(JTA) — All of the posturing and fears and hypothesizing became reality early Thursday morning in Ukraine, as Russia launched a full-scale armed invasion by land and sea. Tens of thousands of Jews live in Ukraine, making it home to one of the world’s largest Jewish communities — one with a complicated history, tainted by persecution and upheaval, that is tangibly affecting their response to the attack. Here’s a breakdown of who they are, where they live and what they are experiencing.

While confronting continuous operational challenges posed by the pandemic, the Foundation of Shalom Park (FSP) spent 2021 working on an issue of equal or perhaps greater long-term importance to the campus community, namely, establishing a common understanding and practice around principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

By Amy Lefkof
By chance, Temple Beth El (TBE) member Samantha Foodman’s husband, Adam, owns a huge truck. That truck proved critical to Foodman’s induction into the world of refugee resettlement. In late fall of 2021, TBE sent out an all-points bulletin to its congregants listing various ways to help Carolina Refugee Resettlement Agency (CRRA), the local affiliate of HIAS (formerly, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society), including a request for a truck to haul furniture to apartments for newly arrived Afghans. Enter Adam, Samantha, their three teenage boys, and a visiting house guest.

On December 2, 2021, for the first time in 21 months, the Levine Jewish Community Center (LJCC) Butterfly Project hosted an in-person workshop for 120 masked seventh-grade students from Weddington Middle School.

January 27, 2022 (JTA) — TikTok announced a slate of new features intended to reduce the spread of misinformation about the Holocaust shared on the platform and to direct users to trustworthy sources about the subject.

January 24, 2022 (JTA) — Israel’s cabinet approved a plan to plant 450,000 trees in the country’s cities to mitigate some effects of climate change by offering more shade and cooler temperatures.

The plan, which is predicted to cost about 2.25 billion shekels, or $716 million, will be carried out between now and 2040. The goal of the plan is for 70% of sidewalks to be shaded by trees.

On Saturday, January 15th, a gunman entered Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, TX, holding hostages who were there for Sabbath worship for much of the day.  We are grateful that all four hostages made it out safely, and thankful for law enforcement, first responders, and the security training that our partner Secure Community Network provided to this community.

In January of 1943, Irma Lauscher, a teacher at the Theresienstadt concentration camp in Czechoslovakia, smuggled a tree into the camp so that the Jewish children imprisoned by the Nazis could celebrate Tu B’Shevat in a secret ceremony. The children used their water rations to nurture the sapling. 

(JTA) — Israel will lift its COVID-related travel ban on visitors from the United States, United Kingdom and several other countries for the first time since restrictions were put in place in November.

The North Carolina Council on the Holocaust is pleased to report the passage of the Holocaust Education Act. The Holocaust Act was part of the composite $25.9 billion state budget passed by both chambers of the North Carolina General Assembly and signed by Governor Cooper in November.