Kosher hogs celebrate a decade on the road
By Dan Aznoff, Jewish Sound Correspondent They meet religiously on Sunday mornings to worship the open road and the two-wheeled bond that brought them all together. Members of The Tribe, the region’s club for Jewish motorcycle riders, have met once every month — rain or shine — for almost aContinue Reading
To life! One last time.
By Emily K. Alhadeff, Associate Editor, The Jewish Sound Thirteen years ago, the annual JTNews wine tasting was born. Today, it becomes a man. Like every lifecycle event in Jewish tradition, each one says goodbye to the past and marks the start of something new. Please join us in toastingContinue Reading
ISIS video shows alleged execution of Arab-Israeli accused of spying
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Islamic State released a video that allegedly shows the execution of an Arab-Israeli teenager that the Islamist group accused of being a spy for Israel. The 13-minute video released online Tuesday reportedly shows Muhammad Musallam, 19, of eastern Jerusalem, dressed in an orange jumpsuit that hasContinue Reading
Middle Eastern women use International Women’s Day to call for more rights
By Hanna Rais, The Media Line In Afghanistan, dozens of men marched through the streets wearing head-to-toe sky-blue burkas to show their identification with restrictions against women. In Iran, women took to social media to “reclaim feminism.” At the West Bank Qalandia crossing, 1,000 Palestinian and 500 Israeli women triedContinue Reading
Oregon couple to brew kosher kegs for community
By Anthony Weiss, JTA World News Service PORTLAND, Ore. (JTA) — For Tim and Sonia Marie Leikam, the dream is nearly complete. Behind the couple’s tidy Victorian house on a tree-lined street in southeast Portland is a pitched-roof building that vaguely resembles a garage with too small a door. ButContinue Reading
Hillel’s Fingerhut pulls out of J Street forum over Erekat
By Ron Kampeas, JTA World News Service WASHINGTON (JTA) — Hillel International said its president, Eric Fingerhut, was pulling out of J Street’s upcoming annual conference because of the scheduled appearance there of Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator. But J Street isn’t buying it. In a statement Monday, theContinue Reading
Many Muslim pupils resist Holocaust education, Dutch lawmakers hear
The Hague, Netherlands (JTA) — A number of Dutch schools refrain from teaching about the Holocaust because of resistance from Muslim pupils, teachers told lawmakers. The centrist Christian Union party held a roundtable discussion about Holocaust education with teachers and other professionals on March 4 in parliament in The Hague,Continue Reading
Under cloud of Iran talk, AIPAC quietly courts progressives
By Sarah Wildman, JTA World News Service WASHINGTON (JTA) — At the AIPAC conference, a sea of 16,000 Israel supporters spent their time talking Iran policy amid the swirling controversy over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress. To the sidelines fell discussion of the Israeli elections, the peace processContinue Reading
Must bar/bat mitzvah kids be video stars?
By Julie Wiener, JTA World News Service (JTA) — Another slick bar mitzvah invitation video of questionable taste has gone viral. This time it’s for the impending bar mitzvah of Brody Criz, whose invitation consists of him starring in a Jew-ified medley of pop-song parodies — including one of “Blurred Lines,” theContinue Reading
What billionaires owe the Jewish community
By Jay Ruderman, JTA World News Service BOSTON (JTA) — In the past decade, a new class of Jewish mega-givers has emerged, reshaping the Jewish philanthropic landscape. This has been, without a doubt, a tremendous boon for Jewish life. Super-donors are facilitating the expansion of the Jewish enterprise. With theirContinue Reading
For Ukraine Jews, Purim holiday merely a respite
By Alan H. Gill, JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA) — Jewish perseverance, and more than a bit of chutzpah, lies at the heart of the Purim holiday we celebrate this week. It is one of the reasons we are instructed to mark this raucous holiday with boundless joyContinue Reading
Is a new Jewish Portland rising in the east?
By Anthony Weiss, JTA World News Service PORTLAND, Ore. (JTA) – Until recently, Jo Borkan was thinking about leaving Portland. She had lived in the city almost her whole life and owns a house on the city’s east side. But Borkan craved a connection to Judaism, and she couldn’t seem toContinue Reading
For Ukraine Jews, Purim holiday merely a respite
By Alan H. Gill, JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA) — Jewish perseverance, and more than a bit of chutzpah, lies at the heart of the Purim holiday we celebrate this week. It is one of the reasons we are instructed to mark this raucous holiday with boundless joyContinue Reading
Is a new Jewish Portland rising in the east?
By Anthony Weiss, JTA World News Service PORTLAND, Ore. (JTA) – Until recently, Jo Borkan was thinking about leaving Portland. She had lived in the city almost her whole life and owns a house on the city’s east side. But Borkan craved a connection to Judaism, and she couldn’t seem toContinue Reading
Isaac Herzog hopes to speak softly and carry Israel’s election
By Ben Sales, JTA World News Service TEL AVIV (JTA) — Isaac Herzog paces slowly up and down the stage, one hand in his suit pocket, a slight smile forming through his slender lips. Quietly, his heavy breath audible through the microphone, the center-left candidate for prime minister runs downContinue Reading
Ambassador seeks to break the perpetrator–victim narrative
By Janis Siegel, Jewish Sound Correspondent While Middle East experts wring their hands in hopes that moderate leaders can prevail in the region, George Deek, Israel’s former vice ambassador to Norway, is calling upon Palestinian Arabs to take charge of their own fate and their own future, and to stopContinue Reading
UW’s Simpson Center puts Israel in the dock
By Edward Alexander, Special to the Jewish Sound “In the modern world, the Jew has perpetually been on trial; still today the Jew is on trial, in the person of the Israeli—and this modern trial of the Jew, this trial which never ends, begins with the trial of Shylock.” —PhilipContinue Reading
Netanyahu to Congress: Deal with Iran paves way to bomb
(JTA) — In his address to Congress, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argued that the proposed nuclear deal being negotiated with Iran will lead inexorably to a nuclear-armed Iran and war in the Middle East. “This deal has two major concessions: One, leaving Iran with a vast nuclear program, andContinue Reading
Netanyahu’s speech to Congress
By JTA World News Service Full text of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to a joint session of Congress, March 3, 2015. As delivered: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is addressing a joint meeting of Congress; here is a complete transcript of his remarks. NETANYAHU: Thank you. (APPLA– USE) ThankContinue Reading