Rabbi’s reversal riles Shoa memorial event
Organizers to vote on restoring ‘Hatikva’ to interfaith program
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Rabbi Bernhard Rosenberg says omitting the Israeli anthem from the Holocaust commemoration would be “giving in to the current atmosphere of anti-Semitism.”
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February 8, 2013
Two years ago, Rabbi Bernhard Rosenberg of Edison suggested that Israel’s national anthem be omitted during the area’s interfaith Holocaust commemoration, because, he said, Muslim imams at the event remained seated while it was being sung.
At the time, he told NJJN, he said he was making the suggestion “for the sake of peace.”
“I thought, this is a Holocaust event, not a political event, so let’s just take it out,” Rosenberg, the son of survivors, said. “I’ve always had friendly relations with the imams.”
The singing of “Hatikva” was removed from the program for the last two years.
But in a reversal of his position, Rosenberg is now calling for a boycott of the event he helped found, if the singing of “Hatikva” is not reinstated.
Omitting the anthem would be “giving in to the current atmosphere of anti-Semitism,” said Rosenberg, referring to a spate of incidents in Europe and rhetoric against Jews coming out of the Middle East. He said he was particularly motivated by Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi’s description of Israelis as “bloodsuckers and war mongers” and Jews as “the descendants of pigs and apes.”
In addition, he said, despite the absence of the anthem, no imams attended last year’s program.
Rosenberg’s reversal and protest — in addition to his own lengthy e-mails on the subject, he has urged survivors and children of survivors to send e-mail messages to organizers — has frustrated organizers of event, which is sponsored by the Metuchen-Edison Area Interfaith Clergy Association. It is scheduled to take place Monday, April 8, at the JCC of Middlesex County in Edison.
Nevertheless, the association’s Holocaust committee plans to meet Feb. 13 to discuss and make a decision on the matter, said former committee president the Rev. James Thomas of the First Presbyterian Church of Iselin.
The organizers emphasize that no programming plans have yet been set for the program, and some believe Rosenberg has overreacted to the situation by urging survivors and children of survivors to join his boycott.
“No one ever said it’s not going back in,” said Jennine Shpigel, the JCC’s director of Jewish and family programming. “But it has to go through the proper channels. We didn’t take it out [two years ago]; the committee did at the suggestion of Rabbi Rosenberg. I personally wasn’t happy about it but that was the decision.”
Shpigel, who oversees the planning of the Holocaust commemoration, said preparations are in the early stages, and Rosenberg had not contacted her prior to his announcement of a possible boycott. Concerned survivors and children of survivors have been contacting her, some with incorrect information.
Shpigel said the JCC has no political agenda, but “only good intentions in presenting” the program.
“We strive to educate the entire community, remember the victims, and keep the magnitude of the atrocities that occurred in the minds of our citizens,” she said.
Meanwhile, the clergy association is open to the possible reinstatement of “Hatikva.”
“I think we might want to revisit this and put ‘Hatikva’ back in the service,” Thomas told NJJN in a phone interview. “It seems to me, and I didn’t understand this before, that ‘Hatikva’ is the symbolic representation of the Jewish state, which was the embodiment of hope for many people in the late ’40s and early ’50s.”
However, he said, the majority of association members were unaware of the “Hatikva” issue and invited Rosenberg to attend the meeting to give input, but, Thomas said, both the rabbi and the imams have recently “been almost invisible.”
Thomas said he told Rosenberg “it would have to be a collegial decision…,” adding that the rabbi “has a way of getting stuck on these things. I said we won’t be threatened or coerced.”
However, Rosenberg said he first began speaking about the subject with association members over the summer. He produced e-mails from October and November that he had sent to association president Dr. Annari Griesel and others about concerns he had over the removal of “Hatikva.”
“I don’t blame anybody, but this could have been taken care of very easily and did not have to become a whole big deal,” said Rosenberg. “Me and Jennine were the whole committee last year. Now we have to have a whole committee making the decision. It just got all blown out of proportion.”
Rosenberg, religious leader of Congregation Beth-El in Edison, founded the Holocaust program about 15 years ago with the Rev. John Painter, former pastor of Centenary United Methodist Church in Metuchen.
The lyrics of “Hatikva,” which means “The Hope,” refer to a 2,000-year longing by the “Jewish soul” to return to “Zion.” In Israel, some Arab lawmakers and left-wing parties have complained that the anthem excludes Israel’s non-Jewish minority.
Imams Raouf Zaman of the Muslim Center of Middlesex County in Piscataway and Moustafa Zayed of the Muslim Center of New Jersey in Parlin attended the commemoration in the past. Zayed told NJJN he would do so again regardless of what is decided about “Hatikva.”
“I always try to participate in humane causes,” he said. “They have a right to include it, and I would not want to make them uncomfortable by not attending because of it.”
However, Zayed said, as in the past, he would not stand if the anthem is played because he considers it to have political implications regarding the Palestinian-Israeli issue.
“I renounce for the 100th time what went on in the Holocaust and can separate it from politics,” said Zayed. “I care about people and humanity and our relationship with each other. I know some of my Jewish friends have strong beliefs about the State of Israel, but it has nothing to do with our relationship to each other.”
He said it was important to maintain relations as friends and colleagues, adding that “the horror of the Holocaust went way beyond any political differences we may have.”
For his part, said Thomas, “I think it’s worth putting ‘Hatikva’ back in”; he said he believes many other association members feel that way.
“The Holocaust was one of defining moments of the 20th century and one of the defining moments in world history,” he said. “In both the Christian and Jewish traditions, we are told to love God with all our hearts and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
“I think this is an issue where we need to love our neighbors in a way they want to be loved.”
Comments
rosenberg
February 08, 2013
This is what I had written to the JCC and the Metuchen Edison Clergy Association back in October 2012. Since the publication of this article everyone’s tune has changed and agreed that Hatikvah should be included. Obviously as you can see this was not the original case. However, nothing has been accomplishe since the Imam states in the article that he will come but sit during Hatikvah. In that case I will still not attend or participate nor will I attend any committee meeting regarding the issue. Sitting during Hatikvah at this point with world leaders calling the Jews “apes” and calling for their destruction is a slap in the face to all Jews. While it is nice for the Imam to state he is a friend to the Jewish people, there is no condemnation of Morsi’s statement calling the Jews apes or his second in command stating the Holocaust never happened.
see the following email which I sent in October to the clergy association and the JCC:
Throughout this entire ordeal I have kept saying that I let the j.c.c. and the clergy association know of my feelings months ago and not just recently. They have acted as this was something I sprung on them. Rev. Thomas’s e mail made it obvious that he thought this way and Jennine has amnesia. Any one associated with the Holocaust should feel upset about the Hatikvah being taken out in light of recent developments. This is what I do not understand. TheY should be supporting my feelings and not reacting as if I just decided to speak out, out of the blue. This is all very strange. I HAVE BEEN TELLING THE TRUTH ALL ALONG. PERHAPS YOU SHOULD REMIND THEM I let them know in October.
Last year you mentioned that the JCC was considering a different format for the Holocaust program. Can you let me know what it is since I am deciding if I want to chair the event. this is between us, not to be shared.
I feel very uncomfortable having taken out the Hatikvah since lately the Muslims do not even show up.
However I also feel some of the Christian clergy have a problem with Hatikvah because they support the Palestinians. Recently Methodists and Presbyterians decided to boycott Israel, which hopefully does not involve our local group. Worst case, I will tell the clergy group I am ready to have someone else chair since I did it for so many years. I have a moral issue. Please let ;me knowif the new format would avoid it.
Rabbi Bernhard Rosenberg
rosenberg
February 08, 2013
The original reason I asked the Hatikvah be omitted several years ago was so the Holocaust survivors would not see a clergyman remain seated; this would have caused them great stress. If the clergy association wishes to allow the Imams to remain seated during Hatikvah, it is their choice. I however, am asking that the JCC which is a Jewish organization refuse to host the event if this is going to occur. This is my personal opinion which will not change.
Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg
Hill
February 09, 2013
Well done Rabbi for taking a stand and vocalizing your concerns.
As the progeny of those who were victims of such wickedness and evil, it falls to us to be their voices of consciousness.
Never for get.
rosenberg
February 10, 2013
I was not happy that the newspaper allowed the Imam to say his often told story about how he loves JEWS. YOU DID NOT ASK HIM TO CRITICIZE MORSI OR ABBAS OR THOSE WHO SAY THE HOLOCAUST DID NOT HAPPEN. I COULD EASILY ATTEND THE EVENT AND LET EVERYONE SEE HOW HE SITS DURING HATIKVAH WITH THE HOPE HE WOULD LOOK BAD AND PEOPLE WOULD SEE HIS REAL CHARACTER. I am certain he will try to charm people and say he loves humanity but only will not stand because it is political. I KNOW THIS TRICK AS HE DID THE SAME AT MY SYNAGOGUE. He will not be made the villain but instead will have some say he has the courage of his convictions and also wants to show love. Been there and seen that trick with him often. Rabbi DR. BERNHARD ROSENBERG
rosenberg
February 10, 2013
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2013/02/hamas-linked-cair-arizona-chairman-leads-arizona-lawmakers-in-anti-jewish-anti-christian-prayer.html
rosenberg
February 10, 2013
The Imam and I have agreed that Hatikvah should remain in the program. It will be sung at the culmination of the Holocaust Interfaith program. The Imams will leave the stage prior to the singing of Hatikvah. This solution I have proposed to the clergy association and the Jewish community Center.
Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg
Andrew D Silverman
February 10, 2013
Rabbi Dr Bernhard Rosenberg one again you prove to me you got a big mouth and my opinion you lack sensitivity training.
ROSENBERG
February 11, 2013
My sensitivity is to the Holocaust and Israel. Attack me all you want. I will continue to speak out. RABBI DR. BERNHARD ROSENBERG
wtd
February 11, 2013
No imam or believing Muslim would honestly call out Morsi on his statement calling the Jews apes. For Muhammedans the qur’an is the perfect word of their allah, up to and including verse 005:060 which specifically refers to the people of the book (Jews and Christians) as apes and swine. Such is the perfection of a ‘god’ of ‘tolerance’ within Islam.
Mirah Becker
February 11, 2013
Dear Rabbi:Thank you for reaching out to me last night. This is a very important issue for the 2-Gers and the survivors. The older I get the more I realize how our voice in this area needs to be heard loud and clear. I will not be intimidated anymore by Federation and its politically correct rabbinical council and committees that never stand up with us on these issues. I have had rabbis tell me in condescending and arrogant language that we must not talk about the connection between Israel and the Holocaust because it gives power to our “enemies” and that we must all be on the same page and tow the party line that Israel is ours for historical reasons and not because of the Holocaust, and in this regard they are mute on Hatikvah and playing it at the Interfaith service.
For me it is so clear what is right, what my moral compass forces me to do, is to call out not just the haters but the people within the Jewish community in Middlesex County that every day take the easy way out on issues like this one. I wish I were born into a home where the horrors of the Holocaust did not affect every day of my childhood, everday of my life. I am just wired completely differently than the Jews who call the victims of the Holocaust our “brothers and sisters” and say oh such nice things or read poems at services one day a year to remember the atrocities, but the rest of the year, do not let the pain that we feel every day, in. This feels like such a luxury to me. The survivors of the Holocaust and their direct descendants must stand up not only to the Imans but to other Jews who do not lift a finger to support us in our time of need.
I will not be writing checks out to Federation anymore. Until our perspective is given the respect it deserves, by the organization that should be advocating on our behalf, I will not smile anymore and act like everything is ok. It is almost as if Federation has lost its moral compass on this issue. Shame on Federation and the rabbis who are scared to go against them for fear of losing money. It is always about the money and you know what, we are not a courageous people at heart here in the United States. Israel would not want us to pander to the Imans. They would be incredibly disappointed if they knew how the lust for money rather than having faith and leading with honor, integrity and courage, on such an important issue as Hativikvah’s relevance at YomHaShoah services needs to be observed, is what is truly important. I beleive that if we had courage then we have the respect of others and the money would come, not the other way around. I think that the Federation in Middlesex County and the synagogues who look to Federation for financial support are doing all of us a disservice. But my words will be dismissed by the Jewish power-brokers in Middlesex County who hold titles on committees and are supposedly involved in developing thoughtful policy but do nothing. I get that, I get that me and people like me threaten the status quo in Middlesex County and that when people lack courage and thererfore should not be in leadership positions, those same fake leaders lash out and try their hardest to silence the messengers within their own community. These fake leaders in our community all say the same thing, the politically correct speech is drafted and they all read from the same script, and I just shake me head thinking again that we have no courage as a people in this country. That I come from different stock. Mirah
Andrew D Silverman
February 11, 2013
The fake leader appears to be Rosenberg who seems to create chaos intentionally wherever he goes and what ever he is involved with I read that both Yeshiva and Rutgers saw fit last year to notify Rosenberg his services were no longer needed after having taught at both distinguished universities a number of years . I question what caused two distinguished universities to dismiss an adjunct professor both in the same year could it be Rosenberg causes chaos wherever he goes?
Rosenberg
February 11, 2013
ANDREW SILVERMAN is not a real person. I welcome him to use his real name. He is a coward. If BLACKS WERE CALLED MONKEYS AND APES THERE WOULD BE A RIOT, but we Jews do not speak out. Yeshiva University let go most of the adjuncts for financial reasons and I was at Rutgers for 24 years. The paper is more than welcome to do a story on why I am not teaching there. It has something to do with refusing to give 20% A’‘s and 20% C’S AND D’S to my students. So far no IMAM HAS RENOUNCED Morsi or Abbas nor will they. MIRAH IS CORRECT. Jews should stop being politically correct and fight back. I HAVE BEEN AT MY SYNAGOGUE FOR 24 YEARS . MR. SILVERMAN , I challenge you to visit me and say what you have been saying in various newspapers over the years. YOUR WIFE WOULD NOT LIKE IT. The police have already warned you and I did not have you arrested because I had mercy for someone who lives in this community. Rabbi DR. BERNHARD ROSENBERG
FELDMAN
February 11, 2013
Only Jews should be at these programs to begin with. This is a memorial, not a political rally. That is the mistake. You should never appease anyone about your religious beliefs.
Andrew D Silverman
February 11, 2013
Considering your belligerent attitude Rabbi Dr Bernhard Rosenberg there appears to be no valid reason to associate with you.
Rosenberg
February 11, 2013
If anyone has been reading these responses, ask yourself this question: In October and November I sent emails to the JCC and the clergy association asking that a decision be made regarding Hatikvah. Having spoken to the Imam this week, he assures me no one contacted him; if they had done so he would have agreed to leave Hatikvah in and walk out before the end of the event when Hatikvah was sung. The readers should ask the JCC and clergy association why they did not contact him.
Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg
Fred
February 11, 2013
Rabbi Rosenberg is my Rabbi. He has kept our congregation going and is a man of integrity and courage. It’s about time we as American Jews stood up and spoke out for our people. I am tired of the perception of the stereotypical quiet, meek Jew. I come from 3 generations of US marines starting with my grandfather in WW1.This is no time to be silent just take a look at what has been taking place in Europe in the past ten years. Some European countries won’t even teach about the holocaust and will only serve Halal type food in there public school cafeteria’s. I don’t think hiding behind comment boxes is helping our people do you Andrew.
ROSENBERG
February 12, 2013
fyi SENT TO ME BY A READER OF MY ARTICLES IN Baltimore, a holocaust survivor. I SPOKE TO HER ON THE PHONE. RABBI ROSENBERG
Subject: Re: Reframing the Zionist Narrative
Sorry, am unable to come, am over 85 and don’t venture too far anymore, but am always interested to know where the Jewish people will get to….There has been too much silence for 1800 years, what made Jews become the fearful, the insecure, the yddish words: behaltene menschen, not wanting to find solutions to problems…..for so many centuries, what made us stay in a Continent ( Europe) for that long, being persecuted, vilified and just taking it !!! Talked about being cowards, those rich Jews…..for the few who made it , to the others, Christians, just to be
made ridiculous….but above all: so ignorant about everything…. asked my father when I was 5 why did they hate us so much, and he was silent….Didn’t know until I was 15 that the God of the Christians was a Jew….when I went into hiding in a convent…..Was appalled at learning how much we were vilified, how much hatred was being taught
towards the Jew….how I learned about the Crucifixion and was so shocked that Jews never spoke about that…
what made us be so silent? Was it the saying to Jews: submit and survive, by our Rabbis??????Why should we as a people have lived with that admonition???? What happened to the Maccabees???? Didn’t know a thing of the
Inquisition, so conveniently shoved under the rug…Why did Jews do that to their children? Did they, like today’s
Jews, when I would like to speak in Jewish schools about the Shoah, say: It would be too traumatic for our children!
They are preparing them to be victims again, I fear….To forget about history is to be made to live it again., G.forbid!
We have to open the eyes of the world to the fact that Jesus was born a Jew and died a Jew, never converted to another religion…..in fact he taught his flock Judaism, being a Jew, and his followers were called Jewish Christians
for 200 years, until they removed the word Jewish, and then the persecution started. Who did that? I wish I could read about that, That first Pope, and the following ones, had it all wrong: We never killed Jesus, the Romans being afraid that Jesus would declare himself King decided to eliminate him….But why did we let the propaganda live on
for so many centuries, not refuting it? These are all questions which I, an old woman, keeps on asking myself,
why did we keep so silent. Why didn’t any Rabbi or leader want to look into this, but rather make believe that that
did not exist….Anyway, I speak to Christian children and my ending to them is, since you were for 200 years Jews,
and follow Jesus, in my eyes, you are all Jews!!!!! It is about time that we start shouting this all over, since it is the truth… and it makes sense, so some parents tell me after I am over my sad Shoah story!!!! (Lost my beloved father and beloved sister in the gas chamber of Auschwitz) I am speaking to schools and individual children for their thesis, also to organizations if they take me and bring me back, for free to honor my people…Christians want to hear, and where are Jews? I have very few who want to know, perhaps it is because I speak about Jesus and what
I learned, especially now around Passover, I got an inkling how antisemitism must have started with the 12 stations of the Cross….I don’t think it is as bad as in Europe….Just wanted to give you an insight from someone
who is a miracle having survived the Shoah…..
PS Have read an interesting article in the Jewish Times of Baltimore from a Rabbi Dr.Bernard Rosenberg who
seems to agree with me that we Jews, are too silent….Article of January 18, 2013
about the Shoah
On Mon, Feb 11, 2013 at 12:58 PM, JCPA Plenum wrote:
Andrew D Silverman
February 12, 2013
Rabbi Rosenberg you need to study the works of the current Pope a great religious leader who speaks like a religious leader as opposed to your way of belligerence and lack of sensitivity towards other religions.
mirah becker
February 12, 2013
I just read the words of of Holocaust survivor above and was deeply touched by her perspective. I have come to the conclusion that people like Rabbi Rosenberg threaten others because of the passion he brings to his message. My fantasy is that others would realize that his personal history is unique and while he functions as a rabbi in Edison, he also has worked for many years with the second generation community in the area, for no money, for no press, but because he identifed a need.
No one who was directly affected by the Holocaust and has spent years coping with that legacy, for many of us are in our forties, fifties and sixties now, want to take away anything from the mainstream Jewish community in this area, whose parents are not survivors of the death camps, etc. We accept that for the most part people, Jews, really don’t care to hear our stories and the incredible insight that our parents’ experiences have had on shedding light on our own lives, to permit us to push through challenges that others might find too daunting.
I think many of us 2-Gers watched our parents get up every day and function, and for me anyway, watching my mother walking to the farmers market with her basket every Saturday and then meeting me for lunch and filling my head with so many amazing stories, to take the bus home together, getting sick and laughing as we cosumed 2 pounds of beautiful sour cherries like there was no tomorrow. Those memories, just simple everyday connections where my mother was happy and engaged in life, Auschwitz number and all, filled me with a sense of awe and motivated me to go out in the world to try to make it a better place. And so many second generation individuals are just like me.
We know on a spritual level that Hatikvah and our survivor parents and Israel go hand in hand. We feel it everyday it is part of our DNA in a way that relates to my mother’s entire nuclear and most of her extended family being brutally murdered just because they were Jewish and that is the state of affairs for the Israelis at this very moment. They know that they could be hit by a rocket or have their children bombed into littele pieces coming home from school and this is not a movie, this is how it is for the Jewish people who live in Israel every day. My mother would not let me go to Israel during high school. She beleived that I would fall in love with the country and maybe with a person and decide to make aliyah. She said she lost too many people and that she needed me to live here.
The survivors and Israel and Hatikvah go together. That is a core belief in all of our families. The vast majority of the survivors went to Palestine and were there when Israel was made a state. My mother is one with Israel. Her only family to survive went to Palestine and Australia. And to this day, my mother says that there must be a G-d because after the Holocaust he gave me Israel. My mother and the other survivors need Israel, they needed Israel since the end of the Holocaust and the fact that they received in 1948 was the lifeblood that kept many survivors from committing suicide. When my mother attends Holocaust Memorial services with me and she hears Hatikvah she smiles, she cries very much with tears of joy, she looks proud, and she looks happy, and that makes me happy. So hopefully we can put Hatikvah back into all the Yom Hashoah services in the area. Because it is not about politics, these services are about the Holocaust which sadly is become lost withing the American Jewish community in its deep desire to fit in and not cause waves. Mirah
Andrew D Silverman
February 12, 2013
Ms.Becker you have stated Rabbi Rosenberg works for no money and no press. Either their are two Rabbi Dr Bernhard Rosenbergs in America or that is not the Rabbi Dr Bernhard Rosenberg we all read about.
Fred
February 12, 2013
Mr.Silverman. After that wonderful and truthful comment mrs Becker wrote that’s the only comment you can come up with. You are just a hateful person who cares nothing for your people if you are Jewish at all. Get lost pal. Do you have anything important to add to this discussion besides hateful personnel attacks. I don’t think so. God bless America and God bless Israel.
rosenberg
February 12, 2013
WIESENTHAL CENTER: FRENCH HOLOCAUST RESCUERS’ SNUB OF SHOAH COMMEMORATION IS “A TRIUMPH FOR THE WORLDWIDE CAMPAIGN TO DEMONIZE ISRAEL”
The Simon Wiesenthal Center today expressed outrage at CIMADE, a French Protestant group that helped Jewish refugees escape the Nazis during WWII, have refused an invitation to a Holocaust commemoration in Marseilles because they deemed the commemoration’s sponsor, CRIF—the prominent Jewish organization—to be too supportive of Israel.
“This is a triumph for the worldwide campaign to demonize Israel,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Wiesenthal Center, adding, “The situation in Europe has deteriorated so profoundly that far too many Europeans have swallowed whole the big lie that Israel is an evil colonialist occupier.”
“This latest outrage is an insult to the memory of the victims of the Shoah whose fate was sealed by an overwhelmingly uncaring European continent and whose lives would have been saved if there had actually been a State of Israel in 1938 instead of 1948,” Rabbi Cooper also said. “Frankly, we don’t need those who are only preparDear Susan,ed to have a moment of silence for 6 million dead Jews, but who are unwilling to show respect and solidarity for the 6 million living Jews who today are citizens of the State of Israel,” he concluded.
Harvey Cohen
February 13, 2013
Hatikvah is the national anthem of the State of Israel, and the State of Israel does not have exclusive rights to the Holocaust. Not all victims—survivors or otherwise—were Jews, not all were Zionists, and none were Israelis. Anyone may respectfully decline to participate in a ceremony honoring or supporting the State of Israel that has been inserted into a ceremony about the Holocaust. I wonder how the rabbis who insist on Hatikvah would respond to an explicit ceremony honoring other demographics specifically targeted in the Holocaust, such as gays or Jehovah’s Witnesses.
rosenberg
February 13, 2013
GAYS AND JEHOVAH WITNESSES AND OTHER victims ARE MENTIONED IN READINGS. I MADE CERTAIN THAT WAS THE CASE. RABBI DR. BERNHARD ROSENBERG
Andrew Silow-Carroll
NJJN Editor-in-Chief
February 13, 2013
http://www.timesofisrael.com/yesh-atid-mk-and-shas-head-trade-barbs-over-anthem/
ledgling MK Ruth Calderon of the Yesh Atid party was attacked by Shas chairman Eli Yishai on Sunday after asking on Facebook if there were efforts under way to change Israel’s national anthem to make it more inclusive to Arab-Israelis.
“I was quite saddened when the Arab Knesset members left before singing the national anthem,” Calderon wrote, referring to an incident at last week’s swearing-in ceremony for new MKs. “Does anyone know of efforts to fix the words in order to include all Israeli citizens?”
Her post set off a thread of scores of comments, largely supportive, but Yishai released a statement that he was “shocked to hear this morning that on the social networks, there is a suggestion from Yesh Atid to take out the word ‘Jew’ from ‘Hatikva’ so Arab MKs will not leave while singing the national anthem.”
rosenberg
February 13, 2013
Rabbi Rosenberg and his ‘interfaith’ efforts for peace — Winds ...
sheikyermami.com/2013/02/10/rabbi-rosenberg-and-his-interfaith-efforts-for-...
3 days ago ... Rabbi Bernhard Rosenberg has had enough of insolent behaviour by ... be omitted during the area’s interfaith Holocaust commemoration, because, ... Rosenberg is now calling for a boycott of the event he helped found, if the ...
ROSENBERG
February 19, 2013
The Holocaust Remembrance service will be held on Monday, April 8th at 7:30 pm at the JCC in Edison.
HATIKVAH WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE PROGRAM.
rosenberg
March 07, 2013
HATIKVAH has been included in every service since I created interfaith holocaust services in 1974 with no objection. N0 ONE HAS EVER WALKED out, sat down OR OBJECTED until recently. With Israel and Jews being attacked throughout the world, I PERSONALLY will and have fought to keep it in. We are living in a world where anti-SEMITISM is rampant especially in Europe where JEWS ARE FLEEING IN MASS to Israel and other countries. Everyone is entitled to their OWN opinion , I stand by mine. Another Holocaust is on the horizon. A nuclear extremist muslim regime would like nothing better than the complete destruction of Israel and if you listen to Morsi all Jews should perish.
I will be the keynote speaker at another Holocaust event that evening. I refuse to compromise my beliefs or allow the Hatikvah to be disgraced. I am taking my highway to what I believe in. Rabbi DR. BERNHARD ROSENBERG
rosenberg
March 07, 2013
I have resigned from the metuchen edison clegy association. I AM A PAST PRESIDENT. Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg
I have resigned from the metuchen edison clegy association. I AM A PAST PRESIDENT. Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg
HATIKVAH has been included in every service since I created interfaith holocaust services in 1974 with no objection. N0 ONE HAS EVER WALKED out, sat down OR OBJECTED until recently. With Israel and Jews being attacked throughout the world, I PERSONALLY will and have fought to keep it in. We are living in a world where anti-SEMITISM is rampant especially in Europe where JEWS ARE FLEEING IN MASS to Israel and other countries. Everyone is entitled to their OWN opinion , I stand by mine. Another Holocaust is on the horizon. A nuclear extremist muslim regime would like nothing better than the complete destruction of Israel and if you listen to Morsi all Jews should perish.
I will be the keynote speaker at another Holocaust event that evening. I refuse to compromise my beliefs or allow the Hatikvah to be disgraced. I am taking my highway to what I believe in. Rabbi DR. BERNHARD ROSENBERG
rosenberg
March 07, 2013
THERE MAY BE A PROTEST AGAINST THE IMAM BEING ORGANIZED BY THOSE WHO ARE EXTREMELY ANGRY AT WHAT IS HAPPENING. GREAT PUBLICITY for THE TOWNSHIP. AND THE J.C.C. I am neither organizing it or will participate as I will be speaking at another synagogue. RABBI ROSENBERG
ROSENBERG
March 08, 2013
If you believe a Imam should not be invited to a holocaust program where he will walk out before Hatikvah speak out.
http://www.aish.com/j/as/The_History_of_Hatikvah.html
As it states,
• The British Mandate government briefly banned its performance in 1919 due to Arab anti-Zionist political activity.
• In 1944, Czech Jews spontaneously sang it at the entry to the Auschwitz-Birkenau gas chamber and, as reported by a member of the Sonderkommando, were beaten by SS guards.
The link is clear, the Arabs were against Hatikvah before there was Israel or even before the myth of Palestinian people. Furthermore, Jews sang it while being led to their death. How dare anyone allow individuals to leave in protest during Hatikvah with the canard they are commemorating the Holocaust but against the State of Israel. Just keep quoting Dr Martin Luther King, Jr “When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You’re talking anti-Semitism.” RABBI DR. BERNHARD ROSENBERG
If you believe a Imam should not be invited to a holocaust program where he will walk out before Hatikvah speak out.
http://www.aish.com/j/as/The_History_of_Hatikvah.html
As it states,
• The British Mandate government briefly banned its performance in 1919 due to Arab anti-Zionist political activity.
• In 1944, Czech Jews spontaneously sang it at the entry to the Auschwitz-Birkenau gas chamber and, as reported by a member of the Sonderkommando, were beaten by SS guards.
The link is clear, the Arabs were against Hatikvah before there was Israel or even before the myth of Palestinian people. Furthermore, Jews sang it while being led to their death. How dare anyone allow individuals to leave in protest during Hatikvah with the canard they are commemorating the Holocaust but against the State of Israel. Just keep quoting Dr Martin Luther King, Jr “When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You’re talking anti-Semitism.” RABBI DR. BERNHARD ROSENBERG
Ari
March 08, 2013
From the Times of Israel:
http://www.timesofisrael.com/topic/hatikva/
Arabs should not have to sing ‘Hatikvah,’ say Israelis
What would we do without the Israel Democracy Institute-Tel Aviv University Peace Index, a monthly poll of Israeli Arabs and Jews, dealing with questions of identity, war and peace, that has been tracking opinions and trends since 1994?
This month’s study offers a significant contribution to the debate about Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikvah.” The anthem speaks of the hope that exists so long as “a Jewish soul still yearns” and “an eye still gazes toward Zion.” Can Israel’s minorities, some have asked in recent weeks, feel connected to an anthem that is so blatantly tied to a specifically Jewish historical experience?
The debate began in earnest in February when Israeli television news ran footage of Supreme Court Justice Salim Joubran, a Christian Arab, standing silent at the singing of “Hatikvah” during the swearing-in ceremony for new Supreme Court Chief Justice Asher Grunis.
The far-right didn’t miss a chance to fume indignantly at the betrayal. The far-left did its part in pretending the far-right’s frustrated banter represented the “nakedness” of Israeli democracy.
Luckily, as always, the vast, sane Israeli center prevailed. The prime minister of Israel openly supported Joubran. His deputy, cabinet minister and former IDF chief of staff Moshe “Bogi” Ya’alon, publicly accused Joubran’s critics of racism and noted that non-Jewish soldiers were not expected to sing the anthem at IDF ceremonies.
Meanwhile, fellow Supreme Court justice Elyakim Rubinstein said, “Arab citizens shouldn’t be required to sing words that do not speak to their hearts and which do not reflect their roots.”
Now, thanks to the Peace Index, we have some real data that goes beyond pandering politicos and excitable pundits. Israeli Jews, we now know, want to keep “Hatikvah,” but understand and accept Joubran’s decision not to sing it.
‘Hatikvah’ speaks of the hope that exists so long as ‘a Jewish soul still yearns.’
The question: In your opinion, is “Hatikvah” suitable or unsuitable to serve as the national anthem of the State of Israel, in which approximately one-fifth of citizens are Arabs?
This was the response:
“An overwhelming majority of the Jewish respondents (80%) said that the anthem is suitable. At the same time, however, a majority of Jewish respondents (62%) responded that an Arab citizen of Israel who holds [an] official position should not be required to sing “Hatikvah” at public events.
“Jews overwhelmingly find Hatikvah “suitable,” and a large majority (62% to 35%) believe Arabs, even when they are civil servants, should not be required to sing it.”
Of course, the news is not all rosy. Ninety percent of Arab respondents don’t find Hatikvah “suitable.” It is a poem that speaks about somebody else. As I’ve suggested before, perhaps Israel’s Arabs should be encouraged to write their own words in Arabic to the anthem, or simply ignore it altogether. I don’t know.
But I know Israelis, by a large majority, don’t believe minorities must pretend to be something they’re not.
By the way, the study also offers some insight — not new but still interesting — on the nearly identical views of Jews and Arabs about the current state of the peace process.
In response to a separate question about the urgency of achieving Israeli-Palestinian peace, 58% of the Jewish respondents and 51% of the Arab respondents defined the issue as urgent or very urgent. At the same time, 58% of the Jewish interviewees and 61% of the Arab ones saw no chance of ending the conflict in accordance with the “two states for two peoples” formula at the present time.