If there is an enduring present-day image of New York’s Liberal Party, it is likely that of former party chief Raymond Harding — an enormous, white-haired man in a black raincoat and handcuffs — being led into state court in April for an indictment on charges of influence peddling. It could have almost been an…
If you want to see the movers and shakers behind the tumult in today’s labor movement, the place to be is Stephen Lerner and Marilyn Sneiderman’s modest home in Washington after sunset concludes Judaism’s holiest day of the year. For nearly 20 years now, the two longtime union officials have been holding an annual Yom…
A CHIVALROUS PAUL VOLKER STANDS TALL IN NEW YORK CITY Hiking stick in hand (I’m recovering from a pulled hamstring), on April 16, I got on a packed Madison Avenue No. 4 bus. An elegant gentleman immediately got up and gave me his seat. “Mr. Volker!” I exclaimed, recognizing Paul Volker, chairman of President Obama’s…
Leaks of wiretap transcripts involving a member of Congress and a “suspected Israeli agent” have shone a rare light on the scope of suspicion the American intelligence establishment harbors toward Israel and its supporters. Investigators wiretapping the alleged Israeli agent were so concerned about remarks by Democratic Rep. Jane Harman of California during his conversation…
Are they headed for a diplomatic divorce? Or can this relationship be saved? The growing number of differences between the new Obama administration and the newer Netanyahu government is coming into view at a sensitive time. American envoy George Mitchell seemed, during his recent Middle East visit, to draw attention to the apparent disconnect between…
When the Los Angeles Opera launches its most ambitious project to date — a 10-week citywide festival celebrating Richard Wagner’s “The Ring,” which will culminate in a massive production of the epic opera — not everyone will be celebrating. Although Wagner’s music is regularly performed in America without much ado, the influential Los Angeles-based Simon…
When Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stood up in Geneva on April 20 to address a United Nations conference on racism, the much-ballyhooed Durban II, he took what was supposed to be an international campaign against bigotry and turned it into a showcase for his own malignant breed of hate. His speech, a bizarre, rambling attack…
Remarks on apostasy and capital punishment under Islamic law by Harvard’s Muslim chaplain have become the center of a heated debate about whether Islamic and Western values can be compatible. In an e-mail to an unnamed student, the chaplain, Taha Abdul-Basser, stated that most traditional authorities on Islamic law agree that in countries under Muslim…
When Zvi Kanar, an internationally known mime and Yiddish writer, died April 18 in Tel Aviv, Israel, his friends were startled to learn that he was 80 years old. With his upbeat attitude and easy ability to be around the younger generation of Yiddishists and performers, it was assumed he was 10 years younger. Kanar,…
The annual commemoration of the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist fire has long been a chance for the leaders of the old Jewish garment unions to come out and memorialize the Jewish roots of the labor movement. The commemoration went ahead as scheduled on March 27 — with the names of the 147 fire victims being read…
Three months into planning our wedding, my fiancé and I found ourselves playing the unlikely role of matchmaker. As a farmers’ market shopping, eco-minded Jew, I wanted the food at our reception to be fresh, local and organic. Meanwhile, my fiancé’s Orthodox family required anything we served to have the kosher stamp of approval. After…
