With anti-American feelings running high in France, it might seem like an odd move for a French presidential contender to spend a week reaching out to Bush administration officials in Washington and to American Jewish communal officials in New York, and openly proclaiming his friendship with the United States and Israel. But Gaullist Party leader…
Senate Democrats backed overwhelmingly legislation that was seen as reflecting Washington’s growing discontent with Israel’s use of American-made cluster bombs in heavily populated areas of Lebanon. The Cluster Munitions Amendment, co-sponsored by Democrats Dianne Feinstein of California and Patrick Leahy of Vermont, was defeated September 6 in a 70-30 vote. All 55 Republican senators opposed…
With Rosh Hashanah right around the corner, some American Jews are already in a state of readiness, planning holiday menus, contemplating what to wear to services and dusting off their Kiddush cups, readying them for immersion in gobs of Hagerty Silversmiths’ Wash. As I, too, gather my little band of Kiddush cups and trays in…
An unusual Jewish community is blossoming in the California desert, and its members are developing novel ways of marking the holidays. Gays and lesbians have long flocked to Palm Springs and to the surrounding Coachella Valley, roughly 100 miles east of Los Angeles, drawn by warm winters, a liberal social environment, spectacular natural surroundings and…
‘Stylish jackets, great shoes… they are perfect,” hair stylist Atsuko Tanaka said. She is talking not about socialites on New York City’s Park Avenue but rather about married Orthodox women. Tanaka’s wig clients often visit the Mark Garrison Salon at 60th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues in Manhattan — where Tanaka works — after…
‘Bread is life,” said Noam Ben-Yossef, curator of the exhibition Bread: Daily and Divine, which is currently on display at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. “It symbolizes a multitude of things, from fertility, to plenty, to civilization itself.” Maggie Glezer, author of “A Blessing of Bread: The Many Rich Traditions of Jewish Bread Baking Around the…
The Democratic primary for Brooklyn’s district 46 state Assembly seat is apparently still up in the air. According to press reports, Alec Brook-Krasny’s margin over fellow Russian-Jewish immigrant Ari Kagan is razor thin, and Kagan is not conceding until all the paper ballots are counted.
In today’s NY Post. This is still one of my favorite snarky Web sites.
Ephraim Sneh, the leader of the Labor faction in the Knesset and a respected voice on military affairs, claims that Israel should immediately engage in direct negotiations with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. “We need to close the Palestinian file through an agreement,” Sneh told a gathering of the Israeli Policy Forum in New York on…
State Sen. Ron Klein, who is in a very competitive race to unseat the GOP incumbent, Rep. Clay Shaw, in Florida’s 22nd congressional district, chatted with journalists this morning on a conference call arranged by the National Jewish Democratic Council. For those keeping track of the Democratic campaign to pick up the 15 seats needed…
Literary critic Frank Kermode, in his 1996 work, “The Sense of an Ending,” reminds us that we must often re-evaluate an entire text in light of its conclusion. With that in mind, let us examine the end of the Torah. On a plot level, we all know that Moses dies. Fine. But which are the…
