Travel and Food

 WASHINGTON, D.C. (Roundup)–Passage by the Senate on Thursday by a 60-39 vote of the Health Care Reform Act prompted the following commentary from Jewish officeholders and interest groups. Senator Russell Feingold (Democrat-Wisconsin): The Senate health care bill is far from perfect.  I am deeply disappointed it does not include a public option to help keep

  HAIFA (Press Release)–The prestigious Bahat Prize for original works of non-fiction was awarded Wednesday by the University of Haifa Press to Prof. Eli Yassif, Dr. Dana Olmert and Dr. Yehuda Goodman. The prize was awarded at a festive ceremony at the University of Haifa to Prof. Yassif for his manuscript Legends from Safed (“Agadot

By Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO–When Pharaoh met Yaakov for the first time, the first thing he asked him was, “How old are you,” which is sort of a  funny question to ask someone whom you just met. The Midrash explains by filling in the back story: The entranceway to Pharaoh’s chamber had a very

NEW YORK (Press Release)–The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has expressed its opposition to the possible decision of the Israeli government to free nearly 1,000 jailed Palestinians, including murderers, attempted murderers, accessories to murder and others involved in terrorism against Israel in return for the freeing of kidnapped Israeli serviceman Corporal Gilad Shalit as a

LOS ANGELES (Press Release)– When Virtuoso Geoffrey Maingart, former Concertmaster of the White House Orchestra and friend of Jews for Judaism’s Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz, raised his violin and explained that its original owner was Mozart, the crowd was astonished.  His breathtaking performance was a perfect highlight to Jews for Judaism’s successful “Stand Up for Judaism”

NEWTON, Massachusetts (Press Release)–  Ryan Braun and Scott Feldman have been named the Most Valuable Jewish Players of the Year by Jewish Major Leaguers, Inc. (“JML”), the not-for-profit baseball history organization that produces Jewish baseball cards and Hall of Fame programs honoring Jews in the Game. The 2009 Position Player of the Year is Ryan

STRASBOURG, France (WJC)–The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has ruled that the constitution of Bosnia-Herzegovina discriminates against the Jewish and Roma minorities in the Balkan country and must be changed. The court ruled on Tuesday in favor of the two plaintiffs, the president of the Jewish Community, Jakob Finci, and Roma leader Dervo

CHISINAU, Moldova (WJC)–The Russian Orthodox Church in the former Soviet republic of Moldova has indirectly blamed the Jewish community for the recent anti-Semitic march by Christian fundamentalists in the capital Chisinau in which a public menorah was dismantled. A church statement said: “We believe that this unpleasant incident could have been avoided if the menorah

 WASHINGTON, D.C (Press Release)–As the United States prepares to ramp up troop levels in Afghanistan and bring that war to a close, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (Democrat, Oregon) called on Richard C. Holbrooke, Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, to turn attention to the illicit funding streams that are propping up the Taliban’s ability to

MUNICH (WJC) — In the war crimes trial against Ivan (John) Demjanjuk, which resumed on Monday, Holocaust survivors gave testimony. The court rejected a defense motion to suspend the trial and release Demjanjuk, who complained about back problems. Prosecutors accuse him of assisting in the killing of 27,900 Jews at the Nazi death camp Sobibor