Israeli Aliyah and Integration Minister Ofir Sofer participated in an event in New York City hosted by the Manhattan Jewish Experience (MJE) on the occasion of Holocaust Remembrance Day.
"About eight decades after the Holocaust, we see an increase in antisemitism, on campuses, in the streets and in the public square. We see terrorist attacks and hate crimes against Jews, in Israel and throughout the world. We must speak, educate and act against antisemitism, in every place, in all its forms. This is our duty, both to the survivors and to our children," Minister Sofer said.
As part of Minister Sofer's meetings with members of the Jewish community in New York, he met in Manhattan with the CEO of the UJA-Federation of New York Eric Goldstein, the largest federation in the world and the main philanthropic organization of the Jewish community in New York.
Minister Sofer told Goldstein at their meeting: "The contribution of the Federation is significant for global Jews and the State of Israel in particular. I appreciate the important contribution of American Jews to the State of Israel. I am also attentive to the concerns that some of the American Jews have at this time. As someone who in the last year led a discourse of unity, I believe in the connection, communication dialogue between all the Jews of the world."
Sofer began his trip to New York with a visit to the "Ohel," the grave of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, and his father-in-law Rabbi Yosef Yitzhak Schneersohn, the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe. At the Ohel, he prayed for his trip to be a success.
Afterwards, he spoke with dozens of teenagers from the NCSY youth movement and talked with them about the State of Israel and the possibility that they may immigrate to Israel and join the IDF or national service.
He also visited Yeshiva University where he toured the campus and met with the Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Meir Goldwicht and the university President Rabbi Ari Berman.
"Yeshiva University is a historic institution, whose students are rabbis and Jewish leaders around the world. Quite a few YU graduates immigrated to Israel, and I see their integration in Israel as an important goal of mine," he said.