By Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall SAN MARCOS, California — In 2007, I received an unexpected invitation: interviewing Elie Wiesel for a program at the Carlsbad Library (California). The city has an annual program in which residents discuss a common book; that year, it was Wiesel’s Holocaust memoir Night. To culminate the program, the city
Reflections on a somber interview with Elie Wiesel Read More »
International, Jewish History, San Diego CountyBy Rabbi Ben Kamin OCEANSIDE, California — When Khizr Khan, the brave and dignified Muslim father whose son, Capt. Humayun Khan, gave his life fighting for this country in Iraq, Mr. Khan challenged Donald Trump: “Have you ever even read the Constitution of the United States?” Khan said more in his grieving and passionate words
Khizr Khan also illuminated Hebrew Scripture Read More »
Jewish History, Jewish Religion, USACALGARY, Alberta, Canada — Marcel Marceau, famed French mime, passed away on September 22, 2007 Yom Kippur, at the age of 84. While most remember Marceau as the preeminent performer of silent art; the unsurpassed entertainer who could say more with silence than an actor with volumes of lines; the incomparable artist who could make his
Marcel Marceau: The sound of silence Read More »
International, Jewish HistoryPope Francis on Friday walked alone through the notorious wrought-iron “Arbeit Macht Frei” (Work Sets You Free) gate as he visited the former Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. Free for once of his security entourage or cardinals, he sat on a bench among the trees and bowed his head in prayer, remaining at length in silent
Pope walks alone through Auschwitz Read More »
International, Jewish HistoryWith the Olympic Games set to open in Rio de Janeiro next week, the Israeli Mission to the United Nations on Thursday held the first of its kind memorial event at the UN to honor the Israeli athletes murdered in the attack on the 1972 Munich Olympics. Michal Shahar, the daughter of slain Olympic shooting
UN remembers Israeli athletes murdered in 1972 Olympics Read More »
International, Jewish History, Middle East, Sports & Competitions“Chacham” Yom Tov Yedid, the oldest Rabbi in the Syrian Jewish community in the US, died on Wednesday night in New York. He was 93. In his younger years, Rabbi Yedid served as the chief Rabbi of the famed and ancient Jewish community in Aleppo Syria, while it was still thriving and growing, before pogroms
Former Rabbi of Aleppo, Syria, dies in New York at 93 Read More »
Jewish History, Middle East, Obituaries & memorials
By David Pratt KINGSTON, Ontario, Canada — When Elie Wiesel died on July 2, a voice was stilled that had spoken for the voiceless millions who perished in the Nazi concentration camps. In May 1944, Wiesel was deported from Romania to Auschwitz at the age of fifteen, and was liberated from Buchenwald eleven months later.
From suffering, adversity, to the Nobel Prize Read More »
International, Jewish History, Science, Medicine, & EducationMichail Tochman, the last known survivor of the Odessa Ghetto and Concentration camp died Wednesday, July 28, of complication at 90 years of age. His recounting of life under German and Romanian occupation and the concentration camp where he was one of only 7 survivors is here. He wrote it, my sister translated his text. —
Michail Tochman, Holocaust Survivor, 1926-2016 Read More »
International, Jewish History, Obituaries & memorials, Sam LitvinForty years on and plenty of challenges remain Rabbi Sally Priesand, front and center, is honored with an aliya at the 2012 Central Conference of American Rabbis convention in Boston as she celebrates 40 years since her ordination as a rabbi, surrounded by other women rabbis. Photos courtesy Central Conference of American Rabbis Rabbis Mary
Women in the rabbinate Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, USABy Fred Brown PHILADELPHIA — If you thought Day One of the Democrat National Convention was the worst it could get, you haven’t been paying attention. Democrats followed up on their atrocious opening act with an equally offensive Day Two. To Recap: Morning Pro-Israel Protestors Greeted Top Democrats Attending A Panel Discussion Hosted By The
Republican Jewish Coalition’s view of Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention Read More »
Jewish History, Middle East, USAKAUNAS, Lithuania — In this drab city 55 miles west of Vilnius, there are few heritage sites as mysterious and lovely looking as the Seventh Fort. This 18-acre red-brick bunker complex, which dates to 1882, features massive underground passages that connect its halls and chambers. Above ground, the hilltop fortress is carpeted with lush grass
Lithuanian concentration camp is now a wedding venue Read More »
International, Jewish HistoryBy J Zel Lurie DEL RAY BEACH, Florida — Sometimes my doing good caused lots of trouble. Around 1967, 11 years after his arrival in the United States. Elie Wiesel was well on his way to fame and fortune as a defender of human rights all over the world. He paid one of his frequent
Elie Wiesel and the Hadassah Magazine Read More »
Jewish HistoryIt’s easy to believe, when you’re in Iraq’s southern marshes, that civilization really did begin there. Sunlight sparkles as herons dart from the reeds to spear fish, while women in long wooden boats glide through the water. The wetlands span thousands of square miles in the middle of desert. Some students of ancient history believe
Iraq’s marshlands, nearly destroyed under Saddam, are coming back Read More »
Jewish History, Middle EastArgentina on Wednesday asked Singapore and Malaysia Wednesday to extradite a former Iranian foreign minister whom it accuses of involvement in a 1994 bombing that killed 85 people at a Jewish community center, AFP reports. An investigating judge issued the request after learning that Ali Akbar Velayati, who is on the Interpol wanted list, was
Argentina seeks extradition of Iranian over AMIA bombing Read More »
International, Jewish History