Seasoned Jewish educational leaders make up a small slice of the older Americans struggling with unemployment. Health and social services agencies have been scrambling to support the demographic group having the hardest time finding new work — the millions of out-of-work baby boomers too young to retire and too old to start over. Profoundly concerned…
It is no secret that Jewish communal organizations have taken a beating in the ongoing economic recession. Educational institutions, including schools and synagogue programs, have had to slash budgets, and bureaus of Jewish education have either scaled back or closed their doors altogether. Less apparent is the impact on individual lives. In the wake of…
If you went to Hebrew school, you probably have one of these. No, not a prayer book given to you by the sisterhood — though of course you have one of those, too (with the program from your bat mitzvah still stuck inside). I’m talking about something else: a story about a Hebrew school moment…
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has long been a fiery subject on college campuses, with national pro-Israel groups and, to a lesser extent, their pro-Palestinian counterparts vying to influence the debate. Alongside such heavy hitters as Hillel or the Muslim Students Association, smaller, student-created groups have cropped up. These grassroots groups often focus on dialogue rather than…
In a photograph snapped in December 2012, 17-year-old Mesfin Hodes hugs his friends at a skating rink at the annual Hanukkah on Ice celebration sponsored by American Hebrew Academy, where he is a junior. He wears a blue AHA sweater and a wide grin on his face. Originally from Ethiopia, he stands out in the…
Two annual events in the Jewish community took place this week — the North American Jewish Day School Conference and the start of Jewish Disabilities Awareness Month. Perhaps not coincidentally, despite the fact that the Day School conference is the largest in history with more than 1,000 educators and supporters gathering in Washington, it does…
A controversial in-depth study that clears Palestinian Authority school textbooks of the charge that they demonize Jews and Israelis has become an orphan, virtually upon its release. Since Yale University psychiatry professor Bruce Wexler, Bethlehem University professor Sami Adwan and Daniel Bar-Tal of Tel Aviv University rolled out their study’s results February 4, the Council…
If you ask me (and, if I had to guess, many of my peers), there is nothing worse than Hebrew school. In the world of fun Jewish activities, with Yom Kippur fasting being a one and hooking up with Israeli soldiers on Birthright a 10, attending Hebrew school is a lowly three. On Sundays, when…
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