Reform Jews decry Senate’s failure to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)– In response to the Senate’s failure on Thursday, Dec. 9, to advance legislation to repeal the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, issued the following statement: “Today, Senators have failed to support the men and women of the U.S. Armed […]

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USA

Chanukah in America raises the question of assimilation

By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO–On Thursday morning, the last day of Chanukah, Sol Minsberg gave me an article to read after minyan. It was published on the website of Reform Judaism (www.rj.org). Its author, William Berkson, points out the how Chanukah is understood in Israel versus the United States. “In Israel, Chanukah is largely

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Jewish Religion

If left alone, Carmel forest will grow back, professor asserts

HAIFA (Press Release)– Prof. Ido Izhaki, head of the Carmel Research Center at Israel’s University of Haifa, recommends after the massive fire:  “Let nature take its course” “The forest on the Carmel Mountains is adapted to fires. Some vegetation species have developed resistance to fire and some have developed a dependence on fire, such as the

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Middle East

Palestinian leaders yell political theatre at a crowded Israeli fire

By Barry Rubin HERZLIYA, Israel — Often, small details give a tremendous insight into political realities. Such an example is the remark made by a high-ranking Palestinian official about the tragic fire in northern Israel. When the fire broke out, 40 Israeli prison guards were rushed to a prison to evacuate the prisoners there in

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Middle East

Blaming Israeli rightwingers for frozen peace efforts is for the intellectually simple

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — It is easy to blame Binyamin Netanyahu’s right of center coalition for the failure of the American peace initiative. Examined in isolation, it seems clear that five parties with 61 seats in the 120 member Knesset are standing in the way of that 90 day extension of the building freeze,

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

ARZA condemns Israeli rabbis who forbid renting homes to non-Jews

NEW YORK (Press Release)– ARZA (Association of Reform Zionists of America) reacts with alarm to a recent report that 50 leading Israeli municipal chief rabbis, all employed by the State of Israel, have signed on to a religious ruling that forbids renting homes to Gentiles–a move particularly aimed against Arabs. This ruling comes just months

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Middle East

Germany doubles its support for ailing Holocaust survivors

BERLIN (Press Release)–Germany has agreed to double to € 110 million (US$ 147m) its annual funding for home care provided to Holocaust survivors. The change takes into account “the sharply increased need for home care”, the Federal Finance Ministry said. The money paid by the German government to Holocaust survivors is distributed to 32 countries

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Travel and Food

Bill would extend housing access to LGBTs, others, under U.S. Civil Rights laws

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release) – Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI), and Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Edolphus Towns (D-NY) have introduced the Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) Act in order to extend critical federal civil rights protections

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USA

House approves continued funding of Iron Dome, Israel’s advanced anti-rocket system

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)– Representative Steve Rothman (D-NJ), a member of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, released the following statement on the $205 million allocated toward Iron Dome, an advanced Israeli anti-rocket system, that has been included in the continuing resolution (H.R. 3082) to fund the rest of Fiscal Year 2011 that passed Wednesday evening,

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Middle East

Helen Diller Family Foundation to award five $36,000 scholarships to teens

SAN FRANCISCO (Press Release)–For the fifth consecutive year, the Helen Diller Family Foundation wants to reward California’s most philanthropically minded young Jewish teens with a significant financial recognition of their commitment to social action.  Five California teens will be named recipients of the 2011 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Award and each will receive an honorarium

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USA

Yemin Orde school in Carmel Mountain region 40 percent destroyed by recent fires; students return

YEMIN ORDE, Israel (Press Release)– Embers still smolder in Israel’s Carmel Mountains.  Yemin Orde Youth Village, home to more than 400 at-risk immigrant youth ages 8-19, sustained considerable damage as a result of the worst fire in Israel’s history.  Forty percent of the buildings are in ashes.  The library is lost.  The fire devastated the

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Middle East