Jewish and Israeli Holidays
While noting that anti-Semitic acts perpetrated in Ukraine is in decline, Israeli Ambassador Joel Leon stressed that the same cannot be said about overall anti-Semitic sentiment and rhetoric in the country.
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will also be there, according to Israeli President Reuven Rivlin’s office.
A passenger pens a note of gratitude after an unexpected Shabbat in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The new charges against Grafton Thomas, 37, include willfully causing bodily injury to five victims due to their religion and five counts of obstructing the free exercise of religion in an attempt to kill.
If convicted, Grafton Thomas, 37, could face up to 25 years in prison.
The Friends of the Israel Defense Forces brought messages of hope and light—and 17,000 jelly-filled doughnuts traditionally eaten on Hanukkah—to various IDF units throughout the country.
More than 1,200 Jews reportedly visited the site this year, compared to 800 last year • Jordan: Increase in Jewish visits to the site part of “ongoing Israeli violations against Al-Aqsa mosque.”
“Grafton Thomas targeted his victims in the midst of a religious ceremony, transforming a joyous Hanukkah celebration into a scene of carnage and pain,” said U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman for the Southern District of New York.
Members of the Chassidic community in Rockland County and elsewhere have expressed how vulnerable they feel because their clothing makes them identifiably Jewish.
Bail for Grafton Thomas was set to $5 million and he is being held at Rockland County Jail.
“Jews in Brooklyn, New Jersey and now Monsey are under daily threat. A concerted, real-time effort is needed at all levels of government and community to end these attacks,” tweeted B’nai B’rith International.
“I am horrified by the stabbing of multiple people at a synagogue in Rockland County,” said New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. “We have zero tolerance for anti-Semitism in New York, and we will hold the attacker accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
