Jewish Religion

Reform Jews ‘deeply concerned’ by Indiana’s RFRA

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release) – In the aftermath of Governor Mike Pence of Indiana signing a statewide Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Rachel Laser, Deputy Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, released the following statement: “We are deeply concerned by the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which highlights the broad, damaging effects of the […]

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Jewish Religion, USA

NGOs to distribute food for Pesach in Israel

  By Anav Silverman JERUSALEM–It goes without saying that countless families in Israel are unable to afford the Passover Seder meal but two charitable organizations, Leket Israel and Colel Chabad are working to change that reality. Colel Chabad, the oldest continuously running social services organization in Israel, founded in 1788, has been charged by the

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Jewish Religion, Middle East

Children’s book introduces the Jewish holidays

Here is the World: A Year of Jewish Holidays by Leslea Newman and illustrated by Susan Gal; Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2014, with reinforced binding, ISBN 978-141-971-1855; $18.95 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — This richly illustrated book, intended to familiarize young Jewish children with the annual cycle of holidays, tells in verse

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion

Knesset goes solar; Israel’s parliament ‘greenest’

By Anav Silverman JERUSALEM (Tazpit) — With nearly 50 years of history behind Israel’s parliament building, the Classical stone structure has seen countless historical changes and events. But a new kind of revolution is making its way through the halls of the Israeli parliament with the “Green Knesset Project,” a unique environmentally friendly initiative spearheaded

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Jewish Religion, Middle East

A Rube Goldberg Pesach from Technion to you

HAIFA (SDJW)– Imaginative students at the Technion in Haifa found a Rube Goldberg way of retelling the Passover story, using various forms of mechanical force to illustrate the highlights that we Jews retell when we read our Haggadahs.  Our thanks to our frequent contributor and book reviewer, Dr. Fred Reiss of Winchester, California, for spotting

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Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Sex abuse victim offers advice to parents

By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. SAN DIEGO — Child sex abuse in an Orthodox Jewish community, indeed in any community, is not an easy topic to discuss. It isn’t an easy topic to write about either, especially in a Jewish publication. But when Judy Bloom Friedel called and asked if I would moderate a panel

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell, Science, Medicine, & Education

Jewish news briefs: March 19, 2015

Number of Israeli ministers expected to rise in next government (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Despite the decisive victory by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party in the March 17 Israeli election, the negotiations to build the Jewish state’s next coalition government could take up the entire 42-day time period allotted by Israeli law. In his

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International, Jewish Religion, Middle East, USA

Reacting to the prayers in the siddur

Shma Koleinu: A Jewish People’s Commentary on the Siddur by Rabbi Steven Schwarzman, editor, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, an Amazon Company, Seattle, WA;  ISBN 978-1-50535-392-1 ©2014, $17.99, p. 202, plus contributor’s list By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California — Jews communicate with God through animal sacrifice, or at least they did when the Temple stood in

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Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion

Justice Ginsburg, Rabbi Holzblatt offer seder reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release) –American Jewish World Service has distributed a Passover reading emphasizing the accomplishments of women in the Exodus story. “We are grateful to Justice Ginsburg and Rabbi Holzblatt for offering a powerful feminist reading for Passover, which highlights the leadership of women in the liberation of the ancient Israelites from slavery in Egypt,”

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Jewish Religion, USA

Community mikvah to suspend programs

SAN DIEGO (SDJW) — The community mikvah, providing waters for spiritual immersion for a variety of rituals, has decided to suspend its programs while its board reassesses communal needs and acceptance. With less activity in prospect during this transition, its executive director, Rabbi Lenore Bohm, will step down March 31 to pursue other opportunities. Following

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Jewish Religion, San Diego County