Jewish upbringing helped celebrated deaf actress break barriers to success Oscar-winning actress Marlee Matlin said the best thing to do for people “who have special needs is to communicate with them.” Marlee Matlin and actor Henry Winkler, a longtime friend and mentor, at the Walk of Fame Ceremony honoring Matlin in Hollywood, May 6, 2009; […]
‘Healing the world’ is Marlee Matlin’s matter Read More »
Jewish Religion, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USAI Can’t Wait By Rabbi Yaakov Marks SAN DIEGO — “And when you come to the land, you will plant all types of fruit trees. For three years the fruit will be prohibited; in the fourth year it will be sanctified to praise G-d, and in the fifth year and from then on you may
Weekly Torah Portion: Kedoshim Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — This week we read parashat K’doshim. K’doshim means: “holiness.” K’doshim contains laws and instructions to follow if we desire to be holy and Godly human beings. K’doshim contains a verse that, at first glance, does not make sense: “You shall each revere his mother and his father,
Why honoring parents and observing Shabbat are linked Read More »
Jewish Religion
Over 20 feet wide, the mural hanging from the ceiling of Burlington, Vermont’s Ohavi Zedek Synagogue is a survivor in multiple senses. Painted by a Lithuanian immigrant in 1910, it is a rare example of the wall paintings that once adorned the wooden synagogues of Eastern Europe that were destroyed in the Holocaust. “There is
Vermont Jews rescue ‘Lost Shul Mural’ Read More »
Jewish History, Jewish Religion, USAThe National Security Council Counter-Terrorism Bureau issued a travel advisory against Israelis visiting Tunisia on Monday, ahead of an expected Lag B’Omer festivities to be held May 25-26 in Ghriba, on the island of Djerba. “There is a severe travel warning for Tunisia (high concrete threat),” the Bureau said. “Terrorist elements, especially those affiliated with
Israel warns against Lag B’Omer travel to Tunisia Read More »
Jewish Religion, Middle East
Most Israeli Jews support increased Jewish pluralism in Israel, and are in favor of the right to freedom of marriage, a survey released on Sunday found. The poll, published by The Jewish People Policy Institute, found that more than 60 percent of Israeli Jews back the legalization of civil marriages in the country. Over 80%
Most Israeli Jews support Jewish pluralism Read More »
Jewish Religion, Middle East
By Raphael Poch JERUSALEM– Each year over 300,000 people from across the country descend upon the small town of Meron for a yearly pilgrimage on the 33rd day of the Omer, known as the holiday of La’g Ba’omer. The sheer amount of visitors to the town’s holy site, the grave of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai,
First response team prepares for Lag B’Omer pilgrimage Read More »
Jewish Religion, Middle EastBy Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — Two years ago my congregation embarked on a grand experiment. Instead of “charging” for synagogue membership we changed to a free will donation system we call T’rumah. T’rumah has been a success, although a qualified success. Many of our members chose to increase or maintain their previous membership gift
T’rumah–or free will donations–support synagogue Read More »
Jewish ReligionTel Aviv (dpa) – Fifty Holocaust survivors who never got to celebrate their Jewish coming-of-age ritual because of the horrors of World War II got a chance to do so Monday in Jerusalem. The bat mitzvah and bar mitzvah – the first for girls, the second for boys – is typically performed when the child
Belated b’nai mitzvahs at Kotel for Shoah survivors Read More »
Jewish Religion, Middle EastBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — The Triguboff Institute, established by an Australian philanthropist, specializes in the needs of Jews from the former Soviet Union, notably Russia and Ukraine. The fact that perhaps as many as 400 000 Israeli citizens of Russian and Ukrainian background aren’t regarded as Jews by the state’s rabbinic establishment has prompted
Orthodox intolerance helps grow Reform in Israel Read More »
Jewish Religion, Middle EastAs Passover and Shabbat end tonight, people across Israel are celebrating Mimouna. Social Equality Minister Gila Gamliel (Likud) is taking part in the festival at the Dahan home in Yavne, along with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara. Gamliel spoke to fellow attendees, saying that “the festival of Mimouna, in which the doors
Minister: ‘Mimouna is the best symbol of unity in Israel’ Read More »
Jewish Religion, Middle East
In what has become a yearly tradition at the holy site, hundreds of Jewish worshipers packed the Cave of the Patriarchs (also known as the Cave of Machpela) in Hevron for a mass prayer led by two leading rabbis from Tzfat (Safed), the heart of Jewish mysticism in Israel: Tzfat Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu and
Machpela packed for Pesach prayers Read More »
Jewish Religion, Middle East
MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism), Chairman of the Knesset”s Finance Committee, on Wednesday blasted Jewish visits to the Temple Mount, claiming that Jews who ascended to the holy site were violating Jewish religious law. Speaking to Israel Radio, Gafni argued that religious Jews who visited the Temple Mount were leading the country to war,
Haredi MK: Jews who visit Temple Mount spark war Read More »
Jewish Religion, Middle EastI thought we could handle the forecast predicting steady 105 degree weather in order to go to Southern India for Pesach to serve as visiting Rabbinic leadership for a little-known community of Indians practicing Judaism called the Bene Efraim. But as I reached into the seat-back to check out the airplane newspaper, headlines read, ‘record
A seder in a remote village of India Read More »
International, Jewish Religion