Washington — During a recent conference call in which Ira Forman decried what he considered to be misleading ads by the Republican Jewish Coalition, he was asked whether his organization planned to counter with ads of its own in a state like Minnesota. Forman, executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council, said he didn’t think…
Toronto — Leonid Shenker likes to greet visitors to his apartment here dressed in his Soviet military ensemble, the jacket heavy with medals and stripes. At 88, the former Soviet veteran needs a walker to move across the apartment, which he doesn’t leave unless accompanied by his daughter. But his voice is clear and proud…
Washington — It has been a busy month for some Muslim Americans. According to Muslim tradition, the holy month of Ramadan is marked by fasting from dawn to dusk, ending each day with a festive meal known as Iftar. According to an emerging American tradition, Iftar is a great opportunity to show respect to the…
Los Angeles — In the ongoing battle for Jewish votes, Democratic activists are using prominent Israelis to burnish Barack Obama’s Jewish bona fides. A Jewish pro-Obama group and two Israeli-American filmmakers have released “Israelis for Obama,” a three-and-a-half minute video aimed at convincing American Jews that the Illinois senator is a friend of the Jewish…
Lansdowne, Va. — Shifting political realities in Israel, the United States and the Palestinian Authority have sent Middle East experts and policymakers scrambling to make sense of the new emerging situation and its possible impact on the peace process. For dozens of regional experts and leaders who convened in Virginia on September 19 for a…
A second batch of Holocaust-era documents from the Bad Arolsen archives in Germany has been transferred to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, adding another 8.5 million digital images to the museum’s collection of nearly 18 million. The new batch of documents consists of information about people whom the Nazis drove into forced labor during…
The country’s largest supplier of kosher meat has appointed one of its lawyers to be its new CEO, saving itself from the threat of losing kosher certification during one of the busiest times of the kosher shopping calendar. On September 18, kosher giant Agriprocessors announced that it had hired Bernard Feldman, a Long Island attorney…
In an annual tradition, the staff of this newspaper compiles a list of the 50 people who have made an imprint in the past year on the ways in which American Jews view the world and relate to each other. As we prepare for the 2008 edition of the Forward 50, which will be published…
Friday night’s first presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain is still on. But it comes after sunset, posing a problem for observant Jews, who won’t be able to watch it. Obama wants the television networks to re-air the debate, which will focus on foreign policy issues, on Saturday night. He sent the following…
Jewish voters unsure whether to cast their vote for Barack Obama or John McCain, might want to think about this little bit of advice U.S. Representative Alcee Hastings offered about Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate: “If Sarah Palin isn’t enough of a reason for you to get over whatever your problem is with…
Orthodox Jews represent an estimated 10 percent to 11 percent of the American Jewish population. They also represent the fastest growing segment of the American Jewish community and overwhelmingly vote for Republican presidential candidates. They still often vote for Democratic House and Senate candidates. That wasn’t always the case. Orthodox Jews used to be more…
