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Doctor Cannabis
“Also, one will beautify [Shabbat candle lighting] when the wick is made from cotton, flax or cannabis…” That’s right, cannabis. This dictate, found in the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law), piqued the curiosity of Boston geriatrician Yosef Glassman when he was reading about Sabbath rituals on a religious quest nearly two decades ago. The…
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South African Jews Mourn Nelson Mandela, ‘Mensch’ of the Nation
South African Jews joined the rest of the nation and the world in mourning the death of Nelson Mandela Friday with prayers and memories of the iconic figure who led the country from apartheid to freedom. “You are talking about a person larger than life with so much compassion for every person in this country…
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Nelson Mandela, Iconic Leader for Jews of South Africa — and World
Nelson Mandela, who died December 5, has become a beloved icon for all of South Africa, and no less for its Jewish community. But until he became the first democratically elected president of South Africa, he had had no formal relationship with its organized Jewish community. That was because the formal structures of the community…
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Family Faults Obama Inaction as Alan Gross Marks Four Years in Cuban Prison
The chants of “Free Alan Gross!” were unlikely to reach the ears of President Barack Obama in the Oval Office. But the gathering of several dozen activists outside the White House — on the fourth anniversary of the arrest of the Jewish American contractor in Cuba — highlighted a tactical shift in the movement for…
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American Studies Association Posts Terms of Israeli University Boycott
The American Studies Association posed the terms of a boycott of Israeli universities, although it had yet to announce a formal boycott. According to the Frequently Asked Question page posted on the ASA website, the boycott will not inhibit collaboration with individual Israeli academics. “The ASA understands boycott as limited to a refusal on the…
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Jews Bid Farewell to Bloomberg, With Powdered Sugar on their Lips
And on the sixth night of Hanukkah, Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave the Jews all the jelly donuts they could handle. Waiters bore the ponderous mounds of donuts into the event hall at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, where 500 of the mayor’s guests were celebrating the last official Hanukkah party of the Bloomberg administration. It…
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A Poet’s Life Spanning Shtetl and Subway
Few of us will lead a life as full as my “shviger” (mother-in-law), Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman: a life that spanned an ocean with an unremitting creative urge and a sense of personal purpose that encompassed a universe. While it may appear that her tragedies outweighed her joys, she dazzled the world with her accomplishments and was…
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Reform Biennial Will Showcase ‘Vitality and Openness’ by Including Outsiders
(JTA) — First there was the Conservative movement’s October biennial conference, billed as “The conversation of the century” and opened up to presenters from outside the movement. Then came the November General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America, which featured a “Global Jewish shuk: a marketplace of dialogue and debate” led by young Israelis…
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Conservative Rabbis Set To Debate Opening the Door to Intermarrieds
A top Conservative movement official thinks that Conservative rabbis should be allowed to participate in interfaith weddings. Now explicitly barred by the movement, the proposal — put forward by Rabbi Charles Simon of the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs — is one of a handful of new efforts by Conservative rabbis to loosen restrictions on…
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Taking Dreidel for Spin in Heart of Brooklyn’s Hipster Heaven for Hanukkah
The crowd leaned in closer toward the game table as the competitors nervously practiced spinning techniques before the final round of the first Major League Dreidel tournament of the 2013 season. But something wasn’t quite right. “I know exactly what this needs,” said Eric Pavony, 34, founder and self-styled “knishioner“ of Major League Dreidel, before…
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One Man’s Campaign Against the Arch of Titus — and How It Changed Italy’s Jews
Heavy rain was forecast for that blustery Roman morning in December 1996, so I arrived early in order to escape the frenzied traffic and secure a space in the parking lot of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, where I was a division director. The marble-and-travertine-clad buildings of the FAO, originally constructed by Mussolini…
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