A Talmud that took Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz 45 years to translate from ancient Hebrew and Aramaic into modern Hebrew is being published in English. The first volume of Steinsaltz’s Koren Talmud Bavli is being launched in conjunction with Shavuot, which commemorates the day the Torah was given to the Jewish people. The complete set will…
A top American Jewish Committee official decried to an Arab audience advocacy of a “one state solution” from both the pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian perspectives. “AJC opposes calls for a one-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, whether proposed by supporters of the Palestinian cause or by supporters of Israel,” Jason Isaacson, AJC’s director of government and…
Tamara Brooks, a noted choral conductor, and the wife and musical partner of singer and actor Theodore Bikel, has died. Brooks, a Julliard-trained pianist and conductor, suffered a heart attack on May 19. She was 70. Brooks had a distinguished career as a conductor and educator who performed around the world. Director of Choral Activities…
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano, said Tuesday that he had reached a deal with Iran to allow inspectors to further investigate the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. Amano, who had been in Tehran meeting with Iranian officials, said that the agreement would be signed “quite soon,” according to wire reports. Under…
Federal authorities are investigating campaign contributions made by employees of an Ohio company to Republican U.S. Senate candidate Josh Mandel. Canton-based business owner Benjamin Suarez may have reimbursed his employees for giving campaign contributions to the campaigns of Mandel and Rep. Jim Renacci (R-Ohio), according to reports in recent days in the New Republic and…
Austria’s Foreign Ministry renounced a statement by the country’s defense minister in which he called Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s participation in the government “unbearable.” “His statements do not reflect the policies of the Austrian government,” the foreign ministry said in a statement to the Austrian media. In an interview published Sunday in the Austrian…
Three women were detained after attempting to pray at the Western Wall in Jewish prayer shawls. The women, part of a group of about 40 from the Women of the Wall group, were praying at the wall Tuesday morning as part of their monthly Rosh Chodesh, or new month, prayer service, the Jerusalem Post reported….
A famous Vilnius synagogue was vandalized over the weekend, shortly after an official ceremony in remembrance of Lithuania’s 1941 pro-Nazi leader. The event occurred on Friday, when assailants threw green paint at the façade of the only Vilnius synagogue that has remained active since before the Holocaust. A member of the Lithuanian Jewish community, who…
Advocates for Alan Gross say talk of a trade with the “Cuban Five” is a non-starter, but acknowledge hopes that the Obama administration will consider lower-level concessions for the five Cuban spies in exchange for Cuban considerations for the jailed American. Insiders say that Gross’ advocates want the U.S. government to consider, among other measures,…
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s visit to London this week is causing a furor within the local Jewish community. While one of the main pro-Israel organizations in Britain, the local branch of the Jewish National Fund (JNF), will be hosting an open event for community members with Lieberman today, a number of Jewish groups have come…
Israel’s Foreign Ministry summoned the South African ambassador to Israel over the publication of a notice announcing a ban on labeling as Israeli products that originate from the West Bank. Ismail Coovadia was scheduled to visit the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem on Monday; no announcement was made by that night on whether such a meeting…
