A man described as a skinhead stabbed at least nine men Wednesday at a Chabad synagogue in Moscow. The incident took place just before the evening service, when the Bolshaya Bronnaya Synagogue in downtown Moscow was full of worshippers. The man, identified by police as Alexander Koptsev, 20, struck out at random before being pushed…
Christian organizations have traditionally been looked to for support of Israel, but one fund-raising organization has been putting increasing emphasis on urging evangelicals to help needy Jews in Russia. With a $2 million donation last month, the group, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, ended up supplying half as much to feed elderly Russian…
British-born muckraker Christopher Hitchens has swapped allies and enemies more than once, most recently by supporting the Iraq War and attacking its critics. Still, he appears to have scaled new heights of unpredictability with his upcoming appearance at a Republican Jewish Coalition event. Hitchens is slated to take part in a January 18 coalition-sponsored panel…
Disgraced Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff reportedly used a Jewish nonprofit organization as a conduit for money in a scheme to try to influence a top aide of then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. The organization, Toward Tradition, headed by South African-born Orthodox Rabbi Daniel Lapin, received $50,000 from two Abramoff clients, which it used to hire…
Highlighting their concerns with privacy issues, Democrats tapped a freshman congresswoman from Florida to testify Thursday at the Senate hearings on the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, one of two new Jewish members of the House of Representatives, was chosen by the ranking Democratic member of Senate…
Jack Abramoff’s dealings with Native American tribes did not set the best model for cross-cultural communication between Indians and Jews, so a group of Californians came together last Sunday to create a better foundation. Twenty-one Indians and Jews came together for a wide-ranging discussion just five days after Abramoff pleaded guilty to defrauding four Indian…
“Don’t believe everything you read,” was my first reaction to the news that the American Jewish Historical Society plans to sell six of its valuable, Colonial-era portraits of the Franks family. If only my hopefulness were justified. The society’s sale is another nail in an ever-expanding coffin being built to inter the remains of dying…
The Senate should reject Samuel Alito’s nomination to the Supreme Court because of his almost certain impact in undermining basic constitutional protections. It is impossible to overstate the importance of this nomination for the immediate future of constitutional law in the United States. Often in considering judicial nominees, the Senate can take refuge in doubt…
As Rep. Eric Cantor, the Virginia Republican, counted votes this week in his bid to become House majority whip, the conflicting perceptions of his own lobbyist ties suggested the depth of the challenge facing Republicans in the mushrooming Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. The leadership bid by Cantor, the sole Jewish Republican in the House, is…
In 1994 I sat with Ariel Sharon for two hours in an attempt, one-on-one, to understand his views on settlements, Palestinians and the territories. At the time he was a mere member of the opposition in the Knesset, busy criticizing Yitzhak Rabin’s government, Oslo, even peace with Jordan. Sharon unfolded a detailed map of the…
This is an easy soup course or palate-cleanser. The flecks of green against the orange make for a lovely presentation. 1 medium cantaloupe, seeded, rind removed, and cut into chunks 1 cup seltzer 1 Tbs. lemon juice 1-2 jalapenos, seeded and finely diced (you may want to wear a plastic bag or latex glove over…
