By Steve Kramer KIBBUTZ GESHER, Israel — Michal and I recently joined a full busload of hikers for a wonderful 8-mile trek sponsored by the English Speaking Residents Association (www.esra.org.il). It was just before Tu B’Shvat, the Jewish new year for trees. We couldn’t have picked a more perfect day to be among the hills, […]
A Jordan Valley hike to Kibbutz Gesher Read More »
Steve Kramer, Travel and FoodBy Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO―Venture capitalist Thomas Perkins apologized for drawing a parallel between the “progressive war on the American one percent, namely the ‘rich” and “Nazi Germany’s war on its ‘one percent,’ namely its Jews.” …This is a very dangerous drift in our American thinking. Kristallnacht was unthinkable in 1930; is its descendant “progressive”
Humoring the headlines: January 31, 2014 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire
By Dmitriy Shapiro/JNS.org/Washington Jewish Week Though the probability of success of the renewed efforts by Secretary of State John Kerry to forge a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is still uncertain, experts have expressed concern about a longstanding policy that could force the United States to lose much of its multilateral clout within the
Mideast failure could cost U.S. clout in U.N Read More »
International
WASHINGTON, D.C (Press Release)- Faith questions from a groundbreaking new poll of 3839 members of the disability community were released today by RespectAbilityUSA, a non-profit organization working to enable people with disabilities to have the opportunity to achieve the American dream. The poll shows that Jews with disabilities and their families are far less engaged
Poll: Disabled Jews unlikely to affiliate Read More »
Jewish Religion
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO –Paula Siegel, who brought a Jewish passion for tikkun olam to Democratic party politics in California, died at 4 a.m. Thursday, January 30, in her Banker’s Hill home in San Diego. She was 82. Siegel worked as a volunteer or as a consultant in numerous local, state and national political campaigns,
Paula Siegel, San Diego Democratic activist, dies Read More »
San Diego County
LONG BEACH, California (Press Release) – California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees have heard, without comment, an appeal for support for the AMCHA Initiative’s request to California Attorney General Kamala K. Harris to investigate CSU Northridge’s Professor David Klein. AMCHA Initiative contends that for four years Klein has illegally used CSUN’s name and resources
Israel advocates seek probe of Prof. David Klein Read More »
Science, Medicine, & EducationBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — Israeli politicians are preparing the public for the report that US Secretary of State John Kerry is about to present. Whether they already know what’s in it or are guessing or are working on authorized leaks isn’t clear. Here are some of the signs: *It started when Prime Minister
Israel preparing for Kerry report Read More »
Middle EastBook: Sasha and Emma: The Anarchist Odyssey of Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman, by Paul Avrich and Karen Avrich. Harvard University Press, 490 pages, 2012. By David Strom CHULA VISTA, California — What is an anarchist? As we know, there are so many different types of Jews that it is safe to conclude that there
Book Review: ‘Sasha and Emma’ Read More »
Jewish History, Jewish Religion
WASHINGTON, DC(Press Release)- National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) Executive Director Rabbi Jack Moline issued the following statement on Thursday, Jan. 30, in response to the news that Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA) will not be seeking re-election: “The National Jewish Democratic Council is saddened by the news that our dear friend, the most respected Congressman Henry
Congressman Henry Waxman to retire Read More »
Travel and FoodScarlett Johansson ends role as Oxfam ambassador over differences on BDS (JNS.org) Jewish-American actress Scarlett Johansson is stepping down as a global ambassador for the human rights group Oxfam International, which had criticized her for serving as pitch woman for Israeli carbonated beverage company SodaStream. Johansson’s decision comes ahead of the airing of her SodaStream
JNS news briefs: January 30, 2014 Read More »
InternationalBy Aryeh Savir JERUSALEM–Now that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is no longer president of Iran, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is the most anti-Semitic leader in the world, according to Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs Yuval Steinitz. Speaking at the INSS (The Institute for National Security Studies) annual series on Wednesday, Jan. 30, Steinitz stated that “there is
Abbas world’s most anti-Semitic leader–Steinitz Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — On our right are religious nationalists who insist that God gave it all to us. On our left are those who claimed that we have sinned since 1967, and must withdraw from some, much, or all of the West Bank beyond the lines of 1967 in order for the Palestinians
Extremists of all kinds focus on Israel Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
NEW YORK (Press Release) — Ten Jewish day schools last week competed in an interschool virtual competition testing students’ teamwork and problem solving skills on “The Science of Soda” as part of the Excellence 2000 (E2K) program provided by the Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education. The winners of the 7th Grade Science Virtual Activity
Students experiment with soda sweetness Read More »
Travel and FoodBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–Earlier this month I wrote about African illegal immigrants in Israel. In response, Rabbi John Rosove of Los Angeles put me in touch with Sigal Rozen, field worker on behalf of an organization that deals with Eritreans and Sudanese asylum seekers in South Tel Aviv. Last Tuesday, my wife and I
Eritreans, Sudanese, local Israelis cope in Tel Aviv Read More »
Middle East