(JTA collage)
NEW YORK (JTA) — This won’t be the first time Jewish Currents, a 72-year-old magazine for the secular left, undergoes a transformation. It was founded in 1946 as a communist magazine, clashing with other Jewish institutions such as the socialist Workmen’s Circle. The magazine later abandoned communism as its… Read more »
An attendee at the J Street conference in Washington, D.C., Aprll 16, 2018. (J Street)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Sen. Ben Cardin, a pro-Israel stalwart in the Democratic Party, lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a J Street conference, breaking with a party tradition of avoiding confrontations with Israel’s leaders. Cardin, D-Md., in his speech Monday stood by his bill that would… Read more »
Freshman Abraham Waserstein, right, who organized the Collegiate Moot Beit Din competition, shakes hands with the winning team at Princeton University, Sunday, April 15. (Courtesy of the Princeton Center for Jewish Life)
PRINCETON, New Jersey (JTA) — Does Jewish law allow — or even require — torture? That’s the question six teams of college students from across the country set out to answer at a moot Jewish court competition at Princeton University Sunday. And they came back with a unanimous response:… Read more »
Tourists lining up outside the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam, June 15, 2015. (Lex Van Lieshout/AFP/Getty Images)
AMSTERDAM (JTA) — When Barry Vingerling asked his employers at the Anne Frank House whether it was okay for him to start coming to work wearing a kippah, he did it mostly as a courtesy. “I hadn’t expected this to be an issue,” Vingerling, 25, told the Dutch-Jewish NIW… Read more »
Maharat Ruth Friedman with the manager of Khepra's Raw Food Juice Bar, a vegan restaurant she and Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld recently certified kosher. (Courtesy of Friedman)
(JTA) — For years, the nation’s capital had only one full-fledged kosher restaurant. But as of this week, that changed. The clergy at Ohev Shalom-The National Synagogue, a Washington D.C. Modern Orthodox congregation, have given kosher certification to three vegan restaurants in the District (along with two others in… Read more »
The New York University campus in downtown Manhattan (Jonathan71/Wikimedia Commons)
NEW YORK (JTA) — A pledge by 51 student groups at New York University to boycott Israel and two pro-Israel campus organizations is a sign of “animosity” at the private campus, a Jewish student leader said. In the resolution, which was released Monday, the student organizations express their support… Read more »
Simon Gronowski and Alice Weit, who had a reunion 76 years after being separated by the Holocaust, were honored at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, April 12, 2018. (Bart Bartholomew/Simon Wiesenthal Center)
LOS ANGELES (JTA) — When Alice (Gerstel) Weit last saw Simon Gronowski, she was 13 and he was 10 and, by Alice’s recollection, “the most adorable boy ever.” When they reunited this week, 76 years later, “I opened the door and there he was, a frail, little old man,”… Read more »
Hamutal Gouri, a founding leader of Women Wage Peace, says the feminist movement in Israel "learned a tremendous amount from American Jewish activists.” (Courtesy of Gouri)
NEW YORK (JTA) — American Jewish women have idealized Israeli women as feminist role models since the days of prestate Israel, when women were photographed plowing fields alongside men. Post-independence posters featured images of female soldiers fighting alongside men. A chain-smoking Golda Meir served as Israel’s prime minister nearly… Read more »
Khatchapuri (Shannon Sarna)
(The Nosher via JTA) — I first fell in love with adjaruli khatchapuri, also known as Georgian cheese bread or cheese boat, at Marani Restaurant in Queens, New York. This cheesy-carby deliciousness is basically all the comfort food you could possibly crave in one single dish: cheese, runny egg… Read more »
The Tucson Jewish Community Center will present a screening of the independent film, “Keep the Change,” on Thursday, April 19 at 7 p.m. A performance by the Sparks Cheerleaders will be the opening act for the film, a romantic comedy about two young adults on the autism spectrum. All… Read more »
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a joint news conference at the Israeli leader's Jerusalem residence, June 25, 2012. (Kobi Gideon / GPO via Getty Images)
(JTA) — Israel attacked Syria on Monday, just like it (reportedly) has countless times before. The difference now is that Russia is angry about the strike — and showing it. Russia has called out Israel publicly, condemned the attack and summoned the Israeli ambassador to “discuss developments.” The alleged… Read more »
Amar'e Stoudemire, left, speaking with Jon Frankel at the Israel Summit at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., April 8, 2018. (Collin Howell/Israel Summit at Harvard)
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (JTA) — During his freshman year at Harvard University, Max August thought twice about expressing his support for Israel among his classmates. He was uncomfortable with the vitriolic language and tactics of anti-Israel protests he encountered. “I was worried about putting myself out there and being the… Read more »
Rabbi Avi and Mushky Feldman with their daughters in Reykjavik, March 26, 2018. (Courtesy of Avi Feldman) REYKJAVIK, Iceland (JTA) — At a windswept harbor of this Nordic capital, a bearded man wearing a black hat dips eating utensils into the icy water while hissing from pain induced by the bitter cold. Perplexed by the spectacle, a caretaker helpfully offers to let the man and… Read more »
Rabbi Chaplain Robert Marcus, far left, with Jewish soldiers in 1944. (Tamara Green and Roberta Marcus Leiner)
(JTA) — “GI Jews: Jewish Americans in World War II” begins as many Holocaust documentaries do, with a history of the rise of Hitler and Nazism in Germany mixed with what is now standard archival footage of Brownshirts and Kristallnacht. Throw in interviews with some Jewish celebrities — in… Read more »
African migrants protesting in Tel Aviv, June 10, 2017. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
(JTA) — When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walked back an agreement with the United Nations last week to resettle abroad at least half of the African migrants seeking asylum in his country, it did not play well with the majority of Israelis. But don’t assume that means the… Read more »
Ofra Daniel as the lead character Tirza in her play “Love Sick.” (Cheshiredave Creative)
SAN FRANCISCO (J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) — My Dear Land, It is almost your birthday. At 70, you are not a young country anymore. Some will consider me a stepdaughter because I left you, deciding to move an ocean away. I left behind me… Read more »
(Shutterstock)
It is a common belief that smiling makes people appear younger. Empirical findings in an Israeli-Canadian study, however, seem to prove that smiling faces are actually perceived as older than are faces with a deadpan or surprised expression. Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Western University in… Read more »
(Shutterstock)
A healthy smile makes an important first impression. Maintaining that smile and its health becomes increasingly important throughout life. Beyond routine brushing, flossing and regular dental checkups, local dental professionals suggest there are other ways to maintain a healthy smile at every stage. When babies begin teething at… Read more »
NFTY convention Maya Levy had a good excuse for skipping the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy Connections brunch on Feb. 18, where she was due to receive one of two Bryna Zehngut Mitzvah Awards (see “In Focus,” AJP, 3/9/18). She was attending the North American Federation of… Read more »
(Leo) John Felman, 80, died March 18, 2018 after a long battle with post-polio syndrome and cancer. Mr. Felman was born and raised in Pittsburgh. After attending the Mercersburg Academy, he graduated in 1960 from the University of Pittsburgh with a B.A. and honors in philosophy. He attended post-graduate… Read more »
