Notes from the Lampert Library

In random order here’s a very limited list of some of the notable events of 2014:

• 50 day war between Israel and Hamas
• Harvard suspends purchase of SodaStream after anti-Israeli pressure
• Four people were killed in a shooting in Brussels at the Jewish Museum of Belgium
• Taglit-Birthright Israel program extended its eligibility for free 10 day trips to ages 18-26.

• The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations voted 22-17 to reject membership of J Street
• According to an Antidefamation league (ADFL) survey, 26 % of people globally held “deeply anti-Semitic views”. The survey was conducted in 103 countries and territories, reflecting 86% of the world’s population.
• The latest Pew Center survey was released showing downward membership in most mainstream Jewish institutions.
• The Waldor Library in Whippany, the area’s Jewish Community Library, was dismantled.
• The government of Spain approved a bill to facilitate the citizenship of Sephardi Jews of Spanish descent.
• Manischewitz Company was purchased by the private equity firm Bain Capital with the intent to promote kosher as an indication of quality rather than just as a religious designation.
• Representative Eric Cantor, majority leader in the U.S. House of representatives and highest ranking Jewish elected official in American history was defeated for re-election.
• The deaths of 3 Israeli teenagers, the revenge killing by Jews of an Arab teen resulted in the IDF Operation Protective Edge.
• Leonard Fine, author, founder of Mazon, co-founder of Moment Magazine and board member of American for Peace Now died.
• French writer Patrick Modiano, son of a Sephardic Jewish father and much of whose work deals with Jewish related topics, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
• Ariel Sharon, former Prime Minister of Israel, died after being in a coma since 2006.