Religion & Jewish Life

LONDON (JTA) — Was the only Israeli on the International Olympic Committee instrumental in stopping a tribute to the Munich 11 at the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Games? In the past few weeks, a war of words has erupted between the official, Alex Gilady, and the families… Read more »

Some Jewish leaders accused Rep. Michele Bachman, left, for launching a "witch hunt" following her allegations that Huma Abedin had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. (Gage Skidmore/Creative Commons)

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Rep. Michele Bachmann has incurred the wrath of leading Jewish groups and some Republican leaders, even though she may be one of Israel’s staunchest defenders in Congress and one of its best-known Republicans. The reaction was spurred by the Minnesota congresswoman’s call for an inquiry into… Read more »

Alexandra "Aly" Raisman performing a leap on the balance beam at the 2010 World Championships. (John Cheng)

(JTA) — Aly Raisman, a Jewish American, won the floor exercise in helping the U.S. women’s team to the gold medal in the gymnastics competition at the London Olympics. The Americans on Tuesday won their first team gold medal in women’s gymnastics since the Atlanta Games in 1996,  finishing… Read more »

Sprinter Steven Solomon, the only Jewish member of the Australian Olympic team, playing for the Australian junior soccer team at the 2009 Maccabiah Games in Israel. (Peter Haskin)

SYDNEY (JTA) — Moments after Steven Solomon walked into Ramat Gan Stadium for the opening of the 2009 Maccabiah Games in Israel, the Australian teenager sent his parents a photo with a message describing how amazing it was to be at his first “Jewish Olympics.” On July 27, Solomon,… Read more »

Leslie Lyndon, former cantor of the Masorti New North London Synagogue, carrying the Olympic torch in London, July 25, 2012. (Ian Ellis)

LONDON (JTA) — For Leslie Lyndon and the London Jewish community, it was a minor miracle. When Lyndon carried the Olympic torch through a north London neighborhood last week, it was more than representative of how Jewish Londoners have embraced the Olympic spirit. This was five years since Lyndon,… Read more »

Israeli Olympian Alice Schlesinger practicing her judo moves with her coach, Olympic bronze medalist Oren Smadja, July 9, 2012. (Noam Moskowitz/Flash90/JTA)

TEL AVIV (JTA) — One is nearing the end of his career, already has an Olympic medal and is eyeing another. The other is a decade younger, an up-and-comer who has enjoyed  some success but is aiming for her first medal at the Games. Ariel “Arik” Ze’evi, 35, and… Read more »

LONDON (JTA) — Typically on high alert, London’s Jewish community organizations are being advised to take additional security measures during the Olympics. The Community Security Trust, the charity that represents and recommends the community on matters of security, has told Jewish groups to implement or increase patrols around their… Read more »

Jason Lezak, second from right, after winning the gold medal for the U.S. 400-meter medley relay team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, August 2008. (Creative Commons)

BALTIMORE (JTA) – Jason Lezak — no newcomer to Olympic glory — recognizes the difficulty in returning to the medal stand at the London Games. “I definitely would hope to … get onto the podium there and win a medal for the USA,” Lezak, a seven-time Olympic medalist, told… Read more »

Canoers in the Tikvah program at Camp Ramah in Palmer, Mass., which accommodates youngsters with special needs. (Camp Ramah)

  WASHINGTON (JTA) — Solomon Krishef was thrilled to learn that this summer he could go to his Jewish sleepaway camp for eight weeks — twice as long as the previous four summers. It was not to be for the Michigan teenager. Ultimately the blind almost 16-year-old was told he… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) – It began two years ago as an idea by volunteers at a suburban Jewish community center and turned into a major international campaign, galvanizing everyone from President Obama to the mayor of London. And in case you haven’t heard yet about the movement to get the… Read more »

Graphic from the official Palestinian Olympic Facebook page, featuring the five Palestinian Olympians for the 2012 Summer games in London. (Palestinian Olympic Facebook page)

RAMALLAH, West Bank (JTA) — A portrait of the two most prominent Palestinian leaders — current Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and former President Yasser Arafat, who died in 2004 — hangs in the conference room of the Palestinian Olympic Committee headquarters. The background of the portrait is a… Read more »

(N.Y. Jewish Week) — Forty years after Sally Priesand became the Reform movement’s first woman rabbi, Reform women rabbis continue to dramatically trail their male counterparts in pay. A study conducted by the movement’s Central Conference of American Rabbis found that women earn as much as $43,000 less annually.… Read more »

President Obama, flanked by Nathan Diament, left, and Dr. Simcha Katz of the Orthodox Union, displays the framed reproduction of President George Washington’s letter to the Jewish community of Newport, R.I., that he was given at the conclusion of his Oval Office meeting with Orthodox Jewish leaders.(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Nathan Diament learned two things 22 years ago while watching Barack Obama play pickup basketball at the Harvard Law School gym. “He was a generous passer,” he said of the school’s Law Review editor and the future U.S. president. “He was competitive, but at an appropriate… Read more »

Alan Kaufman, owner of The Pickle Guys, the only pickle store in the once pickle-filled Lower East Side of Manhattan, June 2012. (Josh Lipowsky/JTA)

TEANECK, N.J. (JTA) — Walk into a kosher deli and a big bowl of pickles is typically waiting at the table. Ever wondered why? “Pickles are vital to the deli experience,” says Rabbi Gil Marks, author of “The Encyclopedia of Jewish Food.” Deli mavens know that the tastiest cuts… Read more »

TEL AVIV (JTA) — Growing up outside of Chicago, Jillian Schwartz never expected that one day she would be an Israeli citizen. Now the hardest part of her immigrant experience is leaving Tel Aviv — with her roughly 17-feet-long Olympic equipment. “Trying to get out of here with poles… Read more »

Israeli President Shimon Peres, seated second from right, with his country's Olympic delegation for the London Games, July 9, 2012. (Noam Moskowitz/Flash90/JTA)

TEL AVIV (JTA) – Israelis and their Summer Olympics athletes are eyeing the upcoming London Games with excitement and disappointment. The athletes are hoping that for the sixth straight summer Games, at least one of them will come home with a medal. Yet they are well aware that the… Read more »

CHISINAU, Moldova (JTA) — To tour the largely empty Jewish communities of Moldova and its capital, Chisinau — once known by Jews the world over as Kishinev — is not to wonder where did all the Jews go but why there are any remaining. Overgrown cemeteries are all that… Read more »

Ankie Spitzer, right, with David Kirschtel, CEO of JCC Rockland, in front of the JCC's recently installed memorial sculpture dedicated to the 11 Israelis who died at the 1972 Munich Olympics. (Marla Cohen)

WEST NYACK, N.Y. (JTA) — The room was splashed in blood, the walls riddled with bullet holes. Ankie Spitzer stood amid the chaos and made a vow. “If this is the place where Andrei spent the last hours of his life, he and his friends, I am not going… Read more »

The Tower Bridge in London, decorated with the five Olympic rings in preparation for the 2012 Summer Games, June 2012. (Iain Farrell via CC)

LONDON (JTA) — For the British Jewish community, the most memorable moment of the London Olympics may be a somber one. On Aug. 6, several hundred people are expected to attend a commemoration for the 11 Israeli athletes and coaches murdered by Palestinian terrorists during the 1972 Munich Olympics.… Read more »

Michael Levin

I took my twin ten-year-old sons to a couple of Angels games this week, and I was shocked—shocked!—to discover just how little they knew about baseball. I don’t mean to criticize my sons. They know an awful lot about things that I’ll never know. Juggling. Magic. Origami. And technology,… Read more »