(JTA) — His hearing isn’t what it used to be, but Georges Loinger still remembers Adolf Hitler’s voice emanating from the radio at his Strasbourg home. Growing up in the heavily Germanic Alsace region of eastern France, Loinger and his family tuned in regularly to broadcasts of Hitler’s speeches. They heard his “electrifying voice” and…
Joseph was lying on his bunk, looking at the Hebrew blessings he’d hung on the wall to celebrate his first Hanukah in prison when his new, neo-Nazi cellmate was brought in. The man sported a large swastika tattoo on one arm, with Adolf Hitler’s face drawn in the center. “Skinhead” was tattooed across his chest…
By moving back to Berlin three years ago, Margot Friedlander, a 92-year-old Holocaust survivor, has become an unlikely celebrity in the land where she was once persecuted. In 1946, when she immigrated to New York with her husband, they both vowed never to set foot again in Germany. Most members of both their families were…
(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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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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