“MY GRANDDAUGHTER, THE DOCTOR!” AN ALBERT EINSTEIN GRADUATION CEREMONY On June 2, my granddaughter, Michelle Cohen, was one of the graduates of the Class of 2009 of Albert Einstein College of Medicine — a personal simkha (joy) that was part of a global celebration. The 200 new medical doctors “hooded” on the stage of Lincoln…
Critics of the Obama administration’s call for negotiations with Iran have gained new life with the unrest there following disputed election results. Among those calling on President Obama to reconsider engagement with Iran are Bush-era neoconservatives and congressional Republicans. Pro-Israel activists, meanwhile, are maintaining a cautious approach, avoiding the issue of talks with Iran altogether….
Long before he managed to organize a lavish bar mitzvah inside a New York City jail, Rabbi Leib Glanz developed a reputation for making things happen within New York’s ultra-Orthodox Satmar community. “He’s involved in any and every situation,” said Moshe Indig, a Satmar community leader. “You name it, he’s involved in it.” Those favors…
When Romuald Jakub Weksler-Waszkinel applied to immigrate to Israel as a Jew under the Law of Return last October, Israeli authorities delayed responding to his request for months. Perhaps it was the priest’s white-band collar around his neck that had something to do with this. Yet ultimately, Israel’s Interior Ministry did issue the 66-year-old Polish…
The Obama administration now seems poised to ease its public pressure on Israel following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s acceptance of a two-state solution to his country’s conflict with the Palestinians. Following Netanyahu’s much awaited June 14 speech addressing America’s concerns about the policies of his new government, Israeli diplomats said they sensed a new willingness…
In stark contrast to the U.S. Army’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on homosexuality, the latest edition of the official Israel Defense Force’s magazine B’Machane has a center spread on gay and lesbian officers. A picture shows a new officer getting his stripes, his commander’s hand on one shoulder and his life partner’s hand on…
Can someone be too evil to convert? That’s one question raised by the reported conversion to Judaism of former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor, who is currently awaiting trial on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in The Hague. Taylor’s wife, Victoria, told the BBC that the accused war criminal is “now a Jew….
A debate about whether construction along the Israeli coastline is playing a key role in causing more seaside cliffs to collapse has been reignited by the death of a camper whose tent was pitched below a sand pillar that crumbled. Harel Barlin, 26, of Kfar Monash, was killed and another man was injured at about…
From its inception, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., has regarded itself — and been regarded by others — as a high-priority target, and for good reason. Though not a Jewish institution but a government institution, it is one of the most visible manifestations of the prominence of American Jewry — its…
A top Jewish leader whose coalition speaks on behalf of organized Jewry is again under fire after being quoted as saying Jews were “very concerned” about President Obama’s recent speech reaching out to the Muslim world. Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, American Jewry’s umbrella group…
The flagship seminary of the Conservative movement continued its ongoing shake-up as its longtime lay leader stepped down and the school announced additional measures to balance its troubled finances. Abby Joseph Cohen, a prominent Wall Street analyst, will succeed Gershon Kekst as the chairman of the Jewish Theological Seminary. Kekst, who has been chair for…
