This update comes as Jews face attacks from Poway to Israel. We pray for safety and peace.

To understand why our collective voice is so necessary right now, look no further than the so-called “Equality Act” now under consideration in the US House of Representatives. It turns sexual orientation and gender identity into “protected classes,” creating all kinds of issues for religious liberty, true equality, privacy and even safety.

There are two ways for our community to approach an issue such as this. One is to focus upon our needs as an observant Jews, and ensure that this proposed law is amended to safeguard religious liberty. The other, however, is to articulate the truth as well: the “Equality Act” is inequitable, unfair, and unsafe, and also paints sincere traditional religious practice as discriminatory and wrong. Both forms of advocacy are needed, and cannot come from the same organization.

We choose the second path. Besides our own efforts, this is why we were consulted by the prominent Family Research Council (2017 budget: $14.6 mil.) regarding Jewish practices that could be affected. Please join us in our important work.

Press Releases

Rabbinic Group Demands Apology from Linda Sarsour for “False and Anti-Semitic Narrative”

Mar 29 – Jews have been connected to the land of Israel continuously for 37 centuries. ‘Palestinian Arabs’ are a late 20th Century creation, concocted for the sole purpose of thwarting the national state of the Jewish people.

Coalition of Pro-Israel Organizations asks President to Let Israel Decide on Sovereignty

Apr 16 – Twenty-one diverse pro-Israel organizations sent a joint letter to President Trump, urging him to permit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a free hand to extend Israeli sovereignty over Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. The letter comes in response to one from left-wing groups calling upon the President to indicate that he will “not support any Israeli proposals to annex the West Bank, in whole or in part.”

Responding to the Terrorist Murders in Sri Lanka

Apr 23 – It only adds to the pain of this atrocity that something as obvious as ‘evil is bad’ needs to be said. Violence against civilians is abhorrent in all cases, under all circumstances, and hate crimes have no place in civilized society.

Rabbis Condemn Poway Shooting and Surge of Antisemitism

Apr 28 – Certain partisan politicians, including Jewish ones, are silent on condemning this cartoon and the hate it encourages, in exactly the same way they were silent condemning this and similar forms of anti-Semitic expression by Rep. Omar.

Letters and Statements

103 Orgs Thank Pitzer College President Oliver for Moral Leadership

Mar 20 – Our organizations heartily applaud you for your courageous leadership in vetoing the College Council’s vote to shut down Pitzer’s study abroad program at the University of Haifa. Your staunch defense of the academic freedom and educational opportunities of Pitzer students and faculty in the face of an academic boycott of Israel is exemplary.

CJV-Led Coalition Letter of 21 Organizations to the President Regarding Judea & Samaria

Apr 18 – We note with dismay that the letter from left-wing groups makes no mention of the unbroken 3300-year heritage of the unique religious and historical connection between Jews and the Land of Israel, including Judea and Samaria, from which Jews were only removed via massacres and ethnic cleansing. It also makes no mention of the unceasing hostility Jews have faced since establishing contemporary self-governance in their homeland.

80 Organizations Call on UMass to Rescind University Sponsorship of Anti-Semitic Rally

Apr 23 – As described in the press release, this is not an educational event but a political rally. Moreover, the event organizer and several speakers are all outspoken anti-Israel activists who have engaged in expression deemed antisemitic not only by the vast majority of world Jewry, but also by the standards established by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).

Letter to US House Judiciary Committee Regarding the Equality Act

Apr 30 – Without robust protection for those whose religious beliefs demand more traditional practices, the Equality Act has the potential to bring the United States’ centuries-long history of robust protection of our religious liberties to an abrupt and ignominious end.

Featured Op-Eds
All of our board members’ op-eds since our last update (22 in all) can be accessed on our website.

Purim and the Book of Esther
Rabbi Dov Fischer, American Spectator, Apr 20

The Jewish Democrat Liberals will be spending the holiday persuading each other that there is no anti-Semitism in the Democrat Party, that Ilhan Omar is the modern-day Queen Esther, and that Haman was misunderstood. That all the misunderstanding with Haman could have been resolved with a simple Anti-Hate Resolution.

The Real Islamophobia
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken, American Greatness, Mar 21

It is truly embarrassing that Fox News responded to the complaint not merely by condemning the confused part of Pirro’s remarks, but by suspending her program. Omar faced no consequences for her repeated expressions of classic anti-Semitism; yet Pirro, for her off-hand offensive remark about Omar’s headscarf, was suspended.

America Recognizing Israeli Sovereignty Over the Golan Heights
by Rabbi Dov Fischer, American Spectator, Mar 27

Part of the Obama legacy was undertaking to destroy America’s unique relationship with Israel, dating to Israel’s founding in 1948, a friendship that always had been marked by bipartisan support.

The Party of Bias and Bigotry
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken, American Greatness, Apr 21

Without question, one of two individuals — Rep. Ilhan Omar and President Trump — made comments “designed to incite hatred” that are putting “life at risk.” But according to leading Democrats, that person would be the president and not Omar. One could hardly look for a better example of the inversion of morality, and of hater and hated.

President Trump Does What He Knows is Right
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken, Daily Wire, Apr 24

While I do believe that everything is in God’s hands, I cannot claim to know His thoughts: I do not know why He sent Donald Trump to be our president. And while God has not (yet) told me this explicitly, I am also reasonably certain that the president is not, any more than was Mr. Obama, the Messiah. What I can say, though, is that President Trump is following a Biblical model of leadership.

The Trump “Dayenu”
by Rabbi Steven Pruzansky, Arutz Sheva, Apr 24

Trump is unprecedented in the history of the relationship of the United States and Israel, and the president is only two years into his administration.

Der New York Stürmer
by Rabbi Dov Fischer, American Spectator, Apr 29

This despicable anti-Semitic publication has been attacking Jews mercilessly for more than half a century. Now its Jew-hatred has been translated into pictures for those neo-Nazis of the Left and Right who have difficulty keeping up with words that are spelled with letters.