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The Screw Tightens on Roman Polanski
NEWS ITEM: Famed filmmaker Roman Polanski pleaded guilty, 31 years ago, to unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl. He then fled the country to avoid punishment. Today, at the age of 76, he is being detained by Swiss authorities, at the request of U.S. officials seeking his extradition. Polanski has a roamin’ eye, (Or is…
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Pushing for Better Wages, Not Necessarily Giving Them
Rabbi Michael Siegel has been a leading advocate for improving the treatment of workers in kosher food facilities. As the founding co-chair of the Hekhsher Tzedek program, Siegel was behind the release last month of detailed standards on how kosher companies should properly compensate their employees. Soon after the release of those standards, though, Siegel…
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Goldstone: ‘If This Was a Court Of Law, There Would Have Been Nothing Proven.’
The incident detailed in paragraphs 713 through 716 of the Goldstone Report, if accurate, was a moment of indiscriminate terror. A hundred members of the extended al-Samouni family are gathered together in one house, ordered there by Israeli soldiers patrolling their Gaza neighborhood of Zeytoun as part of Operation Cast Lead. Five men step out…
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Should Madoff’s Winners Give Back to Losers?
Victims of Bernard Madoff appear to be deeply divided over the latest idea for recovering some of their lost money. The court-appointed trustee for the liquidation of Madoff’s investment firm announced last month that he may attempt to get back some of those funds from charities that made a profit during the course of their…
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How To Handle Hate: Jews Debate Response to the Westboro Road Show
Wearing a T-shirt that proclaimed “God Hates Fags” and waving a quartet of antisemitic signs on the busy street corner, Shirley Phelps-Roper was getting exactly what she wanted: attention. “You killed Jesus, you need to repent,” she called out calmly in front of Beth Chayim Chadashim, a Reform synagogue in Los Angeles, where she and…
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A Life of Resistance: Marek Edelman, 90, Last Ghetto Uprising Commander
Marek Edelman, the last surviving commander of the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, was the fighter who stayed behind. Unlike his fellow surviving uprising leaders, Edelman did not leave Poland after the war. A Bundist, he was not attracted to Palestine; a socialist, perhaps he was not quite ready to become a capitalist in the United…
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Ruth Brin, 88, Whose Prayers and Poetry Grace Siddurim
Ruth Brin, a Jewish scholar and author of 13 books, died September 30 of a heart attack. She was 88. Famous for her Jewish poetry, prayer services, scholarly articles, children’s books and librettos, Brin’s work made an impact far beyond the city limits of her native Saint Paul, Minn. Her liturgy was found in the…
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Activists Skeptical About Diplomacy With Iran
Reports on progress made in recent diplomatic talks with Iran have left some Jewish activists playing a kind of Greek chorus, expressing skepticism on the sidelines while not interrupting the ongoing drama. Many of these activists have been gearing up for a push toward tough sanctions against Tehran to curb its nuclear ambitions, and are…
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Rioting Erupts in Jerusalem
Tensions between Israelis and Arabs simmered as Arab rioters clashed with Israeli police and Palestinian leaders accused Israel of trying to “Judaize” Jerusalem. The clashes began on September 27, the eve of Yom Kippur, when some 150 Arabs stoned a dozen or so Jews visiting the Temple Mount. Riots spread to several Arab neighborhoods in…
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Jews With Tattoos
Craig Dershowitz started with a Kabbalah Ladder on his back, then followed with the word ZION on his right forearm. His entire torso remains a mural in progress. Marisa Kakoulas considers herself a Grecian urn, ready to be decorated. The suit she wears as an attorney conceals her black-ink tapestry, making her feel like a…
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On Tour: The History Behind Israel’s Popular Drinks
Imagine you’re at an oasis — a colorful island in the middle of a dry, hot desert with plenty of trees for shade. Could it get any better than this? Well, it does get better. You’re holding an ice-cold glass of the finest chocolate milk in Israel. The stories behind the popular milk and some…
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