Latest news with #PassoverSeders
CBS News
15-04-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Neighbors say "Hate crime has no place here" after fire at Gov. Shapiro's Pennsylvania home
Jewish leaders and community members in Gov. Josh Shapiro's hometown say the timing of the arson attack on the Pennsylvania Governor's Residence feels deeply personal, especially as authorities investigate whether it may have been motivated by hate . Shapiro shared photos online of his family's Passover Seder hours before the early Sunday morning attack at the governor's mansion in Harrisburg. The 38-year-old suspect, Cody Balmer , is now facing charges including attempted murder, arson and terrorism. On Monday, Montgomery County residents and local Jewish leaders expressed fear and frustration that the attack may have been fueled by antisemitism. "There's 365 days in a year, and maybe this guy just happened to hit it on one of the two only Passover Seders, and he happened to hit it in the exact room where that holy act took place," said Jonathan Scott Goldman, chair of the Pennsylvania Jewish Coalition. "There's no way, I think, for us as Jewish people to look at those facts and not feel that it's not just some political attack on the governor, maybe just maybe it's an antisemitic attack on all of us." Balmer allegedly scaled a fence and threw Molotov cocktails into the residence. He later turned himself in and told police he was "harboring hatred" toward Shapiro, according to court documents. Shapiro attends Beth Sholom Synagogue in Elkins Park. Neighbors in nearby Jenkintown, where Shapiro resides, shared sadness and concern. "I wouldn't want anything like that in this neighborhood," said Lorraine Parker, who lives near the governor's Jenkintown home. "We've got enough problems without hating each other, too." "Hate crime has no place here," said Fred Doughty. "It's just upsetting. Words can't describe." The investigation into the motive continues, but many in the Jewish community say they are watching closely. The Jewish Federations of Greater Philadelphia shared the following statement with CBS News Philadelphia: "The Pennsylvania Jewish Coalition (PJC), along with the Jewish Federations of Greater Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Greater Pittsburgh, Lehigh Valley, and Northeastern Pennsylvania, stands in solidarity with Governor Josh Shapiro and his family in condemning the violent attack on their home during the first night of Passover." "As Governor Shapiro said of the attacker, 'If he was trying to terrorize our family, our friends, the Jewish community who joined us for a Passover Seder in that room last night, hear me ... No one will deter me or my family or any Pennsylvanian from celebrating their faith openly and proudly,'" the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia continued. "In that spirit, the Shapiro family hosted a second Seder the following night — standing firm in their Jewish identity and values," they said. "We commend them for their courage, resilience, and unwavering commitment to faith and freedom in the face of hate."
Yahoo
13-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NC Rabbis: This Passover we call on the White House to end wrongful detainment
We write to you today as a diverse group of rabbis from the Triangle joined by other North Carolina colleagues during a time of great vulnerability for the Jewish people. We are struggling with the rise of antisemitism around our country and around the world. And yet, we must not allow our fear to be used to obscure the very justice that our sacred texts call for, and that is a guiding moral principle of our faith. As we gather for our Passover Seders this year, we will recount the story of our ancestors' redemption from slavery to freedom. Our powerful collective story tells of those who suffered and resisted — those who moved forward seeking justice in the face of great oppression and violence. We learn of a God who demands freedom, and that we must fight for freedom in every generation. In the last month we have witnessed a troubling escalation of arrests and detention of immigrants without due process, revocations of visas and federal interventions against universities being justified by the Trump Administration as part of the fight against antisemitism. In our own state of North Carolina we have seen students at Duke, N.C. State and UNC Chapel Hill have their visas revoked. We call for Jews and other minorities to be able to learn and live in safety on college campuses, and we oppose targeting and detaining international students without due process. Violating constitutional rights is a deeply flawed strategy for fighting antisemitism. This threatens the very pillars of our democracy and does not make Jewish and Israeli students safer. As the CEO of Hillel International has expressed, funding cuts to universities in the name of fighting antisemitism may actually fuel antisemitism, as the negative effects of these policies could be blamed on the Jewish community. As Jews, we can look back at our thousands of years of history and know that when a government restricts the rights of any given group, oppression of Jews will follow. Our safety and freedom are intrinsically linked with the safety and freedom of all peoples. We oppose the violation of anyone's constitutional rights under the guise of fighting antisemitism. The safety of the Jewish people and all marginalized communities depends on the flourishing of democracy, the protection of minority rights and the safeguarding of free expression. As rabbis from North Carolina, we therefore call upon the administration to stop wrongful detainments, uphold the pillars of due process and end policies that threaten the very freedoms that have allowed Jewish communities to thrive in this nation. We have been deeply moved by the voices of our colleagues across the country and join them in stating that this assault on democracy and justice cannot be done in our name. This Passover, when we recount our journey from oppression to freedom, let us be strengthened in our commitment to uphold justice, democracy and the rights of all peoples. Rabbi Hannah Bender, Durham Rabbi Philip J Bentley, Hendersonville Rabbi Geoffrey Claussen, Greensboro Rabbi Judy Cohen-Rosenberg, Pittsboro Rabbi Robin Damsky, Efland Rabbi Lucy Dinner, Raleigh Rabbi Andrew Vogel Ettin, Pfafftown Rabbi Jen Feldman, Chapel Hill Rabbi Jessica Fisher, Greensboro Rabbi Grace Gleason, Greensboro Rabbi Solomon Hoffman, Chapel Hill Rabbi Tracy Guren Klirs, Charlotte Rabbi Sandra Lawson, Burlington Rabbi Batsheva Meiri, Asheville Rabbi Melissa B. Simon, Chapel Hill Rabbi Matthew Soffer, Durham Rabbi Eric Solomon, Raleigh Rabbi Dr. Jenny Solomon, Raleigh
Fox News
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
DC plane crash victim's father says 'culture of complacency' allowed fatal accident to happen
The father of the American Airlines co-pilot who died in a midair collision near Reagan National Airport in January told FOX Business Thursday a "culture of complacency" allowed the disaster to happen. Tim Lilley spoke about his son, First Officer Sam Lilley, ahead of a Senate hearing on the Jan. 29 collision involving an Army helicopter. National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy told lawmakers the families and friends of the 67 victims "are here today," and "I can only imagine what they're going through." "My son was an outstanding young man whose career and his life was just taking off, and we were not ready to lose him, and we never would be. And there's 66 other families that are going through this same thing. This accident was so preventable," Lilley told FOX Business. "And I'm hoping today that some of this is going to come out. You know, we really need to work on this culture of complacency that allowed this accident to happen." During the hearing, Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said a preliminary report from the NTSB "provides alarming statistics in using existing FAA data on the risks at DCA to aviation safety. "That data includes — and NTSB provides these numbers — in a 13-year period, not a single month went by without at least one 'close call' between a helicopter and a commercial jet operating at DCA [Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport]. Between Oct. 21 and Dec. 24, there were 85 incidents where the lateral separation between a commercial jet and a helicopter was less than 1,500 feet, and the vertical separation was less than 200 feet," he said. "And during that same [13-year] timeframe, there were more than 15,000 'close proximity events' between a helicopter and a commercial airplane." Lilley added that, since the disaster, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has "really been a champion to change things and change them not at the pace of government, but more like at the pace of business, which is something that we're just championing. We love that." He also said "the worst day of my life was the 29th of January" and "the second-worst day of my life was the day after. "If you've ever had to sit in on an NTSB brief, and you're full of orphans and widows and families that have lost their sons, and the first guy who gets up and briefs is the fire chief, and he tells you it was a gruesome scene, there was body parts spread across the ice — this is something that no family should ever have to go through," Lilley said. "And what we're trying to do here, we're just going to make sure that no family ever has to go through that same scenario." Homendy opened her testimony Thursday by saying "it's important that we remember today that those who died at DCA and in other accidents we investigate aren't numbers. ... These are mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, wives, husbands, cousins, best friends who won't be there with their loved ones for Easter egg hunts, Passover Seders, the end of Ramadan, Mother's Day, Father's Day, graduation, all of life's celebrations. "Their families and friends, whether in person or online, are here today. I can only imagine what they're going through, and I want to take a moment to again express our deepest sympathies to each of them," she said. "Please know that we keep you in our hearts as we diligently work to determine how this tragedy happened. So, no one, no one experiences the deeply significant loss you must feel today." Dailey Crafton, the brother of victim Casey Crafton, told FOX Business, "I think for myself, and I think most of the families, we're looking for accountability for what happened from whatever agency needs to have accountability. "We're devastated. It's a big gaping hole in our lives, and it comes in waves," he added. "Some days are all right. Some days you can, like, you barely don't even want to get out of bed, and you know you can't stop thinking about it and feeling just anxious and stressed out and everything. So, it's a roller coaster." Maxim Naumov, a figure skater whose parents, former Olympians Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, died in the midair collision, told NBC's "Today" show Thursday the last message he heard from his mother was to "let me know that they're switching flights and that if I could pick them up."
