JCRC-NY calls upon New Yorkers to support Morton Williams Supermarkets!

Recently the Jewish owned supermarket chain, Morton Williams, has been targeted with anti-Israel, antisemitic boycotts and destruction of property at the Columbia University location.

The chain, a community staple, has been named to the Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace BDS list, resulting in two Columbia students entering the store at 2941 Broadway, defacing Israeli products and verbally assaulting the store employees. Read more about the attack here.

Co-owner Avi Kaner stated “You have a right to your opinion. You don’t have a right to deface private property. These actions are blatantly antisemitic. They have to be called out.”

We urge you to join us in BUYING OUT the Israeli product section and doing all of your Thanksgiving shopping at Morton Williams Supermarkets! Show your appreciation for Morton Williams and their continued support for Israel and the Jewish community!

Morton Williams store locator

Morton Williams social media

Morton Williams online store

 

I don’t want my home to be Ground Zero

I haven’t slept much since waking up on October 7th.  On that day, the greatest fears of the global Jewish community were realized as Hamas terrorized, slaughtered, raped, and kidnapped civilians in their communities. They indiscriminately butchered Jews, Muslims, and Christians, and so many others regardless of religion or nationality.  The vulnerability of the State of Israel had been exposed.  Who would stand with us in our moment of need?

Together with our partners at UJA-Federation, JCRC-NY got to work mobilizing support for Israel and the Jewish community.  We organized three major rallies for tens of thousands of New Yorkers, and Jews and non-Jews alike showed up and spoke out in support of Israel.  We solicited support from elected officials and diverse community leaders and received an outpouring of expressions of sympathy and calls for the immediate release of the hostages.  We coordinated meetings between these leaders and families of hostages, who shared their pain and pleaded for help bringing their loved ones home.  We liaised with law enforcement to make sure our communities and institutions were secure so that we could pray and convene in peace.  We spoke at press conferences in every borough and supported the elected officials who stood proudly and continue to stand firmly with Israel.  And earlier today, we returned from two concurrent solidarity missions to Israel in which 26 leading elected officials and faith leaders joined us to offer comfort to the survivors, the families of victims, and bear witness to the cruelty and evil inflicted by Hamas.

Back in New York, I remain troubled by public calls to “Globalize the Intifada,” “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and “there is only one solution, Intifada revolution.”  Make no mistake, whatever verbal gymnastics some folks use to justify these slogans as calls for human rights, they cause fear within the Jewish community and violence against us.  It’s no surprise that in the wake of October 7th, anti-Jewish incidents have increased 214%.  It hurts to feel unwelcome in your own home.

Last Monday, at a rally that JCRC-NY produced with UJA-Federation, I stood on stage in front of a crowd of over 10,000 people sharing some of my deepest convictions – ones that are shared by Israelis across the political spectrum. “Hamas and its supporters do not seek peace. They actively call for more violence by any means necessary! Let me be clear: Murderers are not liberators. You do not kidnap innocents for human rights. And there is no such thing as beheading babies in the name of social justice!”

Like all forms of hate, anti-Jewish hate has consequences that extend beyond its immediate victims. Each incident, whether overt or subtle, contributes to an environment where people feel marginalized, unsafe, and excluded.  Beyond the visible scars, those feelings ripple through entire communities ultimately turning into another generational trauma that we will carry forward with us.

Yesterday, I met a woman from Netiv Ha’Asara, an Israeli town just outside of Gaza, who survived the Hamas attacks on October 7th and was evacuated from her home along with the other survivors to a hotel in Central Israel, away from the fighting.  She cried saying, “I don’t want my home to be Ground Zero.” While we live thousands of miles away in New York, I feel the exact same way. We cannot allow our streets to become centers of hate.  We cannot allow our communities to devolve into violence and intimidation.  JCRC-NY’s constant work to build bridges between communities and foster shared society is the antidote to this disease.

We have spoken loudly in support of Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas and bring the hostages home, and we will continue to do so.  We remain in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Israel and their right to live in safety and security.  We are thankful to all the elected officials and community leaders who have stood with us at this time.  Your support for the global Jewish community is deeply meaningful, and now it’s more important than ever.

Shabbat Shalom,

Noam Gilboord
Interim CEO, JCRC-NY

Dear Friends,   As of today, I begin my tenure as Interim Executive Vice President and CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (JCRC-NY).  I am truly humbled by the support of the organization’s dedicated board of directors, led by our President Ben Golub and Chair Cheryl Fishbein, for placing their trust in me to lead JCRC-NY during this moment of transition until a permanent CEO is identified.   For the last 13 years, the Jewish community relations field has been my professional home at both the local and national levels.  During this time, I have worked alongside some of the foremost practitioners in the field on many critical issues facing the Jewish community.  I know from first-hand experience how these leaders work tirelessly to build bridges between diverse communities, train new generations of civil servants and social service providers, and advocate for the interests and security of the New York Jewish community.  Indeed, due to the generous support of UJA-Federation of New York, the work of JCRC-NY and our partners has made our communities stronger and safer and our city more inclusive and resilient.   Every day, new and greater challenges threaten our communities.  Anti-Jewish incidents of hate, along with other hatreds directed at our neighbors, has risen to levels I have not witnessed in my lifetime.  Communities in close proximity feel compelled to compete for limited resources in a zero-sum manner.  Discussions around many sensitive issues, including politics, religion, and Israel, are often dominated by polarized factions, and room for compromise and mutual understanding is often eschewed.   While these challenges are great and complex, they are also energizing.  In this city that never sleeps, JCRC-NY remains on the cutting edge of strategies and initiatives that have a proven track record of uniting communities in common purpose and creating an interconnected New York for all.  Our incredibly talented staff thrive upon being creative conveners, solving problems, and managing crises.  In the coming months, JCRC-NY will continue to show up for our community and our partners, and we will stand up for our rights with conviction, strength, and unity. Twenty-five years ago, I celebrated my bar mitzvah and read this week’s Torah portion – Parashat Re’eh (Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17).  Here, the Jewish people are provided with guidelines for civic engagement and community cohesiveness.  One must celebrate holidays to remember our history, observe dietary laws, treat all others with dignity and respect, and make special effort to welcome the stranger in our midst.  It is in this tradition that JCRC-NY seeks to strengthen our own community from within and the greater communities in which we live.  All New Yorkers are stronger when we are united. To our friends in the Jewish community, the many diverse religious and community-based organizations in New York, and our public officials, the entire team at JCRC-NY will continue to be your partners in good faith offering our expertise and services to advance our society together.  To this end, I invite you to be in touch with me directly at gilboordn@jcrcny.org.   I want to take this opportunity to thank Gideon Taylor for his years of service to JCRC-NY, both as a member of the board and as CEO.  On behalf of JCRC-NY, I wish him much success in his new role as President of the World Jewish Restitution Organization and in his service to the Holocaust survivor community and in advancing Holocaust education in New York and internationally. Sincerely,

Noam Gilboord Interim Executive Vice President and CEO Jewish Community Relations Council of New York

Click here for PDF, including highlights

The Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (JCRC-NY) announced the retirement of David M. Pollock, who served as Associate Executive Director, Director of Public Policy and Security and the founding Chair of the Community Security Initiative.

JCRC-NY’s CEO Emeritus, Rabbi Michael S. Miller, summarized David’s career, noting: “David Pollock has served as a professional at JCRC-NY for nearly its entire history and has played a pivotal role in the growth and success of the organization. The scope of his contributions over the past 40+ years is virtually impossible to recount. Among his more well-known efforts over the decades was his one-man security operation in ensuring the security of New York’s Jewish community, its Torah scrolls and its several thousand institutions, which has directly led to the recent establishment of the Community Security Initiative (CSI). However, much less is known about David’s intense involvement as our government relations/public policy director, including his unparalleled oversight of the redistricting process, charter revision, legal issues, among many other esoteric matters impacting on Jewish communal life in New York. David is also a highly talented writer, whether for monographs, statements, legislative testimony, press releases and more, infrequently getting credit for his authorship.”

Rabbi Miller continued, “JCRC-NY was blessed to have had David Pollock, always on-call, as a steadfast senior member of its professional team. It was the New York Jewish community, in particular, as well as New Yorkers of all faiths and ethnicities, who benefitted from his outstanding service and self-sacrifice.”

Marking David’s retirement, JCRC-NY Chair, Cheryl Fishbein said, “I have had the honor and privilege to work with David as a JCRC lay leader for over 20 years. His wisdom and brilliance have contributed immeasurably to the success of this organization. He has become a dear friend and a fount of knowledge for me and my family. I know that I could reach out to him to gauge the level of safety for our Jewish community during challenging times and to help me understand the ins and outs of our most recent election. On a lighter note, David knows where one can find the best tasting shmura matzoh in NYC!”

JCRC President Bennett W. Golub said: “David has been one of the foundation stones of the JCRC and, by extension, it is not an exaggeration to say, of the entire New York Jewish community.  Working often in the background, his experience and expertise has been essential to many communal initiatives.  We are fortunate that David will continue work as an advisor to the Community Security Initiative, whose existence is in no small part due to David’s vision.  He will forever have a home and friends at the JCRC.”

David began his career at the JCRC in 1980 as a Columbia Social Work intern. As the school year ended, JCRC Executive Director, Malcolm Hoenlein, remarked, “We can’t let you leave.” Little did David know that those words connoted a “life sentence”.

At the JCRC-NY for the majority of his adult life, David deeply understands the Jewish communities of New York, their needs, and the issues important to them. He has been a visionary and planner and a doer, providing vital services to fill glaring gaps.

David will continue to make his contributions to New York’s Jewish communities as a Senior Advisor to the Community Security Initiative. He noted, “I am both humbled and grateful that for over four decades, the JCRC-NY gave me an opportunity to serve the Jewish communities of New York, and all New Yorkers, while making a meaningful impact on those who were directly touched, and beyond.”

David’s varied contributions to JCRC initiatives spanned community building, government relations and policy, intergroup relations, meeting unmet needs, strategic planning, and of course, security. “Given the current level of threats faced by the Jewish community, it is fitting that the creation of the Community Security Initiative will prove to be the capstone of my JCRC-NY service.” David continued, “I am fortunate to be considered a trusted advisor to so many political, governmental, civic and community leaders. In that way, I could help make New York a better place for all. Throughout my career at the JCRC-NY, I’ve been blessed to work with, and be guided by, two of the world’s most talented Jewish professionals: Malcolm Hoenlein (1980-1985) and Michael S. Miller (1985-2020), a stellar cadre of JCRC Presidents and wonderful colleagues. Moreover, it has been an honor to work with JCRC’s leadership, featuring so many of the key leaders of New York City and New York State, from our founding President onward. Those who served as public policy chairs are stellar leaders. All taught me and demanded the best from me. I am deeply grateful to them for the experience of a lifetime.”

“Most especially, I want to thank Sharry and Tzvi,” David concluded, “they knew that they had to share me with the work that I loved, and they shared my commitment to the well-being of the Jewish community. Any of my accomplishments are due to their patience, forbearing and support.”

###

Click here for a PDF with selected highlights of David’s tenure at the JCRC.

New York City, NY – On Wednesday, June 22nd, 2022 New York City Council Speaker, Hon. Adrienne E. Adams gave the keynote address at the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York’s (JCRC-NY) Annual Meeting. The JCRC-NY Annual Meeting is a forum for the organization’s Board of Directors and the representatives of its 50+ member organizations to cast their votes for the new Board of Directors for the upcoming year. Over the past year, JCRC-NY has hosted addresses to the Jewish community by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams.

Speaker Adams’ first public address to the New York Jewish Community is a welcome opportunity to speak with our leadership on a wide array of issues and concerns, including the rise in antisemitic incidents and gun violence in our communities.

Speaker Adams declared that “Antisemitic violence is the most prevalent form of hate in our city.”

“It is reprehensible, vile, and must come to an end because an attack on our Jewish community is an attack on all of us.” the Speaker continued. “It is only with your partnership and support that we can build the city that we know is within our grasp, one that is equitable, strong, and free from violence.”

“We deeply appreciate Speaker Adams’ support for the Jewish community and pledge to work with her to improve the quality of life for all New Yorkers,” said Gideon Taylor, JCRC-NY Executive Vice President and CEO.

“We are honored that Speaker Adams chose JCRC-NY to make her first address to the Jewish community,” said Cheryl Fishbein, JCRC-NY President. “JCRC-NY will continue to partner with Speaker Adams to effectively convey the concerns of our diverse Jewish community to the government of New York City.”

Click the link below to view Speaker Adams’ address:

YouTube