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http://content.usatoday.com/topics/article/Places,+Geography/Countries/Israel/0ajt0y32q69wP/1

The Sotomayor Effect

     

Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s up-by-your-bootstraps story speaks to both the Hispanic and Jewish communities, observers say.

by Sharon Udasin
Staff Writer

Ever since President Barack Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor for a seat on the Supreme Court, Jewish leaders have been speculating about how the appointment of this Bronx-raised Hispanic woman will affect the relationship between the Jewish and Hispanic communities.

In recent years, Latino and Jewish communities around the county have made strides to connect with and learn from each other, in part due to their shared immigrant histories. Sotomayor herself has been on two trips to Israel — in 1986 and 1996 — through the American Jewish Committee’s Project Interchange. That program has brought over 4,500 American leaders and politicians to Israel since 1982, to partake in seminars involving politics, security and health care, according to Ann Schaffer, director of AJC’s Belfer Center for American Pluralism.

By her second trip, Sotomayor was already a federal judge and she was eager to return to the country she found so beautiful.

“This is a woman who was raised by a widowed mother in a Bronx housing project — that is a quintessential immigration success story,” said Josh Norek, cofounder of the Latino-Jewish band called Hip Hop Hoodios and founder of Vota Latino, an organization that encourages young Latino Americans to become politically active. 

“[Sotomayor’s story] is very remindful of the people from a few generations before when the Jewish people rose in the Lower East Side,” agreed Gabriel Cwilich, professor of physics and director of Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Honors Program at Yeshiva College, who is Jewish and Hispanic himself.

To both Cwilich and Norek, Sotomayor’s story speaks to the two communities’ shared immigrant pasts, and they say that the two groups have much to learn from each other. Continue reading…

**ALSO see this story featured on the front page of news site, “New American Media: Expanding the News Lens through Ethnic Media.” Much appreciation and many thanks to them for posting!!**

Tel Aviv Beach

In The Park

  

Surf and turf: Faux Tel Aviv beachfront will appear at Central Park bandshell.

by Sharon Udasin

In the throes of economic recession, New Yorkers might find it difficult to get to the beaches of Tel Aviv this summer — so Israel has decided to bring its sunny seaside to New York.

The Mediterranean beachfront will spring up in Central Park on June 19 in a celebration marking Tel Aviv-Jaffa’s centennial anniversary, one of 40 such events occurring in Israel and worldwide between April and December. Transplanted in the mid-park Naumburg Bandshell will be a 1,300-square-foot sandy beach, complete with a life-size panoramic Tel Aviv skyline, colorful parasols and complimentary lounge chairs — and unlike in Tel Aviv, sitting on these chairs will require no six-shekel ($1.50) fee. Beachgoers will be able to compete in shesh besh (backgammon), visit tattoo artists and play matkot — a popular sort of beach tennis — while enjoying live Israeli performances from reggae group Hatkvah Six, rock band FLOW and DJ Hadar Marks.

“Tel Aviv is very similar to New York, but one component that New York doesn’t have is the beach,” said David Saranga, the media consul for the Israel Consulate in New York. “We are bringing Tel Aviv to you.”

Still struggling to boost Israel’s image months after the Gaza war, the Consulate is striving to project Israel as a place of vivid culture, cosmopolitan people and travel opportunity. 

“The anniversary is a great opportunity for us to reflect this image,” Saranga said. “Tel Aviv is one of the strongest engines of Israel’s brand.”

The beach party will take place on Sunday, June 21, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park. Enter at 69th Street and 5th Avenue or at 72nd Street and Central Park West. For more information, visit www.tlv100.co.il.

A Loss And A Gain For Tribeca Jews

Tribeca Hebrew: Merging with the Jewish Community Project. Michael Datikash

by Sharon Udasin

In yet another sign of the toll the economic downturn has exacted on the Jewish community, the trendy Tribeca Hebrew school — which helped re-energize Jewish life downtown after Sept. 11 — has closed its doors and merged with its neighbor, the Jewish Community Project.

“It’s sort of a perfect storm,” said Tribeca Hebrew board chair, Karie Parker Davidson, who pointed to the financial crisis and real estate struggle as two motivating factors behind the decision. “We had a terrific strategic plan, but it was really hard to build momentum in this economic climate.” Continue reading…