Tagged HEADLINES

Great-grandson of Auschwitz victims taking the ice for Germany

Evan Kaufmann, a U.S.-born hockey player whose great-grandparents were killed in the Holocaust, is now representing the German national team. (Courtesy Eishockey Magazin)

WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (JTA) — More than 65 years ago, Evan Kaufmann’s great-grandparents were murdered in the Auschwitz death camp. Now he is taking the ice for the German national hockey team. Following a successful hockey career at the University of Minnesota, Kaufmann tried out for several professional clubs in… Read more »

How Jewish groups became involved in the contraception coverage debate

WASHINGTON (JTA) — What were the Jews doing becoming so involved in a debate over contraception? It was a question that more than one Jewish official asked themselves over recent months as tensions between the Obama administration and leaders of the Catholic Church rose to the boiling point over… Read more »

Who came out ahead at BDS conference?

Alan Dershowitz, right, speaking at the University of Pennsylvania in a bid to galvanize pro-Israel students there, Feb. 2, in light of the expected anti-Israel message expected at the BDS conference on the Penn campus. Political journalist Robert Traynham served as the moderator for the program. (Scott Weiner)

(Jewish Exponent) — Did the National Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Conference at the University of Pennsylvania over the weekend backfire for organizers and illustrate the strength of the pro-Israel community on campus? Or did BDS speakers like Electronic Intifada co-founder Ali Abunimah reveal how much pro-Israel students need to… Read more »

For Orthodox musicians, alternatives to the Friday night concert abound

The Moshav band performs original world music, folk and rock in Hebrew and English, as well as "Shlomo tunes" of the late Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. (Courtesy Moshav Band)

LOS ANGELES (JTA) — With his yarmulke, ritual fringes and lyrics occasionally borrowed from ancient texts, Grammy-nominated reggae star Matisyahu may be the most publicly Jewish performer in the mainstream music scene. But he’s not the only one. Growing ranks of Jewishly committed performers are finding success on the national… Read more »

Op-Ed: Israel must criminalize the purchase of sexual services

RAMAT GAN, Israel (JTA) — In Israel, an estimated 15,000 individuals are involved in prostitution, including 5,000 under the age of 18, according to reports shared with the Task Force on Human Trafficking by Knesset member Orit Zuaretz of the Kadima Party, as well as other experts and activists.… Read more »

Controversy grows in Israel over extension of Tal Law granting haredim army exemptions

Soldiers from the Israeli army's haredi Orthodox unit called the Netzah Yehuda Battalion praying. (Abir Sultan/Flash90/JTA)

JERUSALEM (JTA) — When Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, granted a few hundred haredi Orthodox Jews an exemption from army service, it’s likely he never dreamed that 63 years later, tens of thousands of haredi Israelis would claim the exemption — or that the issue would be among… Read more »

Extreme column raises question: Why do some Jews see Obama as sinister?

When news outlets began reporting last Friday that the owner of the Atlanta Jewish Times had published an opinion column seemingly suggesting that Israel might be wise to assassinate President Obama, the response from prominent American Jews was fast and furious. Here was a Jewish newspaper publisher providing fodder… Read more »

Islamist rise casts shadow over Egypt

Robert Wistrich

The Muslim Brotherhood did not initiate the current upheavals in the Middle East, but the Islamist parties in Egypt, as in Tunisia and Libya, have been the chief beneficiaries of the collapse of longstanding authoritarian repressive regimes across North Africa. In Egypt itself, the two largest Islamist groups —… Read more »

Producer to attend NW screening on Jews of India

A free screening of the documentary “This Song Is Old,” about the B’nei Menashe Jews of India, will take place Thursday, Feb. 2, at 7 p.m. at the Sun City Social Hall, 1495 E. Rancho Vistoso Blvd. in Oro Valley. The B’nei Menashe, who live in the northeastern Indian… Read more »

Republicans — and Democrats — pitch to Florida’s Jews

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Barack Obama won’t show up on the vote tallies after polls close in Florida’s Republican primary on Jan. 31, but the president’s supporters already are waging a fight for the Sunshine State. Democrats are rolling out a campaign to rival any of the GOP candidates, with… Read more »

In entering Israeli politics, Yair Lapid eyes force of socioeconomic status

Yair Lapid, alongtime television anchor, is quitting journalism to enter politics. (Yair Lapid's official Facebook page)

JERUSALEM (JTA) — One of the big open questions after Israel’s social protests last summer was whether or not the one-time mass movement would be able to translate its newfound clout into lasting political power. During the weeks of protests and for months afterward, none of Israel’s political parties… Read more »

Delay of U.S.-Israel anti-missile exercise fuels speculation

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The decision by Israel and the United States to delay a massive joint anti-missile exercise set off a frenzy of speculation as to what the move says about relations between the two allies amid mounting tensions with Iran. U.S. and Israeli officials confirmed to JTA over… Read more »

Reporter’s Notebook: Return to shtetl gives texture to reporter’s family history

Reporter Alex Weisler, second from right, and his mother, second from left, unite with lost relatives in Ukraine. (Alex Weisler)

LVIV, Ukraine (JTA) — The more I thought about it, the more it began to seem like a reasonable choice: I would roam around Europe for six months, visiting Jewish museums, talking to youth groups and covering various community happenings. I would travel from vibrant London to the post-Communist… Read more »

Shaliach’s view: Haredi attack highlights growing tensions

Guy Gelbart

What does it mean to be a Jewish and democratic state? This question came to light with the story of Na’ama Margolis. Na’ama, an 8-year-old modern Orthodox girl, was the victim of an offense by a small radical haredi (ultra-Orthodox) group called the Sicricim (Latin: Sicarii, the dagger man).… Read more »

New Olmert indictment keeps focus on political corruption

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The indictment of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and 17 other Israelis on charges related to one of the largest real estate scandals in Israeli history is the latest shoe to drop in a country where political corruption has come to be seen as an epidemic. The… Read more »

The actually Jewish-controlled media tries to make its mark

Steven I. Weiss interview with Republican primary candidate Newt Gingrich on The Jewish Channel stirred a media buzz and some criticism from GOP rivals over Gingrich's remarks, Dec. 9, 2011. (The Jewish Channel)

NEW YORK (JTA) — It is a strange irony: Jews have been successful in the television business — but Jewish TV, not so much. It’s not for lack of trying. Right now, no fewer than three Jewish-focused national cable channels are trying to carve out a viable niche within… Read more »

Persian Gulf tensions mount as U.S. engages Israel on Iran

The aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush, part of the 5th Fleet, transits through the Strait of Hormuz, Oct. 9, 2011. Iran has threatened to shut off the strait, through which much of the world's oil travels, if it faces new sanctions. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Betsy Knapper)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Obama administration is engaged in a full-court press to persuade Israel that Iran’s nuclear threat can be contained short of war. The U.S. lobbying has received a mixed reception from Israel, where the Netanyahu government has not ruled out a unilateral strike on Iran. Iran,… Read more »

Where do Israeli haredim stand on haredi violence?

Shlomo Fuchs, a haredi Israeli accused of harassing a female soldier for her refusal to move to the back of a bus, is released on bail in Jerusalem, Dec. 30, 2011. (Miriam Alster/Flash 90/JTA)

(JTA) — The cascade of condemnations started pouring in almost as soon as the Israeli TV report aired. It’s subject was  an 8-year-old girl harassed by haredi men on the way to her Modern Orthodox girls’ school in the Jerusalem suburb of Beit Shemesh. The Israeli prime minister and… Read more »

In a remote New Mexican valley, a Jewish skiing legacy at Taos

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 »