With 25 miles between him and the coast of France, James Meier, a trim 66-year-old, jumped off a boat idling near Dover and into the cold waters of the English Channel. It was 3 a.m., and after more than a year of chasing the unexpected in training drills, he found himself immersed in what seemed…
For nine months now, Dmitriy Salita, the Russian-Jewish welterweight, has been telling anyone who will listen that the reason for his humiliating loss to Amir Khan in England last December was the hostile, jeering, “anti-Semitic” environment in the Newcastle arena. On September 2, Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach was to be the site of his redemption. If…
It’s prime time at Israel’s yeshivas. Working men who have taken a bit of vacation to study, and full-time bokhers, pore over religious texts to get focused in preparation for the High Holy Days. Intensive Torah-learning is a long-standing tradition during the Hebrew month of Elul, which ends the day before Rosh Hashanah. But it…
Last week, I received an extraordinary phone call from an acquaintance with whom I attended elementary and middle school. She had run into my father on a recent visit to my hometown. He told her how I was doing, so she looked me up and gave me a call. We had a pleasant conversation, catching…
Rahm Emanuel now has a new topic for introspection—and it comes just in time for Rosh Hashana. Could he become Chicago’s first Jewish mayor? Richard Daley, Chicago’s mayor since 1989, announced today that he won’t seek reelection. “I have always believed that every person, especially public officials must understand when it is time to move…
The buzzword is enthusiasm this midterm election season. In the Wall Street Journal in early August, Robert Reich wrote about “The Obama Agenda and the Enthusiasm Gap.” By month’s end, the New York Times editorialized about “The Wrong Kind of Enthusiasm.” Across the political spectrum – and borne out in primary turnout numbers this summer…
Twelve years into Aaron Adler’s retirement, the value of his life insurance policy was cut by $95,000. Adler, a former staff member of the historic International Ladies Garment Workers Union, was not alone. In 2003, life insurance policies of all the union’s former officers and staff were slashed from upward of $100,000, to a flat…
Which costs more: belonging to a synagogue, or belonging to a church? A survey conducted by the Forward has found that Jewish and Christian religious institutions appear to raise about the same amount per member, despite the fact that church giving is voluntary and synagogues charge membership dues. The more than 20 churches and synagogues…
Every reality competition with judges has a “mean one.” Simon Cowell’s scathing remarks have made “American Idol” contestants, and even viewers, cry. And for the first couple of seasons of “Top Chef,” the Emmy Award-winning Bravo TV series now in its seventh season, which pits talented, young, fame-hungry chefs against one another in grueling culinary…
It’s almost as if the Talmud writers understood what would happen if we watched too much TV. They knew it would drive us wild with worry. From the morning shows to the local news at night, all we hear about is danger, danger, danger — right? Salmonella on the cutting board! BPA in baby bottles!…
JewsforSarah.com isn’t a web site for people who adore Old Testament matriarchs. Nor is it a fan site for the Semitic star of “Sex and the City.” Nope, JewsforSarah.com is the home for Hebrews who support Sarah Palin. And on the still-active site of the defunct New York Sun newspaper, its director — who also…
