The sprawling Texas county where two prosecutors have been shot in recent weeks has the unlikeliest of Jewish roots. Kaufman County, a 780-square-mile jurisdiction just 20 miles southeast of Dallas, is named for David Spangler Kaufman. He holds a place in history books as a lawmaker in the Republic of Texas and was the only…
Authorities have launched a massive investigation into the weekend killings of a Texas district attorney and his wife, which occurred months after an assistant prosecutor was shot dead in the same county. Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, were discovered with fatal gunshot wounds at their home near Forney, Texas, on…
Months after initially refusing to reschedule a Friday night game involving an Orthodox school, The Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools has changed its rules to accommodate the religious observances of all its members. Known as TAPPS, the association was widely criticized for initially refusing to reschedule a Friday night semifinal game in the…
Lawyers for an imprisoned Jewish man argued in court on Monday that the state of Texas is violating his religious freedom by failing to provide him with kosher meals. Max Moussazadeh, convicted of murder, has been in a Texas prison for 19 years after he served as a lookout during a robbery in which a…
When remembering the waves of Jewish immigration to early 20th-century America we usually conjure up images of Ellis Island and the Lower East Side. However, thanks to the Galveston Plan, some Eastern European Jews found themselves far from the Statue of Liberty, way down yonder in the land of cotton. Haskell Harelik may have landed…
“Jewish husbands don’t kill their wives. They buy them jewelry.” That’s one way Houston socialite Yvonne Stern is defending her betrothed, a Maserati-driving personal-injury attorney named Jeffrey Stern — the man accused of hiring paid assassins to get rid of her. To the shock of her friends, neighbors and Houstonians who’ve been following the case,…
A new book reveals that Ikea — of lingonberry jam and cheap furniture fame — has a founder with a Nazi past. [Washington Post] A Whole Foods spokesperson denies rumors that the high-end chain is boycotting Israeli products. She noted that Whole Foods carries thousands of kosher options and hundreds of kosher-for-Passover products. Jewish Journal…
On the day I was to interview Rabbi Holly Cohn, the new spiritual leader at the lone congregation serving a 100-mile radius of West Texas, at Odessa’s tiny Temple Beth El, the television series “Friday Night Lights” was trending on Twitter. The story of the fictional town of Dillon, Tex., where high school football is…
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