Martin L. Johnson and Olinda Young of Phoenix, Arizona, have generously donated a 250-year-old Torah that was recovered from the Nazis to Virginia Commonwealth University. The couple are art and antique collectors with an interest in old Bibles. This is the not first Torah they have acquired and donated, butContinue Reading
By Debra Rubin, JNS.org The Shabbat of Memorial Day weekend later this month will mark a first in American Jewish life: Three New York City congregations representing the three major U.S. Jewish movements will daven from the same prayer book. Produced by the Jewish Welfare Board (JWB) JewishContinue Reading
By Robert Gluck, JNS.org Dr. Gary P. Zola sees an inextricable connection between American Jewish history, American history, and global Jewish history. “The study of the Jewish experience in the context of the American nation sheds light on the story of the nation itself,” Zola, executive director ofContinue Reading
Three undergraduates from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at Technion in Israel are developing an electronic guide dog for the blind. The students came up with the idea when one of them, Tzahi Simkin, saw a blind man struggling to cross the street. Simkin along with his two colleagues areContinue Reading
Amsterdam’s 18-year-old annual Pride Canal Parade will include, for the first time ever this year, a Jewish boat, which Monday, got the thumbs up from British actor Stephen Fry. The Jewish boat is scheduled to make waves on Amsterdam’s Prinsengracht canal on August 2. The ship was one of about 80Continue Reading
(JTA) — A California school district said it will change an eighth-grade assignment that asked students to argue whether or not the Holocaust happened. The writing assignment for eighth graders in the Rialto Unified School District asked students to write an argumentative essay about the Holocaust in which they mustContinue Reading
By Talia Bloch, JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA) — The group of young Jewish professionals had gathered to participate in the revival of a Sephardic tradition hearkening back to the days of their grandparents and great-grandparents. Arriving at an apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, they greeted eachContinue Reading
In a 5-4 decision handed down on Monday, the US Supreme Court reversed a lower appeals court decision in favor of a lawsuit brought by Susan Galloway (Jewish) and Linda Stephens (Atheist) in the upstate New York city of Greece. The plaintiffs held that the prayers should be nonsectarian, which the conservativeContinue Reading
By Ben Sales, JTA World News Service JERUSALEM (JTA) — When she decided to split up from her husband, she went before an Orthodox rabbinical court and, after two perfunctory hearings and little discussion, received a religious writ of divorce. It was only months later that the woman learned thatContinue Reading
Today, readers can find the full reprinted text of the Israeli Declaration of Independence from 1948 when opening the New York Times or USA Today. The full-page ad was funded by The Helmsley Charitable Trust and appeared in both paper’s Monday editions on the eve of Israel’s Independence Day (Yom Ha’atzmaut). Continue Reading
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Days before Israel’s 66th Independence Day, the Israeli population reached 8.18 million people, according to a report by the country’s Central Bureau of Statistics. This is more than 10 times the size of the population (806,000) when independence was declared in 1948. Israel’s Jewish population numbers aboutContinue Reading
Local Brooklyn blog reported today that a couple found a baby raccoon trapped within their apartment walls. When the couple realized the animal was reachable, they hammered through the wall and rescued the creature. The next day, the raccoon was collected by (and we’re not making this up) the NiceContinue Reading
WASHINGTON (JTA) — J Street failed to gain admission to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. The vote of Presidents Conference members Wednesday was 17 in favor, 22 against and three abstentions, according to four sources. “This is a sad day for us, but also for theContinue Reading
This week, the world said farewell to beloved British-Jewish actor, Bob Hoskins.Hoskins was best known for roles like Lou in “Mermaids” and Eddie in “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” His passing came after a bout of pneumonia. Read more on Tablet Magazine. Continue Reading
Research has shown that, according to the halachic tradition of Judaism being passed down maternally, the late archbishop of New York, Cardinal John O’Connor, was actually a Jew. Through genealogical research, the cardinal’s sister, Mary O’Connor Ward, recently discovered that her mother was actually born a Jew and converted toContinue Reading
By Linda Gradstein, The Media Line By age 20, Elad Peled was a senior commander in the Palmach, one of the branches of Israel’s pre-state army. He was wounded during the fighting, and was taken to the hospital. On the way, he passed the Israeli town of Pardes Hanna, andContinue Reading
According to JTA today, while an incredible number of college campuses have ratified divestment resolutions, those same universities have not seen a surge in pro-Palestinian activity on campus. Following the example of several other schools around the county, on April 23, student governments at three Southern California public universities all votedContinue Reading
A new Fatwa issued by the Amman today allows visiting Muslims to enter the Al-Aksa Mosque on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. The new Fatwa cancels out what previously disallowed travelers from visiting the holy site, however there has been an emphasis placed on the fact that this should not be consideredContinue Reading
As tensions mount over the current peace process turmoil, some Israeli extremists are turning their frustrations to anti-Arab graffiti. Several news outlets reported today that a mosque in the northern town of Fureidis was vandalized. The tags read “Close mosques, not yeshivot,” and a Star of David was also foundContinue Reading
Saying that a return to normal relations with Israel could come in a matter of weeks, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said one issue is holding up the final signatures on the agreement: That of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. Read the full article from the Jerusalem Post.Continue Reading
