Uri Heilman
By Uri Heilman
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News Beaten American Teen Tariq Khdeir Takes Center Stage in Mideast Drama
(JTA) — For Israelis, the enduring image of the past few weeks may be the montage of the three Israeli teens murdered last month after being abducted from a hitchhiking post in the West Bank. But another enduring image has emerged in the last few days that is unlikely to garner much sympathy for Israel:…
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Life When Torah Is Too Hot for Schoolgirls
Lukas Kranach the Elder (JTA) — For some Hasidim, the Torah is too hot to handle. A recently published Bible study guide in use in a Hasidic village in suburban New York omits certain risque passages and entire passages of the Book of Genesis, according to Israeli scholar and blogger David Assaf of Tel Aviv…
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Fast Forward What Now for Chabad 20 Years After Death of Rebbe?
(JTA) — What does a fervent religious movement do after the death of its singular leader? That was the existential question the Chabad-Lubavitch movement faced 20 years ago this week when its charismatic rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, died with no heir. Amid the grief and turbulence following his 1994 death, many believed Chabad would be…
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Israel News Donald Sterling Cash Puts Jewish Non-Profits in Bind
When Donald Sterling’s racist rant hit the news last week, you could practically hear the jostling at the microphone by those eager to denounce the Los Angeles Clippers owner. For the beneficiaries of Sterling’s largesse, the denunciations took on a special imperative as a means of distancing themselves from his views. Several Jewish organizations have…
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Opinion Orthodox Rabbis Stand by Avi Weiss — Sort Of
(JTA) — The Rabbinical Council of America is standing behind Rabbi Avi Weiss of Riverdale, N.Y., in his dispute with Israel’s Chief Rabbinate — sort of. Last week, the Rabbinate for the first time offered its reasons for deciding several months ago that Weiss, an Orthodox rabbi and RCA member, wasn’t kosher enough to affirm…
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News Space to Spare, Reform and Conservative Congregations Turn to Orthodox
(JTA) — Marla Topp of Temple Judea Mizpah in Skokie, Ill., doesn’t need survey data to tell her that Reform Judaism is in decline and Orthodox Judaism is growing. She has to look no further than her own synagogue. A couple of months ago, the temple began renting out unused classroom space to an Orthodox…
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Fast Forward Conservative United Synagogue Centennial Highlights Tough Times Ahead
(JTA) — It will be years before it’s clear whether or not this week’s conference of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism was a success. To be sure, the centennial gathering in Baltimore by nearly all accounts was a far more dynamic and well-attended biennial than those of recent years, drawing some 1,200 people. But…
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Israel News Jewish Donors See Bright Future in Spite (Or Because?) of Pew Findings
(JTA) — If you’re pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into Jewish identity building, what do you do when a survey comes along showing that the number of U.S. Jews engaging with Jewish life and religion is plummeting? That’s the question facing major funders of American Jewish life following the release last week of the…
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