By David Strom SAN DIEGO —I Am Forbidden by Anouk Markovits is her first novel in English. The main characters are religious Hasidic Jews, followers of the Satmar rebbe living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Josef Lichtenstein, an orthodox follower of the Satmar rebbe, was five years old when he witnessed the murder of his younger sister […]
Novel tells of women’s plight in Satmar society Read More »
Travel and Food
Samantha Power nominated as U.S. ambassador to U.N. (JNS.org) Samantha Power, President Barack Obama’s replacement for Susan Rice as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, has a history of controversial comments about Israel. Power from January 2009 to March 2013 held positions including special assistant to the president, senior director for multilateral affairs and human
JNS news briefs: June 6, 2013 Read More »
International
By Rabbi Ben Kamin ENCINITAS, California — In between the endless stream of loud commercials attacking incontinence, leaking, psoriasis, erectile dysfunction, bad cholesterol, mood disorder, computer romance, toilet stains, and bankruptcy, American television programming is clearly narrowing its themes to the basic, divine two: Sex and Death. These two categories are the bookends of the
In a world without human secrets, God gains in appeal Read More »
Jewish Religion
Fill the Void, Directed by Rama Burshtein (Israel: 2012) By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO — When ultra-Orthodox Jews are the focus of films, they usually wrestle with conflicts revolving around individual secular freedoms versus communal religious obligations. In The Chosen (1981) Reuven and his father, acculturated conservative Jews, introduce Danny, the heir to his father
The Wandering Review: ‘Fill the Void’ Read More »
Lawrence Baron
By Sandi Masori SAN DIEGO — While the official theme of this year’s June 8-July 4 San Diego County Fair is “Game On”, the unofficial theme is bacon. So, with much of the fair’s culinary offerings involving bacon of one form or another, what’s a Jewish girl to do? Don’t worry though, this food reviewer
Concessionaires at S.D. County Fair ‘like family’ Read More »
Travel and Food
By Anav Silverman The hometown in which former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin was born and raised in, Brest in Belarus, was host to a special ceremony marking his 100th birthday on Tuesday, June 4. The ceremony took place in front of the school that Begin attended as a child known as the Tachkemoni
Menachem Begin centennial celebrated in Brest Read More »
Middle East
By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — Parties on various sides of the immigration debate in the United State have focused mainly on issues surrounding Hispanic immigrants because there are a lot of them and numbers get attention. Human Rights Watch, for example, created a handy-dandy checklist for the Senate version of the immigration bill, including
Immigrants must be better vetted for terrorist links Read More »
Shoshana Bryen, USADaily Palestinian stone-throwing attacks on Jews (JNS.org) Palestinian stone-throwing attacks on Jews in eastern Jerusalem have become a daily occurrence and have recently escalated to include Molotov cocktails, Israel Hayom reported. Israel Defense Forces Maj. Gen. Kobi Dudian of the Jerusalem District Police told the Knesset’s Internal Affairs and Environment Committee on Wednesday that 207
JNS news briefs: June 5, 2013 Read More »
InternationalBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Some years ago I published Rituals of Conflict. It described the repeated ceremonies by which the ultra-Orthodox and Israeli authorities deal with disputes that erupt periodically whenever a rabbi wants to make an issue about the violation of Sabbath, ancient graves unearthed in the course of construction, or whatever else could make a
Political theatre: Kerry trips, Palestinian and Israeli responses Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
By Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK –Very often, we think that if a person is especially spiritual, he cannot possibly be very practical. It is as if religious devotion and good common sense just don’t go together. My own experience has taught me that, on the contrary, some of the soundest advice I have
If you are correct, stay that way! Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy J. Zel Lurie DELRAY BEACH, Florida — In six months I will mark the end of my first century. I have been searching for a way to celebrate my hundredth birthday that will give the world something worthwhile after I am gone. A year ago I wrote on these pages that the Cairo codex,
Columnist, anticipating 100th birthday, seeks codex publication Read More »
Jewish History, Middle East, Travel and FoodBEER-SHEVA, Israel (Press Release) – Chronic exposure to rocket attacks launched from the Gaza Strip into Israel is causing an increase in severe adolescent violence, according to a new study by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers. The study, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP), followed
Adolescent violence increases in wake of rocket attacks Read More »
Science, Medicine, & Education
By Eric George Tauber VISTA, California — When Todd Salovey directed his first Jewish Arts Festival, his daughter was a babe in his arms. Today, she’s a young woman living in Israel and like her, the festival has grown healthy and strong, imbued with a profound knowledge of her heritage. Such was the sense of
Olé? It was a Klezmer Summit Read More »
Eric George Tauber
By David Amos SAN DIEGO — If you like music for the classical violin, these concerts are certainly for you. The eminent violinist and recording artist Jacques Israelievitch will be the guest soloist of the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra in two programs which will have, yes, three major violin concerto masterpieces of the classic repertoire,
Violin concertos galore coming June 9, 11 Read More »
Travel and Food