With antisemitism rising at an alarming rate across the country, find out what is happening in the area and what the local community can do to fight it on Sunday, Feb. 4 at 4 p.m. at Temple Beth Shalom in Manalapan. The program, “Antisemitism—What Can You Do?,” will feature Steven Rambam, a private investigator, Nazi hunter and security expert working with the Jewish community, and Dan Rozett, director of community relations and Israel engagement at the Jewish Federation in the Heart of New Jersey. The program is being sponsored by the Jewish Federation in the Heart of New Jersey, Bloomfield Cooper Jewish Chapels and the Leiser family.
During the program, which is open to high school age and older, information on Krav Maga will also be shared by Empower Martial Arts of Colts Neck, which offers classes for ages four through adults in the fighting system used by the Israeli Defense Forces that includes how to fend off attacks by knives and guns.
Rambam is founder and CEO of Pallorium, Inc., a licensed investigative agency with offices and affiliates worldwide. Among his activities have been pro bono investigations that have led to the location of nearly 200 Nazi collaborators and war criminals in the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia. Rambam has also coordinated efforts to expose terrorist groups’ fundraising activities in the U.S. and has conducted investigations resulting in the tightening of airport security in eight American cities.
Registration is required at templebeth@aol.com. For information, call (732) 446-1200.
Congregation B’nai Israel in Freehold will host a free program, “Behind the Scenes on the Military, Media & Political Battlefields of Israel,” with HonestReporting Executive Director Gil Hoffman, on Tuesday, Feb. 6, at 7 p.m. Hoffman will discuss ways to support Israel during the current war with Hamas. HonestReporting is dedicated to fighting for Israel in the international mainstream and social media.
Hoffman is also a lecturer on political strategy at Israel’s College of Management, and served for 24 years as chief political correspondent and analyst for the Jerusalem Post, where he is now a regular columnist. He has strong contacts with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, has been interviewed by top media on six continents and has been a regular analyst on CNN, Al-Jazeera and other news outlets.
The program will begin with a sushi buffet, with the main program starting at 7:30 p.m. and coffee and dessert at 8:30 p.m. Although the program is free, sponsorships are available. Registration is required at bnaiisraelnj.org/HOFFMAN. For information contact Faina Smekhov at fsmekhov@bnaiisraelnj.org.
Rabbi Professor David Golinkin, president of the Schechter Institutes, Inc. and president emeritus of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Israel, will be scholar-in-residence atCongregation Neve Shalom in Metuchen on Sunday, Feb. 11. He will present two programs on “Jewish Law for Today.” The first program at 10:30 a.m. will center on the Ethics of War and Redemption of Captives in Jewish Law, to be followed by a light lunch, and then at 1 p.m., a program on Jewish Law and Abortion.
Golinkin, who made aliyah in 1972, served for 20 years as chair of the Va’ad Halakhah (Law Committee) of the Rabbinical Assembly, which gives halakhic guidance to the Masorti Movement in Israel. He is the founder and director of the Institute of Applied Halakhah at Schechter and also directs the Center for Women in Jewish Law in Jerusalem.
The lunch and program, sponsored by the synagogue’s Sisterhood and Adult Education Committee, are free but attendees must call the synagogue at (732) 548-2238 to make reservations for lunch. The lectures will also use the regular Shabbat Zoom links. Others who want to view the program on Zoom should also call the office and identify themselves to be given the link. For program information, contact Melissa Boxer at (732) 259-2380 or kmboxer@optonline.net.
The Jewish Community Center of Middlesex County in Edison held a 
groundbreaking on Jan. 30 on its $6.6 million expansion, which will provide additional space for its Bright Beginnings Preschool, Norman and Marion Tanzman Center for Lifelong Living, and a home for Temple Emanu-El as well as lounge space, new outdoor courtyard, kitchen and state-of-the art-classrooms, among other additions and improvements. Temple Emanu-El, which had been located across from JFK Medical Center, also in Edison, for more than 60 years, sold its property to Hackensack Meridian Health, which operates the hospital. Its JCC site will include a new sanctuary, offices and social hall.
JCC President and CEO Adam Glinn called the expansion “transformative for both the Jewish and general communities” by allowing it to enhance health and wellness services to older adults, add mental health services, expand childhood education and special needs offerings, among other initiatives.
It operates on the Community Campus, a more than 21-year-old collaboration with YMCA of Metuchen, Edison, Woodbridge and South Amboy, the only such partnership in the nation. The JCC’s own facilities remain fully kosher and it offers an ever-expanding array of Jewish programming. Its membership has expanded to 7,500 members.
The ceremony was attended by leaders of the JCC, Jewish Federation in the Heart of New Jersey, Temple Emanu-El, the Marion and Norman Tanzman Charitable Foundation, JCC Association of North America Executive Vice President Jennifer Mamlet, New Jersey Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin. State Sen. Patrick Diegnan Jr., Assemblyman Sterley Stanley and Edison Mayor Sam Joshi.
