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Jerry Silverman Promises More Than Talk at Federations General Assembly
(JTA) — This time, it’s not going to be just talking. There’s going to be listening and debating — and, eventually, action. That’s what Jerry Silverman, CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, says will distinguish this year’s General Assembly, which is slated for Nov. 10-12 in Jerusalem, from past G.A. conferences. “We have…
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Richard Joel’s Term at Y.U. Is a Study in Promise and Turmoil
Richard Joel spoke of renewal when he became president of Yeshiva University in 2003, promising higher academic standards and broader horizons. At first, the charismatic lawyer delivered. Then came 2008 and Bernard Madoff and the economic collapse. Today, Modern Orthodoxy’s educational core is showing cracks. Secular faculty members are furious over salary cuts. Students, aware…
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Brad Ausmus Named First Jewish Manager of Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers announced that Brad Ausmus will be their new manager for 2014. The 44 year-old Ausmus replaces the 68 year-old Jim Leyland, who announced his retirement in late October, shortly after the Tigers lost the American League Championship Series to the Boston Red Sox. The hiring makes Ausmus the 38th skipper in Tigers…
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Should Iraq’s Jewish Archives Stay in U.S.?
At the National Archives in Washington, the story of Iraq’s ancient Jewish community has just gone on display, presented via a priceless collection of artifacts and documents recovered during America’s 2003 invasion of Iraq. But behind the scenes, a battle reaching to the highest levels of government is taking place over the future of those…
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My Barber, My Book — and The Temple Mount
Are there toilets on the Temple Mount? I needed to find out. You see, a main character in a novel I was writing, “In the Courtyard of the Kabbalist,” is a toilet cleaner on the Temple Mount. Naturally, I wanted to know what the bathroom area looked like. As much as possible, I wanted the…
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How Deb Tambor’s Life Ended — and Started Firestorm in Hasidic New Square
This story was translated from Yiddish by Frimet Goldberger. A version first appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. Motie (Abe) Weiss and Deborah (Deb) Tambor, a young couple in love living in Bridgeton, N.J,, had a beautiful tradition: Each morning at 9 a.m., Tambor would make a cup of coffee and bring it to his workplace,…
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Brooklyn District Attorney Candidate Ken Thompson Backpedals on Hasidic Abuse Scandal
On the campaign trail, Ken Thompson, the Democratic candidate for Brooklyn district attorney, has sharply criticized incumbent Charles Hynes’ prosecution of a prominent Hasidic advocate against sexual abuse, even attending a rally calling for charges against the man to be dropped. But Thompson, who is widely expected to win the November 5 election, is now…
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Samuel Cohen-Eckstein’s Family Pleads With Council for Action on Traffic Laws
Tears were shed by all present as the family of a Jewish boy killed by a vehicle in Brooklyn testified in front of the City Council’s transportation committee in favor of a bill reducing speed limits in residential areas, WNYC reported. Sammy Cohen-Eckstein, whose death came a month before his bar mitzvah, was crossing the…
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Kosher Chicken, E Coli and the Horace Mann Kid
It’s a new, if still debatable, mystery of modern science: Why would kosher chickens harbor much higher levels of potentially dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria than nonkosher chickens? The authors of a recent study that found this are just as stumped as anyone. “Nobody expected it would be any higher than conventional chicken,” said lead author Jack…
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Space to Spare, Reform and Conservative Congregations Turn to Orthodox
(JTA) — Marla Topp of Temple Judea Mizpah in Skokie, Ill., doesn’t need survey data to tell her that Reform Judaism is in decline and Orthodox Judaism is growing. She has to look no further than her own synagogue. A couple of months ago, the temple began renting out unused classroom space to an Orthodox…
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Yeshiva U. Victims Stare Down School’s Lawyers in Showdown Over $380M Suit
It was a landmark moment in the long-running Yeshiva University sexual abuse case. For the first time, former Y.U. high school students who say they were abused confronted lawyers for Y.U. in court as their attorney argued against a motion to dismiss their case. Flanked by family members, about a dozen of the former students…
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