A tug-of-war is taking place over the government’s attempt to impose a core curriculum in ultra-Orthodox elementary and high schools, and it’s not just about education. It cuts to the heart of a bitter conflict within Israeli society on the issue of authority. Israel’s Education Ministry has launched a zero-tolerance policy aimed at Haredi schools…
Newark Mayor Cory Booker Talks Talmud at Yeshiva University Hanukkah Dinner Convocation “I’m going to dare what has never been done at Yeshiva [University]: read the day’s parsha,” declared Newark, N.J., mayor Cory Booker, keynote speaker at Y.U.’s 86th annual Hanukkah Dinner Convocation, held December 12 at the Waldorf Astoria. Y.U.’s president, Richard Joel —…
When Rabbi Yeshayahu Greenfeld interrupted a fourth grade class at North Shore Hebrew Academy in Great Neck, N.Y., with a hearty greeting in Hebrew, the students responded without much enthusiasm. It was, after all, a Monday morning. But then the 15 boys and girls stopped and stared at the man who had accompanied Greenfeld, the…
A company on Long Island is offering parents this deal: a 15-minute CD-ROM of their child, four 3×5 color photos and a sheet of 9 wallet-sized pictures… All before the baby is born. Expectant moms can come in as early as 18 weeks (that’s less than halfway through the pregnancy) to get their first keepsake…
Larry Cohler-Esses reports from New York; Nathan Guttman reports from Washington. New York Rep. Peter King has long railed against a “wall of political correctness” blocking out his warnings about the mass threat he sees coming from the mosques of America. Now, as incoming chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, the Long Island…
Former U.S. Rep. Stephen J. Solarz died one month ago, succumbing to esophageal cancer on November 29 at age 70. A graduate of Brandeis and Columbia, Solarz, a Democrat who represented constituents from Staten Island as well as his native Brooklyn, had an eventful career in politics. It spanned over two decades, beginning in 1969…
In its last days, the outgoing 111th Congress drew the battle lines for the next debate Democrats and Republicans will have about Israel. And the debate is all about money. The failure to reach a bipartisan understanding on a new spending bill forced both sides to agree to a short-term continuing resolution, which will keep…
Remembering Richard Holbrooke as Diplomat Extraordinaire and Loving and Devoted Husband of Author Kati Marton My encounters with diplomat extraordinaire Richard Holbrooke, who died December 13 at age 69, span some 20 years. We met at events at which he or his wife, Kati Marton, author of “The Great Escape: Nine Jews Who Fled Hitler…
As peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority remain at an impasse, the Palestinians seem to be moving closer to their ultimate goal on a separate front: international recognition of their own independent state. In just the past few weeks, Argentina, Uruguay and Bolivia have recognized Palestine within the borders that separated Israel from…
A group of Muslim teenagers in Hanover attack an Israeli dance troupe, reportedly yelling “Juden raus” as they hurl stones at them. German leftists march in Berlin with Muslims to protest the 2008–2009 Gaza military conflict. “Death to the Jews!” the marchers chant. At a soccer game between teams from the St. Pauli section of…
With reporting from Nathan Jeffay in Israel and Nathan Guttman in Washington. The Israeli-Palestinian peace process has seen its ups and downs, but one issue has remained constant: the crusade by Israel and American Jewish groups against incitement to violence. Israelis raise the issue time and again when negotiating with Palestinians, and American Jewry has…
דאָס בוך איז גרונטיק געפֿאָרשט, לעבעדיק אָנגעשריבן — אָבער אידעאָלאָגיש באַפֿאַרבט
