WASHINGTON — Two months after the head of the Anti-Defamation League called for a united Jewish front against evangelical attempts to “Christianize” America, the ADL found itself pitted against a raft of other communal organizations in a controversy over guidelines for religious speech in the U.S. Air Force. The Air Force released revised interim guidelines…
When San Francisco real estate developer Jim Joseph died in 2003, he received no obituary in any major newspaper. Born in Austria and brought to California as a child, he had built up a fortune and become a major giver to Jewish causes — his charitable trust gave away between $500,000 and $1.5 million per…
Fred Lerner of White River Junction, Vt., a little town that has now accounted for two straight columns (see last week’s “Now Shmear This”), has a complaint. He writes: “In the January 20 issue of the Forward, Raphael Mostel, in an article about the composer Osvaldo Golijov, wrote that, ‘One memory he has of his…
Synagogues used to be a common sight in the historically Jewish neighborhood of West Philadelphia. But when congregation Kol Tzedek opened its doors recently, it was the first time that a synagogue had operated in the neighborhood in more than a decade. West Philadelphia was once a stronghold. Jewish life flourished there until the 1960s,…
When the heirs of Fritz Grünbaum, a Viennese art collector who perished in the Dachau concentration camp, began trying to track down their ancestor’s collection of Egon Schiele paintings, they hit what they thought was a stroke of luck: At least two of the pieces seemed to have ended up in collections associated with cosmetics…
At the International Women’s Health Coalition’s January 19 gala dinner, held at Cipriani 42nd Street, board chair Kati Marton said: “We have one foot on the ground in countries such as India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru… helping women… secure equal rights through grants that we give. Our other foot is in the corridors of power… from…
As Muslim fury mounted this week over a Danish newspaper’s cartoon images of Muhammad, indications were growing that two of America’s and Israel’s most intractable foes — Iran and Syria — were fueling the controversy in an effort to blunt the growing diplomatic coordination between Europe and the United States. Protests erupted across the Muslim…
Regular readers of this column are familiar with Dr. Joan Braman’s translations of English classics into Yiddish. Once more she graces Der Vinkl, with a translation of Leigh Hunt’s “Abou Ben Adhem.” Abou Ben Adhem Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!) Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace, And saw within the…
WASHINGTON — Israeli and American officials are seeking to boost Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas in an attempt to curb the influence of Hamas. But Congress, with the support of Jewish groups, is pushing legislation that could hinder such efforts. With the support of some Arab governments, Washington and Jerusalem are searching for ways to…
JERUSALEM — The crowd at Zion Square was young, extremely young, and surprisingly sparse. A half-hour after the planned start of the demonstration, just a block from the temporary stage with its huge sign reading “Olmert Is Bad for the Jews,” there was still plenty of open pavement separating the big knots of girls in…
The Republican leadership scramble set off by the Jack Abramoff corruption scandal has led to the selection of a new House majority leader who is at odds with most Jewish groups on most key issues of religion and state. It also has halted — at least for now — the rise of the sole Jewish…
אין פֿאַרגלײַך מיט די פֿיזישע פּאַוויליאָנען געשאַפֿן פֿון אָפֿיציעלע לענדער איז דער ייִדישלאַנד־פּאַוויליאָן געבויט אויף אידעעס
