Jewish Surrogates of a Familial Sort Abington, Pa. — With their hard-fought congressional contest winding to a close, incumbent Democrat Allyson Schwartz and Republican challenger Marina Kats turned to the same campaign strategy on election day: deploying family members. As in the presidential contest, it was a match-up between youth and experience. Schwartz, a two-term…
Barack Obama’s stunning victory on Tuesday opened a new chapter in American history, redrawing the electoral map and signaling that whatever concerns voters had about his inexperience and race were dwarfed by a sweeping desire for change and a comfort with his leadership. Early exit polls of Jewish voters indicated that between 77% and 78%…
How many times have you sent an e-mail to the wrong address? Depending on the e-mail’s contents, the mishap can provoke reactions ranging from simple annoyance to catastrophic panic. Very rarely, however, does such a blip bring together two Jewish strangers over cocktails in the City of Brotherly Love. The story begins with my mother’s…
The Bagel: The Surprising History of a Modest Bread By Maria Balinska Yale University Press, 240 pages, $24. ‘A bagel has versatility,” Murray Lender, one of America’s great frozen-food entrepreneurs, proclaimed almost 40 years ago. “It’s a roll, a roll with personality. If you must be ethnic you can call it a Jewish English muffin…
Virginia Congressman Eric Cantor, the only Jewish Republican in the House, is said to be running for House GOP whip position. Politico reports that Cantor is making calls to line up support from colleagues for the position, which is the second highest Republican leadership
The kosher meat company Agriprocessors filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday after a week in which the company was hit with massive fines, lawsuits and arrests. Agriprocessors, which had its primary slaughterhouse in Postville, Iowa, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in federal bankruptcy court in New York claiming that it was unable to pay millions…
UPDATE 2:15 p.m. Jews still questioning whether they will have a strong ally in the next White House may have their answer. In one of his first decisions, President-elect Barack Obama has asked Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel to be White House chief of staff, according to three leaders in the Jewish community and Washington insiders….
UPDATED 8:21 A.M With exit polls showing that Democrat Barack Obama won an estimated 77 percent of the Jewish vote, you would think that all Republicans would be disappointed. Yet other than the fact that Obama won, Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, is declaring the election a success. “The reality is…
MULTIPLE UPDATES So far it looks like the number of Jews in Congress may grow by one to three seats. We’ll update these results on Wednesday In New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District, Democrat John Adler has been projected the winner over Republican Chris Myers in a squeeker. With 93 percent of precincts reported, Adler trailed…
Our Nathaniel Popper is on the ground in Postville, Iowa, reporting on the meltdown of kosher meat producer Agriprocessors. He reports on the precarious situation of the company’s animals (with exclusive video), the plight of its diverse workforce and the country’s looming kosher meat shortage. These reports follow news that a bank is trying to…
McLEAN, Va. — The days of Barack Obama and John McCain’s efforts to persuade Jewish voters are done. Now, the singular focus in such battleground states as Virginia has shifted to turning out any and all voters. With relatively few undecided voters remaining, and no heavy concentrations of Jewish voters in any particular neighborhoods or…
