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Get to know the volunteers, supporters and leaders that make Jewish St. Paul a great place to live

Sharon Benmaman, St. Paul Jewish Federation Vice President: My Path to Spanish Citizenship

 

In 2015, the Spanish government passed a law known as the Right of Return, allowing Sephardic Jews outside of Spain to apply for citizenship. The intent was to “right an historic wrong” and demonstrate that more than 500 years after the Inquisition began, Jews were once again welcome in Spain. I heard about the law when it passed but had not given it much thought.  However, a 2016 trip to Spain and Morocco to trace my father’s life changed that.

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Rick Linsk, St. Paul Jewish Federation President

 

Remarks by Rick Linsk at Federation’s 85th Annual Meeting
I want to spend a few minutes considering a question and looking forward a bit. First the question: Why are we here?
 

I don’t mean why are we all here together tonight on yet another Zoom call. But why are we here as participants in a Jewish community?

 

I suggest it’s because our project, the essence of what we do, starts with seeing each person as created in the divine image. Because we believe this, it shapes everything we do. It sparks our commitment to chai, to life itself. 

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World ORT Helps Students Find their Future

 

David Fhima recalls that he was headed down a rough road in his early years until a school run by World ORT, the global education network driven by Jewish values, gave him the direction to choose another path.

"I was a vagabond being kicked out from boarding schools until ORT Strasbourg accepted me and turned my life around,” said David. “I was in my early teens, and the director of the school, Monsieur Loeve, was a concentration camp survivor who instilled the fear of God in me and helped me turn my life around. They also got me a full scholarship at EIG (Ecole d'ingénieurs de Genève) to become an engineer."

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