ACT FAST Call to Action from Zachor Legal:

Please write to your elected representatives, and ask them to take actions to support the following important issues. You can find out their contact details by clicking here.  Viewers outside the United States may send letters and emails of support as well: 

1. Investigate BDS Groups with Ties to Terror

In recent years, there has been a marked increase in violence against Jews, including mass murders in Jersey City, Monsey, Pittsburgh, and Poway. David Anderson, the main perpetrator of the Jersey City murders, posted online BDS talking points.

Pogrom-like street violence across the United States in Spring/Summer of 2021 was incited by violent BDS protests in New York City in May 2021. In 2019 at a BDS rally in New York, leaders urged the crowd to “globalize the intifada,” a clarion call to assault Jews, which has now become a chant led by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) on multiple college campuses.

The BDS movement in the United States has been found to have financial ties to terrorist organizations, including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PLFP) and Hamas.

Recent expansion and intensification of BDS activity underscores the need for the Justice Department to undertake an investigation of BDS organizations and their ties to terrorist organizations. In June 2022, BDS Boston identified, mapped, and targeted numerous local Jewish institutions. The application of technology served to amplify and broaden the scope of the incitement to violence that BDS groups have broadcast for years on university campuses. This ominous form of Doxxing on an industrial scale is intended to stoke yet more antisemitic violence.

https://www.einpresswire.com/article/606085321/coalition-of-28-organizations-petition-the-government-to-investigate-bds-groups-with-ties-to-terror

2. Investigate the Mapping Project

An anonymous website called the Mapping Project, launched in June 2022, outlines the precise locations of 505 institutions in Massachusetts that it alleges harm innocent people and need to be “dismantled.” The project was widely condemned upon its release for singling out Jewish organizations, synagogues, schools and their alleged connection or support to Israel.

However, a new report published by the legal think tank Zachor Legal Institute and endorsed by 17 other American NGOs reveals new details about the Mapping Project.

Namely, more than two-thirds of the 505 “targets” featured on the website are not Jewish institutions, but rather US security institutions, including the exact locations of 271 police stations, 9 US military bases and installations, and offices of Homeland Security, the FBI, the Secret Service, and US government-linked weapons manufacturers, all of which are pinpointed on a single interactive map.

Zachor’s report argues that the outsized focus placed on the American security apparatus indicates that the map is not domestic in origin, but might be a product of a foreign agenda, and that the chief suspect is the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The coalition of 18 groups calls on the FBI and US government to examine the report’s findings and investigate the anonymous Mapping Project to identify who is behind it.

https://www.einpresswire.com/article/618801963/iran-possibly-behind-map-targeting-military-bases-and-police-stations-across-massachusetts-report

Firebrand Essayist, Novelist, and Law Professor Thane Rosenbaum launches a new editorial opinion show this month. ‘What Others Won’t Say’ launched April 1st to rave reviews.  The three minute segment is a bite, wink and smirk—and not a rant.  Three minutes to bring out one or two smiles and a little head spin. At least one head spin came from YouTube, who banned it within 24 hours, yet wisely at least partially reinstated it after numerous appeals. The irony of an OpEd about Jews being told to sit down and shut up being itself censored and shut down was not lost on JTVC fans.

Catch ‘What Others Won’t Say’ and learn more about Thane Rosenbaum at https://www.jewishtvchannel.com/thanerosenbaum/.

Viewers may also catch Rosenbaum’s interview on Talking Point: Conversations with Laura Kessler in the February Edition of Total Vision, which provides an in depth legal analysis of the reasons to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism while overcoming its objections.

Professor David Halahmy has been a history professor since 1997. Since the year 2000 he has been a full-time professor at Cypress College. During Covid lockdown he became a popular online personality in the home-schooling arena. He has taught U.S. History, Western Civilizations, and the History of the Middle East. He has also served as Chair of the History Department at Cypress College. Professor Halahmy has been part of organizing multiple Holocaust memorial events at the Cypress College, and developed curriculum on the History of the Holocaust. He has served as guest lecturer at the local Senior Centers and Home school co op centers. Professor Halahmy has conducted research by visiting numerous nations in Europe and taking several trips to Israel. He was born in Israel, and his parents were Iraqi refugee Jews. He has developed a YouTube channel and a Facebook page, and holds a B.A. in History from UCLA and an M.A. in History from UCLA.  Professor Halahmy has also been a strong advocate against Antisemitism, and has created several online lectures which fight against antisemitism.

The Jew And Entertainment

Israil Bercovici (1921–1988) was a Jewish Romanian playwright, director, biographer, and memoirist, who served the State Jewish Theater of Romania between 1955 and 1982. Thanks to his excellent research, he has left us with a time map tracing some of the beginnings of the Jewish relationship with entertainment. 

Bercovici suggests that, as with ancient Greek drama, elements of dramatic performance arose in Jewish life as an artistic refinement of religious practice; he highlights references in the Bible to dance, music, or song, especially in the Psalms (Hebrew tehillim, or songs of praise), where some of the headings refer to musical instruments, or to singing in dialogue, either between parts of the choir, or between the choir and the leader of the ritual. Also, traditional dances were associated with certain holidays, such as Sukkot. Purim plays – the skits performed by amateur companies around the time of the Purim holiday – were a significant early form of theatrical expression. Often satiric and topical, Purim plays were traditionally performed in the courtyard of the synagogue, because they were considered too profane to be performed inside the building. These made heavy use of masks and other theatrical devices; the masquerade (and the singing and dancing) generally extended to the whole congregation, not just a small set of players. While many Purim plays told the story in the Book of Esther commemorated by the Purim holiday, others used other stories from Jewish scripture, such as the story of Joseph sold by his brothers or the sacrifice of Isaac. Over time, these well-known stories became less a subject matter than a pretext for topical and satiric theatre. Mordechai became a standard role for a clown.  Purim plays were published as early as the early 18th century. Another similar current in Jewish culture was a tradition of masked dancers performing after weddings. The most elaborate form of this was the Dance of Death^, a pageant depicting all layers of a society, which had originated among Sephardic Jews in Spain in the 14th century and had spread through Europe among both Jews and Gentiles. 

While the journey into our distant past constantly reveals new information about the Jewish routes of entertainment, a simple look around today at the Jewish presence in this field leaves little doubt as the strong bond created between Jewish culture and the world of entertainment.

Adah Menke

Adah Menke (June 15, 1835 – August 10, 1868) was an American actress, painter and poet, and was the highest earning actress of her time. She was best known for her performance in the hippodrama Mazeppa, with a climax that featured her apparently nude and riding a horse on stage. After great success for a few years with the play in New York and San Francisco, she appeared in a production in London and Paris, from 1864 to 1866. After a brief trip back to the United States, she returned to Europe. She became ill within two years and died in Paris at the age of 33.

In our contemporary society it is easy to imagine that we created a diverse and colorful sub-culture by ourselves. Total Vision will not only destroy this myth, but also introduce you to the amazing world of Jewish entertainers that literally rocked the foundation of their civilized environment. We are talking about the vaudeville beauty that rode apparently in the nude in front of a large family audience. Then there’s the talented female actress that openly had bisexual relations, with her husbands’ knowledge. Have you heard of the Sewing Circle? I guess not, but this same star founded a luxurious refuge for other lesbians. Surely, this must be in our own time period? Not even close!

Take a front seat as JTVC presents some of the earliest known stars of the theatre, dating from the end of the nineteenth century, that’s well over a hundred years ago.

Jews in New York City comprise approximately 9 percent of the city’s population, making the Jewish community the largest in the world outside of Israel. As of 2016, 1.1 million Jews lived in the five boroughs of New York City, and over 1.75 million Jews lived in New York State overall.

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish residents in Brooklyn, nicknamed “the most Jewish spot on Earth”, and home to the world’s largest Jewish community, which with over 600,000 adherents living in the borough, greater than both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Judaism is the second-largest religion practiced in New York City, with approximately 1.6 million adherents as of 2022, representing the largest Jewish community of any city in the world, greater than the combined totals of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Nearly half of the city’s Jews live in Brooklyn. The ethno-religious population makes up 18.4% of the city and its religious demographic makes up 8%. The first recorded Jewish settler was Jacob Barsimson, who arrived in August 1654 on a passport from the Dutch West India Company. Following the assassination of Alexander II of Russia, for which many blamed “the Jews”, the 36 years beginning in 1881 experienced the largest wave of Jewish immigration to the United States.

While there can be a common misconception that Jewish New Yorkers are a breed unto themselves, the facts tell a different story. Total Vision on Jewish TV Channel brings you a look at two very diversified communities, both of which consider themselves to be Jewish. Our Community Spotlight introduces you to an Orthodox sect opposed to Israel, and a Reform movement entity, together  sharing the busy and congested streets of New York City.