LIMA, Peru – Salomon Lerner sometimes faced schoolyard taunts as a boy in southern Peru 50 years ago. “Other boys would call me ‘Jew’ or say the Jews killed Christ,” Lerner recalled in an interview. But he had not faced antisemitism since then — until recently. Now he is under attack for his role as…
Rabbi David C. Kogen, vice chancellor emeritus of the Jewish Theological Seminary, died October 19. He was 86 years old. Ordained at JTS in 1946, Kogen joined its administration in 1958 as assistant to the chancellor and assistant professor in practical theology. He became vice chancellor in 1966. “Rabbi Kogen was a man whose dignity…
Teacher Shot at Shul A teenager teaching children at a synagogue in Amarillo, Texas, was shot to death by a woman, who then killed herself. Police said that Eloise Evans, 50, walked into a classroom in Temple B’nai Israel on Sunday morning and told two young children to leave. She drew a handgun and shot…
Although the holiday of Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, is now behind us, it’s not too late for a column related to it. This comes in response to an e-mail from George Jochnowitz, who writes: “On Sukkot, we wave lulavim [palm branches] and pray to God, hosha na, ‘Save [us], we beseech Thee.’ The New…
These days, life seems so volatile, so captive to the vagaries of both history and Mother Nature, that it is comforting, now and then, to be able to point to something — a view of the world or an institution, say, that has held its own over time and circumstance. Happily, there is just such…
Today’s topic is hate, homophobia and family values as expressed through children’s media. Maybe that’s three topics, not one. I’m not sure. I’ll ask Tinky Winky and SpongeBob SquarePants, just as soon as they’ve gotten back from Key West. In any case, certain people seem to be feeling a certain amount of anxiety about our…
When Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated, I was sitting with friends in a café at the Jerusalem Cinemateque, enjoying some rare time off from my job. It had been a hectic summer for all of us who worked for the prime minister, and such a break was indeed welcome. People at the café who knew I…
This week, in synagogues around the world, Jews will read about a rapidly rising water table, a torrent that destroys nearly everyone and everything on the planet. In the story of Noah, this deluge is God’s doing. And after the waters have receded, God promises never again to destroy the world by flood. God does…
In an effort to capitalize on the international outrage over Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s recent call to “wipe Israel off the map,” Israel and several American Jewish organizations have launched a coordinated attack to isolate Iran and force Tehran to renounce its nuclear ambitions. Several Israeli officials and Jewish organizational leaders called for Iran to…
A must-see documentary, “The Optimists: The Story of the Rescue of the Bulgarian Jews From the Holocaust,” by filmmakers Jacky and Lisa Comforty, premiered October 10 at the Center for Jewish History. It is the most recent cinematic tribute to the Bulgarians for their heroic efforts on behalf of their fellow (Jewish) Bulgarians. The first…
The confirmation battle over President Bush’s conservative Supreme Court nominee, Judge Samuel Alito, is likely to pose a daunting political test for the GOP chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Arlen Specter. Bush chose Alito, 55, a federal judge on the Philadelphia-based Third Circuit Court of Appeals, to succeed retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, following…
