By JTA
A leader of Yemen's Jewish community was stabbed to death at a market in the capital of Sana'a. The victim, identified in media reports as Harun Yusuf or Aaron Joseph Zindani, 50, reportedly was stabbed in the neck and in the stomach. He died Tuesday. His Muslim assailant accused him of casting a spell on […]
Lag B’Omer is the yahrzeit (anniversary of the death) of Rabi Shimon bar Yochai. Thousands visit his grave in Meron to pay homage to this tzaddik and leader in Israel.
What a difference a year makes. Last year I praised President Obama for not wanting to “spike the football” by releasing gruesome death photos of Osama bin Laden. But this year, forget spiking the football – the president is doing an end-zone dance.
Maurice Sendak, winner of numerous literary awards for children’s book writing and illustration, and author of classic children’s book Where the Wild Things Are, passed away Tuesday at the age of 83. Born in Brooklyn to Holocaust survivors Sadie and Philip Sendak, Maurice gained acclaim at the age of 35 for authoring and illustrating Where […]
Tied as we are in Martin Luther King's 'single garment of destiny' where 'whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly,' courageous soldiers of the US military are forced to engage in war so that the rest of us might live in peace, to stain their hands so that our future might be clear. We do not gloat over the death of evil since its very existence must be mourned.
By JTA
Adam Yauch of the seminal hip-hop group the Beastie Boys has died at the age of 47 after battling cancer. Yauch, one of three members of the seminal hip-hop group, had been diagnosed in 2009 with cancer in his parotid gland and a lymph node. The news of Yauch’s death was first reported Friday by […]
Question: I find it very difficult to understand the punishment of death that was meted out to Rabbi Akiba’s students. If he was so great, we can assume that his students were of a superior caliber as well. If so, why did they deserve such a harsh punishment? Zelig Aronson Queens, NY
According to information compiled by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), the PA's week-long celebration of Abu Jihad's life and Israeli deaths included the broadcast of several documentaries on his life and successful "operations," the commencement of six sporting events named in his honor, and the publication of news pieces spotlighting and glorifying his exploits.
The internet is seeking out the text of President Obama's condolences to Prime Minister Netanyahu, but they can't find it.
That’s right. I’m calling out the Dalai Lama. And here’s my problem with His Holiness in particular, and with Buddhists in general – and it also happens to be one of the first things that drew me to Judaism: Jews understand evil. Buddhists do not.
By JTA
Lawyers for two Baltimore Jewish brothers accused of beating a black teenager withdrew a request to move the trial out of the city and requested a bench trial. The trial of Avi and Eliyahu Werdesheim will begin Wednesday morning in Baltimore Circuit Court before Judge Pamela White with no jury. Defense attorneys had requested a […]
Question: I find it very difficult to understand the punishment of death that was meted out to Rabbi Akiba’s students. If he was so great, we can assume that his students were of a superior caliber as well. If so, why did they deserve such a harsh punishment? Zelig Aronson Queens, NY
In addition to karet, there is another type of premature death at the hand of God known as “mita bedei shamayim.”
The commentators discuss the meaning and implications of the “strange fire” brought as an offering by Nadav and Avihu. In his discussion of this perplexing passage, Rabbi Avigdor Miller, zt”l, discusses their early demise and observes that their death served a greater purpose (through the sadness that ensued) and that despite receiving a divine death penalty, the Torah regards them as great people.
It is time to look behind the news. Operation Iraqi Freedom is officially concluded; U.S. operations in Afghanistan are reportedly moving in a similar direction. More generically, however, debate about combat operations, strategy and tactics remains ongoing.
Question: I find it very difficult to understand the punishment of death that was meted out to Rabbi Akiba’s students. If he was so great, we can assume that his students were of a superior caliber as well. If so, why did they deserve such a harsh punishment? Zelig Aronson Queens, NY Answer: The Aruch […]
By JTA
Jewish leaders in Hebron have called for international intervention to help the Palestinian man sentenced to death for selling a home near the Cave of the Patriarchs to Jews. Shahala reportedly was sentenced to death for his part in selling what has become known as the Machpela House to a group of Jews. He reportedly […]
Each morning at about 7:10 a.m. my mother, still in her housecoat and slippers, would wake me for school. One wintry Monday morning I opened my eyes to see her leaning over my bed. She was in hat and coat and her hands were cold from the weather outside.
Prospects for a cease-fire in Syria appear low, as Syria's conflict has been spilling over into Turkey and Lebanon, with government forces continuing to battle rebel fighters. According to reports, on Monday another 160 people were killed in Syria, as President Bashar Assad's military continued to shell buildings and to shoot at civilians in "rebellious" […]
By Elke Weiss
Growing up, I remember my father’s Rosh Hashana ritual. He read the story of Rabi Amnon of Mainz, who had his tongue, hands and legs cut off for refusing to convert to Christianity – for choosing to remain a Jews. I would run away from the table sobbing in terror. Even at the tender age of six, I knew that being Jewish made oneself a member of an endangered species.
By dvora
It is said that giving charity can save one from death. We also believe that there is no such thing as a “coincidence.”
Question: If someone passes away on one day but is buried the next day, when does the son stop saying Kaddish and when should he observe the yahrzeit – 11 and 12 months, respectively, after the day of death or 11 and 12 months, respectively, after the day of burial?
The Jewish Press joins Klal Yisrael in mourning the death of Rav Moshe Yehoshua Hager, the Vishnitzer Rebbe in Bnei Brak since 1972 and a major Torah personality for more than sixty years.
By L. Friedman
The medical world and the laws associated with it are changing rapidly, and the focus is on the quality of life. More and more frequently, patients and their families are encouraged to forgo “excessive” or “unnecessary” treatments and therapies so as to maintain a greater quality of life.
The Vizhnitzer Rebbe of Bnei Brak, Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua Hager, passed away late Tuesday night. He was 95.
Two Palestinians were killed Monday evening in an IAF strike east of Gaza City, bringing the death toll in Gaza to 25 since Friday. The IDF Spokesman reported that the IAF attacked a terrorist squad Monday night in northern Gaza, shortly before it was able to shoot a high trajectory, medium-range rocket toward Israeli territory.
The Palestinian news agency Ma’an reports that Israeli air strikes on Sunday killed three people in the Gaza Strip, including a 12-year-old boy, as cross-border violence continued for a third day. Israeli warplanes also fired on the Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza City, killing Ahmad Deib Salim, 24, a known terrorist. Ma'an also claims that a […]
A 7-year-old girl who had fallen into a gushing river on Friday was rushed to Tel Hashomer Medical Center where she was pronounced dead. The severe weather of the past week in Israel turned the country's slow and harmless rivers into gushing, foaming white waters, and one such river, near the Modi'in Orthodox Jewish neighborhood […]
Andrew Breitbart, who enraged the Left and delighted Tea Partisans both with his unabashed opinions and his video shenanigans, collapsed and died outside his Los Angeles home Thursday morning.
Reports estimate that the death toll in the weekend government crackdown has exceeded 210.
By Rabbi Yaakov Klass and Rabbi Gershon Tannenbaum
When a Dead Ewe Gave Birth to a Live Lamb ‘We Do Not Wait For Her To Give Birth’ (Arachin 7a)
The female employees are protesting against corruption and harassment in the PA.
Arab-Israeli conflict intensifies on the web.
A celebration of the 100th birthday of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who saved the lives of over 20,000 Hungarian Jews in the final days of World War II, also marks the renewal of investigations into the events surrounding his death. In attendance - the Iranian Ambassador to Hungary
Mubarak lawyer: "There is no evidence to prove that Mubarak gave orders to open fire on the protesters."
The message reportedly said that Netanyahu "will be a victim just like Rabin."
Amjad Awad and his cousin Hakim were convicted last November of the murders.
By Sam Ser
“Stop the violence. Stop killing your people,” United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said in a message to Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose troops have killed more than 5,000 people during a 10-month-old uprising.
On the twentieth day of Teves we mark the 808th yahrzeit of Rabeinu Moshe ben Maimon, the Rambam (Maimonides). The Rambam (Maimonides) lived from 1135 to 1204. His scholarly works are world-renowned and it is about him that we say, “From Moses to Moses there never arose so great a person as Moses.”
By Joel Mandel
One of the most difficult moral aspects of organ transplantation is the fact that in many cases, the organ donor must be declared clinically dead before the life-saving surgical procedure can begin.