Wolpe on his experience at Harvard as a visiting scholar this past year.

For the past five years, we have partnered with Secure Community Network (SCN) to have a director of security for our Jewish community. Unfortunately, the cost for security continues to rise. Recently, we were made aware of an opportunity to secure $750,000 in matching funds over three years (for security equipment, personnel, etc.) if we could raise $750,000 over the next three years. This would provide $1.5 million towards security needs in our community. I am deeply grateful and proud that we raised the $750,000 in just one short month with the generous support of multiple families, the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation, local Jewish institutions, and the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland. This funding will be an incredible benefit to our Jewish institutions across the State of Oregon. However, it is a shame we need to do this.

Shabbat shalom.