LOS ANGELES (JTA) — If the Passover haggadah seems like hieroglyphics to you, it could be a good thing. Though the Israelites left Egypt presumably to escape the ankhs and eyes of Horus of the ancient written language, recently I discovered that hieroglyphics — a system of pictorial characters… Read more »
Posts By Jigsaw Digital
Chocolate shakes up the Seder ritual, blending social justice with sweet treats
(JTA) — Rabbi Adam Schaffer, who’s been leading chocolate Seders since he edited a chocolate Seder haggadah in 1996, acknowledges that “people often do feel ill” from all the chocolate. Still, Schaffer, the religious school director at Temple Aliyah in Woodland Hills, Calif., says he was motivated to “experiment… Read more »
Israel at 65: As world’s largest exporter of drones, Israel looks to transform battlefield
AIRPORT CITY, Israel (JTA) — An Israeli soldier sits in an office chair in an air-conditioned metal chamber staring at two screens side by side. One shows a map with a moving dot. The other displays a video feed. Next to the soldier are three more identical stations. The… Read more »
Secret prisons: Security run amok
(Miami Herald) While stories about the formidable Mossad, Israel’s parallel of the CIA, endow the agency with a nearly mystical aura, Israelis, ever quick to slaughter a sacred cow, tell this joke: A Mossad agent is sent to London on a covert mission. His contact in London is a… Read more »
What’s missing from this year’s AIPAC conference?
WASHINGTON (JTA) – This week’s annual AIPAC policy conference in Washington may be as notable for what — and who — is missing as what’s planned. For the first time in at least seven years, neither the U.S. president nor the Israeli prime minister will attend. In addition, for… Read more »
Lies, statistics and news reports
It’s rare for light to be cast on the origins of a rumor. But a recent revelation about a charge made against Chuck Hagel before his confirmation as Secretary of Defense does that – and might provide us all some illumination too. (Contrary to what some have surmised, I… Read more »
Israeli mall workers drawing attention from U.S. law enforcement
NEW YORK (JTA) — In 2006, aspiring Israeli singer Rami Feinstein faced a big-time dilemma: Would he sign a 19-year contract with a top talent agent and relinquish 45 percent of his future profits, or take a job selling cosmetics at an American shopping mall? Feinstein took the job at… Read more »
For Chabad misfits, a place to call home
NEW YORK (JTA) — On a freezing Friday night in Brooklyn, a group of 18 Crown Heights residents scurry through the crowds of Jews leaving synagogue and make their way to a second-story apartment on Rogers Avenue for Shabbat dinner. Inside, hippie art and vintage John Lennon photos share… Read more »
Austria beckons as recession, xenophobia prompt Jews to ditch Hungary
BUDAPEST (JTA) — Three years ago, Fanni moved to Vienna from her native Hungary with her husband. Now she is pregnant. Though the couple would prefer to raise their child near their Jewish families in Budapest, rising nationalism and an economic recession are leading them to stay in Austria.… Read more »
As Syrian regime teeters, Israel prepares for security threats after Assad
KATZRIN, Israel (JTA) — For nearly 40 years, Israel’s border with Syria has been, perhaps improbably, its quietest. The two countries technically have been in a state of war since the cease-fire that ended the 1973 Yom Kippur War. But over the past four decades, while Israel’s other borders… Read more »
Seeking Kin: From Down Under, a gaze toward the Old Country
The Seeking Kin column aims to help reunite long-lost relatives and friends. BALTIMORE (JTA) – Several “Seeking Kin” columns have presented people’s searches for descendants of relatives who emigrated from Eastern Europe to the United States. Now comes Naomi Bloch of Melbourne, Australia, with a search involving a twist:… Read more »
Op-Eds: Oscars crossed a line into bigotry/ Seth Macfarlane is not an anti-Semite
LOS ANGELES (JTA) — It seems as though the Oscars writers think that Hollywood is so liberal that they can get away with making offensive comments because everyone knows they’re “just joking.” I don’t agree. Sunday night’s Academy Awards ceremony featured a not very subtle onslaught of sexist, racist,… Read more »
Meet Brian Bendis, the man who killed Spiderman
NEW YORK (JTA) — Spiderman heroically dispatched countless foes since he arrived on the scene in 1962. Nearly a half-century later, Brian Michael Bendis managed to kill him. In 2000, Bendis was hired to write Ultimate Spiderman, a modern-day retelling of the classic Spiderman story. More than 10 years, 160… Read more »
On the Golan Heights, Israel braces for consequences from Syria civil war
ALONEI HABASHAN, Israel (JTA) — A fence made of chain links and rusted barbed wire once was enough to separate the Golan Heights from Syria. That’s no longer the case. A few feet away from what one area resident called a “cattle fence” — one easy to jump if not… Read more »
As NY haredi Orthodox population surges, battles over city neighborhoods ensue
NEW YORK (JTA) — If you’re looking to move to an apartment on or near Park Avenue, be prepared to break open the piggy bank. Prices are higher than ever and developers are squabbling over construction rights. That’s Park Avenue, Brooklyn — not its swankier Manhattan namesake. For decades,… Read more »
Synagogues across the country swimming in old prayer books
NEW YORK (JTA) — After years of watching synagogue members die or move away, the Sephardic Jewish Center of Canarsie made the difficult decision to downsize. The 50-year-old Brooklyn synagogue had been a thriving center for the area’s Sephardim. But after accepting that it could no longer pull together… Read more »
Prisoner X affair raises charges of dual loyalty for Australian Jews
SYDNEY (JTA) – As more details have seeped out about the mysterious life and death of Israel’s Prisoner X — identified last week by an Australian TV program as Ben Zygier — the wall of silence surrounding those who knew him has begun to show some cracks. On Tuesday,… Read more »
Bill granting FEMA funds to Sandy-damaged shuls sparks uncharacteristic Jewish response
WASHINGTON (JTA) — How essential is a house of worship to a neighborhood? That’s the crux of a question now exercising Congress as a bill advances that would provide direct relief to synagogues and churches damaged by superstorm Sandy last October. The bill, which passed the U.S. House of… Read more »
The Israeli vote: the word from politicos and the street
Sheila Wilensky was in Israel recently with the American Jewish Press Association After spending a week in Israel one thing is certain: discussion about politics is a national sport – and with more than 30 political parties running in the Jan. 22 election, it’s not surprising. I arrived in… Read more »
Inspired by past Jewish stars, champion skater Max Aaron eyes Sochi Olympics
NEW YORK (JTA) — With consecutive quadruple jumps at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Max Aaron launched himself not only to a gold medal and a national championship. The 20-year-old Arizonan also joined the ranks of Jewish athletes who have made it big For Aaron, that was even more… Read more »