Rabbi Arthur Weiner

  Dear JCCP/CBT family,   As many of you know, I love Thanksgiving!   Eight years ago, I read an article that really added to my understanding and appreciation of Thanksgiving.  The article, by Professor Moshe Sokolowe of Yeshiva University, introduced new evidence about the significant Jewish influence that was a part of the original Thanksgiving.    A summary of the article, which originally appeared in Jewish  Ideas Daily,  follows below.   Happy Thanksgiving and Shabbat Shalom,   Rabbi Arthur Weiner   *   *   *   Fleeing from persecution in England, the Pilgrim passengers on the Mayflower brought along their principal source of religious inspiration and comfort: the Bible. One particular edition of the Bible (published in 1618) is known to have been in the possession of none other than William Bradford, who would later serve as governor of Plymouth Colony....

  Dear JCCP/CBT family,  On the night of November 9-10, 1938, violence against Jews broke out across Germany. It appeared to be unplanned, set off by anger over the assassination of a German official in Paris at the hands of a Jewish teenager. Yet in fact, German propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels and other Nazis carefully organized the pogroms. Over two days, at least 91 Jews were murdered, over 250 synagogues were burned, 7,000 Jewish businesses were vandalized, and Jewish cemeteries, hospitals, schools, and homes were looted while police and fire brigades stood by. The pogroms became known as  Kristallnacht , the "Night of Broken Glass," for the shattered glass from the store windows that littered the streets.   The morning after the pogroms, 30,000 German Jewish men were arrested for the "crime" of being Jewish and sent to concentration camps. Hundreds of them perished. Jewish women were also arrested and sent to local jails. Businesses ow...