ISIS-inspired lone wolves seen as posing ‘significant’ threat to Jews
By Ron Kampeas, JTA World News Service WASHINGTON (JTA) – Jewish institutions, which have faced attacks in recent years by lone wolves — extremists who draw their inspiration from the like-minded but act on their own — now must be wary of returnees from the Iraq-Syria arena who are trained and indoctrinatedContinue Reading
Why does Qatar support Hamas?
By Ron Kampeas, JTA World News Service WASHINGTON (JTA) — It was the first Persian Gulf state to establish ties with Israel, the first to welcome Israeli students, and the only one to allow direct dialing to Israel. Israeli athletes shine on its courts. Now Qatar is on the outsContinue Reading
Where high-tech meets High Holidays
By Julie Wiener, JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA) — Unplugging more from electronic devices has become a commonly cited resolution for both the Jewish and secular new years. But electronics are also increasingly becoming integrated into Jewish New Year observances. Here are some new offerings at the junctionContinue Reading
Two who returned
By Diana Brement, Jewish Sound Columnist “I was always looking for the mountains,” says Rabbi Sarah Niebuhr Rubin of her return to Seattle last month. Raised in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, she grew up attending Temple Beth Am. A Roosevelt High School grad, she left town to attend Ohio StateContinue Reading
Serving God and country: UW Chabad rabbi sworn in as military chaplain
By Emily K. Alhadeff, Associate Editor, The Jewish Sound Orthodox rabbis are widely known for their distinctive black suits and black Borsalino hats. But on September 10, University of Washington Chabad rabbi Elie Estrin wore a different kind uniform: The navy blue suit and cap of the United States AirContinue Reading
Punishment by battering ram: A High Holidays story
By Ed Harris, Jewish Sound Columnist You can recognize the approach of the High Holidays at the Harris household by the sight of my family members forcing their hands over their ears and fleeing the premises as if their very lives were at stake. The panic is set off ratherContinue Reading
A new way to prepare for the High Holidays
By Tsafi Lev, MyJewishLearning.com I’m advocating a new angle on Heshbon Nefesh, “soul’s accounting,” that we do in preparation to the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. This soul work begins with the ancient Greek dictum “know thyself.” Or, to put it more rabbinically, “know before whom youContinue Reading
Germany planning to fund anti-Semitism education for Muslim youth
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Germany is ready to allocate funds to tailor education about anti-Semitism for its Muslim students, the country’s Jewish outreach official said.Felix Klein, Germany’s special representative for relations with Jewish organizations, is in Washington this week to meet with Jewish groups and Obama administration officials over AmericanContinue Reading
Getting into the Rosh Hashanah mindset, from seat 11B
By Rivy Poupko Kletenik, Jewish Sound Columnist Dear Rivy, I know that many might feel that the world has a no shortage of horrible — nay, catastrophic — flash points erupting. Still, I cannot let go of the news item that some may see as petty. But it has servedContinue Reading
Beyond the synagogue, a shofar’s call makes connections
By Edmon J. Rodman, JTA World News Service LOS ANGELES (JTA) — In preparation for the High Holidays last year, my community sent its shofar blower on the road. During the month of Elul, in the run-up to Rosh Hashanah, we are supposed to hear the shofar blown every dayContinue Reading
Obama pledges to ‘destroy’ ISIS, citing threat to U.S.
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Citing possible threats to the homeland among other considerations, President Obama pledged to “destroy” ISIS using airstrikes and training the Iraqi army to combat the terror organization.“Our objective is clear,” Obama said, speaking Wednesday evening from the White House on the eve of the 13th anniversary ofContinue Reading
Is Yeshivah of Flatbush ‘predatory’ in its scrutiny of girls’ attire?
NEW YORK (JTA) – For years, Melissa Duchan had found the dress code for girls at her Orthodox school in Brooklyn, the Yeshivah of Flatbush, onerous. But it wasn’t until recently that Duchan, 16, felt that scrutiny of female students had crossed the line from irritating to what she calledContinue Reading
Can Hillel and ‘Open Hillel’ smooth out their differences on Israel guidelines?
By Alina Dain Sharon, JNS.org When Harvard Hillel refused to host a planned 2012 event titled “Jewish Voices Against the Israeli Occupation,” organized by the Harvard College Progressive Jewish Alliance and the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee, frustrated students wrote an open letter to the Hillel community criticizing the decision.Continue Reading
Jewish groups launch fair trade network
NEW YORK (JTA) — A new partnership has launched to enable the purchase of kosher “fair trade” coffee, tea and chocolate while supporting Jewish communal efforts on human trafficking and worker justice.The Jewish Fair Trade Partnership allows individuals and Jewish institutions like synagogues to purchase fair trade products atContinue Reading
Jack the Ripper identified as Jewish barber from Poland
(JTA) — The serial killer Jack the Ripper was identified through DNA as a Jewish barber who immigrated to London from Poland.Businessman Russell Edwards, an amateur Jack the Ripper sleuth, and molecular biologist Dr. Jari Louhelainen of Liverpool John Moores University made the discovery through DNA traces found onContinue Reading
Study: Test all women of Ashkenazi descent for BRCA defect
JERUSALEM (JTA) — All women of Ashkenazi descent should be screened from age 30 for the BRCA gene mutation that causes breast cancer, an Israeli study recommends.The study, by a research team headed by Ephrat Levy-Lahad of Shaare Zedek Medical Center, was published last Friday in the journal ProceedingsContinue Reading
Annual High Holiday Services Guide
Compiled by Emily K. Alhadeff, Associate Editor, The Jewish Sound Looking for a place to spend your High Holidays? We offer a compilation of statewide services to welcome you. Please contact the individual congregation for tickets or further information. Erev Rosh Hashanah: Evening of September 24 Rosh Hashanah Day One:Continue Reading
After Gaza conflict, Israel’s Arab minority fears rising discrimination
By Ben Sales, JTA World News Service BEERSHEBA, Israel (JTA) — Handcuffed to a wooden chair in the middle of the night, Rafat Awaysha still wasn’t sure what crime he had committed. He had announced a demonstration against the war in Gaza in a July 11 Facebook post. Soon afterward,Continue Reading
How Jewish reporters in Muslim lands hide their identity
By Ron Kampeas, JTA World News Service WASHINGTON (JTA) – Don’t bring it up. If it comes up, change the subject. If you can’t change the subject, consider an outright denial. Those are some of the strategies used by Jewish reporters working in the Arab and Muslim Middle East toContinue Reading