H EADLINES
NEWSBRIEFS Arizona Jews Sue to Stop State from Using Hydrogen
Cyanide (Zyklon B) at Executions
LEADERS OF ARIZONA’S JEWISH COMMUNITY are suing the
state to prevent it from using hydrogen cyanide — the same lethal gas
deployed at Auschwitz — to carry out executions, JTA reported.

Th e Nazis used pellets of Zyklon B, a hydrogen cyanide formu-
lation, in the gas chambers at Auschwitz and other death camps.

Using the gas in United States executions is “tantamount to
approving of what the Nazis did,” said Janice Friebaum, former
vice president and spokesperson for the Phoenix Holocaust
Association. “It’s a very painful way to kill a person, and it’s
fundamentally inhumane. To think that it was done to millions
of people during the Holocaust is horrifi c enough, but to think
that 70 to 80 years later we’re thinking of using it as a method of
capital punishment is mind-boggling.”
Arizona stopped executions by lethal gas in 1992 but allowed
for its uses for people who had already been sentenced; that
leaves 17 people potentially subject to that form of execution.

JFNA Names Ben Platt’s Mom as Chair
Julie Platt was named as the second woman to chair the
Jewish Federations of North America, one of the largest Jewish
fundraising organizations in the United States, JTA reported.

Platt is a one-time banker who has become a leader in promoting
Jewish education and also is musical star Ben Platt’s mom.

Th e JFNA brought in $270 million in 2019.

An organization news release said that Platt has chaired the
Los Angeles Jewish Federation and chairs JFNA’s fundraising
campaign and its eff ort to enhance security protection.

Platt will formally succeed Mark Wilf this summer.

Florida Parent Arrested After Making Threats About
Orthodox Day School Mask Mandate
A parent of a child at an Orthodox Jewish day school in North Miami
Beach was arrested aft er saying he wanted to “burn this school to the
f***ing ground” in a group chat, JTA reported, citing CBS Miami.

Mark Polyakov’s son was a student at Scheck Hillel Community
School, which requires students to wear masks indoors and outdoors.

Polyakov reportedly wrote several messages in a group chat
of about 70 parents opposed to the mask policy called “No more
masks hillel” on Feb. 8 in which he said he wanted to burn the
school. Police arrested Polyakov on Feb. 14 aft er another parent in
the chat reported his comments to the school administration. He
was charged with one count of threatening to kill or do bodily
harm, which can result in up to 15 years in prison and $10,000 in
fi nes. His son was expelled.

February 27, 2022
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German Dictionary Changes Defi nition of ‘Jew’
A German dictionary entry for the word “Jew” was changed aft er
members of the country’s Jewish community called the defi ni-
tion problematic, JTA reported.

Th e defi nition off ered by the Duden dictionary included a
note that the term is sometimes used as a derogatory slur, in
addition to being the simplest way of referring to Jews.

But German Jews pushed back against the inclusion of the use
of the word “Jew” as a slur, saying the term is the correct one and
should be used without qualifi cation.

Th e entry was updated on Feb. 14 and included the Central
Council of Jews in Germany’s approval of the use of the term. ●
— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb
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