In October 1998, in a suburb of Buffalo, N.Y., an obstetrician-gynecologist named Barnett Slepian was assassinated while standing in his kitchen, shot by an anti-abortion sniper hiding in the woods behind the house. It was a Friday night, and Slepian had just returned from synagogue where he was saying Kaddish for his late father. Eight…
This is one of those times when the gulf between we American Jews and our Israeli kin seems wider than the ocean. As sirens blare and rockets whoosh through the sky there, we here can only empathize, support and, for those so inclined, pray. We can hope for a speedy end to the attacks and…
Diaspora Jews feel that Israel must reflect all Jewish values, The Jewish People Policy Institute told Israel’s Cabinet in its 10th annual Assessment of the Situation & Dynamics of the Jewish People. The report was presented to the Cabinet Sunday by JPPI president Avinoam Bar-Yosef alongside co-chairs and former U.S. ambassadors Dennis Ross and Stuart…
Substantial majorities of Israeli Jews believe they share a fate with Diaspora Jews and that the Israeli government should take into account how its decisions affect the Diaspora. The poll, released Wednesday and commissioned by the Jewish Media Summit underway in Jerusalem, found that 62 percent of respondents “believe that Jews in Israel and the…
Just a few hundred yards separate the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office and cabinet room from the Jerusalem headquarters of the Jewish People Policy Institute, the clumsily-named think tank set up in 2002 by the quasi-governmental Jewish Agency for Israel. Judging by a pair of recent blue-ribbon reports from the two offices on Israel’s relationship with…
(JTA) — Its leaders call it a “historic development,” a “paradigm shift” and a “change in the relationship” between Israel and Diaspora Jewry. But when it comes to the details of the Joint Initiative of the Government of Israel and World Jewry, key questions have yet to be answered — including what it will do…
“This is a revolution in the State of Israel’s relationship with the Diaspora,” said Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett of the Israeli cabinet’s decision to approve the “Joint Initiative of the Government of Israel and World Jewry” in Jerusalem today. The initiative, launched by Bennett and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, aims to enhance…
It is almost a cliché to say that Passover is the family holiday for Jews (our Thanksgiving, if you will). It’s when we get to sit at the same table with our loved ones, who also happen to be the ones that can be oh-so exasperating. It is a fascinating tradition where we tell a…
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