Author to speak on role of Jews in Italian resistance

OCTOBER 24 - NOVEMBER 6, 2014
JEWISH PRESS of TAMPA A PAGE 7
Author to speak on role of
Jews in Italian resistance
at Israel Bonds luncheon
Bestselling
author Alyson
Richman will be the featured
speaker at an Israel Bonds
luncheon on Friday, Nov. 7 at
11:30 a.m. at the Centre Club in
Tampa.
Richman is the author of the
nationally
bestselling
novel,
The Lost Wife, as well as three
other historical novels: The Mask
Carver’s Son, The Rhythm of
Memory, and The Last Van Gogh.
Her newest novel, The Garden
of Letters, was published in
September.
Richman is the daughter of an
abstract painter and an engineer
and her novels are known for
weaving art with extensive
historical research. Her books
have received critical acclaim,
having been reviewed favorably in
The New York Times Book Review,
The Dallas Morning News, Los
Angeles Times, and many other
national publications.
She will talk about her
research within the Italian Jewish
community for The Garden of
Letters and the role of Jewish
citizens in the underground
ADL: Jewish
institutions had
websites hacked
Last week, a hacker group
calling itself Team System Dz
attacked the website of Temple
Kol Ami Emmanuel in Plantation,
redirecting visitors to a page with
messages expressing support of
the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria
(ISIS).
The Anti-Defamation League
(ADL) issued a statement
condemning the hacking and
noted it is the latest in a series
of
attacks
against
Jewish
institutional websites carried out
by groups apparently based in the
Middle East and North Africa.
While past hacking efforts against
Jewish institutions have focused
on the Israeli Palestinian conflict,
more recent attacks against Jewish
and non-Jewish targets are being
carried out in the name of ISIS,
and the group has threatened
additional
attacks
against
American and Israeli websites.
Past hacking incidents include:
• In July 2014, The Moroccan
Islamic
Union-mail
hacker
group claimed responsibility for
vandalizing the websites of Jewish
congregations in Pennsylvania
and Houston with messages in
support of Gaza.
• In December 2013, the Tunisia
based group, Fallaga, hacked the
website of the Missouri-based
Jewish Radio.
• In July 2013, the website of
a Jewish communal high school
program in upstate New York was
hacked by a member of the Gaza
Hackers Team. The website was
defaced with anti-Israel messages.
Other hacker groups like
aljyyosh (“the armies” in Arabic)
claim to have hacked into
personal information belonging
to American Jews and Israelis
and provided instructions on
how to hack into such personal
information on their various
online forums.
ADL
encourages
Jewish
institutions to review security
procedures and recommends
action steps, which can be
found
at
http://philadelphia.
adl.org/2014/10/15/adlsecuritybulletin-october-14-2014
resistance.
The book
features
a
young
w o m a n Alyson Richman
– a gifted cellist – who is drawn
to the resistance movement when
Mussolini’s regime strikes her
family in Verona, Italy. She aids
the Italian resistance but is forced
to flee after a resistance leader she
is in love with dies. She arrives
in Portofino, Italy, in 1943 with
poorly forged identity papers and
is rescued from German officers
by a young doctor who gives
her sanctuary. The two aid the
resistance through their musical
and medical talents in a story of
love, heartbreak and bravery.
Cost for the luncheon is $50
per person, or $25 for young
professionals. The Centre Club is
located on the eighth floor of the
building at 123 S. Westshore Blvd.
For additional information or
for those wishing to put together a
table for the event, contact Monica
DiGiovanni at Israel Bonds:
monica.digiovanni@israelbonds.
com or (727) 282-1124.
Mazel tov…
To Russ Oberbroeckling, who is to be
honored Friday, Nov. 21 at the Centre Club’s
Breakfast of Champions® event for his work
as founder and commissioner of Buddy
Baseball in Tampa. This is a league that
enables boys and girls with special needs to
play baseball with the assistance of a buddy.
It allows players to experience the thrill of
participating, team play and camaraderie.
He is also a financial adviser for One
Team Financial Group and is a member of
Congregation Beth Am.
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