Duke University has acquired a collection of the papers of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, including correspondence, publications, documents and photographs which have never been available to scholars. “The acquisition of the Heschel papers assures scholars that the legacy of social activism, human rights and the highest standards of Judaic scholarship will be central to the…
The Jewish community in Lviv, Ukraine has warned that construction of a new shopping center could seriously damage a historic synagogue next to the site. Construction on the shopping center in downtown Lviv began on July 23 next to the Jakob Glanzer synagogue. Reports in the local media carried photographs and a description of the…
Judith Crist, a popular American film critic whose acerbic commentary helped herald a new era of film critics at newspapers and media outlets across the United States, died on Tuesday. She was 90. Her son, Steven Crist, said his mother died in New York after a long illness. She was born Judith Klein to parents…
A college dropout pleaded guilty on Tuesday to killing six people and wounding 13 others, including then-U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, in a shooting rampage in Tucson, Arizona last year. Jared Loughner, 23, pleaded guilty to 19 criminal counts, including murder. He entered his guilty pleas in federal court in Tucson shortly after he was ruled…
Jewish Voice for Peace members said its members were rebuffed as they attempted to deliver a letter to the Boston headquarters of Mitt Romney. A half-dozen members of the group attempted to deliver the letter on Monday calling on Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, to apologize for saying in Jerusalem that the differences between…
An Israeli American man reportedly was kidnapped while hiking in the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador. Mickey Grossman, 64, a Yom Kippur War veteran, allegedly was captured Sunday by 15 armed gunmen whose affiliation is unclear, as well as several members of the Huaorani Tribe, near Yasuni National Park, which reportedly is an unfriendly area to…
John Delaney, the Democratic congressional candidate in a redrawn Maryland district, met with Israeli politicians and businessmen on a trip to the Jewish state. Delaney returned last week from a two-day trip to Israel that also included a helicopter ride over the Gaza Strip and parts of the country’s security fence. He flew to Israel…
A pediatric surgeon from Chicago drowned in Lake Michigan after saving two boys who fell out of their kayak. Dr. Donald Liu jumped into the lake Sunday morning to save the boys, who were family friends, despite objections from his family, who were concerned about the choppy water, the Chicago Tribune reported. The boys, who…
Marvin Hamlisch, the composer who wrote the scores for dozens of movies and a half-dozen or so Broadway shows and won Oscars, Emmys, Grammys, a Tony and a Pulitzer Prize, has died in Los Angeles. He was 68. The musical creative force behind the films “The Sting” and “The Way We Were” for which he…
Aly’s our gold medal girl! American Aly Raisman won the women’s floor exercise title in the final artistic gymnastics event at the London Games on Tuesday after defending champion Sandra Izbasa fell on her last tumble. Raisman added gold to the bronze she had earned for the balance beam 90 minutes earlier and the team…
Thousands of travelers bought bargain basement-priced tickets to Israel on El Al Airlines after a third-party mistake sent the price plummeting. The tickets, sold Monday, were going for as low as $335 round trip, The New York Jewish Week reported. A spokeswoman for El Al told the newspaper that the low prices were a third-party…
