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Obama Cancels GA Appearance, Following Fort Hood Massacre

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:32:00 EST

President Obama canceled a scheduled appearance before the Jewish federations’ General Assembly.

Seeing God in Each Other

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:37:00 EST

Rabbi Ilana Grinblat had always wondered why Jewish tradition calls on us to say a blessing upon seeing a person with a disability. Only after a recent encounter at a restaurant — an encounter with parallels to this week’s Torah portion — does she begin to understand the meaning of this blessing.

Songs About Roots

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:06:00 EST

“We can’t promote human rights abroad unless we can defend human rights at home,” author and journalist Sheryl WuDunn said at the October 14 New York Women’s Foundation dinner at Gotham Hall. The dinner honored her and her husband (via video), New York Times correspondent Nicholas Kristof. WuDunn and Kistoff are co-authors of “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide,” and the first couple to share a Pulitzer Prize for journalism.

Jewish Groups Blast U.N. for Goldstone Endorsement

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:59:00 EST

U.S. Jewish groups blasted the U.N. General Assembly for its endorsement of the Goldstone report on last winter’s Gaza war.

Talmud vs. Anna Akhmatova

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:25:00 EST

This week’s Torah portion is Parshat Vayera in which Lot’s wife looks back and turns into a pillar of salt. Midrash makes some guesses at the reasons for the punishment, but the famous Russian poet Anna Akhmatova writes not about events but about what she was feeling as she disobeyed her husband and looked back at the city she had left.

Abbas: I Will Not Run for Reelection

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:10:00 EST

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced he would not run for reelection.

In Mayoral Race, N.Y. Jews Back Bloomberg

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:13:00 EST

New York’s Jews overwhelmingly voted to re-elect Michael Bloomberg to a third term in the citywide elections for mayor on Tuesday.

Transforming the Y

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:50:00 EST

Since taking over as executive director in 2007, Stephen Hazan Arnoff has looked to transform the 14th Street Y of the Educational Alliance both conceptually and physically. The first phase of the building renovation reflects the Y’s attempt to use art and design to enhance a sense of community. In this audio slideshow, Esther Sperber from Studio ST Architects discusses the challenges she and her colleague, Guy Zucker of Z-A Studio faced as Jewish architects renovating a Jewish communal space while preserving and enhancing its inclusive mission.

The Goldstone Standard

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:08:00 EST

Litmus tests are dangerous conveniences. We all have them, we all use them, perhaps thinking of them as our own personal “red lines”: Cross them, and you’re in the enemy camp. Be cruel to a child, oppose progressive taxation, make excuses for torture or for terrorism, deny the Holocaust or view Israel with contempt and you have crossed mine, you are on the other side. These single factors are for me decisive, and that’s the standard definition of a litmus test.

Jewish Women Lag Behind Men in Promotion and Pay

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:08:00 EST

Despite notable gains for women in the past year, a Forward survey of 75 major American Jewish communal organizations found that fewer than one in six are run by women, and those women are paid 61 cents to every dollar earned by male leaders.

U.S. Eases Pressure on Israel, Leans On Palestinians

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:07:00 EST

Relations between Washington and Jerusalem are warming, as months-long tensions over West Bank settlements and other issues have gradually eased.

HIAS Still Aids Immigrants, but Most Don’t Resemble Sergey Brin

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:05:00 EST

When Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google and now the 26th richest man in the world, left the Soviet Union as a 6-year-old Jewish refugee in 1979, it was the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society that secured American visas for him and for his family and settled everyone into a new home.

Lévi-Strauss: He Changed How We See Culture, but Ignored His Own

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:04:00 EST

For Lévi-Strauss, as for other Jewish anthropologists, there was another dimension to being a cultural outsider: It drew them to a sympathetic view of simpler cultures, which most of their contemporaries viewed with disdain.

For Pets, a Temporary Shelter From the Storm

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:03:00 EST

By founding the people-centered animal sanctuary Seer Farms, Reform rabbi Robin Nafshi is creating new avenues for animal-loving Jews to connect their faith with their furry friends.

Synagogue Auctions Its Silver Judaica

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:01:00 EST

The oldest Ashkenazic synagogue in the English-speaking world, built in Plymouth, England, in 1762, plans to auction its rare collection of religious ornaments. It’s a move that has drawn criticism from a heritage group about the wisdom of selling the family silver.

Fiscal Challenges Face Federations

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:58:00 EST

The umbrella organization for Jewish community federations seems to have the stars aligned for a fresh start: a new name, a bright logo and an A-list lineup of speakers, including President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at its annual General Assembly, which will take place in Washington from November 8-10.

On Campus, a Divide Over ‘Pro-Israel’

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:57:00 EST

When an Israeli student at Carleton College complained that the school’s Jewish organization had made no official statement recognizing Israel’s right to exist, Jewish student leaders at the small liberal arts school in Minnesota found themselves stuck between two poles. They wanted to make the Israeli student feel comfortable, but they didn’t want didn’t want to alienate community members by presenting them with deep misgivings about the Jewish state.

Israeli Military Report: Hamas Tested a Missile That Could Hit Tel Aviv

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:56:00 EST

Iran has supplied Hamas operatives in the Gaza Strip with a missile that is capable of striking Tel Aviv, Israeli defense sources said.

Palestinian Workers Plan To Sue Settlement, Seek To Fall Under Israeli Law

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:55:00 EST

In a legal battle that turns the norms of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict upside down, a group of settlers is claiming that their settlement is not in Israel, while Palestinians are insisting that it is.

The World That Jewish Veterans Built

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:54:00 EST

Each year, as Veterans’ Day comes around, there are fewer and fewer Jewish veterans to observe it. Unfortunately, this does not reflect a peaceful age without wars. Rather, it stems from a dramatic decline in Jewish military service in the United States in the past half-century.