Once again, JFCS hosting émigré party
Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the Soviet Jewry movement, the Émigré Committee of the S.F.-based Jewish Family and Children’s Services will hold its seventh annual Émigré Gala. The event, to be held at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, takes place Jan. 26.
More than 500 leaders of the Bay Area Russian-speaking Jewish community are expected to attend the fundraiser, which will feature a silent auction, international cuisine, dancing and live entertainment. Proceeds go directly to JFCS programs benefiting émigré seniors, children and youth, as well as to victims of trauma and tragedy in Israel.
The Émigré Gala takes place 6:30 p.m. Jan. 26 at the Westin St. Francis Hotel, Union Square, S.F. Tickets: $150 to $295. Information: (415) 449-2948 or email melissap@jfcf.org.
N.Y. Jews, blacks unite against hate
A coalition of Jewish and black New Yorkers have banded together to fight hatred.
The Jewish Black Alliance was inaugurated Jan. 6 by Assemblymember Dov Hikind, who represents an area in New York that was victimized by swastikas twice last week.
The alliance plans to set up community forums and lessons on tolerance.
Incidents of hate crimes have been on the rise in the New York area. High-profile incidents include a noose hung in the office of a black professor at Columbia University and an attack on Jewish students during Chanukah. — jta
Vandals strike N.J. cemetery
Hundreds of gravestones were toppled at a Jewish cemetery in New Jersey.
The initial damage of about 19 overturned gravestones at the Poile Zedek Cemetery in New Brunswick was found Jan. 3. More extensive damage was discovered three days later after hundreds of gravestones were knocked over, some broken from hitting each other, according to the Home News Tribune. — jta
AJC saluted for green power
The American Jewish Committee was cited for its use of green power.
It was named to the elite Energy Leadership Club by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership for buying green power to meet all of its electricity needs in the United States.
The AJCommittee’s green power is derived from electricity generated from renewable resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, biomass and
low-impact hydro sources. The AJCommittee’s is the third largest nonprofit green power purchaser nationally among the Green Power Partners, behind the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank Group. — jta
El Al, American seek agreement
El Al and American Airlines are attempting to form an operating agreement that would make it easier for travelers in the United States to get to Israel, according to the New York Times.
The paper reported this week that the airlines have applied to their respective transportation departments to begin a code-sharing agreement Feb. 1.
If approved, the agreement would link El Al to 23 new airports in the U.S., including San Francisco International.
CopyrightJ, the Jewish news weekly of Northern California