Boca Raton, Fla. – Politically speaking, there is little room between Jerry Levy and his daughter Nanette Gordon. Republicans both, the two sat side by side as Senator Joseph Lieberman sang John McCain’s praises at an event sponsored by the Republican Jewish Coalition here last week. Come January 29, however, when Florida holds its primary,…
A confidential memo questioning Senator Barack Obama’s potential approach to Middle East policy was distributed earlier this month among staffers at a major American Jewish organization. Obama’s approach to dealing with Iran “raises questions,” said the document, which circulated within the American Jewish Committee. It also suggested that Obama placed the burden of solving the…
Los Angeles – The scandal that has emerged since a Hasidic rebbe and others were charged late last month with defrauding the federal government of tax dollars has caused shock waves beyond Hasidic circles, with even Modern Orthodox rabbis addressing the issue in impassioned sermons. The pressure was particularly great at the 900-family Modern Orthodox…
Watertown, Mass. – After sitting in the darkness of an attic for nearly 60 years, an unusual jewelry collection made its sparkling debut in a museum here last weekend. The 13 pieces — including an elaborate gold-and-emerald bracelet and diamond-and-sapphire brooches — earned their place in the museum not because of their value, but because…
The rabbi of the largest Conservative congregation in Buffalo, N.Y., is stepping down in the face of an allegation that he had an inappropriate relationship with a congregant. His resignation comes nine years after the same congregation voted to retain him despite findings of sexual misconduct. Rabbi Arthur Charles Shalman submitted a letter of resignation…
Miles Lerman, who was central to the creation of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, died January 22 after a long illness. Lerman, who was 88, began his work on behalf of the museum in 1979, when then-president Jimmy Carter named him to the advisory board of the President’s Commission on the Holocaust. In the…
As Florida steps into the national political spotlight with its upcoming January 29 primary, some Jewish Democrats are bracing for what is, by now, an all-too-familiar feeling: Their votes may not count. Due to the state party’s unresolved stand-off with the Democratic National Committee over its decision to jump ahead of the party-approved calendar, Florida’s…
Entrance polls at the Nevada Democratic caucuses suggest that the state’s Jews heavily favored Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in the January 19 primary contest. Clinton, who won the caucuses Saturday with 50% of the vote, scored 67% of Nevada’s Jewish vote in the Democratic contest, according to CNN entrance polls. Many of the state’s Jewish…
Wakka Wakka Productions’ latest puppet theater musical, “Fabrik,” insists that puppets can be serious political rabble-rousers, too. Set in Holocaust-era Norway, real-life anti-Nazi activist and Jewish businessman Moritz Rabinowitz takes the stage as a puppet, singing and dancing through the fiercest moments of his life and enticing even those too lighthearted to read about him…
Maxine has quirks. She refuses to wear tights, turtlenecks, jeans or anything made of wool, claiming all those things are categorically “too itchy.” She hates having her teeth or hair brushed, wailing, “It hurts!” The texture of some moisturizers makes her shudder. When a street sweeper or Harley Davidson roars by, she grabs my leg…
The era of Jewish boxers — tough guys from the ghettos, like Benny Leonard and Barney Ross — is over. For that matter, the era of boxing itself, once king of all American sports, has passed, as well. In that regard, Dmitriy Salita is doubly a throwback, being both Jewish and a boxer, with an…
