Rabbi David Berger, a historian who is a sharp critic of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, has been appointed head of Jewish studies at Yeshiva University’s undergraduate college in a move that has ruffled some feathers on the campus. Writing in the college’s student paper, the Commentator, Josh Shteir, a senior at the school and a co-president…
The Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel traveled to the United States last week to hammer out the specifics of a new agreement on Orthodox conversion practices. Rabbi Shlomo Amar met in New York with officials of the Rabbinical Council of America, the largest union of Orthodox rabbis in North America. The meeting was the latest…
London – Within the world of English soccer, London’s Tottenham Hotspur has long had a reputation as a “Jewish” club. But this fall, it has been another London powerhouse, Chelsea Football Club, that has been attracting attention because of its Jewish connections. The trouble began in mid-September, when Chelsea’s outspoken manager, Jose Mourinho, departed and…
Washington – As the Bush administration’s $20 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia heads for congressional debate, lawmakers are receiving contradictory signals from Israel and its supporters in the United States. Israel’s defense minister, Ehud Barak, told Congress last week that Israel does not oppose the deal and will not take a stand against it….
It was supposed to be the mother of all terrorism financing cases. Government prosecutors had worked for years to prepare for the trial of what was the largest Muslim charity in America, the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation for Reconstruction Relief and Development, on charges of providing material support to Hamas. But this week, after a…
Bukharians Swing Big America’s Bukharian Jewish community may only number 75,000 people, but last Thursday it was swinging well above its weight. At a Thursday event in a Senate building, the Bukharian Jewish Congress attracted six senators and three members of the House for lunch on a busy day. Among those paying tribute to the…
Moscow – After Belarus’s president made a stinging remark about Israel and his own country’s Jewish community, some local Jewish communal leaders say they fear they may be caught in the crossfire of Iran’s growing relationship with their country. The offending comments came during a live radio broadcast October 12, when the president of Belarus,…
If you’re in DC tonight, check out Chai for HIllary – a network of Jews backing the junior senator from New York. Suggested contribution? You guessed it: $18.
When Israeli sergeant Ben Kubani was killed in action on October 17 on the outskirts of the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, the men responsible for his death came from a Hamas militia known as el-murabitun. This is Arabic for “the frontier fighters” — unless, that is, one is discussing medieval…
This year, on November 4, the New York City Marathon Minyan will celebrate its 25th year of enabling runners to join a minyan, lay tefillin and really shout out the blessing “hanoten layaef koakh” (“He who gives strength to the weary”), all prior to setting out on the grueling 26.2-mile course through the city’s five…
When a cell phone goes off in synagogue, it usually elicits dirty looks and snickers. But when one California-based entrepreneur heard a fellow shul-goer’s Matisyahu ring tone, a light bulb went off in his head. “I wanted to find more kosher mobile content that could appeal to the religious community as well as to kids,”…
