Tag Archives: UNICEF

Jew of the Week: Aly Raisman

Aly Raisman at the 2016 Rio Olympics (Credit: Fernando Frazao/Agencia Brasil)

Aly Raisman at the 2016 Rio Olympics (Credit: Fernando Frazao/Agencia Brasil)

Alexandra Rose Raisman (b. 1994) was born in Massachusetts. As the eldest daughter of a gymnast, she was introduced to gymnastics at just two years old, and was inspired by watching that year’s Olympics US women’s team. At 14, she started competing in both national and international events. After two successful years, she signed as a professional athlete and received sponsorship from Ralph Lauren. The following year, she tried out for the American Olympic team and placed third overall. Raisman made it to the 2012 London Olympics as part of the team nicknamed the “Fierce Five”. She dedicated her floor routine (set to the tune of Hava Nagila) to the Israeli terror victims of the 1972 Munich Olympics (see it here). It won her the gold medal, making her the first American woman to win a gold medal in floor exercise. She went on to win two gold medals and one bronze medal – the most decorated American gymnast at the London games. She returned to the 2016 Rio games as captain of the team nicknamed the “Final Five” (since the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo will switch to a four-team format, and the US team will have a different coach). Raisman has won three more medals in Rio – a gold and two silvers – making her the second most decorated Olympic gymnast in American history. Away from the Olympics, she has won over a dozen other medals at the World Championships, the Pacific Rim Championships, and the American Cup. Raisman has also appeared on the television shows Dancing With the Stars and Gold Medal Families, and was featured in the documentary Aly Raisman: Quest for Gold. When she isn’t training, Raisman often volunteers with the Special Olympics and with UNICEF, among other organizations. In 2013, she lit the flames at the Maccabiah Games in Israel.

Words of the Week

Cherish criticism, for it will place you on the true heights.
– Rabbi Sholom Dov Ber of Lubavitch

Jew of the Week: Stephen Lewis

Stephen Lewis

Stephen Lewis

Stephen Henry Lewis (b. 1937) was born in Ottawa on Remembrance Day, and thus named Shalom by his parents. His grandfather was a member of the Jewish Bund in Russia, while his father was a key figure in the CCF – the predecessor to the modern NDP party. Lewis studied at the University of Toronto where he was a member of the debating team and went head-to-head with notable figures such as future president John F. Kennedy. Lewis also studied at the University of British Columbia. After dropping out from both U of T and UBC, he joined Socialist International and was sent to a conference in Ghana. Inspired by what he saw, Lewis stayed in Africa to work and teach across the continent. Returning to Canada, he became head of Ontario’s NDP, and quickly propelled the party to new popularity, doubling their seats in Parliament to become the Official Opposition. He moved on to be Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, also working as the director of UNICEF, and later a UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa. Lewis has written a popular book, Race Against Time, based on his experiences in Africa, and chairs the Stephen Lewis Foundation, which works to combat Africa’s HIV/AIDS epidemic. He is also a co-founder of AIDS-Free World. Lewis has received the Order of Canada, the World Citizenship Award, and has been described as one of the world’s “most powerful feminists”. Recently, he has had two schools named after him in the Greater Toronto Area, both called Stephen Lewis Secondary School.

 

Words of the Week

…any man of all the inhabitants of the earth, whose spirit has moved him and whose mind has given him to understand to set himself aside to stand before God to serve Him, to worship Him, to know God and walk justly as God has created him, and he cast from his neck the yoke of the many calculations that men seek – this man has become sanctified, a holy of holies, and God shall be his portion and his lot forever, and shall grant him his needs in this world…
– Maimonides (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Sabbaticals and Jubilees 13:13)