FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 22, 2019 Contact: Shira Burns *protected email* (617) 457-8673 (BOSTON) – Earlier today, the Massachusetts Legislature enacted its 2020 budget nearly three weeks into the fiscal year, fueling $5 million of new funds to support programs and priorities of the Jewish social service network, benefiting the entire Commonwealth. The conference committee led by Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues and House … Continue reading Over $8 Million Appropriated from MA State Budget to Support Jewish Social Service Network; Awaits Final Approval from the Governor
JCRC Study Tour for Labor Leaders with Roots/Shorashim/Judur This week’s message is from Director of Israel Engagement Eli Cohn-Postell. Last Friday, I watched in admiration as Shaul Judelman and Noor Awad unwrapped a new sign as though it were a birthday present. The sign was for Roots/Shorashim/Judur, the grassroots group of Israelis and Palestinians living in the West Bank who come together to foster understanding, … Continue reading Israel in the Middle
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 8, 2019 Contact: Shira Burns *protected email* (617) 457-8673 (BOSTON) – The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of Greater Boston continues its long history of conducting annual study tours of Israel with Massachusetts community leaders through this month’s study tour, which will provide Massachusetts labor leaders with an in-depth look into the economic, political, and security challenges and successes facing Israeli society. … Continue reading JCRC Leads MA Labor Leaders on Study Tour of Israel
February 23, 2019 – The JCRC of Greater Boston is dismayed by reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu personally played a role in the electoral arrangement by which the Otzma Yehudit “Jewish Power” party is running on a joint list in the April Knesset elections. Otzma Yehudit was founded by close disciples of Meir Kahane and is the descendent of his Kach party, a designated terrorist … Continue reading JCRC dismayed by decision to empower Otzma Yehudit
Whereas, in 1944 the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston (JCRC) was formed as a coalition of organizations to act as an organized Jewish community of Boston, the express purpose of this coalition being to confront, in a unified manner, threats to the Jewish community including and specifically anti-Semitism; And, Whereas, JCRC’s mission includes being a “representative voice of the organized Jewish community. Rooted … Continue reading On January 17, 2019, at a meeting of the Council of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston, the following resolution was adopted by a vote of 62-13 with 8 abstentions:
The impact of our Israel trips is not easily observed or measured. Sometimes trees fall in the woods, with no one around to hear them. If one of our study tour alumni tells a story to a congregant or a constituent about something they experienced in Israel, we may never hear about it. That is why we were so heartened to read the news out of Springfield earlier this … Continue reading Complexity and Connection
This week: a message from Director of Israel Engagement Eli Cohn-Postell Seemingly every #JCRCinIsrael Study Tour centers around one major news story. Last winter, we left for Israel just after President Trump announced that the US would recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the Embassy there. Over the summer, we had many conversations about Israel’s nation-state law, which had recently passed in the Knesset. But this time, our group of 11 municipal … Continue reading Living in the Gray Area
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 7, 2018 Contact: Shira Burns *protected email* (617) 457-8673 JCRC to Lead MA Municipal Leaders on Study Tour of Israel Massachusetts Community Leaders to Explore Economic Ties to Region (BOSTON) – The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of Greater Boston continues its long history of leading Massachusetts community leaders on a study tour of Israel, this month providing MA municipal leaders with … Continue reading JCRC to Lead MA Municipal Leaders on Study Tour of Israel
JCRC is strongly opposed to the recent Trump Administration decision to eliminate USAID funding for projects in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. We are particularly disturbed by the Administration’s decision to cut off funding for co-existence programs for Israelis and Palestinians. The suspension of all USAID support will harm the chances for peaceful reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians, and will only serve to punish … Continue reading JCRC Dismayed by Elimination of Funds for Israeli-Palestinian Co-existence
This week’s Friday message is from Eli Cohn-Postell, JCRC Director of Israel Engagement There is a rabbinic idea that there are 70 faces of the Torah, each containing its own bit of truth about the world. This Talmudic theory was explained to me at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem earlier this week, one of the stops on JCRC’s recent Christian clergy study tour to … Continue reading Israel’s Profound Normal