 Kermaier |
Rabbi Yaakov Kermaier, spiritual leader of the Fifth Avenue Synagogue since 2003 and chairman of the Manhattan Eruv Committee, has permanently moved to Israel with his wife Elana, an attorney, and their four children.
A call to the Synagogue brought the response that he moved "last week." Emails have been sent to other Rabbis and leaders listed by the Synagogue including Rabbi Eli Babich, Cantor Joseph Malovany and Ritual Director Ylsorel Hapert.
Rabbi Kermaier played a major role in the 20-minute discussion of eruvim hosted by Yale and Yeshiva Universities in the fall of 2012 and spring of 2013.
As chair of the Manhattan Eruv Committee, he oversaw its maintenance and expansion. He is a member of the UJA-Federation board of directors, past-president of the New York Board of Rabbis, and a member of the national council of American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
He also serves as a religious judge for the Rabbinical Council of America’s Beth Din for conversion.
Before coming to Manhattan he was for six years Rabbi of the Ohel Leah Synagogue in Hong Kong. He traveled extensively in the former Soviet Union, establishing Jewish educational programs and a leadership training seminar.
News Coverage of Israel Criticized
 Map shows eruv around Manhattan.Click to enlarge. There are 25 notes that fine tune eruv boundaries. |
Rabbi Kermaier was one of the speakers at a program at the Fifth Avenue Synagogue Dec. 20, 2011 at which media were mostly criticized for their coverage of Israel.
Criminal defense attorney Benjamin Brafman said Israel is "unfairly ostracized" in the media, a view that was shared by two other panelists, Ronn Torossian, CEO of 5W Public Relations, and James Taranto, editor of the Wall Street Journal’s online opinion page.
Taranto said WSJ presents a "balanced view" of the Middle East. He called on Israel to employ more PR people and fewer military veterans in PR roles.
The panel was co-sponsored by the Algemeiner newspaper and the Gershon Jacobson Foundation.
Panelists in the Yale/Yeshiva-sponsored videotaped discussion noted the difficulty of erecting an eruv in Manhattan as well as the cost of maintaining it. Construction took "an enormous amount of time," said Rabbi Berman, associate professor, Yeshiva University.
When the Parks and other departments resisted placement of eruv materials on Park Dept. property, Mayor Ed Koch "came down hard on them," he said. Permission was aso obtained from Verizon, Con Ed, State Highway Dept., and NYC Highway Dept.
Maggie Moran, who is well-connected in New Jersey and New York Democratic politics, has established Moxie Strategies in Asbury Park, NJ.
Husch Blackwell Strategies has added FleishmanHillard alum Michael Slatin as a principal in its public affairs group.
Rory Cooper, a veteran Republican operative and policy specialist, has joined Teneo’s Washington office as senior managing director in its strategy & communications practice.
Brian Fallon, who served as national press secretary for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential run, is signing on next month as Vice President’s Kamala Harris’ campaign communications director.
TikTok is nothing more than a Chinese propaganda tool that poses “a grave threat to America’s national security and, in particular, impressionable children and young adults,” say two Congressmen who want the platform registered as a foreign agent.
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