Andrew Rehfeld, a law professor long active in the Jewish community, was named the chief executive officer and president of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis. Rehfeld, whose two-year contract will begin Sept. 1, will succeed Barry Rosenberg, 61, who after 20 years as the federation?s top executive will retire in August 2013. Rosenberg will…
Bucket lists are kind of sad, focused as they are on the stabbing regrets we’ll feel on our death bed. As if dying weren’t enough of a downer. On the other hand, the lists do present a nifty, compact way to remind ourselves that the time to enjoy life is now. That’s why I was…
As a forshpays an appetizer, for the National Yiddish Theatre — Folksbiene’s gala, held on June 12 at Town Hall, Folksbiene benefactor Leanor Segal hosted a private tea party May 21 at her Park Avenue apartment. The party celebrated three Lifetime Achievement Award honorees: singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka, Yiddish song anthologist Chana Mlotek and ophthalmologist H….
The country’s largest Jewish social justice group has just extended its reach a little bit further. Bend the Arc, which has been growing rapidly through mergers with other Jewish organizations, has forged affiliations with two local Jewish activist groups in Minneapolis-St. Paul and Washington. Jewish Community Action, the Minneapolis-St. Paul-based group, and [Jews United for…
The numbers are still small, relative to the non-Jewish community.
When my husband and I decided to move from the Upper West Side to the Upper East Side of Manhattan, several friends and family members made me feel like a traitor. Nora Ephron, however, sent me a list of restaurants, hair salons, nail salons, and dry cleaners. She said I was making the best move…
And the Miami murder money plot thickens. Relatives of slain hotel scion Ben Novack Jr. plan to challenge the validity of a will that left his estimated $10 million fortune to his wife, Narcy Novack, on the grounds that she intimidated him into signing the document. Mark Hanson, a lawyer representing Ben Novack Jr.’s aunt…
Controversy over the Israeli army’s use of Caterpillar Inc. bulldozers to demolish Palestinian homes was a “key factor” in a corporate rating agency’s decision to drop the American manufacturer from its list of socially responsible companies. The ratings agency, MSCI, downgraded Caterpillar in February, dropping it from several indices in which it lists companies with…
A speech by anti-Islamic activist Pamela Geller was abruptly cancelled by the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, prompting a protest by the Zionist Organization of America. The federation cited “security concerns,” for scrapping the June 24 event at its headquarters but Geller blamed politics. “Zionists are obviously not welcome at the Jewish federation,” Geller…
For the gadget-toting Jew, a recent announcement from the Conservative movement about new Sabbath guidelines on the ban on electronics might sound like a flight attendant’s canned directive before takeoff: no cell phones, smart phones, digital cameras or even e-readers. But beyond the traditional halachic reasons for pressing the “off button” on the Sabbath —…
At the Shalit household, once again there is no Gilad. His father, Noam, is in the front garden — but not forlornly waiting, as in many press photographs taken on this spot. Instead, he is kvelling. When the Forward visited in mid-June, Gilad Shalit, the former Israeli soldier held prisoner in Gaza for five years…
