When Moti Kahana first approached a local synagogue in New Jersey, asking to come and speak about the plight of Syrian refugees, the response was skeptical. “Are you sure about this?” he was asked. “Who is it we’re going to help there?” But, as the enthusiastic Israeli-born American Jew tells the story, reaction quickly changed…
Whether it was implicitly or explicitly taught to me, I don’t remember, but somehow, I always knew: The people who hold the Torahs during the reading of the Kol Nidre prayer are the congregation’s big machers. A few years ago, as I stood at Kol Nidre, my eyes swept over the bimah. Even I, a…
Want to know how an American charity is spending your donated dollars overseas? Tough luck. That’s the effect of an Internal Revenue Service rule change that is making it increasingly difficult for donors and watchdogs to track American not-for-profit dollars after they leave the United States. Former IRS officials have criticized the little-noticed 2008 change,…
London siblings Jonni and Caroline Berger have taken to social media with an odd but potentially lifesaving hashtag:“#Spit4Mum.” The Bergers are looking for a bone marrow donor for their mother Sharon, who needs a transplant urgently to treat a blood disorder. Simple saliva testing determines if would-be donors are a match, hence the campaign’s unique…
Hollywood producer Jeffrey Katzenberg received an honorary Oscar for his charitable work on Saturday at a star-studded gala that kicked off the movie awards season and bestowed film industry gold on three other industry veterans. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences annually hands out its Governors Awards to people who have made an…
Back in April, Stephen Colbert told his television audience about a new tax-exempt group he had created, one which “never has to disclose its donors, because it is a quasi-charitable organization called a 501(c)4.” As his own lawyer explained on the show, it’s a social welfare organization that is supposed to further public policy goals…
The Kittel Collection is a series of clothing pieces that explores the different ways clothing is used as a vehicle for meaning and identity within our tradition and literature. The kittel is a simple, white, garment used as a burial shroud, and customarily worn by men on various Jewish holy days. Each month, The Sisterhood…
Shmuley Boteach wants to be the first rabbi elected to the U.S. Congress. The onetime Chabad emissary is perhaps best known for his books about sex and for his celebrity ties. But now he is taking his message about Jewish values to New Jersey’s electorate, in the process raising questions about how the outspoken public…
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