Mayoral underdog Jesus “Chuy” Garcia has a fighting chance in an April runoff election against well-funded incumbent Rahm Emanuel but political insiders say he must broaden his coalition beyond the Hispanic voters and disgruntled teachers who boosted him so far. Garcia must also persuade tough-minded Chicagoans that he can do a better job than the…
National Security Adviser Susan Rice slammed Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned speech as “destructive” and more Democrats lined up against the speech even as the Anti-Defamation League dialed down its criticism. The speech is “destructive of the fabric of the relationship,” National Security Adviser Susan Rice told Charlie Rose, a TV journalist, on Tuesday. “What has happened…
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio scored a political victory February 24 when administration officials announced the city’s intention to scrap current regulation of a controversial circumcision rite. Ultra-Orthodox leaders, who represent a powerful voting bloc in the city, welcomed the announcement, hailing it as a victory for religious freedom. But it remains to…
Two New York Jewish charities rocked by scandal in recent months have something in common: They were both audited by the accounting firm Loeb & Troper. For years, this small, Manhattan-based firm audited the financial reports of FEGS, which announced in January it would close after uncovering a previously undetected $19 million deficit. The firm…
The 2015 David Twersky Journalism Award has been awarded to Forward editor-in-chief Jane Eisner for a June editorial calling for an easing of the Jewish conversion process. The David Twersky Award, named for the former Forward editor and writer who died in 2010, is granted annually for one article published in the Forward or the…
Kosher marijuana could soon be available to Orthodox Jews in New York State — but only on doctor’s orders. Rabbi Moshe Elefant, COO of the Orthodox Union’s kosher certification agency, said he has held “preliminary discussions” with several companies interested in obtaining a kosher seal of approval for medical marijuana. The move comes as legalization…
In the beginning it sounded like Disney World. Allen Kurzweil was 10 years old when his mother suggested that he spend one year at a boarding school in Villars, Switzerland. Kurzweil was exhilarated: He had fond memories of winter holidays in the Swiss Alps with his father, who had passed away five years before. But…
The Seesaw is a new kind of advice column in which a broad range of columnists will address the real life issues faced by interfaith couples and families. Read the discussion and vote below for what you think is the best response to this particular quandary. You can email your own questions, which will remain…
This story has all the elements necessary to transform a tedious court case about estates, inheritances and family feuds into a gripping historical novel. At its center is Oskar Schindler, the German industrialist and bon vivant whom Yad Vashem named Righteous Among the Nations, a bankrupt man who brought Steven Spielberg his first Oscar as…
In the past five or six years, William Helmreich has walked a total of 6,048 miles in New York City, covering every block of the city landscape, at an average of 30 miles per week. It wasn’t just for kicks, it was also for research. The longtime sociology professor at the City University of New…
(JTA) — As a longtime promoter of Jewish-Muslim dialogue in Denmark, Naveed Baig is no stranger to Copenhagen’s Great Synagogue. The imam at the capital’s Danish Islamic Center, Baig, 39, has on numerous occasions sat under the structure’s gold-and-white ceiling meeting with people he calls his “Jewish brethren” to discuss issues of common concern. On…
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