SAFED, Israel (Press Release)- When Israel’s first Prime Minister David Ben Gurion wryly observed that “In Israel in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles,” he could not anticipate that the spirit of his words would motivate the largest single public gathering on Israel’s annual calendar, as 400,000 people jam the […]
Realists believe in miracles on Lag B’Omer Read More »
Jewish ReligionTEL AVIV (Press Release) — Last year marked the return of political Nazism to Europe, declared Dr. Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, at a press conference to announce the results of the 2012 Anti-Semitism Worldwide Report published by Tel Aviv University’s Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry. Headed by Prof.
Neo-Nazism, Muslim extremism on rise in Europe Read More »
Travel and FoodCanadian university student union strips anti-Israel group of official status (JNS.org) The University of Manitoba Student Union (UMSU) in Canada has become the first student group in North America to ban the anti-Israel “Israel Apartheid Week” and strip the anti-Israel “Students Against Israel Apartheid (SAIA)” group of official status. The motion, which passed 19-15, bars
JNS news briefs: April 16, 2013 Read More »
InternationalBy Bob Jacob/Cleveland Jewish News/JNS.org Kevin Goodman’s second Boston Marathon will be one he will never forget. That’s because just about 60 minutes after he concluded the race, two explosions rocked the finish line. “It’s a gruesome day,” Goodman, who lives in Cleveland, told the Cleveland Jewish News from the Fairmont Copley Hotel, where he
Jewish runner tells of Marathon explosions Read More »
USABy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — Pretense seems to be an important factor in Israeli-Palestinian relations. It’s particularly acute in and around the issue of Jerusalem. Thus many Israeli politicians and their supporters never tire of speaking of the city as “Israel’s united and eternal capital” thereby implying that no peace deal will persuade Israelis to
Baird-Livni meeting in E. Jerusalem fuels Palestinian anger Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — While Americans are working to understand the latest affront to their security, Israelis are passing through the annual cycle of three days marking the tragedies associated with the Holocaust and Israel’s security, and the nation’s successes since Independence. Claims of exploiting the Holocaust for political gain are prominent on the
Tisha b’Av, Yom Hashaoh, Yom HaZikaron Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Jewish Religion
By Donald H. Harrison LA MESA, California — After seven years of being dark, Lamplighters Community Theatre will again live up to its name by turning on the electricity. However it will be in a new 90-seat venue in a small shopping center at 5915 Severin Drive, where the theatre group will present a staged
Lamplighters Community Theatre to make a comeback Read More »
Donald H. HarrisonBalfour Declaration to visit Israel (JNS.org) The historic Balfour Declaration will, for the first time, leave Britain and be presented to the Israeli public, Israel Hayom reported. Lord Arthur James Balfour’s declaration, made in November 1917, was the Zionist movement’s watershed diplomatic achievement, marking the first time that the idea of the need for a national home
JNS news briefs: April 15, 2013 Read More »
InternationalBy Anav Silverman The Israeli beer industry includes a wide range of brewmasters from native Israelis to North American immigrants whose microbreweries can be found across the country from the Golan, Western Galilee and Jezreel Valley, to Ein Hod, Emek Hefer and the Negev. In the hills of Judea, Gush Etzion also has its very
International foursome brews beers in Gush Etzion Read More »
Travel and FoodBy Anav Silverman It is often overlooked that Yiddish, the language spoken by millions of Ashkenazi Jews for nearly 1,000 years across Europe, played an important role in the formation of Israeli culture. For Professor Chava Turniansky from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, that point is very clear. The 75-year-old professor will be awarded the
Israel Prize goes to Hebrew U Yiddish professor Read More »
Travel and FoodBy Danny Bloom CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan — It’s a big world out there and it’s getting smaller all the time, thanks to the internet and free websites. I often surf the net not looking for anything in particular but always on the look-out for something that tickles my fancy and puts my waking brain into
Judaism, not just a religion but a family tradition Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Aryeh Savir JERUSALEM –The Central Bureau of Statistics, in its traditional Yom Ha’atzmaut statistical report about the citizens of Israel, stated that Israel has now 8.018 million residents, almost ten times more the 806,000 citizens in its establishment. The Jewish population stands at 6.042 million (75.3% of the entire population). Israel’s Arab citizens constitute
Israel’s population now 8.018 million Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — A hundred meters from these fingers is a border between civilizations. To the east of that border is the “village,” “suburb,” or “neighborhood” of Isaweea. With more than 20,000 residents, the label “village” is misleading, but that’s the term many use. “Suburb” suggests something outside of Jerusalem, but it is
In Israel, it’s us and them and them Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
Odette’s Secrets by Maryann Macdonald, Bloomsbury Children’s Books, (c) 2013, 978-1-5990-750-5; 225 pages, $16.99 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Although classified as “fiction,” Odette’s Secrets cannot be so easily pigeonholed. Author Maryann Macdonald found a copy of the real memoirs of the late Odette Meyers, who as a child in Nazi-occupied France had posed
The Holocaust in terms a child can understand Read More »
Donald H. Harrison