The mood at the national convention of Modern Orthodox rabbis was somber on the day that Yeshiva University Chancellor Norman Lamm announced his retirement. Lamm, 85, attended the convention, walking with a cane and looking frail. On July 1, the day his retirement letter was made public, the revered elder statesman of Y.U. sat in…
Each year, when Frank Halper is faced with the state tax bill for his accounting business in Providence, R.I., he has a choice. He can write a check for the amount owed by his company or, as part of a state tax credit program, he can send a check to a foundation that provides tuition…
Votim Demiri led me through a warren of narrow streets and buildings with sloping red-tiled roofs to his home in this city of 178,000, set on a bend in the Prizrenska Bistrica river. In his office, Demiri, president of the Jewish community in Kosovo, proudly showed off photographs of his family meeting leaders, including Israeli…
Jane Eisner’s special report, A Day at the Kotel, will run in three parts, starting yesterday and continuing tomorrow. Each piece focuses on a different time of day at the Western Wall, and the implications for the battle over the future of Judaism’s holiest site. Now, the sun is high in the sky and boys…
A leader of Germany’s Jewish community has called for the urgent release of a report into the handling of a $57 million fraud at the group that oversees restitution payments to Holocaust survivors. Stephan Kramer demanded that the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany release its ombudsman’s report on the fraud prior to the…
Yeshiva University chancellor Norman Lamm resigned Monday amidst growing pressure over allegations of sexual abuse at Yeshiva University High School stretching back decades, a scandal that was first reported by the Forward in December. In a letter announcing his resignation, Lamm apologized for his failure to go to police with reports of sexual abuse against…
Jane Eisner’s special report, A Day at the Kotel, will run in three parts, starting today and continuing tomorrow and Wednesday. Each piece focuses on a different time of day at the Western Wall, and the implications for the battle over the future of Judaism’s holiest site. The shops are still shuttered as I walk…
New York City mayoral hopeful Anthony Weiner is surging in the polls, but he has practically everybody except Jewish voters to thank for his comeback. The disgraced ex-Congressman is drawing large chunks of the black, Latino and Asian vote — but Jews like him even less than they did a month ago when he first…
As co-manager of Kenyon College’s Hillel, Andrew Driscoll Pochter was asked to give a speech last year to his fellow students to mark Rosh Hashanah. The idealistic 21-year-old from suburban Washington D.C. spoke about how celebrating the High Holidays helped him explore his Jewish faith. “Entering the New Year really resonated with him,’ Marc W….
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to reassure Diaspora Jewish leaders that redesign plans remain on track for the Western Wall plaza that will allow greater scope there for non-Orthodox prayer services. In a June 27 meeting with Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism and with Natan Sharansky, head of the…
In this week’s Reporters Roundtable podcast, host Josh Nathan-Kazis is joined by Forward contributing editor Jay Michaelson to discuss why the recent Supreme Court decisions are mixed blessings. Then, Liam Hoare calls in to discuss his recent report on the Jews of Kosovo. Finally, Johnna Kaplan tells the fascinating story of why a town in…
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