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The Fight to Free American Journalist Danny Fenster Continues

Congressman Andy Levin (D-MI) spent the Fourth of July holiday weekend at home, in Michigan’s 9th District, where he has served as its congressional representative for three years.  But between quality time with his family and their dogs, Levin made time to advocate for the life and freedom of Danny Fenster, a journalist and Michigander who is currently being held captive in Myanmar. “Here we are celebrating our independence day, July 4,” said Representative Levin during an interview with Moment. “What's the meaning of it? There's no idea of our country as a free country without a free press.” Fenster, 37, is the managing editor of Frontier Myanmar, a magazine covering news, politics and business in Myanmar. He was taken into custody at Yangon International Airport in Myanmar on May 24 while on his way to visit...

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Pandemic Strips Some Israeli Citizens Living Abroad of Their Right to Vote

Louis Fishman, a professor at Brooklyn College, usually splits his time between New York City, Tel Aviv and Istanbul. Since the beginning of the pandemic, he has been mainly staying in the U.S. but did travel to Istanbul and Israel, where his daughter is currently in school.  When visiting Israel in August 2020, Fishman had to quarantine upon arrival. “I had to go to a two-week hotel, big corona motel, basically,” he says, although the quarantine restrictions weren’t top notch. “Everyone was leaving their rooms, and we were all hanging out and together,” said Fishman. When one of his fellow travelers tested positive for coronavirus, anyone that had been in contact with them got sentenced to another two weeks in the hotel. Just a couple of months later, Israel closed the Ben Gurion Airport on January 25....

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Houston’s United Orthodox Synagogues Triumphs with Community-Based Vaccination Effort

On Monday, Gail Stalarow of Houston, TX received a text from an unknown number in a group chat a friend of hers had started.  “Alan Hoffman just called and said there are 850 shots at Methodist that need to be given out before noon today,” the text stated. It was 9:57 a.m.  After temperatures began to drop in Houston as freezing rain and sleet took hold of the city on February 15, Houston Methodist Hospital canceled vaccine appointments for that day and the following to keep locals off the now-dangerous, icy roads. But due to a fluctuation in the freezers that held the county's supply of usable vaccines, hundreds of first doses of the Moderna vaccine would go to waste if higher-ups at the hospital didn’t act fast. Similar vaccine gold rushes have occurred across the country.  “I had...

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An older adult receiving a vaccine and a young adult on a computer are shown.

GW Hillel Students Lend a Hand to Older Jewish Adults for Vaccine Signup

After talking with friends and family about how cumbersome the vaccine sign-up process was, Dava Schub noticed that the only success stories she’d come across involved a tech-savvy grandchild navigating the online vaccine registration for their grandparent.  And as CEO of Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center, Schub has developed a knack for community building. So, she reached out to Adena Kirstien, the executive director of Hillel at The George Washington University.  Thus, the Vaccine Sign-Up Support Project was born: Thanks to a partnership between GW Hillel and the Edlavitch Jewish Community Center, older Jewish adults can rely on the buddy system to help them get vaccinated.  Older Jewish adults sign up via a Google Form where they enter their contact information and indicate if they are DC, Maryland or Virginia resident. From there, older adults are matched with...

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