Free Republic

Rabbi Marvin Hier has known Charles and Seryl Kushner — Jared Kushner’s parents and Donald Trump’s in-laws — for decades. The Hiers and the Kushners have gone to the same kosher for Passover resort, the Arizona Biltmore, over the years. The Kushner family, prominent real estate developers, have also been generous donors to the Simon Wiesenthal Center founded by Hier, for which he now serves as dean. But the Los Angeles-based Hier said he was shocked three weeks ago when a Trump aide invited him to offer a prayer at the presidential inauguration. The 77-year-old rabbi said he accepted immediately...

A leading Jewish advocacy organization has called on the United States and the European Union to end funding of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the wake of today’s terrorist attack against a Jerusalem synagogue which resulted in the murder of four Jewish worshipers. “We speak for all 400,000 constituent families of our human rights NGO to demand that our leaders do more than offer ‘heartfelt condolences’ for such senseless attacks,” said Rabbis Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper, Dean and Founder and Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. “These attacks with knives, axes, guns, and cars by Palestinians are not...

A Jewish advocacy group is urging the Bush administration to deny a visa to former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, who has lecture dates in New York and Washington next week. In a letter to President Bush, Rabbi Marvin Hier, the founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said allowing Khatami to enter the United States rewards the Iranian leadership for their "policy of confrontation and hated towards the United States and her allies."Khatami has been invited to speak at a U.N. conference in New York. After that, on Sept. 7, he's scheduled to discuss the role of Christians, Muslims...

Currently, the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington, DC is sponsoring an exhibit on the late pontiff’s relations with the Jewish people. With the help of photographs, videos, documents, and artifacts, the museum curators tell the story of a relationship that may have dramatic consequences for the House of Israel and the Church of Rome. How to Become a “Perfect Stranger” Recently, I took advantage of the opportunity to view the historic exhibit, appropriately named “A Blessing to One Another: Pope John Paul II and the Jewish People.” Then, following my visit to the museum, I took up...