In Washington Wednesday, the United States promised $38 billion in military aid to Israel over the next ten years. In case that’s not enough, Haaretz reported that the U.S. is prepared to send even more should the need arise. So how much money is $3.8 billion a year for ten years? An unfathomable amount of…
President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that a new $38 billion aid package will help ensure Israel can defend itself from threats, commenting in a statement on the 10-year memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two nations. “Both Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu and I are confident that the new MOU will make a significant contribution…
The electoral thwacking suffered by the handpicked successor to New York State Assembly leader Sheldon Silver looks like the last nail in the coffin of the old Lower East Side political order. Alice Cancel, a longtime Lower East Side activist who won a special election in April to complete Silver’s forfeited final term, came in…
On December 14, 2012, six-year-old Noah Pozner was murdered along with 20 other children and six adult staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. I interviewed his mother, Veronique Pozner, six days after her son’s funeral when the family had just finished sitting shiva, the traditional Jewish mourning period. Even as she…
The new National Museum of African American History and Culture, years in the making, will open to the public on September 24. Featured in the collection will be a section of African American Judaica — including a shofar, Torah and prayer shawl. “Many people understand that the African America church has been the bedrock of…
A Jewish education charity made a $2.3 million loan to a failing hedge fund this May, two months before the hedge fund’s collapse. Torah Umesorah, also known as the National Society for Hebrew Day Schools, handed the money to a fund controlled by Platinum Partners at a time when the fund had access to just…
Former Israeli President Shimon Peres remains in a “critical but stable” condition in hospital following a massive stroke, his son-in-law and personal physician Rafi Valdan said on Wednesday, though the family is optimistic he will recover. Valdan said it was too early to tell whether there may be lasting neurological damage following the stroke that…
Hillary Clinton is leading Donald Trump by a whopping 3-to-1 margin among Jewish voters — but may still has work to do to line up the support that previous Democratic candidates won on Election Day. A new survey of Jewish opinions conducted by the American Jewish Committee found that 61% of American Jews intend to…
Rebecca W. Sirbu wants to help you find a better rabbi. And she wants to help rabbis of all stripes find gigs — whether at a congregation or somewhere else. Her answer: RabbiCareers.com. “Need someone with strong analytic skills, the ability to work well with a variety of people, and knows how to speak passionately…
“We need a president who understands the role of faith,” Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton told a crowd of religious leaders gathered September 8 for the annual National Baptist Convention meeting, “a president who will pray with you and for you.” The next day, in Washington, Donald Trump, her Republican rival, promised the Values Voter Summit…
Federal prosecutors have charged a third Hasidic man in an alleged conspiracy to kidnap a man who had refused to release his wife from marriage. Shimen Liebowitz, 25, and Aharon Goldberg, 55, were arrested September 6 and charged with planning to pay a private investigator $55,000 to kidnap and then murder the man. Federal Bureau…
