An Israeli crowd throngs the H&M store in Tel Aviv's Azrieli mall for a special sale, Nov. 17, 2011. (Meir Partush/Flash 90/JTA) JERUSALEM (JTA) — It’s a question many a shopper in Israel has pondered, particularly if they’ve spent time overseas. Why does this fill-in-the-blank cost more in Israel? Whether it’s a box of Cheerios, a supply of Ziploc bags or a shirt from H&M, Israelis are paying more for many… Read more »
Rep. Ron Paul, a Republican candidate for president whose views on Israel have unsettled some Jewish conservatives, speaking at the Western Republican Leadership Conference in Las Vegas, Oct. 19, 2011. (Gage Skidmore/Creative Commons) / WASHINGTON (JTA) — Ron Paul’s unlikely rise in the Republican presidential race has Jewish conservatives on edge. The Texas congressman had been regarded as a fringe figure whose views, especially on foreign policy — including his opposition to the U.S.-Israel alliance — put him far outside the Republican mainstream.… Read more »
Haredi Orthodox men clash with police in the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh, Dec. 26, 2011. (Kobi Gideon/Flash 90/JTA) JERUSALEM (JTA) — For several years now, the Jerusalem suburb of Beit Shemesh has been the site of on-again, off-again religious violence. But it wasn’t until the plight of a fearful 8-year-old girl from a Modern Orthodox immigrant family from America was broadcast on Israel’s Channel 2 over the… Read more »
LOS ANGELES (JTA) — A man arrives at an airport for a flight, and as he goes through security the agent asks some questions. Did anyone help him pack his suitcase? What is the purpose of his trip? Is anyone accompanying him? During the conversation, the agent enters answers… Read more »
Ernie Blake, founder of Taos Ski Valley, with his wife, Rhoda, in an undated photo. (Courtesy Taos Ski Valley) TAOS, N.M. (JTA) – One of the most wonderful things about skiing is the sense of seclusion, the incomparable quietude and serenity of standing atop a 12,000-foot peak surveying miles and miles of snow-covered emptiness. Somehow the prosaic concerns of the everyday world don’t seem to reach there. So… Read more »
Jack Rosen, second from left, the chairman of the American Council for World Jewry, in Pyongyang with a top North Korean official and other members of an ACWJ delegation in this undated 2009 photo. (Courtesy ACWJ) WASHINGTON (JTA) – When a delegation from the American Council for World Jewry went to North Korea, its agenda was typical of visits by Jewish organizations to developing nations: promote outreach to Israel, offer to broker assistance and training, gently raise problematic defense relations with Israel’s enemies. Pyongyang’s… Read more »
The 2011 biennial conference of the Union for Reform Judaism was the movement's biggest ever, and many participants said it was the most energetic they had ever attended, Dec. 17, 2011. (URJ) NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (JTA) — The metaphors abound. To Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the next president of the Union for Reform Judaism, it’s a gas station. To Rabbi Eric Yoffie, the outgoing president, it’s an anchor. To Stephen Sacks, the incoming chairman of Reform’s board, it’s a supermarket. They’re all… Read more »
Memorial candles in Prague for Vaclav Havel, who died this week. Jewish groups and leaders said the former Czech president was a symbol of freedom, Dec. 18, 2011. (David Short via Creative Commons) WASHINGTON (JTA) — Vaclav Havel was a friend of the Jews and of Israel, but prominent Jews who mourned his passing this week said the Czech leader’s greatest legacy was his universal message of freedom. “Vaclav Havel was one of the few islands of intellectual freedom in the sea… Read more »
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks on Dec. 12, 2011 at the Israeli Business Conference held at the David Intercontinental Hotel in Tel Aviv. (Flash 90/Marc Israel/JTA) JERUSALEM (JTA) — He may be a lightning rod for criticism abroad, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is consolidating power at home. On Dec. 5, Netanyahu announced that elections for leadership of his Likud Party would be held Jan. 31. The decision came as something of a surprise; primaries… Read more »
NEW YORK (JTA) — As if the Jewish world doesn’t have enough problems with Iran on the brink of starting a nuclear war and the radical Muslim Brotherhood making gains in Egypt’s phased elections. This week we were rocked by another close shave with disaster: “Chasidic reggae superstar” Matisyahu… Read more »
LOS ANGELES (JTA) — The Six-Day War in 1967 was a brilliant military victory, a turning point in Israel’s history. Similar glory by Americans on the battlefield no doubt would have led to the production of a half-dozen films with John Wayne single-handedly wiping out the Arab armies. Yet… Read more »
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama listening to a performance by the West Point Jewish Chapel Cadet Choir in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House, Dec. 8, 2011. (Pete Souza/Official White House Photo) LOS ANGELES (JTA) — It doesn’t get more “only in America” than this: A Christian president with an African-born Muslim father throws a Chanukah party at the White House, and the featured act is the West Point Jewish Chapel Cadet Choir — a group that serves as a beacon of Jewish pride… Read more »
(N.J. Jewish News) — Marlene Stevens says she gets goose bumps when she thinks that very soon she will meet the daughter of the sister she lost 70 years ago during the Holocaust. Her sister Frima died in 1984 before they were able to reconnect, but thanks to Marlene’s… Read more »
(Tablet Magazine) — Last May I traveled, along with about 75 ultra-Orthodox, to Mako, Hungary, for the yahrzeit of my great-great-grandfather. Specifically, I’m referring to my mother’s father’s father’s father, Reb Moshe Vorhand, aka the Makove Rav (usually pronounced roov), a minor-league but well-respected Chasidic rebbe, who died in… Read more »
Barbados Blackbelly sheep on Brenner and Saunders' ranch (Ben Harris) (Tablet Magazine) — “This is Fuji?” Hersh Saunders, 59, called from the kitchen sink. He was hovering over a platter of bright pink ground beef about be balled up into burgers. On his head was a large knitted gray yarmulke, and he was wearing a Weird Al Yankovic T-shirt… Read more »
NEW YORK (JTA) — At the end of this year, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, the president of Union for Reform Judaism, will be stepping down after 16 years at the movement’s helm. Last week, Yoffie sat down with JTA Managing Editor Uriel Heilman at the URJ’s offices in New York ahead… Read more »
PALMA, Spain (JTA) — A stone’s throw from the majestic Cathedral of Santa Maria of Palma, commonly referred to as La Seu, is a dusty cobblestoned alleyway that serves as a hidden reminder of Mallorca’s complex Jewish past. Carrer de Monti-Sion, or Mount Zion Street, has borne witness to… Read more »
YITZHAR, West Bank (JTA) — Charred tires and boulders pushed to the sides of the road leading to Yitzhar, a West Bank Jewish community near Nablus, were among the signs that residents had made an effort to prevent Israeli soldiers and police from entering the settlement. Patches of grease… Read more »
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, left, was one of the conservative voices at this year's Reform biennial and Rabbi David Saperstein was one of the many liberal voices, Dec. 15, 2011. (Union for Reform Judaism) NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (JTA) — It’s not easy being a political conservative in the most liberal of Jewish religious denominations. Just ask the 40 or so people among the more than 5,000 attendees at last week’s biennial conference of the Union for Reform Judaism who showed up for a… Read more »
SAN FRANCISCO (j. weekly) — This Dec. 25, while many Bay Area Jews will be lighting their Chanukah candles and tucking into their traditional Chinese takeout, I’ll be where I am every year — enjoying Christmas dinner at my mother’s house. Yes, my mother isn’t Jewish. And yes, I… Read more »
