Donald H. Harrison

In Israel, admiration, sympathy for Armenians

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson JERUSALEM–Whether by coincidence or design (probably the latter), Jerusalem’s YMCA building is currently showing an exhibition of exquisite Armenian ceramic work produced by one of the many workshops situated in the Old City. No mention is made of the slaughter of over a million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire exactly one hundred

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East

‘Nu, nu, nu, nu’ Nu?

By Dan Bloom CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan — Like most people familiar with Yiddish, even people who are second or third or fourth generation non-Yiddish speakers, I know what “nu”means, nu? But it turns out that there’s more to “nu” than I knew. A lot more. Here’s my story for today: I was minding my own

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Travel and Food

Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, z”l, Righteous among Nations

WARSAW, Poland (WJC) — At a state funeral in Warsaw attended by world leaders, including European Council President Donald Tusk and German President Joachim Gauck, Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, Poland’s former foreign minister and an Auschwitz prisoner who helped save Jews from the Holocaust, was laid to rest on Monday, May 4. Bartoszewski, a historian, writer and

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International, Jewish History, Obituaries & memorials

Jewish Trivia: Kentucky Derby

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — What is the Jewish connection to this year’s Kentucky Derby?  Choose your answer. A. The winning horse, American Pharaoh, is owned by Ahmed Zayat, a Coptic Christian from Egypt. Zayat, the CEO of the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation in the 1980’s, was responsible for negotiating with Israel’s Energy

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Jewish Religion, Mark D. Zimmerman, Middle East, Sports & Competitions, USA

Today’s police shootings and Kent State in 1970

By Rabbi Ben Kamin ENCINITAS, California — The violent, churning, musical, rebellious, and ultimately frightening 1960s came to a shocking and bloody coda forty-five years ago on May 4, 1970. Uniformed public officials laden with lethal power gunning down American citizens remains as real a horror—whatever the circumstances—now in a new and even more inexplicable century. 

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USA