In a landmark ruling likely to influence a series of ongoing terrorism financing legal battles, a Chicago federal appeals court upheld a judgment against three American‑based Muslim charities accused of bankrolling Hamas. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on December 3 that these American charities can be held liable if they gave money to…
While major Jewish groups have publicly condemned the violence perpetrated by West Bank settlers against Israeli security forces and Palestinians in Hebron this month, the main voice of American Jewry has remained silent. The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, an umbrella body of 51 Jewish groups, has not issued a statement about…
In the Orthodox world, the arguments over kosher ritual, Jewish ethics and beleaguered kosher meat giant Agriprocessors have led to boycotts, name-calling and cries for investigations. But a recent evening at Yeshiva University featured a new element for the Orthodox world: an actual public debate. For the first time since May, when a federal raid…
I recently attended a memorial service for Edwin O. Guthman, a great American journalist and public servant, who died in Los Angeles in August. This gathering in Washington was for his East Coast admirers — and that included everyone from deans of the Washington press corps to acolytes like myself, lucky enough to work at…
Hanukkah: candle lighting, chocolate gelt, dreidel games, latkes and — the Maccabbees probably didn’t see this one coming — eight nights of video podcasts. For the first time, Jews from around the world can gather online this Hanukkah at OurJewishCommunity.org, a new Web site billed by founders as “a full-service progressive Jewish congregation — on…
This year, Christmas falls right in the middle of Hanukkah, which means that for the duration of the holiday, most kids will be free from school, eating latkes and jelly donuts. With more time to spend with relatives, here are three Hanukkah gift ideas that the whole family can enjoy. For kids who can’t get…
Someone less skilled with an X-ACTO knife might find Melanie Dankowicz’s drawings to be positively diabolical. But her husband, Harry, relishes the challenge. Steadily, he traces her tight curlicues and webby threads with a blade, bringing her vision to life. He lifts the paper to reveal a* ketubah* — worthy border, rich in detail and…
The Forward has been at the leading edge of reporting on a now national story about kosher meat and the conditions in which it is produced. Much of what has appeared in the pages of The New York Times and Wall Street Journal on this topic began with a May 2006 exposé by the Forward’s…
Birthright Israel, the popular initiative offering young Jews free trips to Israel, may be unable to pay for thousands of such trips in the summer of 2009 due to the financial meltdown of its largest donor. A $20 million pledge to the group from casino mogul Sheldon Adelson is now in question. Two sources close…
Washington — For most of the world, the recent terrorist murders in Mumbai were a terrible tragedy. But for Jack Rosen there was an additional personal disappointment. The government of Pakistan, he pointed out, offered no word of condolence regarding the Jewish victims of the attack. To be sure, Pakistan offered no specific public condolence…
Washington — Former president Jimmy Carter is back with new advice for resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The former president is scheduled to publish a new book on the issue — slated for release on January 20, coinciding with the inauguration of Barack Obama. The title for Carter’s new book, “We Can Have Peace in the…
באַזונדערש רירנדיק דאָ זײַנען די בילדער פֿון משפּחה־רײַבונגען, פֿון באַגעגענישן װאָס ברענגען נישט צו קײן עמאָציאָנעלע פֿאַרשטענדיקונגען.
