20 seconds when they heard this female voice coming over their radios. The airstrikes were led by the UAE and four other Arab states.
And several thousands of miles away, Jewish women are taking on projects that are empowering themselves and their “sisters.” A young Jewish woman, Elana Kalnitskaya of Ukraine, and three colleagues from Russia and Belarus, spoke at a United Nations week-long conference about their project, Project Kesher, which promotes human rights and “standing up for the rights of women of all ethnicities and faiths in a half dozen Russian-speaking countries,” according to JTA. Created in 1989, the group partnered with Jewish women in North America and to date has helped more than 17,000 people—mostly women and girls—on issues such as domestic violence, human trafficking, women’s health, anti-Semitism and intolerance.
And finally…Alex Tyus, of basketball’s NBA fame, is faced with a quandary: should he fast on Yom Kippur, the day before he must play a very important game? Tyus is a phenomenon Israel has never seen before. A very large (6 foot 9 inches) black American and a powerhouse of a player who had converted to Judaism when he and his well-known volleyball playing girlfriend,
Alli Cecchini, talked about how they would raise their future family, investigated Judaism, since Cecchini had some Jewish roots, though they were both brought up in the Christian faith. A roommate of Tyus in college talked to the couple about Judaism and its customs leading them to attend events at the Hillel chapter on campus. This led to their visiting a conservative synagogue and eventual conversion by Rabbi David Kaiman. This ultimately led to his accepting a position on Team Maccabi Tel Aviv. Since that time in 2012, Tyus has helped his Jewish team become a “European powerhouse, ” winning five titles and the European title. Because of his Jewish ties, Tyus has become a favorite among fans of the game. He’s happy where he is in Israel, he says, but still harbors a dream of playing in the NBA. And yes, he’ll probably fast even though the next day he will face Lebron James and the Cleveland Caveliers!
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