Paul Simon spoke out about the death of his ex-wife, Carrie Fisher, on Wednesday. Simon, who has been married to Edie Brickell since 1992, shared his second marriage with Fisher between August 1983 and July 1984. Fisher died Tuesday morning after suffering what was described as a massive heart attack on Friday while on a…
(JTA) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry slammed Israeli settlements as obstacles to peace and counter to Israel’s long-term interests. In lengthy remarks from the State Department in Washington, Kerry presented a detailed critique of Israeli settlement policy in a speech billed as an effort to lay out a vision for achieving a two-state solution…
(JTA) — Three synagogues in New Jersey are seeking help in resettling a Syrian refugee family. In a Facebook post to members of the South Orange and Maplewood communities, the congregations announced that they are partnering with Church World Services, the refugee assistance arm of the National Council of the Churches of Christ, the Village Green reported…
It’s Hanukkah time, but don’t get carried away with the holiday spirit. Fliers posted in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods of New York City warn: amidst your Hanukkah parties, dreidel spinning and menorah lighting — don’t let the men and women mix. There should be no engaging in “unnecessary chatting,” “frivolous laughter,” or “playing games together.” This even…
(JTA) — Officials in Chile relied on Israeli technology in ordering a mass evacuation following, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck the country Sunday. No fatalities were reported immediately following the temblor. An Israeli company, eVigilo, developed the early warning system that delivers alerts to thousands of cellphones in threatened areas, The Jerusalem Post reported. The Netanya-based…
(JTA) — President-elect Donald Trump slammed President Barack Obama for treating Israel with “total disdain and disrespect,” referencing Obama’s decision not to veto a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement building. We cannot continue to let Israel be treated with such total disdain and disrespect. They used to have a great friend in the…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — U.S. Vice President Joe Biden called Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to pressure him to support the United Nations Security Council resolution against Israeli settlements, a “highly placed” Israeli official told Tablet Magazine. “Did Biden put pressure on the Ukrainians? Categorically yes,” the source said, according to Tablet’s report Tuesday. “That Biden told them…
The son of an Israeli woman killed this month in a terror attack on a Christmas market in this city lit the fourth Hanukkah candle on a giant menorah at the nearby Brandenburg Gate. Or Elyakim performed the ritual Tuesday at the annual multi-faith ceremony organized by Chabad at Berlin’s famous landmark. Among the guests…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel inaugurated an online database of some 200,000 pages of declassified documents about the long-controversial “Yemenite children affair” in a ceremony in this city. By making the documents public Wednesday, the state hopes to end the controversy, which has persisted in Israel for decades. Since the 1950, more than 1,000 Israelis families have alleged their…
Secretary of State John Kerry will lay out his vision for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a speech on Wednesday, days after the United States cleared the way for a U.N. resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlements. The speech, less than a month before President Barack Obama leaves office, is expected to be the…
Garry Shandling’s cause of death has been revealed. A Los Angeles County coroner’s report obtained by Variety Tuesday states that the comedian died from pulmonary thrombosis — a blood clot in his heart. The fatal clot developed from blood clots in his lower extremities. Shandling had complained about leg pain and shortness of breath on…
