On Rosh Chodesh Av, August 1, 2024, the Igud HaRabbonim/Rabbinical Alliance of America convened its monthly conference at the Ahi Ezer Yeshiva Congregation, where Igud HaRabbonim Presidium Member, Rabbi Hanania Elbaz, is the Mara D’atra. The Rosh Chodesh Av Seudah and Conference was l’zecher nishmas HaGaon HaChacham Shalom Ben HaGaon HaChacham Chayim Elbaz, Zt’l, father of Rabbi Hanania Elbaz and Rabbi Eliyahu Elbaz, Rabbi of the Sephardic Lebanese Congregation of Brooklyn. In honor of the Hilula of Chacham Shalom Elbaz, Z’tl, Rabbi Hanania Elbaz delivered an erudite Dvar Halacha as did his brother Rabbi Yaakov Elbaz.
Rabbi Mendy Mirocznik, executive vice-president of the Rabbinical Alliance of America, gave a recap on some important issues facing the Jewish community. He began by welcoming Rabbi Yisroel Kahan, Orthodox Liaison at the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), thanking him on behalf of the RAA for being “a great representative of Orthodoxy. Your commitment to the Orthodox community as a leader is legendary and you truly have built a strong bridge between the Orthodox community and the ADL, which has been instrumental especially since the horrors of October 7 in preparing a national strong response to antisemitism and offering support for Israel during these harrowing times as we scarily see a frightening rise in antisemitism and hate.”
Mirocznik went on to criticize Wikipedia’s editors who declared that the Anti-Defamation League cannot be trusted to give reliable information on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Astonishingly, they said the ADL is an unreliable source on antisemitism. “It’s a stunning rebuke to one of the world’s preeminent authorities on anti-Jewish hate and a significant advocate for the rights and causes of American Jews,” emphasized Mirocznik.
What truly hurts is that the Wikipedia editors said in an online forum that the ADL’s dual role as an advocacy and research organization prevented it from providing unbiased accounts on Israel or antisemitism. “The ADL is heavily biased regarding Israel/Palestine to the point of often acting as a pro-Israel lobbying organization,” wrote one Wikipedia editor. “This can and does compromise its ability to accurately report facts regarding people and organizations that disagree with it on this issue, especially non-Zionist or anti-Zionist Jews and Jewish organizations.”
A minority of editors disagreed, arguing that the editors voting in favor failed to provide evidence that the ADL has made false claims because of its advocacy work. Mirocznik strongly rebuked the decision. “It is deeply disturbing that the editors who flagged the severe flaws and inaccuracies in both the reasoning and sources being used in this campaign to delegitimize ADL are being ignored. Dishonestly, a majority of editors failed to recognize that the ADL has provided point-by-point refutations, grounded in factual citations, to every claim made, but apparently facts no longer matter. We are living in a world where we substitute fiction with the truth and lies as accuracy. It is shameful, disrespectful, and antisemitic, to say the least.”
Mirocznik continued, “We are fortunate that the ADL, prior to the deadly attacks of October 7, was largely focused on educating about, and advocating for action against, the rise in antisemitism around the world. That alarming trend included (and continues to include) a growing number of threats and anti-Jewish actions taken by hate groups. This important work has become magnified since October 7, and it is shameful and intellectually dishonest that the editors have sold truth for a false narrative based on antisemitism in a character assassination of the Jewish community’s premier advocate in fighting antisemitism and anti-Jewish bias.”
As a result, Rabbi Yaakov Klass, presidium chairman of the RAA, presented a resolution calling on Wikipedia to do the honorable task of correcting this wrong by retracting this false and misleading labeling of the ADL as an unreliable source of information on the Israel-Palestine conflict. The resolution passed unanimously.
Also noted and discussed at the meeting was how thousands of protesters against the war in Gaza converged on Washington on July 24 to condemn Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit, chanting “Free, free Palestine” as they marched toward the Capitol before police deployed pepper spray on some in the crowd. Throngs of violent demonstrators rallied near the Capitol ahead of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s joint address to Congress, failing to obey police orders for peace and civility. They called for an end to the war against Hamas, filling several blocks as they weaved through the streets of the nation’s capital, carrying Palestinian flags and signs with messages such as “arrest Netanyahu” and “end all U.S. aid to Israel.” Outside Washington’s Union Station, protesters removed American flags, burned them, and hoisted Palestinian ones in their place to massive cheers in the crowd. “Bibi, Bibi, we’re not done! The intifada has just begun!” protesters shouted, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname. “Netanyahu, you can’t hide. You’re committing genocide,” other protesters shouted.
Mirocznik stated, “Such behavior is indicative of a larger and broader problem of antisemitism. These protestors are flaming anti-American, anti-Israeli sentiments full of lies and falsehood. These lies, if left uncorrected, will only bellow the flames of antisemitism further. It is imperative that all Americans protest and condemn this criminal behavior and apprehend and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law all those involved in these anti-American and antisemitic protests. These are the same rabble-rousers, professional agitators, and troublemakers who have infiltrated our college campuses and who are running amok in America. The time is now to condemn this behavior in both words, deeds, and actions. If left unchecked and unabated, we fear where this can potentially lead.”
“It is further sickening what we at the RAA predicted from the outset of the Israeli defensive war in response to October 7. Media, we warned, be careful, do your job in reporting the facts honestly, do not substitute the facts with bias, antisemitism, or anti-Jewish and anti-Israel propaganda. It is shocking how the innocent hostages ripped from their homes by force and the atrocities committed on that tragic day have been so quickly forgotten. There are even those who advocate and have the temerity to say Israel invented this story as propaganda to go to war. As rabbis, we are tasked to take the lead on this fight. There is a lot at risk and a lot that can impact Israel and the Jewish community globally. As Jewish Americans, it behooves us not to remain silent but to speak up and say the truth. As we are now in Chodesh Av, just shy a few days of observing Tisha B’Av, let us unite in Achdus, peace, love, and harmony, and in one voice let the entire Jewish people get together and say we will not tolerate this distortion and we demand that positive action be taken. We also demand that our fellow Americans who understand the truth join us in this fight. In the words of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., ‘[n]ow is not the time to be silent. In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.’”
Pictures After Video
Names in Pictures
Picture (1) Group picture of some of the Rabbis in attendance at the Rabbinical Alliance of America’s Rosh Chodesh Av Conference held at the Ahi Ezer Yeshiva Congregation
Picture (2) Left to Right, Rabbi Yisroel Kahan, orthodox liaison, ADL; Rabbi Yaakov Klass, presidium chairman, Rabbinical Alliance of America; Rabbi Yehoshua S. Hecht, presidium member, Rabbinical Alliance of America; Rabbi Yehuda Blank, vice-president, professional development and external affairs, Rabbinical Alliance of America; Rabbi Mendy Mirocznik, executive vice-president, Rabbinical Alliance of America; Rabbi Moish Schmerler, executive director, Rabbinical Alliance of America; and Rabbi Menachem Lichtenstein
Picture (3) Left to Right, Rabbi Yehoshua S. Hecht, presidium member, Rabbinical Alliance of America; Rabbi Mendy Mirocznik, executive vice-president, Rabbinical Alliance of America; and Rabbi Yaakov Klass, presidium chairman, Rabbinical Alliance of America
Picture (4) Rabbi Yaakov Elbaz, delivering in honor of the Hilula of his father Chacham Shalom Elbaz, Z’tl, an erudite Dvar Halacha
Picture (5) Rabbi Yaakov Elbaz and Rabbi Mendy Mirocznik, executive vice-president, Rabbinical Alliance of America
Picture (6) Rabbi Mendy Mirocznik, executive vice-president, Rabbinical Alliance of America; greeting and welcoming Rabbi Yisroel Kahan, orthodox liaison, ADL; to the Rosh Chodesh Av Conference of the RAA held at Ahi Ezer Yeshiva Congregation
Picture (7) Rabbi Yisroel Kahan, orthodox liaison, ADL
Picture (8) Rabbi Hanania Elbaz, Mara D’atra of the Ahi Ezer Yeshiva Congregation delivering . in honor of the Hilula of his father Chacham Shalom Elbaz, Z’tl, an erudite Dvar Halacha
Picture (9) Rabbi Yehuda Blank, vice-president, professional development and external affairs, Rabbinical Alliance of America
Picture (10) Rabbi Yehuda Blank, vice-president, professional development and external affairs, Rabbinical Alliance of America; and Rabbi Mendy Mirocznik, executive vice-president, Rabbinical Alliance of America
Picture (11) Rabbi Yaakov Klass, presidium chairman, Rabbinical Alliance of America
Picture (12) Rabbi Yaakov Klass, presidium chairman, Rabbinical Alliance of America; and Rabbi Mendy Mirocznik, executive vice-president, Rabbinical Alliance of America
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