Other items in this column include
*Congresswoman-elect Sara Jacobs says she could deal fairly with any Qualcomm anti-trust legislation
*Israel Becoming an Issue in Raphael Warnock v. Kelly Loeffler Runoff for a Georgia U.S. Senate Seat
*News of the Second Generation of Survivors
SAN DIEGO — Some families are preparing for Thanksgiving meals from which relatives and close friends will be absent because of the coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, other families aren’t even even sure they will have enough to eat on Thanksgiving or any other day as a result of the growing hunger and food insecurity around the country, according to officials of MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger.
Representatives of MAZON and approximately 75 representatives of the Jewish Clergy Justice Mission met via Zoom with 60 members of Congress last week to advocate for more funding for food relief programs. On a panel, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Illinois) commented, “Nearly 15 percent of adults with children didn’t have enough to eat in October. Compare that with last December (2019) when 1 percent of adults said that.” She added that Congress has paid insufficient attention to the problem, and added: “The most important thing has been the organizing going on outside, the coalitions that are coming together for justice. There’s an enormous pressure, and it can’t be ignored anymore. God bless MAZON.
U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Massachusetts) commented, “There’s a role for our faith-based community. In particular, they have a moral voice that, quite honestly, I don’t have. That needs to be our focus.
Agreeing, Abby J. Leibman, President and CEO of MAZON, said, “In these vulnerable times, it’s never been more crucial that our county’s faith leaders advocate for the most vulnerable in their communities. Through strong and consistent coalition and congressional relationship-building, we’re confident we can work with state and federal lawmakers, and the new Administration, to move the needle on anti-hunger policies.”
Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Scott Peters (D-San Diego) donated grocery store gift cards to 50 students enrolled in San Diego Continuing Education’s “Gateway to College and Career” program who were in need of a holiday dinner. “Almost our entire student body is combating some sort of basic need,” commented SDCE President Carlos Osvaldo Turner Cortez, Ph.D. “We truly appreciate the kindness of Congressman Scott Peters for bringing the holidays to our students.”
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Congresswoman-elect Sara Jacobs says she could deal fairly with any Qualcomm anti-trust legislation
Congresswoman-elect Sara Jacobs (D-San Diego), in a televised interview on Cheddar, said if anti-trust legislation affecting Qualcomm, the company co-founded by her grandfather Irwin Jacobs came before the Congress, she could vote on the matter fairly, and not have to recuse herself. She said that this was because no member of her family currently works for Qualcomm, and because her own stock holdings will be placed in a blind trust before she takes office. How much Qualcomm stock she and other members of her family own was not addressed in her answer. In answer to another question, she emphasized her belief that no matter what ideological differences divide Democrats and Republicans, there always are opportunities to reach across the aisle on issues of common concern. This feeling was corroborated by Congresswoman-elect Kat Cammack, who told The Daily Signal: “I met the youngest Democratic woman from the 117th [Congress], Sara Jacobs out of San Diego California. When we started talking about issues that we cared about, we actually found some common ground. Even though I’m on the right and she’s on the left, I think when we take the politics out of it and really focus on the policy and we don’t go after the personalities, we’re able too actually get something done.”
Elected as the freshman class representative on the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, she told Priya Sridhar of NBC7 San Diego’s “Politically Speaking” program that she believes support for child care is a priority among many of her class members, and she plans to work to recruit candidates in the 2022 election who will assist Democrats in that effort. She also told Sridhar that freshmen orientation is a bit like going back to college — She and her classmates even have “Class of 2020 mugs.” One member of the Democratic freshman congressional class is Georgia State Sen. Nikema Williams, who also is chair of the Georgia State Democratic Party. Williams has been keeping her fellow freshmen members abreast of the critical U.S. Senate runoffs in Georgia which will determine whether Democrats or Republicans will control the U.S. Senate.
Sridhar recently was announced as the new host of “Politically Speaking,” succeeding Danny Freedman, who said in a recent broadcast that he was taking another job back East. He did not specify what that job is.
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Israel Becoming an Issue in Raphael Warnock v. Kelly Loeffler Runoff for a Georgia U.S. Senate Seat
Pastor Jay Bailey the Georgia State Director of Christians United for Israel and Lead Pastor of the Solid Rock Church, has accused Rev. Raphael Warnock, the Democrat opposing Republican incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler in a runoff for U.S. Senate, of demonizing Israel, condemning President Trump’s decision to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and attacking evangelical preachers for their support of Israel. Bailey casts doubt on Warnock’s supposed reversal of these positions.
According to Bailey, “Warnock has now penned an op-ed declaring that he stands with Israel, opposes the anti-Semitic movement to boycott Israel and supports policies that would have Palestinians and Israelis living side by side in peace. He now says he unequivocally opposes conditioning aid to Israel and declared that if elected he would ‘work to ensure Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon. Warnock closed his sale by writing that ‘without reservation, you can count on me to stand with the Jewish community and Israel in the U.S. Senate.'”
Said Bailey: “I believe in the power of redemption. But Warnock’s sharp turn and convenient timing raise suspicions. The effort to deceive voters into thinking that he is squarely with the pro-Israel majority was a hollow and transparent example of politically expedient propaganda. This is no time for there to be any ambiguity or lack of moral clarity when it comes to standing with Israel and the Jewish people. Georgia needs a senator who is unequivocal and unwavering in their support for Israel.”
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News of the Second Generation of Survivors
*An exhibit at the Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center in Maitland, Florida, honoring George Floyd has drawn a protest from Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg of Edison, New Jersey, whose parents, Jacob and Rachel Rosenberg respectively were survivors of the Auschwitz and Buchenwald Concentration Camps. Rosenberg, who had declared himself a “Rabbi for Trump,” commented, “A George Floyd Exhibit has no place in a Holocaust Museum which should be dedicated to memorialize and remember the lessons of the Holocaust, namely that Hitler wanted to wipe out an entire people simply because they were Jewish. Antisemitism cannot be tolerated. The museum claims to use the lessons of the Holocaust to promote a ‘moral and just community.’ A George Floyd exhibit has no connection to the Holocaust. George Floyd’s death was decried by all, but his death was used as a springboard for BLM’s violent protests and anti-Semitic looting and vandalism of Jewish businesses. Anti-Semitic rhetoric was heard at BLM protests in the name of George Floyd. An exhibit to commemorate him does not belong alongside exhibits of 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust.”
*Musician Yaakov Wasilewicz, born in Poland in 1988 to a Holocaust survivor, has released a single entitled “Akeida,” which references Abraham’s binding of Isaac. Arranged and produced by singer Eitan Katz, Wasilowicz’s song is dedicated to his single mother, Halina, “who represented so much of what the Akeida represented for Klal Yisroel, a parent endlessly sacrificing for her child.” The Hebrew song, with English subtitles, may be heard on the video above.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com