By Melanie Notkin, JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA) — We had just closed our Haggadahs to begin the dinner portion of the Passover seder when the conversation abruptly, yet not surprisingly, turned to my singlehood. There is a curiosity to some about a single, childless woman in herContinue Reading
By Norma Zager/JNS.org Those of the mindset that religions are inherently at war with one another must have a difficult time reconciling the friendship between the State of Israel and the Republic of Azerbaijan. Yet, in the real world, it makes perfect sense. Muslim countries that use Islam—aContinue Reading
By Julie Wiener, JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA) — This week, 73 North American rabbis will be missing something when they go to Shabbat services: their hair. As part of a campaign that raised more than $570,000 for pediatric cancer research, approximately 60 male and female rabbis voluntarilyContinue Reading
Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org A Byzantine monastery with an intricate mosaic floor has been discovered in the northern part of Israel’s Negev Desert. The site was unearthed during preservation work by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) ahead of construction on a highway interchange. Dr. Daniel Varga, the IAA archaeologist whoContinue Reading
NEW YORK (JTA) — The number of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States decreased by 19 percent in 2013, but physical assaults against Jews increased, according to the Anti-Defamation League. In its Annual Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents, the ADL reported that there 751 incidents in 41 states and Washington, D.C.Continue Reading
(JNS.org) As a result of the ongoing strike by Israeli Foreign Ministry workers, a shipping container filled with Passover for a planned 1,700-person seder in Katmandu, Nepal remains stuck in India. Rabbi Chezki and Chani Lifshitz, Chabad-Lubavitch representatives in Katmandu, described days of despair as they continue to wait forContinue Reading
Anthony Weiss, JTA LAS VEGAS (JTA) — The GOP Jewish faithful descended in force on Sin City, turning out in record numbers and striking a feisty, combative tone at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual conference. According to organizers, some 400 people attended the gathering, where they were feted with pokerContinue Reading
Linda Gradstein/The Media Line It sounds like the plot of a thriller. Two antiquities thieves, carrying their stolen loot, meet a potential buyer at an Israeli checkpoint in the dead of night. The police arrest the thieves and the dealers, recovering the priceless antiquities. This scenario is exactly what happenedContinue Reading
(JTA) — The president of the student government at Chicago’s Loyola University vetoed an Israel divestment resolution that was passed twice. Pedro Guerrero, president of the Loyola United Student Government Association, on Tuesday rejected the measure that calls on the university to remove its holdings from eight companies that provideContinue Reading
Alina Dain Sharon, JNS.org Wild booze-filled nights, toga parties, and even hazing. Those are the popular culture images that come to mind when thinking of fraternities and sororities, especially for those who are not personally exposed to Greek life on American campuses. But the Jewish college fraternity Alpha Epsilon PiContinue Reading
(JTA) — Ukrainian Jewish businessman announced his candidacy for president of Ukraine in the May elections. Rabinovich, 61, the owner and co-founder of Jewish News One and co-chair of the European Jewish Parliament, made the announcement during an interview Tuesday for the Vesti.ua news website and online radio service. InContinue Reading
Uriel Heilman, JTA News (JTA) — When the leaders of Winnipeg’s Jewish federation sat down 13 years ago to try to figure out a way to reverse the community’s decline, they came up with a novel idea: recruit Jews from overseas. The idea was pretty straightforward. Capitalizing on the pro-immigrationContinue Reading
Ari Rudolph, Special to The Jewish Sound NEW YORK (JTA) — A key component that unifies a people or nation is a common language. The Jewish people are no exception; the Hebrew language is an essential element of what constitutes the Jewish nation. Hebrew often is the only common languageContinue Reading
By JNS.org A new letter to President Barack Obama signed by 83 of 100 U.S. senators outlines “core principles” that the senators believe must be part of a final deal on Iran’s nuclear program. The senators wrote that any agreement “must dismantle Iran’s nuclear weapons program and prevent it fromContinue Reading
By , JTA World News Service JERUSALEM (JTA)—A Knesset committee will have to vote again on a bill allowing local rabbis to oversee conversions to Judaism in Israel after approving the measure. On Wednesday, the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee supported the bill in a 7-4 vote following a contentiousContinue Reading
By Ron Kampeas, JTA World News Service WASHINGTON (JTA) — The battle between members of Congress and the State Department over tourist visas for Israelis features two competing archetypes of the young Israeli traveler. The lawmakers paint a picture of a world traveler, matured by service to country, who deservesContinue Reading
By Uriel Heilman, JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA)—Dear Friend, I understand you’re thinking of becoming a rabbi. Mazel tov! Getting into a seminary shouldn’t be too hard. During the decade between the mid-1990s and mid-2000s, four consequential new rabbinical schools opened in America: the liberal Orthodox Yeshivat ChoveveiContinue Reading
By Robert Gluck, JNS.org The recently deceased Sid Caesar made America laugh, and in so doing, revolutionized television comedy. His trailblazing style was infused with Jewish influences, according to Eddy Friedfeld, co-author with Caesar on his biography “Caesar’s Hours: My Life in Comedy, With Love and Laughter.” “Sid was partContinue Reading
By Binyamin Kagedan, JNS.org The names of religious holidays are usually fairly straightforward, pointing us to the central symbol or theme of the festival. Pesach refers to the ancient lamb offering, the korban pesach; Shavuot, meaning “weeks,” points to the careful counting of seven weeks that precede it; Sukkot areContinue Reading
By JNS, JNS.org (JNS.org) The Norwegian Cruise Line announced Tuesday that it is canceling all of its remaining port calls to Tunisia and ceasing all future port calls there in response to the Tunisian government’s refusal to allow a group of Israelis to disembark the Norwegian Jade ship in theContinue Reading
