Rebuilding the Community: Jewish Life in Germany after the Shoah
18.11.2012
Even after the Shoah, Jews chose to settle in Germany. Who were these Jews, and why did they decide to remain in a country that had been hostile to their very existence only a few years earlier? How did they deal with antagonism by German neighbors and isolation by Jewish groups abroad? This talk explores the circumstances that led to a renewed Jewish community in post-Holocaust Germany and the alliances that permitted it to flourish.
Jay Geller is the Samuel Rosenthal Professor of Judaic Studies and Associate Professor of History at Case Western Reserve University. He specializes in Jewish history and modern European history, with a focus on Germany. He is the author of Jews in Post-Holocaust Germany, and co-editor of Three-Way Street: Germans, Jews, and the Transnational with Leslie Morris. He is currently writing a biography of Gershom Scholem and his family.
How and Where Will You #MakeItHappen?
06.11.2013
In October 2013, the Schusterman Philanthropic Network launched #MakeItHappen, a campaign inviting young people to submit inspired ideas for creating a Jewish experience that will make a meaningful difference in local/global communities. From the ideas submitted between October and December, 50 will be selected to receive a micro grant of up to $1,000 and five ideas could receive up to $5,000!
Press Conference Condemning The New York Post For Their Despicable Cover Story Of The Stark Killing
05.01.2014
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams kicked off a press conference at 3 P.M. today at Boro Hall with dozens of other elected officials, including New York City Public Advocate Letitia James and many Jewish community leaders, to publicly condemn the New York Post for its hateful front cover featuring Menachem Stark’s photo and the headline, “Who didn’t want him dead?
Jewish Community Outrage Over New York Post’s Coverage of Menachem Stark’s Murder
05.01.2014
BROOKLYN – Jewish community leaders and elected officials are outraged over the New York Post’s coverage of an Orthodox Jewish man’s murder and are calling for an apology.
The cover of this morning’s Post features a picture of Menachem Stark next to the head line “Who didn’t want him dead?” The article also calls him a “crooked slumlord.” At a press conference this afternoon at Borough Hall, Jewish community leaders joined elected officials in demanding the Post apologize to Stark’s family and pull the story.
Stark, 39, was kidnapped by two suspects Thursday night outside his office on Rutledge Street in Williamsburg. His dead body was found thrown in a dumpster at a Long Island gas station Saturday.
Jewish community leaders are offering a $10,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest and conviction in this case.
Jewish Leaders, Family of Menachem Stark Who Was Found Dead Offering Reward
06.01.2014
WILLIAMSBURG – Pleading for information, a tip, or even a clue, Jewish leaders and the family of Menachem “Max” Stark offered an incentive with a sizable reward of $25,000.
In surveillance video released by police, Stark can be seen in a violent struggle to free himself from two men attempting to abduct him as he left office on Rutledge Street during the blizzard on Thursday night.
Two days later, Stark’s burned body was discovered in a dumpster at a gas station in Great Neck.
“We are trying to get our lives together and move on, life will never be the same without Menachem,” said Abraham Buxbaum, Menachem’s brother in law.
Eyewitness News has learned from police sources that investigators are looking into whether the financial and business dealings of the slain landlord who owned rental properties had something to do with his murder. Denouncing published reports of troubles involving financial dealings, family members describe Stark as a good man.
“This is business, you can’t please 100 percent of the people100 percent of the time,” said Stark’s brother-in-law, Moses Strulowitz.
A business partner is also reportedly said to fear for his life and hiring body guards.
Thousands of mourners turned out Saturday night for Stark’s funeral in Brooklyn. Family members and friends say he was married and leaves behind eight children.
“Good things happen from good people, and the worst things happen from the words people, says Strulowitz, “God will punish them.”
NY Post Cover Of Murdered Jewish ‘Slumlord’ Gets Huge Backlash
06.01.2014
The headline on the New York Post’s cover Sunday about the kidnapping and killing of a Brooklyn man drew heavy criticism and left some calling for an apology from the newspaper known for being provocative.
The cover featured a photo of Menachem Stark, 39, accompanied by the words, “Who didn’t want him dead?”
Stark was found dead in a trash bin Friday with several injuries to his body, Sgt. Lee Jones of the New York Police Department told CNN.
Stark and his business partner own a real estate company called South Side Associates. The Post alleges that Stark owed thousands of dollars in penalties from dozens of Department of Building violations. The article also describes awful living conditions that his tenants allegedly endured.
“He pretty much ripped off the whole building,” the post quoted Ryan Kuonen, a tenant organizer.
Titled “Slain slumlord found in trash has enemies list a mile long,” the Post’s article paints Stark, who was the landlord of dozens of buildings, as a shady character with questionable business dealings. Police are not commenting on these allegations.
Stark’s family, who is trying to make sense of the death, remembers the father of seven as a generous community man.
“It really hurts that such a heinous crime, instead of being condemned, is glorified,” said Rabbi David Niederman, president of the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and North Brooklyn.
Niederman told CNN he does not know anything about Stark owing money or having legal problems. People may fall on hard times, but they work it out, he said.
The Post is giving people a “license to kill,” Niederman added.
Abraham Buxbaum, Stark’s brother-in-law, calls the Post’s reporting character assassination.
The article included comments from anonymous law enforcement officials and tenants.
“I’ve had many conversations with him, and of course in many of those conversations, I wanted to kill him,” the Post quoted Greg Hanlon, who lived in a Stark-owned building, as saying.
Buxbaum, who is also a landlord, said it is impossible to keep all tenants happy.
“The question is what is the motive? The motive might be to sell as many copies as possible or it could be that he is Jewish and a lot of people don’t like Jews. It makes you wonder,” Buxbaum told CNN.
New York state Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who issued a statement on Sunday condemning the Post’s reporting, said he was in “absolute shock” when he first read the article. It “almost justifies his murder,” added Hikind.
“The Post does not say Mr. Stark deserved to die, but our reporting showed that he had many enemies, which may have led to the commission of this terrible crime,” said a Post spokeswoman in a statement.
“I think what everyone wants is a simple apology,” said Hikind.
The Brooklyn landlord was last seen on surveillance video on Thursday walking out of his office. He struggled with two individuals who forced him into a Dodge Caravan, according to a police statement.
Stark’s body was found inside of a Long Island trash bin with burns to his torso and hands, and bruising to his head and neck, according to Jones. The case is under investigation.
Menachem Stark’s Family Defend Slain Brooklyn Landlord
06.01.2014
The family of a murdered Brooklyn landlord whose torched body was found on Friday has increased a reward in hopes of catching the killer or killers.
Relatives also defended Menachem “Max” Stark, a day after a New York Post cover story about the slaying called Stark a “slumlord” and included the headline “Who didn’t want him dead?”
As CBS 2’s John Slattery reported, the relatives and friends spoke of the pain felt by Stark’s widow and her children.
“Children do not have a father. A wife doesn’t have a husband,” said Rabbi David Niederman, a family friend. “Why? What did he do?”
Stark was a wealthy real estate developer and a father of seven.
Surveillance video shows Stark being abducted late Thursday night outside his office on Rutledge Street n South Williamsburg when two suspects struggled with him and forced him into a light-colored 2006 or 2007 Dodge Caravan.
A day later, Stark’s body was found inside a Dumpster at a Getty gas station on Cuttermill Road in Great Neck, Long Island.
Relatives Monday were furious about the New York Post article, which quoted police sources as saying Stark had a list of enemies so long that investigators didn’t know where to begin in solving the case. Stark also was deep in debt before he was killed and had made many shady real estate transactions, the Post reported.
“I hate the fact that I have to come here and defend a good man from people who like to gossip and want to talk nonsense,” Stark’s brother-in-law Moses Strulowitz told WCBS 880′s Alex Silverman.
“A guy that had over a thousand tenants … you’re not going to have a few unsatisfied tenants,” he added.
Real estate developer Menachem Stark with his family. Police said Stark was kidnapped from outside his Brooklyn office last week, a day before his body was found in a dumpster in Great Neck, Long Island. (Credit: Menachem Stark Family)
Real estate developer Menachem Stark with his family. Police said Stark was kidnapped from outside his Brooklyn office last week, a day before his body was found in a dumpster in Great Neck, Long Island. (Credit: Menachem Stark Family)
Rabbi Niederman said the reward for tips leading to Stark’s killer is up to $25,000.
“As time goes on, evidence and leads diminish, and that’s why they’re increasing that,” Niederman told 1010 WINS’ Al Jones.
Niederman said Stark’s kidnapping and death have sent a shock wave through the Hasidic community.
“When somebody is taken away in such a brutal manner, that is basically destroying everybody,” he said.
Meanwhile, because of the unusually brutal death, Stark’s long-time business partner, Israel Perlmutter, has employed a private security detail whom CBS 2 encountered outside his home.
Stark’s family, which has put up a $25,000 reward, commended NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton for coming to Brooklyn to check on the investigation.
Stark’s family would not say if they have a hunch about a motive. However, Assemblyman Joe Lentol, D-Brooklyn, speculated the 39-year-old father of eight might have been slain over money.
“He had some money that maybe he was carrying and maybe killed because he had money in his pocket,” Lentol said.
The family begged for people to come forward with tips for police to solve the mystery as to who killed Stark.
He left behind five girls and two boys — the oldest a 16-year-old girl.
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