(JTA) — A suspect in the robbery and rape of a young couple in suburban Paris borrowed sugar from the victims days before the attack, a lawyer for the victims’ family told French media. The three suspects in the case, who reportedly are known to police, appeared in court onContinue Reading
WARSAW, Poland (JTA) — A town in central Poland is reconsidering a development plan that would turn a Jewish cemetery into a residential complex with underground parking. The Jewish community of Warsaw and local activist Robert Augustyniak, who is not Jewish, had protested the plan. The City Council in GrodziskContinue Reading
By Ben Sales, JTA World News TEL AVIV (JTA) — On Sunday, Israel’s Cabinet is set to advance a controversial bill that if passed by the Knesset would enshrine into law Israel’s status as a Jewish state. The nation-state law, as it is being called, has support from much ofContinue Reading
JERUSALEM (JTA) — A Knesset committee vote on a law to officially make Israel the nation-state of all Jews was postponed. Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, head of the centrist Hatnua party, on Sunday postponed her ministerial committee for legislation’s vote on the bill known as the Nationality Law. “The explosiveContinue Reading
By Uriel Heilman, JTA World News Service (This is part of a special JTA report on conversion in America. Read our other pieces about who’s converting to Judaism, and about the denomination-by-denomination breakdown of how the different denominations do conversion.) Must coverts pass a test to become a Jew? Generally, no. Across all the denominations,Continue Reading
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
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
TEL AVIV (JTA) — Israel extended immigration benefits to non-Jewish spouses in same-sex marriages.On Tuesday, Interior Minister Gideon Saar instructed the government to extend the benefits of the Law of Return to all married couples.The law affords non-Jewish spouses of Jewish immigrants full citizenship and immigration benefits, but Israel hadContinue Reading
By Boris Kurbanov, Special to The Jewish Sound The history and tales of Jewish immigration to Washington is documented in an exhibit now on display at Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry. “Shalom! Open for Business: Tales of Jewish Merchants in Washington State” is a joint project of the WashingtonContinue Reading
By Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA World News BRUSSELS (JTA) — Hunched over a small island of memorial candles for the victims of the attack on the Jewish Museum of Belgium, Paul Ambach is lost in thought. “Once again, Jewish blood in Belgium, which is no longer Belgium,” said Ambach, a well-knownContinue 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
By Joan Rudd, Special to The Jewish Sound I just spent six weeks gallery-sitting in a Jewish cultural heritage exhibit, for the most part by myself, next to Bellevue’s city hall. I designed and created the exhibit over a three-year period in collaboration with a cohort of Baby Boomers, a professionalContinue Reading
By Diana Brement, Jewish Sound columnist 1 “For improving health — and giving hope — to the world’s most vulnerable people,” Celina Schocken recently received a distinguished alumni award from Lakeside High School for her work in international public health. Now living in the New York area, Celina returned home toContinue Reading
