CORRECTION APPENDED One of the most colorful chapters in American Jewish history ended on March 28, with the death, at age 88, of Janet Jagan, former president of the South American country of Guyana. Born Janet Rosenberg in Chicago in 1920, she was one of only three Jewish women ever to lead a modern nation….
Forget the bitter herbs. When about 100 Jews gather in Brooklyn on April 5 for a pre-Passover Seder, they will pay homage to their enslaved ancestors not with the traditional sinus-clearing horseradish, but by spanking each other with wands of chocolate licorice. They will recount the story of Passover with a liberal dose of double…
Strings of Freedom, the Palestinian youth orchestra from Jenin, has been silenced; its instruments confiscated, its rehearsal space sealed, its director barred from the West Bank refugee camp because she took the teens to play for elderly Israelis on a day designated for kindness. The attempt to do something positive across boundaries of nationality, religion…
In Tel Aviv, shortly before Passover, David Cohen was mulling over his holiday menu. “I’m thinking of making sushi,” he said. His plan reflects more than just growing Israeli enthusiasm for Japanese food; it reflects a new polarization on one of the most controversial of Passover-related issues — kitniyot. Cohen, a beer brewer in his…
Bowing to pressure from Jewish and Muslim leaders who warned that funerals could be delayed, state lawmakers have tentatively agreed to reject proposed budget cuts that would have drastically reduced funding for medical examiners across New York. Both faiths require speedy burials — within a day of death, if not sooner. New York City’s medical…
At the urging of the Catholic Church and some Brooklyn Orthodox Jewish leaders, the state legislature has given new life to a bill to address child sexual abuse considered weaker than one favored by groups representing sexual abuse survivors. The competition between the two bills is small potatoes in a state Capitol wrangling with a…
“OZ ELLIOTT,” WHO HELPED SAVE THE CITY, HONORED AT NEW YORKER FOR NEW YORK GALA “It was Seders at the Safers’ and Christmas at the Ozes’,” said “60 Minutes” correspondent Morley Safer, remembering the Citizens Committee for New York City’s founder, Osborn “Oz” Elliott, at the committee’s February 24 New Yorker for New York Awards…
The Baseball Talmud: The Definitive Position-by-Position Ranking of Baseball’s Chosen Players By Howard Megdal HarperCollins, 320 pages, $22.99. For Jewish fans, searching for Jewish players in Major League Baseball is one of the rites of spring and summer. Discoveries bolster ethnic pride — think of the news that Boston Red Sox infielder Kevin Youkilis, nicknamed…
If you live in or near New York, get over to the DR2 Theater to see “Dear Edwina” before it closes on April 19. “Dear Edwina” is a musical for kids about manners, but it’s also charming, tuneful entertainment that will not make adults want to drive spikes into their own ears. It is so…
Growing up, I always understood Charoset to be symbolic of the mortar used by the Israelites enslaved by Pharaoh in their building projects. The myth of the Israelites building the pyramids, using mortar which we recall on the seder plate, seems to have made a deep impression on me because when I see Mia Rut’s…
My family makes Passover a week of fresh veggies, but most of my friends will be filling up on meats and sweets and thus eating more fat, salt, sugar and cholesterol than usual. Here are some tips on lowering the fat and cholesterol in your own recipes, as well as two recipes of my own…
