By Aryeh Savir JERUSALEM – Israel has been accepted as an observer state of the Pacific Alliance, a Latin American trade bloc. Israel’s accession was made possible as a result of efforts led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the leaders of its member states. It is the continuation of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s policy of developing new
Israel to become official observer at Pacific Alliance Read More »
InternationalBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSLAEM–Welcome to the Middle East. Ah! So you’ve heard about Islam. It is not only a religion that deserves protection in a multi-cultural world, but supports clusters of inspired fighters who feel they are serving some higher end by killing their rivals. It may help to think of Islam being now at
Islamic extremists war with ‘infidels’ and each other Read More »
International, Ira Sharkansky
SAN DIEGO– Our number-one license plate spotter Melanie Rubin has done it again. In Hebrew, raz means “secret” or “mystery” and 18 is the numeric value of the word “chai” or life. So one might read this clever license plate as “the secret of life.”
Jewish-interest license plate: ‘Raz 18’ Read More »
Melanie Rubin, Trivia, Humor & SatireThanks to Harry Jacobson-Beyer of Louisville, Kentucky, who forwarded this 1951 video of the Weavers singing a song “from the new land of Israel.” Pete Seeger is playing the banjo.
Remembering Pete Seeger: ‘Tzena, Tzena’ Read More »
Travel and Food
LOS ANGELES (Press Release)—In response to the escalating number of seniors struggling to put food on the table, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger (MAZON) has launched a new initiative, in partnership with the Association of Jewish Family & Children’s Agencies (AJFCA), designed to help low-income, food-insecure seniors get the nutrition assistance they need. More
Mazon launches project to combat senior hunger Read More »
Travel and Food, USA
By Jordan Dashow MEDFORD, Massachusetts — Silence and lies. These are your choices when you’re in the closet. When your friends start talking about crushes, hot celebrities, sex—do you stay silent? Or do you lie? Do you stay silent and hope your friends won’t notice? Do you lie and hope your friends aren’t laughing in
Coming out at Tufts University Read More »
Science, Medicine, & Education
NEW YORK (Press Release)–John Henry Weidner, a Dutch hero who helped save more than 1,000 individuals, including approximately 800 Jews, from the Holocaust, has been posthumously honored by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) with the ADL Jan Karski Courage to Care Award. Established in 1987 to honor rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust era, the
John Henry Weidner posthumous ADL awardee Read More »
Jewish History
NEW YORK (Press Release)– U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power told the AJC (American Jewish Committee) Board of Governors on Monday, Feb. 10, that the United States “strongly supports Israel’s candidacy” for a seat on the UN Security Council. “We have pushed relentlessly for the full inclusion of Israel across the UN system,” Power
U.S. supports U.N. Security Council seat for Israel Read More »
InternationalNEW YORK (Press Release) — Abraham H. Foxman on Monday, Feb. 10, announced he will step down from his position as National Director of the Anti-Defamation League on July 20, 2015, bringing to a close a 50-year career in Jewish communal service. “For almost five decades, ADL offered me the perfect vehicle to live a
Foxman to step down as ADL director in 2015 Read More »
USA
By Rabbi Ben Kamin ENCINITAS, California — In this world of hyper-narcissism, digital obsession, and, yes, endemic contempt for the miraculous redemption that Israel happens to be, the premature death of Anne Heyman has gone largely unnoticed. It’s not like unlike the manner in which Israel’s undeniable flaws have been co-opted to service its global
Anne Heyman aided the orphans of Rwanda Read More »
InternationalBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — It has been said that Jordan is the only Arab country in which Palestinians have “full citizenship.” That is less than a complete truth. As Secretary of State John Kerry pursues his plan for a “two state solution,” the insecurity of Palestinian legal status in Jordan is emerging. Israel’s
Why Jordanians want IDF at their boundary Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana Bryen
By Robert Gluck/JNS.org On Feb. 14 each year, many Americans attend screenings of “Casablanca,” rent the movie, or view it in another way for Valentine’s Day. As time goes by, the Jewish influences on the Oscar-winning 1940s romantic film become more apparent. Jews involved in the production of “Casablanca” include Murray Burnett, the author of
Valentine’s Day, ‘Casablanca,’ and the Jews Read More »
Travel and Food
By Rafael Medoff/JNS.org The new George Clooney film, The Monuments Men, tells the thrilling story of U.S. military personnel who during World War II risked their lives to rescue paintings by the likes of Rembrandt, Picasso, and Chagall that the Nazis had stolen. But for Connecticut civil rights attorney Bill Bingham, the story is
FDR cared more for paintings than for Chagall Read More »
Travel and Food