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JEWISH OBSERVER ■ APRIL 14, 2016/6 NISAN 5776
Syracuse Hebrew Day School at the Central New York Science and Engineering Fair
Syracuse Hebrew Day School students and alumni attended and excelled at the Central New York Science and Engineering Fair on March 20. Receiving awards were participation certificate – Mali Lamanna, Shaynah Sikora, Eitan Spinoza and Jack Wells; sixth grade highest honors – Max Fagelman; sixth grade honors – Meilin Lamanna, Kiru Morrissette and Henia Zames; fifth grade highest honors – Hana Kang and India Roopnarine; fifth grade high honors – Abigail Hinshaw
and Ainsley Resig; fifth grade honors – Eli Goldstein and Sam Wells; Broadcom Masters Award – Max Fagelman; seventh grade highest honors – Ryan Hinshaw, SHDS class of 2015; eighth grade honors, Honeywell Summer Science Week at the MOST Scholarship, SUNY Oswego Genius Olympiad Award, SUNY Cortland Chemistry Award – Maya Roopnarine, SHDS class of 2014; and SUNY Cortland Science Leadership Scholarship $10,000 – Isaac Tenenbaum, SHDS class of 2011.
PJ Library At left: Families attending the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center of Syracuse’s annual Purim carnival had the opportunity to vote for their favorite PJ Library® books. L-r: Carolyn Weinberg, Esa Jaffe (back to camera) and Isabella Weinberg.
Syracuse Hebrew Day School students posed for a group photo while presenting their science fair projects. Back row (l-r): Hana Kang, Abigail Hinshaw, India Roopnarine, Mali Lamanna and Maya Roopnarine; Middle row: Eitan Spinoza, Sam Wells, Henia Zames and Jack Wells. In front: Eli Goldstein.
Activists and lawmakers make push to improve Israel’s image in Latin America BY ALINA DAIN SHARON (JNS.org) – Activists and lawmakers say that more needs to be done to promote a positive view of Israel in Latin America, where two archenemies of Israel – the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and Iran – are gaining traction and influence. “The reality is that Latin American support for Israel has been eroding gradually throughout the years,” said Leopoldo Martinez, the Latin America director of the Israel Allies Foundation, which recently sponsored the Second Annual Latin America Summit on Israel in Miami.
About the cover
This year’s Passover cover was designed by Jenn DePersis, production coordinator of The Reporter Group, which publishes the Jewish Observer.
“Sympathy has... increased for the Palestinian cause as populations of Arab and Palestinian descent in various Latin American countries have become more nationalistic and radicalized. Growing Iranian influence in Latin America has become a major concern,” he told JNS. org, citing the situation in countries such as Bolivia, Venezuela and Nicaragua. While “there is not a BDS movement in Latin America as we know it in the United States... there are small but very well-organized groups that are willing to boycott and sabotage any pro-Israel initiative that supports Israel
Water organizing committee has decided to make Israel’s water technology a theme of this year’s Yom Ha’atzmaut celebration, on Thursday, May 12, from 6-8 pm, at Temple Adath Yeshurun, 450 Kimber Rd., Syracuse. Yom Ha’atzmaut committee Co-chair Orit Antosh cited IDE Technologies as an example of Israel’s contribution, saying, “IDE is a world leader in mega-size seawater reverse osmosis desalination plants as typified by the Sorek Project in Israel. Commissioned in 2013, the Sorek desalination plant is the world’s largest and most advanced desalination facility, providing clean, potable water for more than 1.5 million people, comprising 20 percent of the municipal water demand in Israel.” Antosh noted that, based on the results of the Sorek Project, IDE obtained a $1 billion contract to provide a SWRO facility to the San Diego County Water Authority. San Diego’s project has been delivering clean water to about 300,000 people since December 2015. Based on its results, 15 other desalination facilities are being proposed throughout the state of California. Committee Co-chair Linda Chait Davis noted that Israel is also “a leader in water-efficient irrigation” and said, “Israeli-invented drip irrigation helped achieve 70-80 percent of water efficiency in agriculture, giving Israel the highest ratio in the world of crop yield per water unit.” Israel’s Netafim is considered the global leader in drip- and micro-irrigation solutions and water-saving technologies. Founded in 1965, Netafim today provides equipment and services in more than 110 countries, which enable farmers to produce more with less water. Netafim was the 2013 Stockholm Industry Water Award laureate. In addition to being considered in the forefront in terms of fresh water generation and conservation, Israel is also said to make “major contributions” to the treatment and recycling of waste water, as pointed out by the third Committee Co-chair Nurit Nussbaum. She said, “Israel, with an 80 percent water recycling rate, is by a factor of more than 400 percent the world’s leading country in water recycling.”
in the region,” Martinez explained. During the Israel Allies Foundation’s Latin America summit, held on March 6, parliamentarians from 13 Latin American and Caribbean nations signed a resolution in support of Israel and against BDS. The declaration’s signatories stated their “support for the Jewish people to live in peace, safety and security in the land of Israel,” emphasizing that “strong relations between the Western Hemisphere and Israel are crucial to the spread of freedom, democracy, and justice around the world.”
See "Latin" on page 12
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L-r: The 2016 Yom Ha’atzmaut Co-Chairs are Orit Antosh, Nurit Nussbaum and Linda Chait Davis. Israel’s water technology will be a major theme of this year’s Yom Ha‘atzmaut celebration on Thursday, May 12. Israeli efficient wastewater treatment innovator Emefcy was one of 10 companies selected as “2012 New Energy Pioneers” at the fifth annual Bloomberg New Energy Finance Summit in New York. Emefcy’s solution uses electrogenic bacteria to produce electricity directly from wastewater at the same time as treating it. Antosh, Davis and Nussbaum have invited the community to this year’s Yom Ha’atzmaut celebration on May 12. In addition to learning about Israel’s contributions to solving the world’s water crisis, the event will include a “Cantors’ Concert” organized and led by local cantors and Joe Eglash, a musician and songwriter. Eglash is known in the field of Jewish music and is the creator of www.oySongs.com. The concert will unite the voices of local adult choruses with children from all of the Syracuse religious schools in a celebration of the 68th anniversary of Israel’s statehood. A free Israeli dinner will also be served. For more information about the Yom Ha’atzmaut celebration, e-mail the organizers at yh68syr@gmail.com.