When Chancellor Mark Mone of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee released the text of an agreement with encampment protesters, it immediately angered and disturbed much of the Milwaukee Jewish community. Nine days later, on May 21, Mone apologized for discussing geopolitical issues but not for the agreement's content. The agreement was not withdrawn. Then, Hillel Milwaukee and Milwaukee Jewish Federation issued a statement in response (see page 7), expressing disappointment that there was no retraction. How it unfolded The May 12 “agreement” with...
Jewish Social Services of Madison has moved – just down the street – doubling its physical space to accommodate its growing staff of more than 20. The agency, which moved April 1, had grown beyond the capacity of its previous space. “Our refugee resettlement team, which is the largest department that we have right now, […]
Torah Academy of Milwaukee will honor the memory of a former board president, Nathaniel Hoffman, with a new memorial garden to celebrate his life’s passions: Jewish education and nature. Hoffman’s two daughters attended Torah Academy of Milwaukee, and he served on their Board of Directors for more than 20 years. Hoffman cared deeply about Jewish […]
Despite advice to the contrary from loving family, she became an educator. Even though Erica (Bass) Fishbach’s grandmother – a Milwaukee Public Schools educator and librarian for many years – tried to deter her from going into teaching, Fishbach couldn’t help but follow her heart and soul into education. As a young girl, Fishbach was […]
Jewish Telegraphic Agency Many schools got an “F,” and though University of Wisconsin-Madison fared better, with a “C,” the director of Hillel there said that his school deserved a stronger showing. Last month, the ADL unveiled its Campus Antisemitism Report Card. It is a series of letter grades assigned to 85 colleges and universities based […]
Relationships between mothers and their children are complicated. Our mothers are our first teachers, intentionally and unintentionally showing us how to be good people, how to treat and care for others, how to navigate the world, and how to overcome challenges. If you are as lucky as I have been, your mother will also teach […]
I signed up for the Milwaukee Jewish Federation’s Solidarity Mission to Israel because I wanted to bear witness to the atrocities of Oct 7. As a second-generation speaker for The Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center, I teach students to bear witness to Nazi atrocities. I needed to go. I wanted to bear […]
Nicolet High School offered kosher-for-Passover meals at prom, on April 27, toward the end of the Passover week. Nicolet is a public school, with one of the largest Jewish populations in the state. “We’re trying to be accommodating of the front end,” Superintendent Greg Kabara said. He credited the staff: “When students ask or say, […]
Gov. Tony Evers signed a bill to allocate $400,000 to Milwaukee’s Holocaust education center, over a two-year period, to help train educators statewide. The bill was approved unanimously by the state legislature after representatives of the Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center testified at hearings in Madison. The state Senate passed the bill […]
In the post Oct. 7 era, a time of increased antisemitism, when being Jewish in America can at times feel like walking a tightrope, the first rabbi-chaplain president of a major rabbinical association could be perfect timing. Rabbi Renée Bauer, a Madison-based chaplain, is the new president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association. The Association is […]
The work of psychotherapists and other mental health counselors has seen rising importance in recent years, especially since the attacks of Oct. 7, 2023. On May 13, Israeli Eitan Spiegel, who performs such services, will visit Milwaukee to discuss his work as part of the annual commemoration of Yom HaZikaron. The day serves as Israel’s […]
The Milwaukee Chevra Kadisha, the Jewish burial society, hosted an appreciation dinner for its members on March 19, 2024, at the Bader Philanthropies headquarters. It is traditional for Chevra Kadisha organizations to gather for such events around the seventh day of the Jewish month of Adar, which is considered the yahrzeit anniversary of the death […]
To bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance. In his 1790 letter of reply to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Rhode Island, George Washington echoed the words of first generation Jewish-American Moses Seixas who had penned them as part of a congratulations and query to the newly inaugurated first U.S. president with the aim of […]
Six years ago, a group of neo-Nazis and white supremacists orchestrated a violent attack on an anti-racism protest in Charlottesville, Va. held as a counter to their own rally. They planned for weeks, down to what to wear and even what to bring to lunch and how they would claim self-defense when one of them […]
Last month, Milwaukee Jewish Federation’s “Solidarity Mission to Israel” brought 14 witnesses to Israel at a time of crisis. This was not the first time. In fact, it was one more step in a history of mission trips in support of Israel During Israel’s crises, Milwaukee has stepped up time and again. Here are just […]
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