The highest-level case in American history involving the right to circumcision is slated to be heard this fall, when the Oregon Supreme Court rules on whether a father can have his 12-year-old son undergo the procedure. The case — which could affect the ability of parents to make religiously motivated decisions for their children —…
In the wake of seismic shifts in the Jewish cultural landscape, one of the longtime central addresses for Jewish culture is waging a struggle to remake itself. According to a strategic plan poised to be passed by its board of directors this week, the newly renamed Foundation for Jewish Culture is setting out to “become…
Jerusalem – Sheldon Adelson has spent the past two decades collecting a string of casinos, but now the billionaire — considered by many to be the richest Jew in the world — is taking another kind of gamble. Two weeks ago, Adelson, CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corp., launched Yisrael Hayom, or Israel Today,…
Jerusalem – The summer tour season to Israel for American politicians reached its peak this month, with nearly 10% of the House of Representatives visiting Jerusalem in the past two weeks. Forty Republicans and Democrats met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in two separate rounds of intensive touring mixed with high-level policy meetings. This year’s…
Moscow – One recent Saturday night, about 50 people in a dozen cars gathered in the parking lot of a furniture warehouse in southeast Moscow for an event that could be described only as a combination of “Jeopardy!” “The Fast and the Furious” — and Talmud class. At exactly midnight, the crews that make up…
A photograph that appeared in a local newspaper last month, depicting a meeting of mostly Orthodox New Jersey politicians, has sparked controversy in the suburb of Teaneck, heightening existing tensions between the Orthodox and non-Orthodox communities in the town of 39,000. The New Jersey suburbs have, in recent years, become a breeding ground for strife…
A mainstay of the Jewish blogging world is scaling back his controversial commentary and joining the mainstream Jewish media. Daniel Sieradski, who founded Jewschool, Radical Torah and Orthodox Anarchist, three blogs known for their provocative and left-leaning postings, started Monday as the Jewish Telegraphic Agency’s director of digital media. To dedicate himself to this new…
In a groundbreaking move to recognize the experiences of transgender Jews, the Reform movement has published several prayers for sanctifying the sex-change process. The Union for Reform Judaism this week released the second edition of Kulanu, the union’s 500-page resource manual for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender inclusion. The guide includes two blessings authored by…
A brewing battle over tenure for a polarizing Barnard College professor is threatening to thrust Columbia University back into the center of a controversy over its academic treatment of the Middle East. Nadia Abu El-Haj, an assistant professor of anthropology at Barnard, is the author of “Facts on the Ground,” a 2001 book that questions…
The nation’s largest kosher slaughterhouse, already the subject of allegations about its treatment of both workers and animals, has also been chastised by government regulators for its food-safety record, according to newly released documents. The AgriProcessors slaughterhouse in Postville, Iowa, received 250 noncompliance records from the United States Department of Agriculture during 2006, five of…
Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota is among a congressional delegation visiting Israel this week with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. The eighteen-member group, which is almost all freshmen, also includes Jewish congressmen Paul Hodes, John Yarmuth and Steve Cohen. My colleague Nathan Guttman is in Israel now and will have a story up this week…
