Alan Gross, the American Jewish contractor jailed in Cuba, has maintained for more than two years that he was guilty of nothing more than naiveté when he smuggled contraband electronic equipment into the communist nation. But official trip reports he filed for an American government agency, revealed by The Associated Press on February 12, paint…
A recent meeting between American Jewry’s primary umbrella group for Israel and other foreign affairs, and a controversial new European group has sparked heated exchanges among European and American Jewish leaders. In the days leading up to the meeting, communal officials on both continents warned the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations against…
A group of women who have been seeking to join Brooklyn’s all-male Orthodox ambulance corps has now dropped its campaign, opting instead to establish a separate women’s service to tend to emergency births. “We are not looking to create litigation or controversy, we are just looking to find a way to serve other women,” said…
Valentine’s Day is our annual chance to signal how much we love someone or perhaps would like to start a relationship. Such gestures can be tricky, though, in a place like Israel, where cultural differences complicate the back and forth of romance. That is especially true for American-Israeli couples. Aliyah among single American Jews was…
The leader of the World Jewish Congress has harshly rebuked President Obama for allowing a “disconnect” in relations between the U.S. and Israel. WJC President Ronald Lauder said in a Friday address to the National Press Club in Washington that all U.S. presidents, including Obama, are supporters of Israel, but the current president has sent…
Seeking to cut pension costs, Jewish social service groups are using an obscure tax loophole to skirt federal rules that protect workers from being left out in the cold if their retirement plans collapse. Jewish organizations, including federations and hospitals, have filed for the special “church status” that strips workers and retirees of legal protections…
The image of Israel’s Haredim has taken a public battering over the past few months, particularly over the issue of discriminatory conduct toward women, which even a few Haredi groups have disavowed. But in an unusual act of outreach, some of these ultra-Orthodox Jews have recently found an original way of engaging with people outside…
In this week’s podcast, host Josh Nathan-Kazis talks with Forward fellow Naomi Zeveloff about a recent conference of activists advocating the boycott of, divestment from and sanction of Israel and their efforts to reach a broader audience. Then, managing editor Lillian Swanson stops by to discuss the story of a Jewish engineer who designed an…
Hadassah, the international women’s Zionist organization, is entering its centennial year amid signs of increasing dysfunction. On February 7, the group confirmed that it is investigating allegations that two leading members of the governing board’s executive committee misused charitable funds. The allegations were made in a January 12 letter to Hadassah board members from Larry…
The power of state freedom of information laws will be tested when a scrappy New Jersey lawyer who represents victims of an alleged ultra-Orthodox child abuser faces off against Brooklyn’s district attorney in court later this month. Michael Lesher will argue in New York State’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, on February 14 that…
One Jewish day school in Kansas cut its tuition in half. Another school, in Oakland, Calif., grew its endowment 15-fold. And a third, in Houston, succeeded in recruiting families from as far away as New Jersey, Venezuela and Israel. These institutions embraced bold, even risky moves in an effort to generate revenue and boost enrollment,…
