Conservative Jewish leaders brushed off evidence that their denomination is dramatically shrinking that appeared in the new Pew survey of Jewish America. Denominational officials said that the data, which showed that just 11% of young Jews identify with Conservative Judaism, confirmed what the movement already knows about the problems its facing. Some said that the…
Confusion and controversy marred the funeral of a mother of two said to have committed suicide after leaving her Hasidic community and being denied access to her children. Friends and family of Deb Tambor, a former resident of the ultra-Orthodox community of New Square, in upstate New York, believe she killed herself on Friday, September…
(JTA) — At his office in London’s newly opened, $80 million Jewish community center, Raymond Simonson fumbles with a state-of-the-art telephone switchboard. “Sorry, I’m embarrassed, but we’ve only just moved into our offices,” says Simonson, the 40-year-old boss of London’s first American-style JCC, which opened Sunday. “Now the article will say ‘New CEO can’t even…
Jewish America is on the brink of a massive generational shift in identity and practice, according to the first-ever independent study of American Jews, conducted by the Pew Research Center. Young Jews are increasingly likely to say that they have no religion, despite saying they are Jewish. In doing so, they are rewriting the norms…
Israel and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee are not alone in seeking to influence Congress’s response to the Obama administration’s unprecedented diplomatic engagement with Iran. On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met with a delegation of Congress members from both parties for three hours at the home of Iran’s UN Ambassador. “There…
On the eve of Yom Kippur, Orly Ohayon and her mother stood at an intersection in suburban Jacksonville, Fla., on their way to synagogue for Kol Nidre services. As they crossed eight-lane San Jose Boulevard, the pair was struck by a Toyota Camry, killing Esther Benzohar Ohayon, 57, and leaving Orly, 16, with several broken…
Orly Ohayon is a “popular” observant Jewish teenager who grew up in Jacksonville, Fla., where her Israeli immigrant parents settled decades ago. The 16-year-old girl is now an orphan after the tragic Yom Kippur accident that killed her mother and left her with serious physical injuries. She was released last week from the University of…
It is October 1973, and the state of Israel is in mortal danger. To the north, Syrian tank columns have overwhelmed the handful of Israeli defenders on the Golan Heights. To the south, Egyptian troops have crossed the Suez Canal and are advancing through Sinai. You command the Israeli forces desperately mobilizing to meet the…
Germany’s largest Jewish communal organization, the Berlin Juedische Gemeinde, is nearly dysfunctional. “We are at the edge of chaos,” said Rabbi Josh Spinner, executive vice president and CEO in Berlin of the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation. “All the world’s Jews should care about this.” Claudia Keller, writing in the respected newspaper Der Tagesspiegel, observed that…
1913 •100 years ago Synagogue Gallery Collapses Dozens of people were wounded when the women’s gallery in a New york synagogue on 106th Street between Park and Madison avenues suddenly collapsed and fell onto the seats below. Though it was the second day of Rosh Hashanah, the collapse occurred early enough, around 9 a.m., that…
A 1,200-year-old parchment Jewish prayer book that is billed as the oldest in existence was introduced Sept. 27 by a prominent private collector of Biblical artifacts. The complete 50-page book with original 13-by-10 centimeter binding features early Babylonian vowels, which are a precursor to modern Hebrew vowels. Those, along with Carbon-14 dating, helped scholars arrive…
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