For as long as contemporary American Jews can remember, our community has voted liberal, marched radical, and, to varying degrees, found ourselves on the left side of the political spectrum. But for those who favor this state of affairs, recent shifts in Jewish culture and identity offer reason to worry. First, Jewish solidarity with other…
The group Queers Against Israeli Apartheid will take part in this year’s Toronto Pride parade. For the first time in five years, there has been no organized opposition to QuAIA participating in the parade, which will be held June 29. Jewish community and some city officials have opposed the group joining in the past. “People…
Gamblers know that the house always wins — except, as some Jewish charities are learning the hard way, when it doesn’t. Federal tax law and state gaming regulations allow some charities to play pit boss, taking bets on games like bingo and poker to fill their charitable coffers. But thanks in part to the economic…
Taglit-Birthright brought Scott Neiss to Israel. And Neiss, in turn, brought lacrosse. That’s the story, more or less, behind Israel Lacrosse, a not-for-profit organization engaging Israeli boys and girls ages 8 to 18 in the sport. Neiss, who worked as a general manager for several professional lacrosse teams in the States, founded the group in…
For many Jews, the World Cup match on June 21 between Argentina and Iran is far more than a soccer game. It’s an opportunity to remind the world of a crime that, 20 years on, remains unresolved. Eighty-five people died in the 1994 terror bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina, or AMIA, the main…
(JTA) — In 1981, David Blatt moved to Israel in pursuit of a path of lifelong worship – to play professional basketball. Now, more than 30 years later, Blatt is leaving Israel to make a different, and totally unprecedented, form of aliyah – to leave the ranks of Israeli basketball to coach in the NBA….
(Haaretz) — It’s not easy to find accurate data about the number of Israelis living in the United States. The Israeli government and the Jewish Agency are in no hurry to give out such information, which might be due to the simple fact that no one has precise numbers. Be that as it may, the…
As New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo steams toward what’s expected to be an easy re-election this fall, he may face opposition from an unexpected corner. Cuomo has long sought to cultivate support among the state’s powerful ultra-Orthodox community. But a series of recent moves has threatened that relationship, culminating in Cuomo’s early June decision…
(JTA) — A special panel tasked with examining the governance and strategic vision of the Claims Conference is recommending that the organization shift its long-term focus to Holocaust education and remembrance, JTA has learned. The panel was appointed last year following a scandal involving the Claims Conference’s failure to detect a $57 million fraud scheme…
(JTA) — Even before their daughter, Ayelet Galena, was diagnosed with a rare bone marrow disease called dyskeratosis congenita around her first birthday, parents Hindy Poupko and Seth Galena knew they wanted to have more children. But once the diagnosis arrived, the couple had a dilemma: There was a fair chance their next child would…
(Haaretz) — In Poland, they were known as the ungrateful Jews. These were Jews who survived the Holocaust because of the selfless acts of thousands of Polish rescuers who put their lives on the line for them but were never properly thanked. As soon as the war was over, these Jews headed out to greener pastures…
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