By Ariel Schnitzer RAMLE, Israel — If it weren’t for the Hebrew exit sign that hung above the entrance, I would have never imagined I was in Israel, or rather, the Israel that I had always known. Boys played soccer, girls gossiped in tight groups. The setting was all too familiar–after all, I had […]
The meeting of cultures in an Arab Israeli town Read More »
Travel and Food
By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California –In Yiddish we say, “A Mentsch tracht, Gott lacht,” which can be translated as, “Man plans, God laughs.” If Heaven has sitcoms for the angels and God to watch, life on planet Earth must be really funny at times. God must be feeling relieved. Getting booed from
God must be feeling relieved Read More »
Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, USA
By Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort CARLSBAD, California — Over the past two weeks we have again witnessed some of the great machinery of American Democracy at work; the conventions of the Republican and Democratic Parties. The conventions have certainly become highly entertaining, and frankly, fun to follow. The festive and positive atmospheres, which are buoyed by
God and Jerusalem returned to platform on fortuitous date Read More »
USA, Yeruchem Eilfort-Rabbi
By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — This week’s parasha, Ki Tavo, contains a declaration that the Israelites were to make after they had settled the land and brought their first fruits to the Kohen as an offering. The declaration begins: “I acknowledge this day before the Lord your God that I have entered the
Coded message, or history, in Deuteronomy? Read More »
Jewish ReligionObama in DNC address: ‘Commitment to Israel’s security must not waver’ (JNS.org) U.S. President Barack Obama, addressing the Democratic National Convention on Thursday night, said America’s “commitment to Israel’s security must not waver, and neither must our pursuit of peace.” Obama’s statement came after most of the Israel-related talk at the convention in Charlotte, NC,
JNS News Briefs: September 7, 2012 Read More »
InternationalBy Ari Briggs In the middle of the Arab uprising of 1936, the Jewish settlement of Kfar Hittim in the Galilee was established, on 2,000 dunams (200 hectares) of land which the Jewish National Fund had purchased in 1905. David Ben-Gurion, who was then the head of the Jewish Yishuv, gave his tacit approval,
Bedouins with help of NGOs grab land in Negev Read More »
Middle East
By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. –“I don’t want to be complicit if they (Israelis) choose to do it (attack Iran’s nuclear program),” said Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey. News flash, General Dempsey: You are complicit in the way that counts; you are trapped: the Iranian leadership does not care what we say — or what
Dempsey is ‘complicit’ in downgrading U.S.-Israel relations Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana BryenBy Evelyn Gordon WASHINGTON, D.C. — When Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi was first elected, Israel worried that he might seek to revise the Israeli-Egyptian peace agreement. After all, senior members of his Muslim Brotherhood party had threatened repeatedly to “review” it during the parliamentary and the presidential campaigns. Yet this idea always had a serious
Morsi changing the status quo with Sinai remilitarization Read More »
Middle EastBy Kenneth L. Marcus/JointMedia News Service Jewish Americans should be concerned about the recent verdict in the Italian libel case that involves parliamentarian Fiamma Nirenstein. In 2008, cartoonist Vauro Senesi published a caricature of Nirenstein that depicted the Jewish-Italian politician, in classic anti-Semitic fashion, as a hook-nosed monster wearing a Star of David together with
Second-stage Anti Semitism Read More »
Jewish Religion
By Candice Mervis TEL AVIV–Professor Shlomo Bunimovitz and Dr Zvi Lederman of Tel Aviv University (TAU) Department of Archaeology recently uncovered an ancient seal depicting a man confronting a large lion, which resembles the Bible story of Samson. Their excavation team made camp at a kibbutz near the site at Tel Beit Shemesh, 27 miles
Archaeology early Israelites knew of Samson Read More »
Science, Medicine, & EducationBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel JERUSALEM — Let me begin with the good news first. The Democratic Party platform reinstated the importance of Jerusalem to our country’s values and principles—along with God too! Now comes the bad news. Although the section of Jerusalem was reinstated, the sections pertaining to the Palestinian refugees and the terrorist
Something not kosher about DNC Jerusalem fiasco Read More »
Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — You’ve heard about the dog that didn’t bark. Now we have the sentence that was not in the draft of the Democrats’ platform. It was there in 2008. According to the New York Times, the key sentence was, “Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel”. The Jerusalem Post
God, Jerusalem, and the Democrats Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, USA
By David Amos SAN DIEGO — I do not usually go to the San Diego Symphony Summer Pops concerts, choosing instead programs with more substance and inspiration. However, the concert we attended on Saturday, September 1, was certainly of serious musical value, and lots of fun. This was the orchestra’s traditional close to the Summer
Schwarz, Garbutt, SD Symphony deliver top Pops Read More »
Travel and FoodJerusalem language returns to Democratic platform after three attempted votes (JNS.org) Recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, at first controversially omitted from the 2012 Democratic Party Platform, will return to the document after three attempted voice votes at the party’s convention in Charlotte, NC, on Wednesday. On all three voice votes, a seemingly indistinguishable
JNS News Briefs: September 6, 2012 Read More »
International, Jewish Religion