No occasion drags formality out of Jewish humorist Dan Zevin. Instead, when the Forward called to interview him at the set time of 10 a.m. on a Sunday, he was dripping wet. “Actually, I’m just getting out of the shower and walking down the hall to my office,” he confessed. “You know what? Let me…
In this week’s podcast, host Josh Nathan-Kazis talks with Forward editor Jane Eisner about the Forward’s updating of the [Israeli national anthem,][1] “Hatikvah.” Then, staff writer Paul Berger comes in to discuss why Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes is refusing to release the names of Orthodox Jews accused, or even convicted, of sexually abusing children….
Detroit Tigers outfielder Delmon Young was arrested outside of a New York hotel for allegedly attacking a group of men and making anti-Semitic remarks. Young was arrested early Friday morning outside of the Hilton in Midtown Manhattan, where he was staying before a series with the New York Yankees begins on Friday night. According to…
Zionist Organization of America activists lobbied members of Congress to prevent a nuclear Iran and to cut assistance to the Palestinian Authority. As part of the ZOA’s annual advocacy mission to Washington, D.C., members from 15 states around the country on Wednesday urged Congress to keep Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, to stop sending…
So besieged by friends and fans was 28-year old choreographer/director Avichai Scher following the April 9 performance of his Avi Scher & Dancers program, held at the Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater, that he and I had to postpone our post-performance interview. “At 5, I decided I wanted to dance, and I never looked back,” Scher…
The father-and-son owners of a derelict Philadelphia factory that went up in flames and killed two firefighters in April are members of a prominent Brooklyn Hasidic Jewish family. Nahman and Michael Lichtenstein, who face a grand jury probe in connection with the deadly blaze, are related to a prominent Hasidic rabbi as well as to…
The Obama campaign is returning the donation of a hedge fund manager who is accused of defrauding members of his Persian-Jewish community in Los Angeles. Shervin Neman, also known as Shervin Davatgarzadeh, gave the maximum $35,800 donation to the Obama campaign and another $30,800 to the Democratic National Committee. “With 1.8 million donors thus far,…
Hadassah, the women’s Zionist organization, says two of its leaders have been cleared of wrongdoing following an investigation into allegations that they misused charitable funds. The organization itself commissioned the investigation but is refusing to release the findings. The 100-year-old charity launched the inquiry after its chief operating officer, Larry Blum, in a January letter…
A representative of the Obama administration scolded the mayor of Malmö, Sweden, during an April 24 meeting at Malmö’s town hall. Hannah Rosenthal, the United States special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism, accused the controversial Malmö mayor, Ilmar Reepalu, of not doing enough to fight rampant anti-Semitism in this southern Swedish city of nearly…
An appeals court has reversed the child sex abuse conviction of Brooklyn travel agent Baruch Lebovits, who was sentenced in 2010 to up to 32 years in prison. Alan Dershowitz, chief counsel for Lebovits on appeal, called the unanimous reversal by a four-judge appellate panel a “total victory.” Lebovits was not acquitted outright but instead…
Driving down the winding blacktop to the nearby kibbutz in my 23-year-old jeep dubbed “General Lee,” I’m in search of meat. My son’s coming home for Independence Day and he requires meat. A shepherd, he dreams of lamb but on this day he’ll settle for pork chops. I pass the old ruins of a couple…
