Chicago — On a recent Sunday afternoon at a historic Chicago synagogue, the sanctuary was packed but the mood was restrained: A longtime congregant had died, and about 300 people had turned out for his funeral service. But amid the solemnity, the occasional mourner discreetly pulled loved ones out to the synagogue’s front steps to…
Washington — Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who just made his final round of farewells in Washington, is leaving unfinished the task of convincing American Jewry to rally behind his call for the establishment of a Palestinian state. In meeting with a group of Jewish leaders November 25, Olmert repeated his call to seize…
Workers at one of the nation’s largest kosher meat producers have voted against joining a union, though the union that led the drive is contesting the vote and accusing the company of foul play. The November 13 vote at the Alle Processing factory in Queens came amid widespread scrutiny of labor conditions in the kosher…
Jerusalem — The Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem was designed as a place for Jews to come together and though it has been the one definite stop for every foreign head of state, until very recently, it has been a recurring source of divisions within the Jewish world. Since Yad Vashem opened in 1953, ultra-Orthodox, or…
One of the first foreign policy issues facing Barack Obama when he takes office in January will be to decide whether the United States will participate in a United Nations conference on topics close to his heart: racism and discrimination. The Bush administration has indicated that American diplomats would not attend the so-called “Durban II”…
Tel Aviv, Israel — Land disputes are nothing new in the Middle East, but the latest battles are over an unexpected part of Israel’s territory — its sand. In recent months, the Israel Land Administration, the government agency that owns most of the land in Israel, has become concerned about building contractors who have been…
AL FRANKEN — IN HIS OWN WORDS Returning from Washington on November 19, in the “quiet (no cell phone) car” of the Acela Express, I recognized the voice of Al Franken. Crossing the train’s aisle, I approached the dapper-suited Franken — then in the vortex of a recount in his Minnesota senatorial race against GOP…
Susie Fishbein, kosher food maven and author of the popular cookbook series “Kosher by Design,” prides herself on being the Rachael Ray of kosher cooking. Her recipes, she claims, are accessible to everyday people. So when her new cookbook, “Kosher by Design Lightens Up” (Mesorah Publications), came out last month, I thought I’d use it…
My little friend Jamie, who is 4, was very interested in the recent election. He asked his mother to explain the various political signs stuck into the tidy lawns of his Northern California suburb. She explained the ones proclaiming “Yes on 8” (the proposition aimed at amending the state Constitution to make gay marriage illegal)…
Washington — Speculation about the members of President-elect Barack Obama’s Cabinet and other senior staff has drawn headlines — but there’s also no shortage of interest in who will be the next presidential representative to the American Jewish community, or in how much influence that person will have in a White House chock-full of well-known…
Thanksgiving can be a tough time for a vegetarian. Sure there are a million delicious side acts to choose from, but the star of the show – that juicy, golden-brown turkey, straight out of Norman Rockwell’s fantasy – is strictly off limits. But that’s no reason for meat eaters to have all of the fun….
