Did you know?

Did you know that the United Jewish Council is a part of the Secure Community Network (SCN), a homeland security initiative of the Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations? SCN, recently recognized as the Department of Homeland Security national model for faith based information sharing, continues to monitor the current threat environment and provides the UJC and our law enforcement partners with timely reporting, analysis and security advice and counsel in an effort to ensure that security awareness remains a priority concern for our community.

click here to read more and to view an ABC News report about SCN.

Upcoming UJC Events

POSTPONED! Welcome to Jewish Toledo/Shalom Baby Meet-n-Greet- Sunday, June 13, 2010 10:30 –Noon, Jack & Nora Romanoff Patio –Main Bldg. 6465 Sylvania Ave. In your honor, we request that all new families and babies to Toledo since June 2008 join us for an informal morning of noshing and schmoozing to introduce you to what Jewish Toledo can do for YOU! We’ll have activities for the kids, community members on hand to answer questions and so much more.

LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER!!! REGISTRATIONS NEEDED BY 11:00 AM MONDAY, JUNE 14!!! Kids Klub goes to the Mud Hens!!!Tuesday, June 15, Depart UJC Campus @ 11am, Return to UJC Campus @ 3:00pm. $10 members/$15 non-members – Includes transportation, ticket, and Kosher hot dog lunch! Come out with Kids Klub to watch the Toledo Mud Hens battle the Rochester Red Wings at 5th/3rd Field! ***No Walk-ins will be accepted*** Emergency Form & Code of Conduct must be on file to participate.

UJC Community Annual Meeting- Thursday June 17, 2010 at 6:30 pm sharp, in the Social Hall at Temple Shomer Emunim, 6453 Sylvania Ave. Followed immediately by the Israel Scout Caravan.

The Israel Scout Caravan is Coming to Toledo and We Need YOU! The Tzofim Friendship Caravan will be in Toledo on Thursday, June 17, 2010 and we are in need of home hospitality!
If you would like to do a mitzvah, and host a guest from Israel for an evening, Thursday June 17 please contact Rene Rusgo 419-724-0365 or Rene@JewishToledo.org. Hosting entails a place to sleep, a warm shower, breakfast and a nosh for the road. The scouts are placed in groups of no less than 2. Please let us know if you keep a kosher home, pets, and how many you can host.

The Tzofim Friendship Caravan Degania, Thursday, June 17- 7:30 pm.Temple Shomer Emunim, 6453 Sylvania Avenue. This event is free and open to the community
*This program will immediately follow the UJC Annual Meeting. For over thirty years, the Tzofim Friendship Caravan has been spreading their message of peace, brotherhood and friendship throughout North America. Through song and dance, conversations and activities, they warm your hearts and bring a piece of Israel right to you. Most of all, they have a love for their country and their people and a desire to share that love with their brothers and sisters in America. There is no better time to celebrate in our shared heritage and to support the State of Israel! To learn more about the Israel Scout Caravan check out www.Israelscouts.org! Reservations requested by Monday, June 14 to Barb Hager 419-724-0357 or Barb@JewishToledo.org . For questions about the event, please contact Rene Rusgo 419-724-0365 or Rene@JewishToledo.org. 

YAD gets silly! Thursday, June 24th - Meet at 6:30pm in the Lobby, Show is at 7:00pm. Funny Bone Comedy Club – 6140 Levis Commons Blvd. Perrysburg, OH. $5 – Includes Comedy Club ticket and shared appetizers. Come and hang out with YAD for a night of laughs in Perrysburg at the Funny Bone Comedy Club! RSVP’s and payment required by Tuesday, June 22 to Barb Hager at 419-724-0357 or Barb@JewishToledo.org ****NO WALK-INS WILL BE ACCEPTED****

Department of Jewish Programs Presents: Summer Films-7:00 pm – Showings will begin promptly- Darlington Hall – Leo and Vera Sekach Community Services Building, 6505 Sylvania Ave. These films will be shown free of charge, but registration is requested one week prior to each showing. Please bring non-perishable can goods for the JFS Food Bank. Light refreshments will be offered, but feel free to bring your own favorite kosher snacks.
Monday, June 28: A Matter of Size- 90 minutes. Hebrew with English subtitles. What’s a super-sized, aspiring Israeli chef who’s just been kicked out of his weight-watching support group to do about his ever-increasing girth? Pursue a career in Sumo wrestling, of course! Fed up with the society’s (his mothers!) notion of the ideal body shape, Herzl, who weighs in at 340 pounds, enlists his mysterious Japanese boss to train him and several large friends in the ancient martial art of Sumo. In this offbeat comedy about self-revelation, our shape-challenged friends learn to shed societal norms and love themselves, and each other, just as they are. Nominated for 13 Israeli Academy Awards, including Best Picture. This film is currently touring all the major film festivals including Detroit and Portland.

Kids Klub & Club 678 Summer Fun Pool Party!!! Monday, July 12th @ 7:00 – 10:00pm. UJC Campus – JCC/YMCA Pool. Free and snacks will be provided. If you are entering 4th through 8th grade this fall, then this is the right event for you! This is your first official Kids Klub or Club 678 event. Come and join us for a night of swimming, games, fun, friends, and so much more.  RSVP’s are required by Friday, July 9 to Barb Hager at 419-724-0357 or Barb@JewishToledo.org ***No Walk-ins will be accepted***

CAMP L’CHAIM, August 2 through 6
The 8th annual day camp for seniors, Camp L’chaim, begins Monday, Aug. 2, at 9:30 a.m., in the Patio at the Jewish Community Center. Seniors who are enrolled enjoy a week of fun, including entertainment, dancing, movies, games, arts and crafts, and various outings. This year, another daylong experience at Maumee Bay State Park is on the agenda. Entertainers include musicians, speakers, comedians, magicians, etc. Spa treatments are standard at camp, including massage, manicures, paraffin wax hand treatments, and quantum touch. Outings have included cruises on the Sandpiper, guided tours of the Glass Pavilion and Botanical Gardens, Mud Hens ball games, and dinners at historical restaurants such as the Park Lane Hotel. The cost for the week is $50 for seniors, thanks to the generous support of Jewish Senior Services Supporting Organization. For more information, call Mary Lou Whittaker, 419-531-2119, or e-mail Marylou@jewishtoledo.org.

Around Jewish Toledo

Adult B'nai Mitzvah Service- Saturday, June 12th, 2010 at 10:30AM, The Temple Congregation Shomer Emunim. The following are members of the B'nai Mitzvah class; Diane Bernstein, Gail Cooper, Alida Forshaw, Judi Fox, Lynn Jacobs, Shelley Kahn, Gail Mirrow, Susan Pocotte, Bill Treuhaft and Joanne Treuhaft. In lieu of gifts, the class is collecting paper products for Beach House, a women's shelter. Please consider bringing a donation of paper plates, napkins, cups, utensils or towels with you to the service.

An Evening of Vision, Music & Inspiration featuring Speaker Elie Wiesel- Monday, June 21, 2010 at 6 p.m. Rock Financial Showplace in Novi, MI. Transportation provided by TLC Charter and Tour from the JCC at 4:30 p.m. Don’t miss this inspirational evening that includes an elegant dinner, wonderful entertainment and a keynote speech by renowned author Elie Wiesel. This event commemorates the Yahrtzeit of the Lubavitcher Rebbe of Righteous Memory. Chassidic musical performance by Chicago Blues Violinist Ruby Harris. Tickets: $36. Thanks to TLC Charter and Tour, there is a complimentary bus going from the JCC at 4:30 p.m. and leaving to return to Toledo by 9 p.m. Reserve online at www.lubavitchmi.com or call 419-843-9393. Seats are limited! Reserve soon!

The 23rd annual Interfaith Blood Drive June 26/27 @ Grace Lutheran Church, 4441 Monroe St. from 9-3. Sunday evening, June 27 @ 7 PM Celebration of Life Service @ The Unitarian Church on Glendale (near Southland)" To donate, & work @ the drive especially Sunday morning, call Devorah Friedrich @ 419-841-4652.

Around the Jewish World

IHH Preparations for a Violent Confrontation with IDF Soldiers Aboard the Turkish Ship Mavi Marmara (Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center)
• An initial analysis of statements taken from passengers aboard the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara after it was towed to the port of Ashdod show that operatives belonging to the radical Islamic Turkish IHH led the violent confrontation with the IDF.
• The statements confirmed that the violence met by the IDF soldiers was not spontaneous but rather an organized, premeditated action carried out by a hard core of 40 IHH operatives (among the 500 passengers).
• The passengers, including the IHH operatives, stated that there were close relations between the organization and Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan and that the Turkish government was involved in preparations for the flotilla. The statements reinforce the original assessment that the objective of the flotilla was not merely to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza, but focused on provocation and a violent confrontation with Israel.
• The flotilla set sail with the full knowledge and agreement of Erdogan, who expressed personal interest in its success and his intention to exploit it to promote his status in Turkey and the Arab-Muslim world.
• In files found in laptops confiscated from Mavi Marmara passengers were other indications supporting the vast amount of information concerning the linkage between IHH and the Turkish government.

Past Involvement of IHH in Supporting the Global Jihad and Radical Islam (Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center)
• According to reliable information, IHH had links to global jihad and Islamic terrorist networks in the past and assisted jihadist terrorist cells in many countries, including Bosnia, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Chechnya. IHH provided mainly logistic support for transporting weapons and funding.
• IHH was mentioned in connection with the planned Millennium Attack in the U.S., when global jihad operators headed by Ahmed Ressam planned to set off a bomb in Los Angeles International Airport on the night of December 31, 1999. 

Why Israel Ignores Criticism of Gaza Flotilla Raid - Joshua Mitnick (Christian Science Monitor)
• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's complaint of an "international offensive of hypocrisy" against Israel has been echoed by political rivals and many ordinary Israelis. "When the world confuses a jihadist lynch mob for peace activists, Israelis nod their head and say, 'We recognize this as a Jewish moment,'" says Yossi Klein Halevi, a fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute.
• "Almost every Israeli, regardless of the way they feel about the operation, knows that this [flotilla raid] is not a moral failing of Israel," he says. "And yet Israelis see the world entering a spasm of moral outrage that we don't see being expressed over Darfur."
• "The more Israelis sense they are being unfairly judged, and being held to a standard no country is being held to, the more Israelis freeze up."
• In a poll of Israeli Jews after the flotilla raid, 61% said Israel should not adjust its tactics to curry favor with the international community. 85% said Israel either did not use enough force or used the right amount of force.
• Israeli resentment is most acute toward the United Nations. "There has been a structural problem in the UN for many years which leads to situations where Israel is put in the chair of the accused for alleged crimes which it never committed, while countries which are involved in massive human rights abuses are never cited," says Dore Gold, a former Israeli UN Ambassador. "I don't think one has to be exasperated about what the international community says. Israel has to make its case," he says.

JCRC Tidbits

Germany and Russia support new UN sanctions against Iran. In a joint news conference on Saturday, the leaders from both countries said that "agreement on the sanctions exists," despite the fact that "nobody wants sanctions." The United States and Europe overcame reservations in China and Russia, which have strong trade ties to Iran, and forged agreement on a draft sanctions resolution last month. Obama administration officials have said that they expect a vote at the Security Council in the next two weeks. To read more, click here.

A call to stop funding companies that do business with Iran. In a recent South Bend Tribune opinion piece, David Ibsen of United Against Nuclear Iran, a bipartisan advocacy group dedicated to raising awareness of the dangers of a nuclear armed Iran, makes a case for divestment from companies that do business in Iran, as an effective way of delaying their nuclear program. While Ibsen is proud of the work that ordinary citizens and organizations such as United Against a Nuclear Iran have done, he believes that more can and should be done to prevent companies from doing business with this state sponsor of terrorism. He uses the example of Honeywell, a US based company that last year received over $12.9 billion in federal contracts, and still does business with Iran. To read the full article, click here.