*How to Spell Chanukah… and Other Holiday Dilemmas Edited by Emily Franklin Algonquin Books, 255 pages, $18.95. It looks like one of those throwaway little “gift books,” like “The Girlfriends Keepsake Book” or “Chicken Soup for the Soul,” that an unassuming shopper might pick up from a display rack while waiting on line at the…
Klezmer has enjoyed a significant revival in the past few decades, but for a variety of reasons, the Yiddish dance tradition has been largely ignored. An upcoming symposium, Defining Yiddish Dance: Secular, Sacred, Borrowed and Transformed, seeks to draw attention to this nearly forgotten art. The event includes a series of lectures on the history…
Hanukkah is a holiday of legends, and many of its modern traditions stem from ancient lore. One lesser-known tale accounts for the custom of serving cheese and dairy products during the Festival of Lights. As the story goes, when the Syrian warrior Holofernes arrived in the town of Bethulia en route to conquering the land…
We don’t want to put a damper on the holiday spirit, but most people are appropriately concerned about the size of their ecological footprint these days. Here are three earth-friendly menorahs that are sure to brighten up Jewish homes this Hanukkah. Created by British sculptor Richard Miller, the Moving Lights Menorah features a base made…
As shopping and morality become further entwined — organic, locally made, recycled — choices in Judaica have not been left behind. In time for Hanukkah, Global Exchange has recently released a Fair Trade menorah, the only one of its kind on the market. Constructed of pine from a Chilean reforestation project and painted by members…
Manchester, England — When the political scandal that is dominating Britain’s front pages broke last week, the man at the center of it, David Abrahams, was at a charity dinner in London for Israel’s Technion Institute of Technology. Abrahams, a British real estate magnate, is one of the leading British donors to Jewish and Israeli…
HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD GALA HONORS FILM STAR PATRICIA NEAL “I’ve played Mexican bandits, Italian Mafiosi, a Greek jewel thief and finally ended up as on old Jew,” Eli Wallach joshed. He and his wife, Anne Jackson, were award presenters to film legend Patricia Neal at the November 1 Hooray for Hollywood gala benefiting the Auditory…
To mark 60 years since the United Nations plan for the partition of Palestine, Palestinian militant Islamic movement Hamas called Thursday for the U.N. to rescind the decision which led to the establishment of the State of Israel, Israel’s Army Radio reported. “It is not shameful to correct a mistake. Palestine is Arab-Islamic land from…
Annapolis, Md. — In the wake of the Annapolis peace summit, the United States is now poised to play an unexpectedly active role in mediating peace between the two sides — thanks largely to prodding by the Palestinians. Coming into the summit, President Bush had been reluctant to get involved in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process….
One of the largest Jewish federations in the country is threatening to withhold its dues from the umbrella organization of local federations, setting in motion a conflict that could potentially lead to that federation’s expulsion. The Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, the fourth-largest federation in the United States in terms of fundraising, has announced that…
When it comes to presidential primaries, Jewish Americans have generally found themselves sitting on the sidelines in such late-voting states as New York, New Jersey and California. This year, due to the reshuffling of the primary calendar, the community has the potential to have an impact in at least one key battleground state. Nevada —…
