By Binyamin Kagedan/JNS.org As is the case for many holidays in the Jewish calendar cycle, Lag B’Omer (April 28 this year) carries within it not one, but multiple and distinct layers of meaning. Mystical significances, historical memories, and moral reflections all meld together into the contemporary notion of what makes this day special, the product […]
Lag B’Omer: Rethinking the Akiva narrative Read More »
Jewish ReligionSwedish knight completes 4,500-mile walk to Jerusalem (JNS.org) Jorgen Nilsson, an officer in the Swedish military and a Knight Hospitalier in the Order of St. Lazarus, has arrived in Israel after a six-month journey on foot from his home in Sweden, Israel Hayom reported. Nilsson arrived in Jerusalem on Sunday, where he was given a
JNS news briefs: April 22, 2013 Read More »
InternationalTEL AVIV (Press Release)— A few years ago, researchers revealed that the universe is expanding at a much faster rate than originally believed — a discovery that earned a Nobel Prize in 2011. But measuring the rate of this acceleration over large distances is still challenging and problematic, says Prof. Hagai Netzer of Tel Aviv
Black holes aid in measuring universe’s expansion Read More »
Science, Medicine, & Education
Story and photos by Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO–There were so many things to do, exhibits to see, and people to schmooze with that unless you walked hand-in-hand with a companion during the entire time of the Israel Independence Festival, never letting go for even a minute, no person’s overall experiences there on Sunday,
San Diego celebrates Israel’s 65th birthday Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
By Anav Silverman JERUSALEM — It is not every day that downtown Jerusalem is featured in international films. But this past Friday a Chinese film production drew local attention, as movie scenes for what is expected to be a blockbuster movie in China, were shot along the busy Ben Yehuda Street. The film, The Old
It happened on Ben Yehuda Street Read More »
Travel and FoodBy Aryeh Savir SHA’ALABIM, Israel — Charlie Park, Vice President of Samsung Korea, visited an Israeli Yeshiva at Sha’alabim last week. He was accompanied by a South Korean camera crew. Their objective was to document how students study Talmud at the Yeshiva. Park met with the program directors and with students. The South Koreans have
Samsung exec tours yeshiva to find source of genius Read More »
Middle East
By Donald H. Harrison EL CAJON, California — I had to ask director Martin Katz whether he had been thinking about death a lot lately. His upcoming play at Grossmont College, An Ordinary Day, is a comedy dealing with a lady who plans to commit suicide, only she is constantly being interrupted. It wasn’t so long
Director probes the lighter side of death Read More »
Donald H. HarrisonBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson EIN BOQEQ, Israel — Just one and a half hours’ drive away from my home just outside Jerusalem lies the Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth, whose water is so salty that the human body can float quite easily on its surface. It rains very rarely and the temperature there never
Ah, the respite of the Dead Sea Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-VansonBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — There has been enough already written about the Chechen brothers of Boston to fill a library, and it’s still coming. We’ll never know for sure what produced the decisions of those two young men, and whoever else may have been involved. We’ve already heard from the White House that the
Does U.S. need tougher screening for visitors? Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, USABy Yaakov Lappin Israel celebrated its sixty-fifth year of independence this week, an event that saw millions of citizens head outdoors to hold picnics, barbeques, and parties. As the flags, ceremonies, and fireworks washed over the land, defense chiefs delivered annual speeches, in which they signaled to the nation that while things appeared to be
The Mideast calculus of a ‘small’ terror attack Read More »
Middle EastBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Tarnaev brothers were cruelly successful, but they are far from the only terrorists over the past decade with big ideas about carnage in America. There is a temptation with each act of terror to see it as isolated, connected to the mental state of the actor, but not
Boston terrorism part of a larger pattern Read More »
Shoshana Bryen, USABy Jacob Kamaras/JNS.org The imam of a mosque that is managed by the Muslim Brotherhood-founded Muslim American Society (MAS) was initially invited to speak at Thursday’s interfaith service in Boston to honor the Boston Marathon attack’s victims, but that invitation was later rescinded by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s office, JNS.org has learned. The Islamic Society
Muslim speaker replaced at Marathon service Read More »
Jacob Kamaras, USABy Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — There are many times when I feel that I am living in Israel when I drive from the synagogue to my home. It is not because of the scenery or landscape, but rather because of the all-way stop signs at the intersection of Tommy and Wing Span Drives.
God watches as scofflaws run stop signs Read More »
Jewish ReligionSouthern Israel hit by mortar shells (JNS.org) Two mortar shells fired from the Gaza Strip struck southern Israel on Thursday night, causing no damage or injuries, Israel Hayom reported. The incident occurred one day after rockets were fired from Sinai into the southernmost Israeli city of Eilat. The projectiles exploded in open areas in the
JNS news briefs: April 19, 2013 Read More »
International