In his winery nestled in the rocky red hills of the central West Bank, Amichai Lourie prepares a shipment of award-winning vintage destined for the American market. On the labels, which carry Laurie’s signature, the winery clearly states that the product is “Made in Israel.” In fact, Lourie’s wine comes from territory occupied, but never…
When American Jewry’s most important national umbrella group hosted American Jewry’s most famous recently paroled spy for Israel, it did so over breakfast in an elegant synagogue conference room in Manhattan with a congressman in attendance. That is about as much as can be gleaned about the setting of the closed January 25 meeting, based…
(JTA) — On Monday, Iowans will gather to launch the 2016 presidential election with an arcane ritual — the caucus. In living rooms and meeting halls throughout the state, caucus-goers will group themselves into clusters according to which presidential candidate they favor. By the end of the day, two real-life winners will emerge: not a…
In 2011, when Hurricane Irene was bearing down on New York City, then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg took to the airwaves to warn New Yorkers, in English and in Spanish, to take the necessary precautions and stay safe. Residents in some parts of the city, just as they were two years later in the devastating Sandy, were…
Jonathan Pollard, the convicted Israeli spy who was recently freed from prison, met with top Jewish leaders Monday — but blamed his failure to deliver a full speech on the Forward’s scoop about the meeting. The meeting, convened by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, was held as Pollard fights to ease…
The top Democrats may be running neck and neck in the early primary states, but when it comes to assembling a stable of advisers on the Middle East, Hillary Clinton is way ahead of her chief rival, Bernie Sanders. The former secretary of state boasts a host of dedicated aides, consultants and confidants advising her…
Some 15 years ago, the lawyer Remy C. Ilona traveled deep into rural Nigeria, on bus rides that lasted seven hours and through villages without electricity, just to hear stories. The folklore of origins and customs of his people, the Igbo, could be forgotten within a generation. So he came to document them. “These things…
Since announcing his plans to retire from Congress, New York Democrat Steve Israel, one of his party’s chief fundraisers, has been megaphoning his hatred of the role that big money and major donors play in American democracy. But in an exit interview with the Forward, the Long Island lawmaker says money in support of Israel…
A Jewish health care charity has agreed to repay $47 million to state and federal authorities to settle charges of Medicaid fraud. CenterLight Healthcare, formerly known as Beth Abraham Family of Health Services, admitted to having over 1,000 ineligible members in its Medicaid-sponsored long term care plan. CenterLight received monthly fees for each of the…
The first time I saw Lt. Gen. JFR Jacob, at Delhi’s Judah Hyam synagogue, I had no idea who he was. But his importance was obvious by the way everyone stood tall and switched to tones of reverence at his appearance. “He is a hero, our topmost Jew!” someone whispered to me. A woman in…
A Bronx old-age home whose board includes several high-powered Orthodox Jewish activists has sent at least $20 million to dozens of ultra-Orthodox organizations in an unusual, decades-long arrangement. The not-for-profit, called the Bronxwood Home for the Aged, runs a home care agency and an assisted living facility, which serves largely non-Jewish seniors. It has sent…
