DUE IN 2009 IN WARSAW: A MUSEUM OF THE 1000 YEARS OF JEWISH LIFE IN POLAND “Not every Pole is an antisemite! Not every Jew is anti-Polish,” declared Sigmund Rolat, president of Oxford International Corporation. Rolat was the honoree at the March 13 benefit for The Museum of the History of Polish Jews (breaking ground…
Jerusalem – President Bush and his foreign policy muse, the onetime Soviet Jewish dissident Natan Sharansky, are planning a June rendezvous in Prague, at a conference to promote democratic reforms around the world. Just over two years ago, the newly re-elected Bush was riding a wave of apparent success in his campaign to democratize the…
David Pollack writes: “My girlfriend’s grandmother spoke Ladino. Her family was originally from Spain and moved to Greece following the Spanish expulsion of 1492. What features of Hebrew does Ladino have? Is it like Yiddish, where most of the vocabulary is from the surrounding gentile language with Hebrew making up a smaller percentage of the…
Washington – As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice presses Israelis and Palestinians to meet a new set of policy benchmarks, the White House is reassuring Jewish groups and conservatives that the president has no plans to pressure Jerusalem. Deputy National Security Advisor Elliott Abrams told a group of Jewish communal leaders last week that the…
The president of the World Jewish Congress, Edgar Bronfman, resigned unexpectedly from his position Monday, ending one of the most prolific and controversial tenures in American Jewish communal leadership. Bronfman, an heir to the Seagram liquor fortune, announced his resignation in a meeting of the WJC’s steering committee at his personal office in Manhattan. The…
As the CEO of a furniture company in North Carolina that boasts annual sales of more than $100 million, Mitchell Gold knows a thing or two about making customers feel comfortable. These days, however, he is working to unsettle people. Gold, in addition to his day job, is the founder and primary funder of Faith…
Oakland, Calif. – Jason Luna, deputy of the Alameda County sheriff’s office, looks down at his new partner and says “Chapess,” approximating the Hebrew word for “search.” In an instant, Rex — a 2 1/2-year-old German shepherd/Belgian malinois mix — is nosing around the edges of the parked car. Seconds later, he signals Luna that…
Officials in Washington and Jerusalem are hailing the election of conservative leader Nicolas Sarkozy to be the next president of France; however, the overt joy at Sarkozy’s election, and the rampant speculation that he will adopt a more pro-Israeli and pro-American foreign policy, could be short-lived. “Sarkozy’s priorities are of an internal nature,” said Dominique…
Deputy National Security Advisor Elliott Abrams delivered one of his Middle East briefings last week during a breakfast meeting of Jewish Republicans. The gathering was part of a little-known forum that is directed by Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, chief deputy minority whip and the only Jewish Republican in the House of Representatives. Cantor has…
Washington – Jewish groups are gearing up to fight the president’s expected veto of a hate crimes bill opposed by Christian conservatives. The measure, which broadens the authority of the federal government in dealing with hate crimes, is strongly opposed by the Bush administration and by the religious right, at least in part because it…
With Edgar Bronfman resigning as president of the World Jewish Congress, his critics have now directed much of their ire at the organization’s secretary general, Stephen Herbits. Herbits was brought in by Bronfman to fix the organization, but shows no signs of leaving voluntarily with his patron. The WJC secretary general drew a fresh round…
