Yearly Archives 2015

LOS ANGELES (JTA) — As my family — and families across the country — begin preparations for the Thanksgiving feast, I started to wonder what kind of family tsuris could rend this day of plenty, pilgrims and, well, pigskin, asunder. Even in this season of presidential candidate debates, I… Read more »

  TEL AVIV (JTA) — It was 2 a.m. when Illana Attali’s friend’s screams woke her. Her friend had just heard about the series of coordinated terror attacks on Paris — a wave of violence that would kill at least 129 people on Friday. A Paris native who moved to Tel… Read more »

PARIS (JTA) — Babette and Sasha Bergman lead what many would consider a charmed life. Both Jewish high-tech professionals in their 30s — they met while working at Google’s European headquarters in Ireland — the Bergmans settled in this capital city shortly ahead of the birth of their now 4-year-old daughter, Daniella. On weekends, they enjoy entertaining friends in… Read more »

(The Nosher via JTA) — Thanksgivukkah has come and gone, but over here at The Nosher we think it’s always fun to bring Jewish dishes into our holiday celebrations. Kugel for Thanksgiving? Absolutely. Leftover turkey soup with matzah balls? You bet. And so we wanted to combine one of… Read more »

  PARIS (JTA) — They say not to take the bikes with the seat turned around. But I take the bike with the seat turned around. Before I know it, I am riding fiercely across town on Rue Saint-Lazare with a loose pedal. This can’t be good, I think… Read more »

  PARIS (JTA) — Watching the Belgian countryside fly by, I reflected on the previous time that I was aboard a high-speed train bound for Paris to cover a horrendous terrorist attack. It had been less than a year since France-born Islamists killed 17 people in Paris: 12 at… Read more »

SECAUCUS, N.J. (JTA) — Welch’s is coming to seder this year. For decades, America’s kosher grape juice market has been dominated by Kedem, whose sweet libations come in concord, blush, white, peach, diet and a variety of sparkling flavors. But with U.S. sales flat when it comes to non-kosher… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Jonathan Pollard, the American spy for Israel sentenced to life in prison in 1987, is due to be released on parole on Saturday, 30 years after his arrest. The former U.S. Navy analyst’s exit from a federal prison in Butner, North Carolina (where he reportedly befriended… Read more »

  WASHINGTON (JTA) — The series of terrorist attacks that killed at least 129 in Paris pose a couple of major challenges for the United States, Jewish officials and security experts said. The challenges: security threats from the the 200 or so Islamic State fighters who have returned to the United States, and… Read more »

Daniel S. Mariaschin (Courtesy B'nai B'rith International)

JTA) — The international outrage over the barbaric terrorist attacks in Paris is absolutely on target. But the absence of an outcry over the weeks of attacks against Jews in Israel — stabbings, shootings and car rammings are among the most common tactics — is equally outrageous. More than… Read more »

CHICAGO (JTA) – At a campaign event in Virginia late last month, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders invoked his Judaism in response to a question about Islamophobia in the media. The exchange drew widespread attention, in part because Sanders has mostly avoided discussion of how his religion informs his… Read more »

(JTA) — Before Friday’s bloodbath at the Le Bataclan concert venue in Paris, this centrally located hall from the 19th century had received numerous threats over pro-Israel events hosted there. From at least 2006-2009, Le Bataclan was the venue for the annual fundraising gala of Migdal, the French Jewish nonprofit… Read more »

PARIS (JTA) — My son and I met in Paris on Friday morning, walked the charming streets of the City of Light, visited the Picasso and Pompidou museums, then went to synagogue at the MJLF (Mouvement Juif Libéral de France), one of the most vibrant Reform synagogues in Paris.… Read more »

Jonathan Greenblatt

Editor’s note: This opinion piece was written on Nov. 12, one day before the horrific attacks in Paris that have left more than 120 people dead and scores wounded. NEW YORK (JTA) — I have visited Europe many times, but last week I looked at it through a new… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) – In the mind of Israel’s opposition leader, Labor Party chief Isaac Herzog, the array of threats in the Middle East these days present Israel with a historic opportunity. Yes, Palestinians are stabbing Israelis daily. Yes, Israel arguably has its most right-wing government since Benjamin Netanyahu’s… Read more »

AMSTERDAM (JTA) — To Israel and many of its supporters, the new European Union regulations requiring separate labeling for settlement goods are discriminatory measures reminiscent of Europe’s long history of institutionalized anti-Semitism. In a harshly-worded statement Wednesday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said that by ignoring other territorial disputes around the world, the EU… Read more »

CASABLANCA, Morocco (JTA) — Raizel Raskin’s office feels like a cluttered museum of Moroccan Jewish heritage. A photo from an old Jewish summer camp lays on the table. Another, of a rabbi meeting Moroccan dignitaries, hangs on the wall. Outside the door is a bookshelf filled with Hasidic tracts… Read more »

(Jewniverse via JTA) — When you think of Mark Twain, chances are white fences and the Mississippi River spring to mind a long time before anything Jewish does. But the man lauded both as “the greatest American humorist of his age” and “the father of American literature” had a Jewish son-in-law who… Read more »

(The Nosher via JTA) — Thanksgiving was a sacred holiday in my family growing up. There were a series of rituals, smells, sounds and foods we knew we could expect each and every year without fail. The Macy’s Day Parade on TV in the background. Pillsbury biscuits with lots of butter. Stuffed… Read more »

(L.A. JEWISH JOURNAL) — Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto praised the Jewish community of the United States for supporting the rights of Hispanic immigrants. “You have raised the banner of this cause,” he said. The president addressed 150 Jews from North and South America at a gala dinner Tuesday… Read more »