A representative of Spanish-speaking Jews urged Spain to follow Portugal’s lead and adopt a law of return for descendants of Sephardim. “While Portugal passed its law, in Spain it is stuck and is being watered down as we speak,” Leon Amiras, president of the Israel-based OLEI group representing Israelis from Latin America and Iberia, on…
Jerry Goldman, a Jewish attorney from Philadelphia who represents the families of men and women killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks, never expected to meet with a top Al Qaeda terrorist convicted in connection with that attack, and at the terrorist’s own request. But that’s what happened when Goldman met Zacarias Moussaoui, known as…
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…
