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The Frozen Chosen
In 1939, Harold Ickes, President Franklin Roosevelt’s secretary of the interior, proposed that four Alaskan locales play refuge to thousands of Europe’s fleeing Jews. Ickes’s idea -— which would become the premise for Michael Chabon’s “The Yiddish Policemen’s Union” — was later bucked by Roosevelt and by several prominent American Jewish organizations. But over the…
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Jewish Doctor Who Founded Paralympics
The Paralympics, the quadrennial competition for athletes with disabilities that follows the Olympics, will draw some 4,200 participants to London in late August to vie for medals before 1.5 million ticket-holders, 5,600 journalists, countless television viewers — and, for the first time, a bronze bust of the bespectacled physician and refugee from Nazi Germany who…
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75 Years of the Grisly Golden Gate
Back in the days before psychology and the DSM, suicide was often viewed as a sin. According to early Jewish law, killing oneself was no different from killing another human being, and thus one who committed suicide was considered a rasha — an evil person. Congregation Sha’ar Zahav of San Francisco is out to remove…
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Brian Lurie Takes Aim at Occupation
Rabbi Brian Lurie, who recently replaced Naomi Chazan as president of the New Israel Fund, has spent most of his professional life at the heart of the American Jewish establishment. Nonetheless, he is a rebel, a nonconformist, a Jewish communal leader “on the cutting edge,” as former Forward editor J.J. Goldberg puts it, especially in…
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Carl Bernstein, Jeffrey Toobin, Susan Blumenthal Headline The Common Good Health Care Discussion
“Welcome to my building,” joked Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Carl Bernstein, who moderated a discussion about the U.S. Supreme Court and health care on July 19 at the Manhattan headquarters of AllianceBernstein. Sponsored by The Common Good, the event’s featured panelists included Susan Blumenthal, rear admiral and former U.S. assistant surgeon general, and Jeffrey Toobin, senior…
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The Truth? Few Muslims in Government
When Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann and a group of colleagues called for a probe into “security concerns” over the employment of several Muslims in top government positions, Democrats and Republicans joined in condemning the call and in accusing those behind it of Islamophobia. Yet, shining the spotlight on the issue of Muslim Americans in…
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Vatican’s Jewish Ties, Inside Mitt’s Trip
In this week’s podcast, host Josh Nathan-Kazis is joined by Forward Editor Jane Eisner and Washington correspondent Nathan Guttman to discuss Mitt Romney’s recent trip to Israel. Then Ezra Glinter reports back on the giant celebration of Talmud reading in New Jersey. Finally, John Connelly, a Forward contributor, calls in to discuss how a small…
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World Losing Patience With Israel: Envoy
The British ambassador to Israel Matthew Gould said on Thursday that anyone who cares about Israel, should be concerned about the erosion of international support for the country. Speaking on Channel 10 news on Thursday evening, Gould said, “Israelis might wake up in 10 years time and find out that suddenly the international community has…
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Aly Raisman Falls Just Short in Finals
Aly Raisman fell just short of winning a medal in the women’s gymnastics competition at the Olympics after losing a tiebreaker and finishing in fourth place. American Gabby Douglas won the gold. Sixteen-year-old Douglas took the Olympic Games by storm on when she won the all-around gold medal ahead of Russian Victoria Komova. “I feel…
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U. of Calif. Weighs Banning ‘Hate’ Speech
The University of California, birthplace of the 1960s campus Free Speech Movement, is now considering a proposal that would ban certain forms of speech as a result of a report on Jews and the Israel debate at its schools. The July 9 report, issued by an advisory panel to UC President Mark Yudof, concluded that…
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Aly Raisman Goes for More Gold
“It all comes down to Aly Raisman,” the sportscaster declared, as U.S. women’s Olympic gymnast Alexandra (Aly) Raisman took to the mat during the team final competition. A string-heavy version of “Hava Nagila” flooded through the arena as she began to flip. The floor routine was executed with near perfection, and as Raisman landed her…
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