Rapprochement was the subtext of the Anti-Defamation League’s November 14 International Leadership Award dinner, held at Cipriani 42nd Street. The event was in honor of Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones, chairman and CEO of L’Oréal. The white tablecloths, white-covered chairs and white gardenias in water-filled vases reflected the evening’s theme of reconciliation and a past best forgotten….
BOSTON — The highly optimistic motto at the biennial convention of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism this week was “lighting the way.” But as delegates debated a variety of hot-button issues, it was clear to many who attended the gathering here that Conservative leaders do not have a consensus vision for which direction the…
Once again, Stanley Siegelman startles our readers with his novel choice of subjects, delightfully presented in his habitual “Yinglish.” In describing his subject, he writes: “Minuscule, nonkosher crustaceans flourish in New York City’s tap water. They are harmless, but their presence renders the water off limits to observant Jews, according to the Orthodox Union. The…
In one of the largest Holocaust restitution cases in German history, the heirs of the Wertheim family, one of prewar Germany’s largest retailers, stand to receive more than $100 million in property looted by the Nazis. The development follows a decision by the current owner, retail conglomerate KarstadtQuelle AG, to drop its claims to three…
At a meeting called to strategize about the political and cultural challenges posed by Christian conservative activists, Jewish communal officials disagreed about the extent of the problem. They left with no concrete plans or strategy. The meeting was convened by the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman, who warned in a major policy…
A bitter power struggle at one of the country’s toniest synagogues is coming to a head, as supporters of the rabbi are hoping to vote out the current board of trustees and elect a new slate of officers at a meeting this weekend. Backers of Rabbi David Gelfand — the embattled leader of the Jewish…
BANGKOK — When Israeli officials showed up in Thailand last week to participate for the first time in the annual meeting of the Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace, they received a hostile welcome from several Muslim nations. But in a sharp turnaround from other international parleys, Israel found itself being defended by representatives of…
Fresh on the heels of its first ever mandate to station monitors at the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, the European Union is trying to reassert itself into the Israeli-Palestinian process. So far, the push is producing mixed results. First the E.U. came under fire from Israel last week over a leaked internal report…
Iraq Attack: A Florida Democratic congressman’s vote for a resolution calling for a quick American withdrawal from Iraq is reviving some of the heated rhetoric of the 2004 presidential campaign in the Sunshine State. One of three votes for the resolution was cast by Rep. Robert Wexler, who is Jewish. Republicans offered the resolution in…
WASHINGTON — In an unusual ad hominem attack, Orthodox Union President Stephen Savitsky this week criticized the president of the Israel Policy Forum, Seymour Reich, for allegedly urging the Bush administration to pressure Israel into making concessions to the Palestinians. Reich denied having invited American pressure. Savitsky’s criticism came in a November 28 statement calling…
Mob Suspect Loses Israel’s top court upheld the extradition of a suspected mobster to the United States. The Supreme Court rejected on Wednesday an appeal by Ze’ev Rosenstein against his planned extradition for trial by a Florida District Court, saying that the move is appropriate as he is accused of violating American law. The Drug…
