See an updated version of this article here. A confidential memo questioning Senator Barack Obama’s potential approach to Middle East policy was circulated earlier this month among staffers at a major American Jewish organization. In one section, the memo said that Obama’s approach to Iran’s nuclear program “raises questions,” while another portion suggested that Obama…
Teaching is set to resume in Israeli universities on Sunday, after striking faculty reached a pay deal with the treasury. The 4,700 tenured academics at the country’s seven public universities will see their salaries increase by 24.5% by 2010. The deal will end a 13-week strike that has shut down Israel’s universities. The agreement was…
APPLAUSE, APPLAUSE FOR FOLKSBIENE AND ITS GALA GUESTS With the rave reviews of its 2007 season’s centerpiece “Kleinkunst!” cabaret production resonating, the National Yiddish Theatre-Folksbiene chairman of the board, Jeff Weisenfeld, welcomed the festive crowd at Folksbiene’s December 10 benefit dinner, held at Manhattan Center Studio at Manhattan’s Center. The guest roster included lyricist Sheldon…
The national alliance of Jewish federated philanthropies once again came under fire this week, as the agency’s chief executive prepared for a meeting in New York with the heads of the biggest local Jewish charities. The gathering comes as United Jewish Communities, the charities’ national coordinating body, announced the departure of two more senior staffers…
Charleston, S.C. – At first glance, there seemed to be few surprises at a packed Sunday morning lecture sponsored by the Jewish studies department at South Carolina’s College of Charleston. The attendees circulated amid trays of bagels and lox and, when asked about the upcoming presidential primaries in their state, rattled off the usual list…
Caracas, Venezuela — When two dozen heavily armed policemen came to search the Hebraica community center in the Venezuelan capital one night last month, the Jewish community here finally snapped. The government officers who entered the sprawling, country club-like complex were ostensibly looking for a stash of weapons and for evidence of “subversive activity.” They…
Alumni of a prominent Modern Orthodox yeshiva in Brooklyn were prohibited from bringing same-sex partners to a class reunion last month, causing an uproar among some former students. The high-school division of Yeshivah of Flatbush, one of the most prestigious Modern Orthodox schools in New York City, held a reunion in late December for members…
Washington – As Air Force One took off from Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport last week, taking President Bush off to the second leg of his Middle East tour, the air of optimism surrounding peace prospects in the region gave way to a more sober and downbeat approach. The promise held out by Bush of an…
Los Angeles – With presidential candidates vying for every last caucus vote in Nevada, contenders from both parties can almost certainly write off one entire constituency: the state’s Orthodox Jews. They also can forgo a smattering of Conservative Jews and, as long as we’re counting, the state’s Seventh-day Adventists, too. The scheduling of the Nevada…
Washington – The detention of three right-wing activists during President Bush’s visit to Israel has sparked claims that Israeli police are intentionally targeting groups and individuals who oppose the push of Ehud Olmert’s government for a two-state solution. The three activists — from the Israel office of the Zionist Organization of America and the National…
A prominent feminist magazine declined to run an advertisement featuring images of Israel’s top female political leaders, igniting a war of words with a major Jewish organization. The ad was submitted by the American Jewish Congress to Ms. Magazine, and spotlighted photographs of Dorit Beinisch, president of Israel’s Supreme Court; Tzipi Livni, Israel’s foreign minister,…
