3 State Jewish Push With three weeks to go until Election Day, Barack Obama’s campaign seems to be betting the kibbutz on three states: Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania. “Those three are the three swing states with the largest Jewish population that really has the most likely chance of affecting the outcome,” Dan Shapiro, Obama’s national…
After years of quiet diplomacy, the controversy over the beatification of Pope Pius XII, the World War II-era pontiff, has once again burst into the open and renewed tensions between the Vatican and Jewish groups. Jewish leaders are calling on the Vatican to ensure that all relevant archival materials related to Pius XII, also known…
Washington — Promises made by the presidential candidates to slash earmark spending have sent jitters through the Jewish and pro-Israel communities, raising concerns that programs dear to them might be axed by the next administration. Jewish officials estimate that earmark funding for social service programs total several million dollars a year, a fraction of the…
In our house, the end of Yom Kippur means the beginning of the hell that is birthday season. Both my girls were born in October, a week apart. When I was pregnant with Maxie, due six days after Josie’s third birthday, I was terrified of missing my big girl’s birthday. Nor did I want a…
Israeli food is known for a lot of things, but refinement is not traditionally one of them. There is the falafel mentality (crispy and greasy), the hummus-and-pine-nuts-platter mentality (quick, clean and healthy) and the pomegranate-seed mentality (exotic and Mediterranean, but scant, like the kind of food you’d expect birds to eat in an Israeli rainforest)….
Representatives of the Republican Jewish Coalition and National Jewish Democratic Council usually spend much of their time trading charges, accusing each other of smears and other assorted provocations. So it was perhaps a little surprising, to say the least, to see the partisan groups come together for tonight’s final presidential debate between Democrat Barack Obama…
Wynnewood, Pa. — Never one to fret about what’s beyond his control, Joe Lieberman sees no reason to start now. “I feel really at peace about it,” said the Connecticut senator, a registered Democrat who was re-elected as an independent and is now supporting a Republican for president. But as a recent swing through synagogues…
Haifa, Israel — Israel’s settlers have launched a well-funded public relations campaign to change their image by luring vacationing Israelis to the disputed West Bank. The Israeli public’s attitudes toward settlers are currently colder than ever. In recent weeks, settlers featured in newspapers have been young men and women with angry faces, resisting evacuation from…
Updated Buoyed by their cash advantage, national polling favoring Democratic candidates as well as local issues, congressional Democrats have upgraded several races including those of a blind rabbi in New Jersey and a 29-year-old Jewish lawyer in Alabama. Dennis Shulman, a psychologist-turned-rabbi-turned-candidate, and Josh Segall, the founder of “Homegrown Alabama,” which encourages schools to purchase…
Haifa, Israel — The normally calm Jewish-Arab city of Acre is reeling after four days and nights of wild rioting that subsided on Sunday. Acre is a picturesque coastal town in the Galilee where droves of visitors flock every weekend for the quaint cafés and tasty seafood. During the rioting, Jews and Arabs threw stones…
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton joins U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz for a “conversation about the future of our nation” this morning at the Jewish Community Center – Klein Branch in Philadelphia.
