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The economic impact of the global pandemic has been felt all around the world, including in one of the most famous retail mecca’s in the world – Beverly Hills. Thanks to a resourceful solution that improves business with an altruistic twist, many will benefit.

As Chair of the Women’s International Zionist Organization (WIZO) for Los Angeles, my focus during this most difficult time of COVID 19 has been raising funds to help WIZO projects in Israel, benefitting women and children. While our goals are fundraising for Israel, we have felt a commitment to our “Chaverot” (friends) at home, as we work on behalf of the State of Israel.

In 1920, WIZO was founded. Two of the founders included Dr. Vera Weizmann, whose husband Dr. Chaim Weizmann was the first President of Israel and Rebecca Sieff, who served as WIZO’s first President and whose family owned Marks & Spencer.  They held the belief that to enable women to realize their full potential and take part in the building of a national homeland, they must be taught to use modern technologies. A framework for women’s vocational training had to be established. An independent women’s organization would enable women to develop their organizational talents and professional skills. They believed that a separate organization would further this aim.

For a century, WIZO has been helping to raise a nation as the largest social services provider outside of the government with day care centers, youth villages, shelters for battered women, girl’s leadership programs, vocational training, senior centers and so much more. WIZO USA has also assumed responsibility for the Eli & Marion Wiesel Beit Tziporah Centers in Israel, primarily focused on assisting youth of Ethiopian descent with after school and summer programmes to progress academically.

Today, WIZO has 250,000 volunteers across the globe, with over 54 Federations committed to each other and to projects in Israel. In Los Angeles, we have “committed ourselves to empowering women at home as we work to empower women in Israel.”

Under the leadership of Lauren Cohen, a Career and Executive Coach, WIZO launched this Summer, our Women for Israel Forum this Summer. The Forum serves as a community of women who network with each other to build their businesses while committing to a minimum gift to Israel. The price is nominal $18 a month or $180 a year and includes a range of marketing opportunities. The Forum has almost 50 members that include art dealers, attorneys, medical professionals, and chefs. Women are at various stages of their careers and have agreed to mentor and connect, bringing forward a new generation while ensuring new avenues for all.

While the Forum is a significant priority for WIZO Los Angeles, we felt the imperative to take our efforts to the next level. With most famous retail zip code in the world, 90210 is faced with empty storefronts.  WIZO Los Angeles is seeking a higher level of commitment from our Beverly Hills community while helping Israel.

“Beverly Hills is a magical place where dreams come true. WIZO wants to create spaces where glamour, talent, friendship, inspiration, and business all intersect. Let us shine more light on our already amazing City, while empowering women locally and in Israel. Our value is not just who you know but also how we give and share” explains Lauren Cohen, also the WIZO Los Angeles Leadership Chair.

Our vision this Fall is to partner with property owners and entrepreneurs to create pop up group shops and incubator centers to help women foster their businesses while providing additional vibrancy to the community with a percentage of all sales or corporate gifts benefiting the work of WIZO in Israel. We are taking the legacy of Vera Weizmann and Rebecca Sieff to a new century, helping women fulfill their potential and working on behalf of Israel.

To join our work, please contact Gina Raphael, Chair WIZO Los Angeles gina@wizousa.org. Visit us at www.wizola.org.

There has been every opportunity for Gaza to become its own version “Start up Nation” like Israel, with blooming agriculture and beautiful beaches.
When Israel disengaged from Gaza in 2005, the farmers of the Gush Katif area (approximately 20 communities with almost 10,000 residents) were responsible for 15 percent of Israel’s agricultural exports. With love, they literally made the sand dunes bloom. The opportunity existed to expand upon this richness when Israel left the Region. Instead, the Strip has become a Region of misery, despair and hatred.
Hamas, which has been recognized as a terrorist organization by the US, Canada and the EU has run the Gaza strip for more than a decade, beginning shortly after the disengagement. They have misused donations meant for human aid to enrich their leaders, built terror tunnels to infiltrate Israel, used schools and hospitals as cover to shoot missiles, and have sent explosive balloons across the border to Israel to harm children. Hamas denies their people basic human rights including freedom of speech. Children are taught in schools to hate and to kill.
On an almost weekly basis, Hamas sent rioters including children to the border with Israel, hoping for them to be shot and provide negative media coverage against Israel. The cycle of violence and hatred has basically gone unchecked by the public world. Gaza has almost two million residents who live under this tyrannical existence. And, Israel on the other side is affected constantly from these attacks.
Where is the outrage against Hamas and the other terrorist organizations operating in the region in addition to the funders of this terrorism for over a decade? We continue to hope for real change and a positive outcome for so many.
We can only advocate and bring light to the truth of the horrors of Hamas. And, we can work to make a difference in Israel. We can find ways to help those in harm’s way and say thank you to those who keep us safe.
This January, I had the opportunity to meet again Mayor Alon Davidi of Sderot who lives with his family and a community of over 28,000 literally one mile from the border with Gaza. They have been a target of constant barrage of rockets.
I am so honored to be part of The Women’s International Zionist Organization (WIZO), that provides rocket proof day care centers to children attending school and therapy to those affected by PTSD from the constant attacks in Sderot. Not only is Sderot surviving, under the leadership of Mayor Davidi they are thriving. They continue to build their community despite attacks of Kassam Rockets from the Gaza Strip.
Last month, I also began fulfilling a promise made during the summer of 2019 to an American Soldier serving in the IDF to provide extra assistance to soldiers who face challenges. Unity Warriors founded by Ben Goldstein, distributes supplies not provided by the IDF and items that are often too expensive for the soldiers to provide for themselves.
We decided to bring a gift of a high-powered flashlights to a Battalion of soldiers serving at the Gaza border, a small token to help them see more clearly when they patrol the area at night.
The highlight of my trip was bringing these needed supplies of light and thanking these soldiers who fulfill their duty in keeping Israel safe. Day by day they ensure that those of us Jews that live in Israel and in the diaspora will always have a safe haven in Israel.
These soldiers face a reality every day at the border that is hard to understand. They do this with grace, dignity and honor amid explosive balloons, missiles, terrorist attacks and humans looking to flee the misery of Hamas living in sparse conditions.
I came to thank the soldiers, but they came to thank me. They thanked me for visiting and listening to their stories about their life at the border and their hopes for the future. They inspired me so much as well as giving me a gift of badges of the Israeli flag. Together we got to share our pride of Israel.
It was beyond meaningful to walk the border at Gaza and deliver my own prayer for peace for the future. On the site, I visited “Path to Peace,” a mosaic wall created by thousands who have the same vision. While we stand strong against hatred, we work towards and pray for peace & love. As we literally brought light to the soldiers, we pray for the light of justice to make a difference in Gaza.

 

February 1, 2020
HRH The Prince of Wales
Clarence House, London
SW1A1BA
United Kingdom

Dear Sir:

Thank you for addressing world leaders on the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Israel on January 23rd. I was most moved by your words that “we must be fearless in confronting falsehoods and resolute in resisting words and acts of violence.”

Given this strong and powerful message, I was surprised and disappointed with your words spoken and message conveyed during visit with Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, the very next day in Bethlehem.

The” falsehoods” that you called out the day prior are the ones that emanate from the Palestinian Authority. Mr. Abbas is currently in the 15th year of a 4-year elected term. He serves unchecked as a dictator without any accountability. He terrorizes his own people with limited freedom of speech and arrests those that associate with Jews or sells property to them.

Under his leadership, Christians now make up less than 2 percent of the population in Bethlehem once a dominant Christian community. The Christians are subjected to discrimination and suffer great difficulty in living in Bethlehem.

Mr. Abbas has operated unfettered with mismanagement of monies provided. Billions of dollars in aid from the US, EU and several other donor countries has flowed to Mr. Abbas. A lack of accountability and transparency from the Palestinian Authority has deprived Palestinians of a significant part of the funds while Mr. Abbas lives in a $20MM palace. Money has flowed into the hands of the greedy rather than into infrastructure, business development and welfare.

Beyond corruption, Mr. Abbas and the Palestinian Authority have used these funds to encourage violence. It is estimated in 2019 that $149.7 MM went for annual payments to security prisoners, terrorist “martyrs” and their families, encouraging people to kill Jews.

Instead of visiting with Mr. Abbas, I wished you had visited the sights of those killed by Mr. Abbas’ pay for slay program. I was in the region while you were there and made my commitment to bear witness where Ari Fuld (father of four), Dvir Sorek (an 18-year-old Yeshiva student) and teenagers Naftali, Gilad & Eyal were murdered. I saw young lives taken away simply because they were Jews. Those who murdered them, solely because they were Jews, were paid approximately three times the amount they would have made working a regular job. The ramifications of this pay to slay program are monumental. I can only imagine what you might do if this program were to take hold in Britain.

When you visited Bethlehem, you spoke there that “It breaks my heart… that we should continue to see so much suffering and division. No one arriving in Bethlehem today could miss the signs of continued hardship and the situation you face.” The suffering is due to the choices made by the Palestinian Authority but does not accurately describe the vibrancy that does exist in many areas.

I also saw those who have made great success in their lives. I visited towns with Muslims that had thriving industry, large homes and luxury cars. I saw people that have chosen to focus on success not terror.

I had the honor to hear from Daniel Birnbaum whose company, SodaStream, embodies cooperation across Arabs, Jews & Bedouins to great success. While driven out of this area by those who choose to Boycott, Divest & Sanction Israel, SodaSteam relocated to Rahat and provides a model of coexistence between Jews, Arabs & Bedouins. This is only one example of co-existence.

At a time when anti-Semitic activity is at an all-time high, your failure to call out Mr. Abbas on his dishonesty and incitement of violence ignites the flame that encourages hatred. Your words do not bring peace but dehumanize & minimize the lives of those brutally murdered.

At every opportunity, including the most recent by President Trump, Mr. Abbas has turned down plans to aid his people and create his own “Start Up Nation.” Mr. Abbas does not seek peace; he acts as a despot and seeks the destruction of the State of Israel.

Sir, we praise your family and your grandmother’s commitment to Jewish people at a most difficult time. However, at this juncture we must stand strong against hatred and stand firm on values of inherent democracy and decency.
Regina Raphael
Los Angeles, California

February 1, 2020
HRH The Prince of Wales
Clarence House, London
SW1A1BA
United Kingdom

Dear Sir:

Thank you for addressing world leaders on the 75thanniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Israel on January 23rd. I was most moved by your words that “we must be fearless in confronting falsehoods and resolute in resisting words and acts of violence.”

Given this strong and powerful message, I was surprised and disappointed with your words spoken and message conveyed during visit with Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, the very next day in Bethlehem.

The” falsehoods” that you called out the day prior are the ones that emanate from the Palestinian Authority. Mr. Abbas is currently in the 15th year of a 4-year elected term. He serves unchecked as a dictator without any accountability. He terrorizes his own people with limited freedom of speech and arrests those that associate with Jews or sells property to them.

Under his leadership, Christians now make up less than 2 percent of the population in Bethlehem once a dominant Christian community. The Christian are subjected to discrimination and suffer great difficulty in living in Bethlehem.

Mr. Abbas has operated unfettered with mismanagement of monies provided. Billions of dollars in aid from the US, EU and several other donor countries has flowed to Mr. Abbas. A lack of accountability and transparency from the Palestinian Authority has deprived Palestinians of a significant part of the funds while Mr. Abbas lives in a $20MM palace. Money has flowed into the hands of the greedy rather than into infrastructure, business development and welfare.

Beyond corruption, Mr. Abbas and the Palestinian Authority have used these funds to encourage violence. It is estimated in 2019 that $149.7 MM went for annual payments to security prisoners, terrorist “martyrs” and their families, encouraging people to kill Jews.

Instead of visiting with Mr. Abbas, I wished you had visited the sights of those killed by Mr. Abbas’ pay for slay program. I was in the region while you were there and made my commitment to bear witness where Ari Fuld (father of four), Dvir Sorek (an 18-year-old Yeshiva student) and teenagers Naftali, Gilad & Eyal were murdered. I saw young lives taken away simply because they were Jews. Those who murdered them, solely because they were Jews, were paid approximately three times the amount they would have made working a regular job. The ramifications of this pay to slay program are monumental. I can only imagine what you might do if this program were to take hold in Britain.

When you visited Bethlehem, you spoke there that “It breaks my heart… that we should continue to see so much suffering and division. No one arriving in Bethlehem today could miss the signs of continued hardship and the situation you face.” The suffering is due to the choices made by the Palestinian Authority but does not accurately describe the vibrancy that does exist in many areas.

I also saw those who have made great success in their lives. I visited towns with Muslims that had thriving industry, large homes and luxury cars. I saw people that have chosen to focus on success not terror.

I had the honor to hear from Daniel Birnbaum whose company, SodaStream, embodies cooperation across Arabs, Jews & Bedouins to great success. While driven out of this area by those who choose to Boycott, Divest & Sanction Israel, SodaSteam relocated to Rahat and provides a model of coexistence between Jews, Arabs & Bedouins. This is only one example of co-existence.

At a time when anti-Semitic activity is at an all-time high, your failure to call out Mr. Abbas on his dishonesty and incitement of violence ignites the flame that encourages hatred. Your words do not bring peace but dehumanize & minimize the lives of those brutally murdered.

At every opportunity, including the most recent by President Trump, Mr. Abbas has turned down plans to aid his people and create his own “Start Up Nation.” Mr. Abbas does not seek peace; he acts as a despot and seeks the destruction of the State of Israel.

Sir, we praise your family and your grandmother’s commitment to Jewish people at a most difficult time. However, at this juncture we must stand strong against hatred and stand firm on values of inherent democracy and decency.
Regina Raphael
Los Angeles, California

 

December 21, 2019

Ms. Alice Cichon
Offensive Crayons, LLC
1820 Avenue M
Unit #370
Brooklyn, NY 11230
info@offensivecrayons.com

Dear Ms. Cichon,

Congratulations on starting a new Company. As someone who has been in  marketing & merchandising for over 30 years, I know how difficult it is to develop & market new products that break through the clutter in the retail space. I also understand the barriers that can’t be crossed in the process.

I am reaching out to you regarding Offensive Crayons. Your crayon of “Auschwitz Ash” and “Little Dictators” (coloring book featuring Adolf Hitler) are intolerable.

During the Holocaust, 6 million Jews were murdered by the Nazis. At, Auschwitz- Birkenau, Jews were sent to gas chambers and their bodies cremated to ASH following in the ovens. More than one million Jews were murdered at Auschwitz.

Hitler compared Jews to germs. He stated that diseases cannot be controlled unless you destroy their causes. Hitler set out to exterminate the Jews across the world and eliminated 2/3 of the Jews in Europe. Featuring Adolph Hitler in a coloring book trivializes the horrors he committed.

According to Rabbi David Saperstein, “the Holocaust is used as the ultimate benchmark for our generation of the worst atrocity ever committed against one group of people.”

I keep a book in my office to remind me every day of the atrocities committed by the Nazis. The book has the word JEW written on each page with 40 columns per page and 120 lines per page. The word JEW is written 4800 times per page and there are 1250 pages in the book. The book contains the word JEW 6,000,000 times, conveying the magnitude of the tragedy.

At a time when anti-Semitic activity is at an all-time high, your products ignite the flame that encourages hatred by dehumanizing & minimizing the lives of those brutally murdered.

Holocaust distortion is a form of antisemitism, prejudice against or hatred of Jews. Holocaust distorters generally perpetuate long-standing anti-Semitic stereotypes, hateful beliefs that helped lay the groundwork for the Holocaust. Holocaust distortion & misuse undermine the truth and our understanding of history.

While I will not comment on the acceptability or not of your other products, I am reaching out to ask that these products (and those like them) noted be removed immediately and forever from the marketplace.

Thank you so much.

Regina Raphael
Los Angeles, Ca

December 18, 2019

Ms. Nina Garcia
Elle Magazine, Editor in Chief
Hearst Publications
1633 Broadway
New York, NY 10019

Dear Ms. Garcia,
I’m a longtime reader of Elle Magazine as well as a retailer who has been selling Elle in my chain of pharmacies for many years.
I am reaching out to share my disappointment & concern with Aimee Allison’s article “20 Women of Color in Politics to Watch in 2020.”
The decision of Ms. Allison to include both Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Linda Sarsour in the article is shocking given their vocal anti-Semitic positions. The article puts these women on a pedestal to exemplify them as role models when in fact their moral compass is reproachable.
With the significant increase in anti-Semitic incidents in America including the murder of a Jewish woman, a mother of 3, in a shooting last week in New Jersey, an attack on a Jewish woman in the New York Subway this week and death threats to an 89 year old Holocaust survivor in Italy, Elle should be concerned about personal bias of its authors & empowering anti- Semitic endorsers.
Ms. Allison praises Rep. Tlaib for “courage & integrity to speak the truth.” However, Rep. Tlaib is the same woman who refers to the Holocaust using the words that it had “calming effect” in the face of the murder of six million Jews. Rep Tlaib has posted an anti- Semitic cartoon and frequents with known Holocaust deniers.
Linda Sarsour is praised by Ms. Allison for “her radical love for her community,” but associates with the terrorist group Hamas and spews hatred about Jews. Ms. Sarsour is highlighted in the article for her work in The Women’s March but was in fact fired from the organization for her anti-Semitic views, which Ms. Allison simply ignores.
Ms. Sarsour also holds that Zionist women cannot be true feminists.
Ms. Sarsour holds “Ask them this, how can you be against white supremacy in America and the idea of being in a state based on race and class, but then you support a state like Israel that is based on supremacy, that is built on the idea that Jews are supreme to everyone else,” and that support for Israel as a state is unacceptable in the progressive movement.”
At a time when anti Semitic activity is at an all time high, statements like these do nothing but ignite the flame that encourages hatred. Ms. Sarsour spewing hate gives rise and empowers antisemitic action.
Elle magazine, by giving prominence to both women, legitimized their hate speech and, via proxy, promotes antisemitic action
By sharing falsehoods your publication takes a role in increasing the spread of anti-Semitism & puts women that you seek to empower at risk.
Please help me understand with your blatant disregard for true journalism, why we should continue to support your magazine?
Regina Raphael
Beverly Hills, California

December 18, 2019

Ms. Nina Garcia
Elle Magazine, Editor in Chief
Hearst Publications
1633 Broadway
New York, NY 10019

Dear Ms. Garcia,

I’m a longtime reader of Elle Magazine as well as a retailer who has been selling Elle in my chain of pharmacies for many years.

I am reaching out to share my disappointment & concern with Aimee Allison’s article “20 Women of Color in Politics to Watch in 2020.”

The decision of Ms. Allison to include both Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Linda Sarsour in the article is shocking given their vocal anti-Semitic positions. The article puts these women on a pedestal to exemplify them as role models when in fact their moral compass is reproachable.

With the significant increase in anti-Semitic incidents in America including the murder of a Jewish woman, a mother of 3, in a shooting last week in New Jersey, an attack on a Jewish woman in the New York Subway this week and death threats to an 89 year old Holocaust survivor in Italy, Elle should be concerned about personal bias of its authors & empowering anti- Semitic endorsers.

Ms. Allison praises Rep. Tlaib for “courage & integrity to speak the truth.” However, Rep. Tlaib is the same woman who refers to the Holocaust using the words that it had “calming effect” in the face of the murder of six million Jews. Rep Tlaib has posted an anti- Semitic cartoon and frequents with known Holocaust deniers.

Linda Sarsour is praised by Ms. Allison for “her radical love for her community,” but associates with the terrorist group Hamas and spews hatred about Jews. Ms. Sarsour is highlighted in the article for her work in The Women’s March but was in fact fired from the organization for her anti-Semitic views, which Ms. Allison simply ignores.

Ms. Sarsour also holds that Zionist women cannot be true feminists.

Ms. Sarsour holds “Ask them this, how can you be against white supremacy in America and the idea of being in a state based on race and class, but then you support a state like Israel that is based on supremacy, that is built on the idea that Jews are supreme to everyone else,” and that support for Israel as a state is unacceptable in the progressive movement.”
At a time when anti Semitic activity is at an all time high, statements like these do nothing but ignite the flame that encourages hatred. Ms. Sarsour spewing hate gives rise and empowers antisemitic action.
Elle magazine, by giving prominence to both women, legitimized their hate speech and, via proxy, promotes antisemitic action
By sharing falsehoods your publication takes a role in increasing the spread of anti-Semitism & puts women that you seek to empower at risk.

Please help me understand with your blatant disregard for true journalism, why we should continue to support your magazine?

Regina Raphael
Beverly Hills, Californi

Traveling with my husband on a plane from New York to Los Angeles on a Summer Sunday morning twenty- two years ago, we read a New York Times article by chance that would change our lives. The article shared a story about an Observant Jewish family that adopted a daughter from China. We read the article and literally on that flight knew how our family would come to life.

After three adoptions, a dear friend told me that the souls of my children were with me at Mt. Sinai and we just needed to take this route to come together as a family. I initially told this story to my children as a comforting story & perhaps not believing the reality of it. As time has passed though, I have come to believe this with all my heart as the message that shaped our legacy. While my children are not “of me” they are truly “of me” in every way possible. It just took a different route to bring us together.

Adopting from China has had its challenges with the Jewish Community as we have evolved as a family. Initially, an orthodox synagogue & others didn’t want to assist us as we weren’t religious enough. As we became more observant, we were isolated from reform congregations who thought we were too religious. Wounding comments followed over the years, but through love and commitment, we raised three amazing “Zionistas” and focused our efforts on a creating Jewish home and making sure Jewish homeland was always a paramount in our family. We have made a strong commitment to Israel & the Jewish community at home and have been blessed with support by so many.

As we approach the new year, I hope that we work harder to ensure the doors of Judaism welcome everyone, especially Jews who have chosen to convert. Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, we are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel (Ruth 4:11).”

For the year ahead, my heart is also with the remaining Jewish community in China. The Jewish Community in China flourished for over a millennium before assimilation & intermarriage brought its collective demise in the 19th Century. The Jews of China emerged as a community from travels along the Silk Road after the destruction of the Temple. There is a small community remaining looking to make Aliyah and we hope the opportunity for them to come to Israel and finalize their conversions in Israel.

Thank you Michael Freund, founder of Shavei Israel (shavei.org), whose dedication for bringing home Jews from China and lost Tribes from across the globe is so inspirational. His commitment to ensure Israel is a homeland to all Jews is overwhelming. This year I dedicate to support the work of Shavei Israel in bringing those Chinese Jews home to Israel.

I am overwhelmed by my love for my Dani, Sydney & Mia for the gifts they are to me, and the world. With the new year upon us, we can all work to make difference in the world with love & compassion. Shana Tova Umetukah.