Nineteen critics of convicted sex offender and former Orthodox Union youth leader Rabbi Baruch Lanner have signed a letter excoriating a respected rabbi, saying that he withheld for more than a decade a 1989 rabbinical court ruling that found Lanner guilty of abuse. The January 24 letter accuses Rabbi Mordechai Willig, a highly regarded spiritual…
JERUSALEM — The left wing was never very big here in the Holy City, but these days it is very small. Most days, you can find much of it ensconced at Gaffen, a wine emporium-cum-coffee shop on Emek Refaim Street, the main drag in the trendy German Colony. On Tuesday, Election Day, wine was being…
As if finding that perfect Jewish soul mate wasn’t difficult enough, now comes the trickiest part of all: planning a Jewish wedding. Fortunately, Rita Milos Brownstein, a former art director at Good Housekeeping and House Beautiful, has created “Jewish Weddings: A Guide to Creating the Wedding of Your Dreams” (Simon and Schuster), which walks hapless,…
Egypt wants the Israel Labor Party to join a national unity government under Ariel Sharon, in order to boost the prospects of an Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire agreement that Cairo and Jerusalem have been negotiating quietly in recent weeks. “Our reading is that Israel will have a coalition government and that Sharon prefers to have a coalition…
WASHINGTON — A day before Israelis went to the polls to reelect Prime Minister Sharon, Secretary of State Colin Powell indirectly yet strongly criticized the Israeli leader for his vision of what a future Palestinian state should look like. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Powell said Monday: “We also have to…
It was a moment that would make any Jewish breast swell with pride: No, not Senator Joseph Lieberman entering the race for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States, but the record-breaking time it took a company to cash in on it. At joebeanie.com, you can find a white leather yarmulke for $12.95…
JERUSALEM — The Likud Party’s overwhelming victory in this week’s Israeli elections may have given Prime Minister Sharon several options for building a new government, but his first choice, a broad coalition with Labor, appears to be achingly out of reach. Even as the election night returns were coming in, showing Sharon with a Knesset…
The Zionist Organization of America may be selling its cultural center in Tel Aviv, in a move that could prove controversial for the hawkish pro-Israel organization. The Israeli daily Ma’ariv reported earlier this month that the center, called the ZOA House and run by the organization since the 1950s, may be sold to the Kaldash…
In the edition of the Forverts on the occasion of the New Year of 2003, the “Pearls of Yiddish Poetry” page ran four poems by four famous Jewish poets: Morris Rosenfeld, Abraham Liesen, Avrom Reisen and David Einhorn. What follows is an excerpt from an Einhorn poem, transliterated by Gus Tyler with a free verse…
This is the second column in a three-part series on the Jews of Spain. Like all golden ages, the Golden Age of Spain would not last long. In the 12th century, the tolerant caliphs of Córdoba were overthrown by the Almohades, a fanatical Muslim tribe from North Africa. Facing the prospect of forced conversions, many…
Lebanese Envoy Slammed Lebanon’s top diplomat in Canada has landed in political hot water following undiplomatic comments about the influence of Canada’s Jewish community. Raymond Baaklini, the Lebanese ambassador, drew a stern rebuke from Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham following remarks to an Arabic-language newspaper in Montreal in which he claimed that “Zionists” owned…
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