PARIS — Despite their public sparring over Iraq and other issues, America and France have stepped up their cooperation against terrorism during the past three years. French and American police, intelligence and judicial officials involved in tracking radical Muslim groups and individuals have been exchanging information and tips on an unprecedented scale since the attacks…
“Viagra” and “Niagara” sound very much alike. But, we are poetically assured by our ever-clever contributor Stanley Siegelman that they are not the same. He does so in his uproarious rollicking rhymes. Viagra Iz Nit Keyn Vaserfal Viagra iz a voyle zakh (A bisl shlingt men, nit kin sakh) Es helft a man tsu zayn…
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration’s new Greater Middle East Initiative, touted by officials as a major push to promote democracy across the Arab and Muslim world, is receiving mixed reviews from Middle East experts, diplomats and even some administration officials. Critics said that the initiative, disclosed February 9 by the Washington Post and partially confirmed…
JERUSALEM — Rabbi Ismar Schorsch, chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, told the Forward that he opposes any change to the Conservative movement’s prohibition against ordaining gay rabbis or sanctioning same-sex commitment ceremonies. Schorsch outlined his position this week while attending the annual convention of the Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly in Jerusalem. It appeared to…
UNITED NATIONS — United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has asked a prominent Canadian judge to assume the post of High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Forward has learned. Louise Arbour, a justice on the Supreme Court of Canada and former chief prosecutor on the United Nations international tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia,…
It’s a great time to be a Jewish music fan. Creative work is being done in a variety of styles and genres, ranging from neo-traditional klezmer to cutting-edge Jewish jams, from new liturgical sounds to old-time Yiddish folk and theater tunes. Sometimes all these different styles show up on one recording — or even in…
Baker Botch: A top New York supporter of Massachusetts Senator John Kerry is saying that the candidate told him he made a “mistake” when he named former president Jimmy Carter or former secretary of state James Baker as possible Middle East envoys in a December speech at the Council on Foreign Relations. New York Assembly…
PHILADELPHIA — More than 650 mourners recently gathered at Goldstein’s Funeral Home to say goodbye to an old friend, legendary radio personality Ed Sciaky. Sciaky, who dropped dead January 30 on a New York street corner at age 55, was more than just a disc jockey. He was as passionate about the music he played…
Bill Morris writes from San Diego: This last weekend I heard someone talking about an “ufruf” (“oof-roof”). In English contexts, I’ve always seen this word given the German spelling of “aufruf,” which should be pronounced “owf-roof,” while in Yiddish it is spelled sextie`, which should be pronounced “oyf-roof.” Are there Yiddish dialects in which the…
Yossi Vassa is an Ethiopian-Israeli stand-up comic who has been confronted with hardships and tragedy that most 29-year-old Americans would struggle to imagine. At age 9, he and his family were among thousands of Ethiopian Jews resettled in Israel thanks to Operation Moses. They journeyed on foot for 440 miles to a Sudanese transit camp,…
A tempest has been swirling inside the delicate gilded teapot of New York high society after basketball fans of the elite Trinity School taunted a Jewish player for the opposing Dalton school with calls of “gefilte fish, gefilte fish,” and “hey, he fouled him… that’s not kosher!” One Dalton parent challenged the hecklers at the…
