In the News

Rabbi Pesach Lerner, then Executive Vice President Emeritus of the National Council of Young Israel, and currently President of the Coalition for Jewish Values, had been the biggest public champion — other than Mrs. Pollard — of Mr. Pollard’s cause.

“While we may deplore many things that Ilhan Omar has said, this is not one of them,” said Rabbi Yaakov Menken, the managing director of the conservative Coalition for Jewish Values. “This is a protection of religious liberty.”

“His equation of the dictatorial, repressive Iranian regime and the free, democratic State of Israel is as unsurprising as it is repugnant,” Rabbi Yaakov Menken told JNS. “It says nothing about Israel, but speaks volumes about CAIR and its underlying regard for human rights and American values.”

The Coalition for Jewish Values created a petition for people to pledge not to use the home-renting platform, condemning the decision as anti-Semitic. Among the groups that have called for a boycott include Academic Council for Israel, Russian Jewish Community Foundation, Endowment for Middle East Truth and the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Over a dozen Jewish organizations, as well as prominent experts and public figures, have now joined calls for a boycott of Airbnb, identifying its decision to no longer list Jewish-owned properties in the West Bank region as anti-Semitic.

“No matter where a Jew finds himself, he can count on Lubavitch to help. No matter our differences, we are one nation under G-d.”

“One must appreciate the tremendous service provided by Chabad and its emissaries around the globe,” said Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld, Vice President of CJV.

Although the Hendels learned of this situation only at 11 AM local time, Rabbi Hendel and his team swung into action, arranging meals and a memorable Shabbos.

“We deplore ongoing Hamas attacks against civilians; each Hamas missile directed against Israeli communities is a separate war crime, and the lack of international outrage is evidence of the anti-Semitic double-standard that Israel faces,” Yaakov Menken of the Coalition for Jewish Values told JNS.

“The question we must ask in the wake of Pittsburgh,” said Rabbi Yaakov Menken of the Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV), is “what can we do better, individually and as a community, to invoke Divine mercy and warrant His protection?”