I was instructed “to cover” this past Sunday’s Israel Parade, which was the usual six hours of sun, filled sweaty swarms of yeshiva students — excited to support the Jewish State (either that, or forced to attend by their parents and teachers). But all sarcasm aside, I, as usual, enjoyed the parade and loved hearing (and sometimes understanding!) Hebrew conversation all over Fifth Avenue. Almost made me think — just for a second — that I was in Tel Aviv.

My favorite part of the parade, however, without a doubt was when one of my best friends, a good Catholic girl named Kristin, ended up posing as a cover girl for a Jewish matchmaking service. Solicitors from Shoshanna’s Matches — for “non observant, Reform, Conservative & Conservadox, Modern Orthodox — were all over the place at this parade, distributing flyers and purse-friendly mint packs with Shoshanna (Rikon)’s picture stamped on them. Eyeing Kristin and myself, one of the men (though I think he was gay) apparently decided that he found us pleasing to the eye and asked if we would pose for photos with Shoshann’s ads, so they’d have something to ad to their PR repertoire.

Being a Jewish journalist who could potentially write/blog about them one day, I declined, but Kristin accepted the offer. And there she stood, modeling the mint packages and smiling for the camera, and instantly becoming the new poster child of the Jewish dating world.

by Stewart Ain And Sharon Udasin
Staff Writers

Stung by the delays that plagued last year’s Salute to Israel Parade — many groups were more than two hours late in marching — organizers this year hired a professional production company that kept the parade in proper step.

“It made a difference — there were a lot more happy people and the weather was idyllic,” said Rabbi Susie Moskowitz, associate rabbi of Temple Beth Torah in Melville, L.I., as she marched under sunny skies up Fifth Avenue from 57th Street to 79th Street. 

“We were told we would start marching between 12:15 and 1 o’clock and we started promptly at 12:15,” she said. “There were some congregants who didn’t come this year because of what happened last year.”

She was among 320 marchers from 10 Long Island synagogues organized by SAJES, the area’s central agency for Jewish education. Sherry Gutas, a SAJES spokesperson, said there had been twice as many marchers last year, blaming the difference largely on the economy.

“Some synagogues could not budget for the cost of the bus and the parade fee,” she said. “But about one-third of the group never marched before and we had more families marching than ever.”

Mardi Gras Productions, which handles many of the large parades in the city, helped run this year’s Salute to Israel parade.

Michal Brickman, executive producer of the parade, said there were 31 floats instead of the 40 that participated last year, in part because of the economy. But she said there were a “similar number of groups and participants” as last year, which numbered 100,000.

But many marchers were caught up in the excitement of the day.

“It’s exploding — there are so many more people marching,” said Etana Staiman, 15, of Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls in Teaneck, N.J. Continue reading…

Bomb Plot Spurs Demand For More Security Funds

by Sharon Udasin
Staff Writer

In the aftermath of the foiled terror plot against two synagogues in Riverdale, local political and Jewish leaders are asking the federal government to increase security funding to urban nonprofit organizations they say are most at risk.The Urban Areas Security Initiative Nonprofit Security Grant Program – a Department of Homeland Security initiative that originated in 2005 drastically reduced the total amount of such grants in 2007 from just over $24 million nationwide to $15 million.

The funds, to be distributed in August, allow organizations to update their security safeguards by bringing in state-of-the-art monitoring equipment and training their employees to handle emergencies.  To qualify,  organizations must  pass through individual state review boards, then undergo s national review to determine the amount of aid.

Many local legislators argue that the $15 million – just over a quarter of which went to New York institutions last year is far from enough for all the eligible applicants  and that last week’s terror plot which could have injured dozens of civilians if not foiled by federal agents and the NYPD  underscores the need for more aid.

“This plot is a stark reminder that religious institutions need sufficient resources to keep them safe from the threat of a terrorist attack,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) told The Jewish Week via a spokesperson. “In the coming days, I plan to work with my colleagues in Washington to deliver the security funding we need to safeguard our synagogues and other community and religious institutions.”  Continue reading…