As the Senate this week began to investigate what went wrong with the federal response to Hurricane Katrina, Jewish elected officials on opposite sides of the aisle offered sharply different approaches to answering the question. Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, took the lead in demanding that the president appoint an independent panel along…
WASHINGTON — America’s vast network of Jewish social service providers is seizing on the opportunity to use Hurricane Katrina to fight Republican efforts to slash Medicaid, the nation’s chief public health program for the poor. In the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, GOP lawmakers have put off their plan to cut $10 billion from Medicaid…
A Baton Rouge, La., synagogue has closed its shelter for victims of Hurricane Katrina and placed its rabbi on administrative leave. The board of Congregation B’nai Israel asked Rabbi Barry Weinstein last week to take a paid leave of absence for an unspecified period. Weinstein had led B’nai Israel’s effort to house dozens of evacuees…
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is claiming that a radio station in Utah abruptly canceled his national talk show after he invited Hurricane Katrina evacuees to settle in the state and to attend a Salt Lake City speaking engagement of his slated for this week. Boteach, best known for his book “Kosher Sex,” claims that higher ups…
A documentary heralding the achievements of famous Jews has triggered a bitter legal fight between the filmmaker and the philanthropist behind the project. Filmmaker Gil Baker is suing developer and money manager Robert I. Lappin and his philanthropic foundation, claiming that he has not been paid for his work on “Great Jewish Achievers.” Lappin, who…
TEL AVIV — Monday’s dramatic scenes of synagogues being vandalized and, in some cases, destroyed by Palestinians in Gaza reminded Oded Tira of Israel’s pullout from the Sinai Desert nearly a quarter-century ago. Tira, a retired brigadier general in the Israeli army, was in charge of the 1982 evacuation of Yamit, the last Jewish settlement…
WASHINGTON — Even as late chief justice William Rehnquist was being eulogized by several Jewish organizations, America’s most prominent Jewish lawyer, Alan Dershowitz, was accusing him of bigotry and discrimination. Jewish groups praised Rehnquist, 80, who died September 3 after a highly publicized bout with cancer, as “the very model of a chief justice,” and…
UNITED NATIONS — Israel and its supporters are hoping that a comprehensive reform package to be adopted next week during the United Nations General Assembly will open the door to some of the key changes that Jerusalem has been demanding for years. “We see in this General Assembly [what may be a] unique opportunity to…
The fourth anniversary of the attacks of 9/11 is a time of mourning and reflection for all Americans. It is also an opportunity to assess what has been done — and what has not been done — to make our country safer. Since that terrible day, we have been spared another major attack on American…
LOS ANGELES — With the indictment of four men in an alleged prison-hatched plot to attack Israeli, Jewish and military targets in Los Angeles, synagogues and Jewish institutions in the area have intensified their security measures in preparation for the High Holy Days. While in this instance the alleged Muslim plotters were caught, thanks partly…
TEL AVIV — Two weeks ago, when resigning finance minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a direct leadership challenge to Prime Minister Sharon, early polls had him leading by close to 17% among the Likud Party members, who will select the party’s candidate for the next elections. Sharon’s situation seemed hopeless, but his associates kept saying they…
בײַ ייִדן איז פֿאַראַן אַן אַלטע טראַדיציע צו שרײַבן רײַסישע סגולות מיט ייִדישע אותיות.
