International

‘Go Around Cemetery’ Sign Led to Program of Community Participation in Development Projects

I sincerely internalized lessons from his experience and that signpost, coming to understand the needs that communities determine and express and the responsibility of development agencies to respond accordingly. This primary tenet of sustainability is so simple, and yet it has taken decades for prior generations worldwide (and still may require generations going forward) to truly forsake the destructive control of central planning in lieu of people’s own decision-making as it impacts their lives. [Yossef Ben-Meir]

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International, Lifestyles, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Yossef Ben-Meir

In Appreciation of Elie Wiesel’s ‘The Testament’

The Testament is a novel focusing on the Soviet leader Stalin murdering Russia’s greatest Jewish poets and novelists on August 12, 1952, and before that date. Wiesel gathers the lives, thinking, and acts of these martyrs by imagining the tale of Paltiel Kossova , a Jewish poet who, despite devoting himself to communism, was murdered by the communist leader. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Staff and Bylined Contributors

Sponges in Gulf of Eilat Convert Toxic Substances to Minerals

The researchers found that the sponges contain an unprecedented concentration of the highly toxic mineral molybdenum. In addition, they identified the bacterium that enables sponges to store such high concentrations of this precious metal and unraveled the symbiosis between the two organisms. [Press Release]

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Israel, Press Release, Science, Medicine, & Education

Jewish Trivia Quiz: Joe Biden’s Rabbi, Michael Beals

Following ‍President ‍Biden’s ‍poor ‍performance ‍in ‍his ‍debate ‍against ‍Donald ‍Trump ‍last ‍June, ‍‍Forward ‍editor ‍Jodi ‍Rudoren ‍spoke ‍to ‍Rabbi ‍Beals, ‍who ‍offered ‍a ‍Jewish ‍framework ‍for ‍discussing ‍the ‍issue ‍of ‍Biden’s ‍age ‍and ‍its ‍impact ‍on ‍his ‍presidency ‍and ‍his ‍future ‍leadership. ‍What ‍did ‍Rabbi ‍Beals ‍say ‍regarding ‍this ‍issue? [Mark D. Zimmerman]

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Mark D. Zimmerman, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USA

Works of Rachmaninoff, Rozsa Delight SummerFest Audience

The dynamic classical/jazz pianist, Conrad Tao, opened the August 17 SummerFest concert, California Dreamin’, with eight selections connected to Sergei Rachmaninoff, who spent his last years in Los Angeles after immigrating from his native Russia. [Eileen Wingard]

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Eileen Wingard, International, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Jewish Farmer Max Yasgur Made the Woodstock Festival Possible

Woodstock, the iconic “Hippie” counter-culture music festival, was celebrated by ~460,000 baby boomers from August 15 to 18, 1969. The “happening” was on the rolling hills of Max Yasgur’s Dairy farm in Bethel, N.Y. It almost never came about. [Jerry Klinger]

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Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Cooking with Ingredients from Gaza Border Farms

About 75 per cent of Israel’s vegetables came from the Gaza border area, known as the Gaza envelope (Otef Aza in Hebrew), as do many fruit and dairy products. Since the October 7 attack, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, 89 per cent of Israeli farmers have been negatively impacted by this war. [Michal Kramer]

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Israel, Lifestyles, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Steve Kramer, Travel and Food

Ethnically Jewish Author Explains His Atheism

Eventually, he imagined people sitting in a gigantic house with an infinite set of windows. Each person’s view of the world was influenced by the location of his or her window.  They could see what was in front of them, but not what was in front of the other residents.  Each person’s beliefs are determined by what happens outside their individual windows. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

An Israeli-American Perspective: Religious Diversity in Israel and the US

Growing up, my religious world consisted of traditional Judaism. Israel was the holy land of the Jewish people, a fact that seemed as unchangeable as the hills themselves. But my understanding of this began to shift during a visit to Jerusalem when I was just six years old. [Shahar Masori]

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Israel, Jewish Religion, Shahar Masori, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA