יום חמישי, 16 יולי 2026Thursday, July 16, 2026
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Jewish

Felafel on Rye

Why Help Build America When We Can Help Build the Land of the Jews?

By Tzvi Fishman

It is no secret that American Jewry is being decimated by assimilation. The longer the Jewish community remains in America the more the assimilation will grow. So I ask – what’s the point in working to strengthen something that is destined to dwindle out and end? The exile is a curse which is not supposed to continue forever.

Features On The Jewish World

On Matzah & Mohels

By Erica Lyons

Pesach means bite-sized sweet kidney mangos and the return of the longon. Shavuot brings back the pomelo. Chanukah means miniature Mandarin oranges. And its always star-fruit for Rosh Hashanah. While our palates might have changed, along with our knowledge of Southeast Asian fruit, when it comes to Pesach it’s really all Osem and Yehuda Matzot for us.

Book Reviews

Title: The Kosher Grapevine: Exploring the World of Wine

By Yocheved Golani

Title: The Kosher Grapevine: Exploring the World of Wine Author: Irving Langer Publisher: Gefen

Halacha & Hashkafa

Wakeup Call (Midot 1:9)

By Raphael Grunfeld

At about 4 a.m. on cold and damp autumn mornings in London, Dad would try to wake us in time for Selichot, the pre-Jewish New Year dawn prayers. As we heard Dad’s footsteps mounting the stairs, my brother and I would hide under our covers and mutter our displeasure at being disturbed.

Analysis / America's Rabbi / Shmuley Boteach

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach: The Revolting Lie that Michael Jackson was a Nazi Sympathizer

By Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Several headlines recently caught my attention when I heard that a man who claims to have worked as Michael Jackson's bodyguard made the incredulous charge that Michael was a Nazi sympathizer. This kind of viciousness should usually not be indulged because it just gives it more credibility for the retelling. But the slander against Michael's name in this instance is so great that it deserves to be rebutted.

Op-Eds

Abba Kovner And The Real-Life Jewish Avengers

By Abe Novick

As moviegoers over the weekend flocked to see Marvel’s new superhero ensemble, they would understandably associate the idea of avengers with Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk and Black Widow.

Front Page

A New Song

By Rabbi Yaakov Rosenblatt

Half a year after our marriage in 1997, my parents called and said they couldn’t attend the Agudath Israel of America convention and had extra tickets. Would my wife and I want to go in their place? We were newlyweds in every sense of the word and cherished the opportunity of a new experience. “Certainly,” we said and made the trek from Lakewood to Parsippany in the state of New Jersey.

US

Toronto Islamic School Apologizes for Calling Jews "Crafty", Promoting Jihad-Readiness

By Malkah Fleisher

A Toronto Islamic school has apologized to the Jewish community after an investigation confirmed that it encourages students to hate Jews and prepare to combat them. Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre for Holocaust Studies in Toronto had submitted a complaint that the curriculum for the East End Madrassah, a Muslim Sunday school conducted on […]

Not A Jew - Jew

Hugo Stiglitz VS the Canaanites

By Not a Jew -> Jew

My considerable experience with bad people is: showing weakness to them never, ever works. Not ever. Never. As evidenced by the entire arc of human, and Jewish, history.

Not A Jew - Jew

Why A Jew?

By Not a Jew -> Jew

The secularists and atheists in my life don’t know enough about Judaism to know how big of deal this is, so they tend to look at my journey as a mildly exotic lifestyle choice – like a phase Madonna might go through – before they focus on the real issue at hand: circumcision.

jBlogs

Tibbi's Roundup: The Rebbe and the Dog

By Tibbi Singer

One of the questions posed to PM Netanyahu and his new coalition bride Shaul Mofaz by one of those pesky Israeli TV reporters was: Only a short while ago, Mofaz called Bibi a liar. Now the two of you are headed into a long-term marriage (a year and a half is eternity in Israeli politics). […]

Book Reviews

Change and Renewal: The Essence of the Jewish Holidays, Festivals & Days of Remembrance

By Yocheved Golani

Breathe deeply. You’ll need maximum physical and spiritual power to absorb the uplifting lessons in this book. Page 249 explains why some Jews are praised as “fish on dry land,” a phrase that describes Moshe Rabeinu. Am Yisrael began to appreciate his depth of character at kriat Yam Suf, realizing that “he lived in the revealed world as though he were in the concealed world.”

News Briefs

Bill Thompson Courting Orthodox Jews in Quest of Mayoral Post

By Jewish Press News Desk

The NY Post reported that Mayoral hopeful Bill Thompson has been "surprisingly successful" in seeking the Orthodox Jewish vote in Brooklyn. Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind, a Democrat, who supported Thompson for Mayor in 2009, said “Thompson’s definitely a favorite in the Jewish community, no question about it." Thompson’s rival in the Mayoral race, Manhattan Borough […]

News Briefs / Photo of the Day

Arab Rioters Attack Israeli Vehicle in Benjamin Region

By TPS / Tazpit News Agency

Palestinians rioters at around 11 p.m. Monday blocked with stones the Benjamin-crossing highway near the settlement of Neve Tzuf in south-west Samaria. An Israeli vehicle with four Tel Aviv residents hit the barrier and was damaged. Last week a Jewish woman was attacked at the same spot.

Analysis

Antisemitism on the Rise in Europe

By Michael Curtis

The virus of antisemitism persists in haunting Europe. In recent months, antisemitism has been exhibited all too often in European countries, not just in theory but in practice.

jBlogs

Tibbi Singer's Daily Roundup: Be the Best Sheigetz You Can Be...

By Tibbi Singer

This Jewish guy gets to a small town out in the hinterland, and in his kosher traveler's guide he finds a motel that's run by a Jewish lady. Sunday morning the church bells are ringing and he hears the motel owner yelling out: Jimmy, the bells are ringing, time to go to church! So the […]

Analysis

Three Irrational US Mideast Policies

By Vic Rosenthal

Barack Obama and many of his appointees share a New Left sensibility, which includes the ideas that colonialism and imperialism — particularly ‘US imperialism’ is the root of all evil, that it is meaningless to suggest that one culture could be morally superior to another, and that national interests should be subordinated to multilateral cooperation.

jBlogs

Tibbi's Roundup: 'Asifa' Organizers Snub Women, Lubavitch

By Tibbi Singer

Happy New Week. I'm trying a topical approach to my roundup, so I went trolling for new, interesting things about Lag Ba'Omer (only a couple of days ahead), the 'Asifa' in Citi Field, and stam interesting Jewish tidbits. Let me know if this format works for you, I'm trying new things. There's a classifieds ad […]

Felafel on Rye

Hollywood to the Holy Land (Part 2)

By Tzvi Fishman

"Dear God," I said. "I don’t know why you have come into my life and done this great miracle for me. But I am certainly grateful, and I would like to make You happy some way in return. Tell me what You want me to do, and I will do it."

jBlogs

Roundup: Organ Donation, Abomination, Beer Nation, Cross-Davenation, Plus the Settlers of Tel Aviv

By Tibbi Singer

It's the 12th of Iyar. On this day in the year 70, Roman General Titus breached the middle wall of Jerusalem (it was June 5 back then). It's the yahrzeit (in 1778) of Reb Shmuel Shmelke Halevi Horowitz of Nikolsburg. On his first day as the Rabbi of Nikolsburg, he made it rain. It was […]

News Briefs

Exit Poll: 'Red' Ken Livingstone Trailing in London Mayoral Election

By JTA

Former London Mayor Ken Livingstone, who stirred controversy with remarks called anti-Semitic by the city's Jewish leaders, was trailing in a bid to reclaim his post, an exit poll showed. Incumbent Boris Johnson, Livingstone's successor, had 53 percent of Thursday's vote to 47 percent for Livingstone in the hotly contested race, according to the YouGov […]

Marriage and Relationships

Four Questions To Heal The Pain

By Gary Tolchinsky

About a month ago, we began the Passover Seder by asking “the four questions,” which led to a narrative explaining how the Jewish people were freed from Egypt. We are now in the midst of a forty-nine day process of spiritual growth in which we prepare ourselves to receive the Torah.

Torah

Parashat Emor

By Rav Yehuda Hakohen

In both the company of fellow Jews and in the presence of gentiles, we must be relentlessly careful to conduct ourselves with morality, consideration towards others and honest financial dealings. A Jew must always be conscious that the Hebrew Nation represents HaShem in this world and that Israel is a direct reflection of His Divine Ideal.

Halacha & Hashkafa

After The Amidah

By Rabbi J. Simcha Cohen

Question: At the conclusion of the Amidah, should the chazzan say “Yiyu leratzon imrei fi… – May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable before you, G-d, my Rock and Redeemer”?

Jewish / Global

Report: 'Sustained, Ongoing Undercurrent of Anti-Jewish Bias in Canada'

By Solomon Burke

Despite a drop of 0.7% in antisemitic incidents in 2011 over the previous year, the gravity of the problem in Canada is better understood by observing long-term trends: antisemitic incidents have grown twenty-fold since B'nai Brith started monitoring antisemitism thirty years ago, while a five-year view shows a 24.6% rise.

Parsha

Knesset Minister Rabbi Nissim Zeev: Time To See The Light And Heal

By Rabbi Nissim Zeev

In our time we must always take advantage of the opportunity for a second chance to revive our identity as Jews in Eretz Yisrael, for without the identity of Israel as a Jewish state, we are truly at a spiritual and physical loss.

jBlogs

Jblogs: It's Methuselah Day

By Tibbi Singer

It's Iyar 11, the yahrzeit of Methuselah at the 969 years of age (according to one opinion). I suppose on this day Jewish geezers go down to the park and pass judgment on the pigeons (You call that pecking?). It's also the yahrzeit, in 1884, of Judah Philip Benjamin, the second Jewish senator in U.S. history (from Louisiana), who also served in the cabinet of President Jefferson Davis (yes, yes, they lost).

Jewish / Religion

Vatican Rep Wants Alliance With Jews, Muslims, to Combat Gay Marriage

By Malkah Fleisher

A Vatican representative has issued a call for the world’s foremost religions to unite to take a stand against gay marriage. Archbishop Antonio Mennini, the “Apostolic Nuncio” (Vatican representative) to Great Britain has proposed enlisting the help of all Christian denominations, as well as Jews and Muslims, to oppose the proposition of legalizing gay marriage […]

News Briefs

Judge Won’t Drop Charges Against Baltimore Brothers

By JTA

A Baltimore judge will not drop the charges against two Jewish brothers accused of beating a black teenager. Judge Pamela White on Tuesday denied the motion to drop the charges against Avi and Eliyahu Werdesheim, according to The Associated Press. The brothers have pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree assault, false imprisonment and carrying […]

Analysis

Israelis Share Netanyahu’s View of History

By Vic Rosenthal

There is a reason that “the average Israeli” elected the son of Benzion Netanyahu, a man who shares his father’s values — because they too share his view of history. This is precisely why they believe that he would not sell out their interests.

Sports / Jewish

Jewish NFL Lineman Heads to Cleveland

By Malkah Fleisher

For the Jewish community in Ohio, the newest Cleveland Browns lineman is also a landsman. Mitchell Schwartz will arrive in Cleveland on Thursday, May 10 for the Cleveland Browns’ rookie minicamp, having been chosen as the 37th pick in last week’s NFL Draft. In an interview with Cleveland Jewish News, the 22 year-old Brown said […]

Op-Eds

Reflections On A Grandson’s Enlistment In The IDF

By Rabbi Avi Weiss

I have long felt the holiest Jews are members of the IDF, the Israel Defense Forces. At countless rallies I’ve called out from the heart, “Blessed is the nation that has as its army the Israel Defense Forces.”

Parsha / Torah / Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks: Holy People In The Holy Land

By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l

It is simply not the same to put on tefillin or keep kashrut or observe Shabbat in the Diaspora as in Israel. The Torah is the constitution of a holy people in the holy land. Only in Israel is the fulfillment of the commands a society-building exercise, shaping the contours of a culture as a whole. Only in Israel does the calendar track the rhythms of the Jewish year.

Rebbetzin's Viewpoint

The Image Of My Father

By Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis

I have had much experience in bikur cholim – visiting the sick. Even at the age of six I would accompany my saintly father on his rounds to slave labor camps where young Jewish men were incarcerated by the Hungarians prior to the Nazi occupation.

Glimpses Into American Jewish History

Henry S. and Benjamin H. Hartogensis

By Dr. Yitzchok Levine

Usually Jewish history books deal with those who have made their mark by doing extraordinary things. While such people obviously are important, there are those who may not have enjoyed much fame yet whose efforts and accomplishments were crucial to maintaining Yahadus in their community. Two such men are Henry S. Hartogensis and his son, Benjamin H. Hartogensis, who devoted their lives to the Jewish community of Baltimore.

Editorial

Wiesel Versus Netanyahu

By Editorial Board

We were dismayed by the criticism Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel leveled at Prime Minister Netanyahu following the latter’s speech marking Holocaust Remembrance Day. Mr. Wiesel took issue with what he said was the prime minister’s likening of the Holocaust to the threat posed to Israel by Iran. Obviously whatever Mr. Wiesel says about the Holocaust is worth listening to. But we are nonetheless puzzled.

Op-Eds

Religious Settlers Face Pervasive Double Standard

By Jerold S. Auerbach

For anyone with historical memory the expulsion of Jews – by the Romans, English, French, Spaniards, Nazis, and Muslims – instantly evokes tragic episodes in Jewish history. Now the state of Israel expels Jews from their homes. Something is amiss in Zion.

Op-Eds

Benzion Netanyahu's Role In American Politics

By Dr. Rafael Medoff

Benzion Netanyahu – historian, one-time political activist and father of Israel's prime minister – died Monday in Jerusalem at 102. An accomplished scholar and the patriarch of one of Israel's most important political families, he also played a surprising and little-known role in American political history.

US

With Election Six Months Away, Obama Still Leads Among Jews

By Ron Kampeas

WASHINGTON – President Obama enjoys the support of three-fifths of American Jews, according to the latest American Jewish Committee survey, a significant improvement over where he stood half a year ago in the organization’s polling.WASHINGTON – President Obama enjoys the support of three-fifths of American Jews, according to the latest American Jewish Committee survey, a significant improvement over where he stood half a year ago in the organization’s polling.

On Campus / Education

Shagririm: Israeli-American Ambassadors, on Campus

By Lauren Schmidt, Israel Campus Beat

Shagririm caters to the large population of Israeli–Americans in Southern California and their American born children. The program connects these individuals in order to effectively generate pro-Israel programs and initiatives. Shagririm is the only program of its kind that currently functions solely on a local, multi-campus level, rather than nationwide.

Jewish / US / Politics

Poll: Obama Winning Back Jews

By Malkah Fleisher

Jewish support for President Obama has improved significantly in the last year and a half, according to a new survey by the American Jewish Committee .

jBlogs

Jblogs: Are You an Anti-Semite if You Have Absolutely Nothing to Say about Jews?

By Tibbi Singer

We're a seriously self-obsessed nation, goes without saying. And if we spot you even mumbling something under your mustache or into your beer – we just know it was about us and how we control things, and grab your money and all that. But what if you say nothing about us – and you're Gore Vidal? Tricky, right? We'll answer that and 9 more mysteries after you click.

Israel

Jerusalem Firebomber Nabbed, Jewish Mount of Olives Residents Relieved

By Malkah Fleisher

Jerusalem’s Jewish neighborhood of Maale HaZeitim is resting easier, following the apprehension and arrest of a serial firebomb attacker.

Analysis

Who Created the State of Israel?

By Vic Rosenthal

Contrary to the statement in the NY Times obituary for Benzion Netanyahu that "ultimately, Israel was created as a result of the partition the revisionists opposed," Zionist Jews in the Land of Israel created the state, and not any UN resolution.

Analysis

Where Persecuted Jews May Go: In Memoriam, Benzion Netanyahu (1910-2012)

By Michael Curtis

Whatever the different formulations of Zionism, all proponents share the view that the area is the birthplace and the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people, linked by historical ties and by religious and cultural traditions.

US / Politics

AJC Survey Shows Jewish Support for Obama Dropping, But Few Favor Romney

By Jewish Press Staff

A new AJC survey of American Jews shows President Obama would win a majority of the Jewish vote in a contest against Gov. Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee. Obama would gain 61 percent and Romney 28 percent, with 11 percent undecided.

Israel / Eye on "Palestine" / News Briefs

Arab Youth Harasses Jewish Girl; Police Arrest Girl's Father

By Jewish Press Staff Reporter

After a teenage boy on Monday afternoon had been harassing a Jewish girl in a playground at Jerusalem's French Hill neighborhood, the girl escaped from the playground and called her father, who called the police. But the arriving cops ended up arresting the girl's father on suspicion of attacking the Arab boy.

Analysis / America's Rabbi / Shmuley Boteach

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach: A Warrior-Scholar Falls in Israel - The Death of Benzion Netanyahu

By Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

In the time that I spent with Professor Benzion Netanyahu, I discerned a Jewish nationalist of phenomenal determination. Zionism was in his DNA and I have rarely met a more passionate Jewish patriot or a prouder Jew. He had a sweeping view of history and could clearly argue the precarious state of the Jewish people throughout time.

News Briefs

Google Sued for Peppering Search Engine with 'Jew's

By Jewish Press News Desk

Several French anti-racist organizations are suing Google for allegedly pushing "unsolicited and systematic associations between famous people and their Jewishness" – real or presumed – through the indispensable feature, the auto-complete function Since 2008, the Google search engine has been anticipating what users are about to type next in the search box, offering its "Suggest" […]

Judaism 101

Daily Midot Program

By Rabbi Tzvi Miller

Our Mission: When it comes to Chesed the Jewish people are at the front of the line. We’ve tackled Chesed and everyone is aware of the unbelievable work and generosity that we are involved in. Now it’s time to take on a new, more difficult challenge: Middot (character trait).

Uncategorized

Former Mossad Chief to Speak to Winnipeg's Jewish Community

By Helena Kaufman

Efraim Halevy will speak at the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue on Thursday, May 3, 2012 at 8:00 p.m, as part of the annual Kanee Distinguished Speaker Series lecture. His topic, “Impossible Missions: Israel’s greatest threats inside and out” candidly outlines the country’s modern-day challenges.

jBlogs

JBlogs: Shalom Aleikhem Is Not What You Thought It Was

By Tibbi Singer

Our daily roundup of the Jblogosphere goes to Hirhurim, The Jew and the Carrot, Failed Messiah, and Cross Currents. We'll be here every weekday with whatever caught our attention out there. Your comments are welcome, and if you're a habitual Jblogger and just uploaded your heart online, please let us know so we'll come visit.

News Briefs / United Nations (UN)

Belgian Jews at Loggerheads Over Israel

By Malkah Fleisher

Belgian Jews are at loggerheads as a result of an EU vote to dispatch the UN to Israel on a mission to scrutinize Jewish towns and communities in Judea and Samaria.

Israel

Benzion Netanyahu, Father of Prime Minister Benjamin, Dies at 102

By Malkah Fleisher

Benzion Netanyahu, father of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Entebbe hero Yoni Netanyahu, died Monday at his Jerusalem home at the age of 102.

Emes Ve-Emunah

Conversions – The Supreme Court Decides?

By Harry Maryles

Emes v'Emuna Blog: One of the sadder chapters to be written about the State of Israel will be what is happening with regard to conversions.

Teens and Twenties

Victim Or Survivor?

By Jewish Press Staff

Everyone, at least one time in his or her life, gets knocked down, and most of us have trouble getting back up. Let’s face it – we all get depressed at times. Sometimes we get stuck in a funk and we don’t know how to get out of it, especially if we’re constantly being knocked down. Eventually, we don’t even want to get up anymore. Why should we get back up, just to get knocked down again?

Israel

Poll: 93% of Israeli Jews Proud to be Israeli, 81% Feel Affinity with Diaspora Jewry

By Jewish Press Staff Writer

Israel Hayom poll: 70% of respondents described themselves as "very proud" to be Israeli...65% view themselves as Jews first, and then Israelis..."Those groups most satisfied with life in Israel are people over the age of 55, religious people, and residents of Jerusalem."

US / United Nations (UN)

Lieberman Severs Ties with UN Human Rights Council, Blocks Entry of Investigating Team

By Jacob Edelist

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has announced that Israel had severed all working relations with the UN Human Rights Council as of Monday this week, and will block a U.N. fact finding team from entering Israel or Judea and Samaria to investigate Jewish settlements. Spokesman Yigal Palmor said this "means that we're not going to work with them. We're not going to let them carry out any kind of mission, including this probe."

Analysis

Happy Re-Birth Day Israel!

By Mike Cohen

We Jews are an extremely tight knit family. Families fight and argue, yell and scream, rant and rave – especially when things are stable. But push a family into the corner, or provide it with reason for celebration – and, usually, family members they will come together in profound and extreme ways.

Analysis

A Zionist action: Approving Three Jewish Communities in Israel's Heartland

By David Ha'ivri

The government's decision this week to grant zoning permits to Rechelim Beruchin is nothing more then repairing a wrong. After seven years in limbo, once again the residents of these communities can fulfill their dreams and the corporate dream of their nation – they can finally build their homes in Eretz Yisrael.

Parsha / Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

The Evils Of Evil Speech

By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l

It was the Septuagint, the early Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, that translated tzara’at, the condition whose identification and cleansing occupies much of Parshiyot Tazria and Metzora as lepra, giving rise to a long tradition identifying it with leprosy.

Halacha & Hashkafa

A Silver Atarah On A Talit

By Rabbi J. Simcha Cohen

Question: I have heard that some halachic authorities disapprove of placing a silver atarah on a talit. Is this true?

Analysis

Before The Deluge: The Jews Of India

By Ezra James Nollet

The comparatively small Jewish population of India – after the census of 1921 there were hardly 20,000 out of a general population of 352 million – fell into four groups: the Cochin Jews of the Malabar Coast, the Bene Israel, the fore-Asian Jews, mostly of Sephardic ancestry, and immigrants from various regions of Europe.

Rebbetzin's Viewpoint

I Will Keep Dancing…

By Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis

I’m learning to walk again. Every step is painful. I go with a walker. There is a security belt wrapped around my waist which the physical therapist watches carefully so that in case I stumble she will be able to catch me. As I make my way, the nurses and other health care personnel smile and congratulate me: “You’re doing wonderful! You’re doing great!”

Israel / Global

Peres' Independence Day Greeting to Diaspora Jewry: 'The Reality We Have Built is Much More Than the Vision We Once Dreamed'

By Jewish Press Staff Writer

President Shimon Peres: "Our mutual unwavering commitment to each other is crucial. The young generation's commitment to our state is essential as our shared tomorrow will be defined by innovation. As partners of our nation, your ability to secure a future defined by scientific development and discoveries is vital to our shared mission."

Israel / Jewish

Holy Mission Carried Out in Hermon Closed Military Zone

By Malkah Fleisher

Seven men – including 4 rabbis - happened upon by an Israeli paratrooper in a closed military zone on the Hermon mountains on Monday, were on a mission of their own – to safeguard the sanctity of the Jews of the city of Metulla.

News Briefs

DC Hebrew-Language Charter School Approved, Arabic School Rejected

By JTA

A Hebrew-language charter school was approved in Washington, DC, and is scheduled to open for the 2013-14 term. An Arabic-language charter school also under review was not approved by the charter school board. The Sela school, originally named the Washington DC Hebrew Language Public Charter School, was one of four new charter schools approved Monday […]

Analysis

Old School Zionism in a Modern Form: The New Israeli Guardians

By TPS / Tazpit News Agency

Seeing the dire necessity on the ground, a few young men have gotten together and established "Ha'Shomer Ha'Chadash," -"The New Guardian" - with the same objectives as the original. Maintaining a continuous physical presence, 700 volunteers at 21 locations help farmers secure their lands and property. Areas patrolled by the volunteers have experienced a significant drop in violent actions against farmers.

News Briefs / Iran

Jewish Leader Chastises Swiss Policy on Iran

By Malkah Fleisher

The general secretary of Switzerland’s Jewish community has reprimanded the Swiss government for failing to enact sanctions against Iran, despite full implementation by the EU and US.

Analysis

Vandals Spit on Jewish Sovereignty

By Vic Rosenthal

I would like to see the vandals who desecrated Ammunition Hill and thereby spat on Jewish sovereignty banished to a place where it doesn’t exist. They have made their statement, let them live by it.

US / News Briefs

NJ Court: Non-Jew Can Sue for Anti-Semitic Remarks

By Malkah Fleisher

A New Jersey appeals court has ruled that a man who alleges he endured anti-Semitic slurs from his former supervisors can sue them – even though he is not Jewish.

Analysis

Jerusalem's Light Rail train is Not Segregated

By David Ha'ivri

The track passes though and stops in both Jewish and Arab neighborhoods. I have taken the train and noticed that both Jews and Arabs are regular commuters. All of the train’s signs, tickets, ticket machines, and public announcements are made very clearly in both Hebrew and Arabic. Signs of station names are posted in both Hebrew and Arabic.

Jewish / News Briefs

Lithuania Passes $50 Million Holocaust Compensation Package

By Malkah Fleisher

This April, 70 years since the Nazi invasion on Lithuania destroyed the 800-year connection of the country with the Jewish people, a $50 million package was passed to compensate Jewish families whose property was stolen during the Holocaust, according to a report by JTA.

Israel

Thousands of Israeli Students Mark Memorial Day at Yad Vashem

By TPS / Tazpit News Agency

Thousands of high school students from across Israel participated in a national walk on Sunday, April 22, from Yad Vashem on the “Connecting Path” to Mount Herzl, Israel’s national cemetery. Organized by Israel’s Ministry of Education, the walk took the students to different stations commemorating Israel's Holocaust day and its connection to its Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terror, which falls on Wednesday.

News Briefs

Hebron Residents May Appeal Eviction Ruling

By Jewish Press News Desk

According to Walla News, Hebron's Jewish community Sunday morning said they will consider an appear of the ruling by the Jerusalem District Court which ordered the evacuation of Jewish residents from a three-story building in Hebron. The court determined that the acquisition of the house was a forgery. Walla cites Hebron residents who ardued that […]

InDepth / The Yishai Fleisher Show on JewishPress.com

Radio: Fleisher v. Beinart - Different Visions of Israel

By Moshe Herman

Yishai Fleisher comments on a recent interview from the Charlie Rose television show featuring Peter Beinart, a well-known author, political pundit, and associate professor.  Rose and Beinart discuss the current state of the “two-state solution” concept and factors, such as continued Jewish settlement, that affect potential implementation.  Beinart presents his opinions on Middle East topics such […]

Potpourri

Sisters Of The Phoenix

By Rosally Saltsman

Less than two weeks before Pesach and days after the Toulouse tragedy, where a woman lost her husband and two sons in a terrorist attack, my son and I were discussing another horrible tragedy that had befallen a family in Rehovot, a young woman who had lost her husband and five young children in a fire.

The Muqata

The Rabbi Who Made Beit She'an Part of Israel

By Jameel@Muqata

The borders of Israel are today under dispute, but that was also true 700 years ago. When Estori Ha-Parchi (Ishtori Haparchi), a Spanish-French scholar, came to Israel around 1313, he was shocked to discover that some Jews did not consider places like Ramla and Beit She’an to be in Israel. Ramla was called 'Gat' by […]

Religious & Secular in Israel

Conservatives to Ordain Gay and Lesbian Rabbis in Israel

By Jewish Press Staff Writer

The Board of Trustees of the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary voted to accept gay and lesbian students for ordination. “The Schechter Rabbinical Seminary views the serious process leading to this decision as an example of confronting social dilemmas within the framework of tradition and halachah,” Board of Trustees Chair Hanan Alexander said in a statement.

Global

Vienna Drops Anti-Semitic Mayor's Name from Major Avenue

By Tibbi Singer

The City of Vienna will rename a section of the fashionable Ring Avenue named after Dr. Karl Lueger, Vienna's mayor from 1897 to 1910. Lueger was a renowned anti-Semite. One resident of Vienna, a failed postcard artist named Adolf Hitler, said he was inspired by Lueger's public Jew hatred.

Book Reviews

The Kosher Grapevine: Exploring the World of Wine

By Yocheved Golani

Author Irving Langer provides his own look at wine-making as well as the nature of the storage barrels used to age wines for taste perfection. He intersperses the book with Jewish historical facts and figures, a few jokes and photographs, and advice on how to pair wines with specific foods.

Israel

Israel Remembers the Holocaust

By Malkah Fleisher

As air raid sirens blared out across the country on Thursday, citizens of Israel stopped for a moment of silence to remember the victims of the Holocaust. Memorial ceremonies are taking place throughout the country. Prime Minister Netanyahu: Never Again means stopping Iran.

Chronicles of Crises

Chronicles Of Crises In Our Communities

By dvora

Reflection, Rebuke and Reverberations…An open letter to Deborah Feldman

News Briefs

Netanyahu, Peres, Cite Iran Nuclear Threat at Yad VaShem Yom HaShoah Event

By Jewish Press Staff Writer

Both Israel's premier and its president invoked the Iranian threat at the Yom Hashoah ceremony at Yad VaShem. Netanyahu said: "People who dismiss the Iranian threat as a whim or an exaggeration have learned nothing from the Holocaust." Peres said, "Today humanity has no choice, we must learn from the lessons of the Holocaust and stand strong against existential threats before it is too late."

Halacha & Hashkafa

Birthday Parties (Part II) (Keritut 2a, Shabbat 25a, Yevamot 2a and Pesachim 32b)

By Raphael Grunfeld

In addition to karet, there is another type of premature death at the hand of God known as “mita bedei shamayim.”

Parsha / Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

From Structure To Continuity To Spontaneity

By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l

Why was spontaneity wrong for Nadav and Avihu, yet right for Moshe Rabbeinu? The answer is that Nadav and Avihu were kohanim, priests. Moses was a navi, a prophet. These are two different forms of religious leadership. They involve different tasks and different sensibilities, indeed different approaches to time itself.

Halacha & Hashkafa

Praying For The Sick

By Rabbi J. Simcha Cohen

Question: During Kriat HaTorah, many congregations recite a general prayer for ill people. What is the source of this custom? Also, in many congregations, instead of the gabbai announcing each name, all of the shul’s members are asked to silently say the name of the ill person to themselves while the gabbai remains quiet for several moments. Is this proper?

Chodesh Tov/Rabbi Hanoch Teller

Reb Elimelech M’Lizhensk (Part VII)

By Rabbi Hanoch Teller

In 1648 and 1649 Bogdan Chmelnitzky and his hordes of Cossack warriors perpetrated an annihilation campaign against the Jews of Poland and the Ukraine. Almost 100,000 Jews and 300 communities perished at the hands of these murderous mobs. All of the Jews, including infants, were targeted for murder; the general populaces nearly always joined in the attacks, and the torture and degradation of Jews was an integral aspect of the murderer’s procedures.

Fundamentally Freund/Michael Freund

Yamit: The Original Sin Of Expulsion

By Michael Freund

It was thirty years ago, in April 1982, that uniformed soldiers pledged to defend Israel and its citizens were given the order to uproot and destroy the Jewish community of Yamit in northern Sinai. And while it may have brought us three decades of a cold peace with Egypt, conceding the Sinai will likely prove to have been a colossal mistake.

Lessons In Emunah

The Yellow Star

By Rabbi Zalman Eisenstock

A little more than six months ago, my sister-in-law passed away after battling a serious illness. For more than 30 years she had given symposiums on the Holocaust to youngsters in the Philadelphia area, and we talked about her activities many times on our visits to the U.S. After her passing I was determined to do some kind of volunteer work for Yad Vashem in her memory.

Editorial

The Hebron Expulsion

By Editorial Board

The highly publicized IDF expulsion from Hebron’s Beit Hamachpela of Jews who purchased and were residing in it was an extraordinary event. And it does not bode well for what we can expect from the Israeli government regarding historical Jewish sites.

Front Page

How The Academic Left Came To Hate Israel

By Richard L. Cravatts

On campuses today Israel is regularly, though falsely, condemned for being created “illegally” – through the “theft” of Palestinian lands and property – and thus has no “right to exist.”

Book Reviews

Beyond Politics: Inspirational People of Israel

By Yocheved Golani

Unlike formulaic biographies from popular publishing houses in the Orthodox Jewish world, Beyond Politics is not predictable. The vignettes of individual men and women who trekked through Ethiopia and Sudan, flew in from Austria, India, and Algeria, or were born on Israeli soil are gritty, adventurous, and heartwarming.

Global

Tunisia to Jews: Keep Coming to Djerba for Lag B'Omer

By Malkah Fleisher

The annual Jewish Lag B’Omer pilgrimage to the oldest synagogue in Africa should be maintained as a symbol of Tunisian openness, according to Tunisia’s tourism minister on Tuesday, yet the increase in fundamentalist Salafi Islamic political rule threatens to drive out the remaining Jews of Djerba.

News Briefs

Jewish Family Gets Stolen Baroque Painting Back

By Tibbi Singer

A more than 400-year-old Italian Baroque painting that was robbed from a Jewish family during World War 2 is about to be returned to its rightful owners. A federal judge ordered last February that the painting, "Jesus Carrying the Cross Dragged by a Rogue," by Girolamo Romano, be returned to the family of Federico Gentili di Giuseppe.

News Briefs

Anti-Semitic Attack on Sheepshead Bay Jewish Center

By Malkah Fleisher

What appears to be the latest in a series of anti-Semitic defacements of the Avenue Z Jewish Center in southern Brooklyn has left the Jewish community wondering when the attacks will come to an end.

Analysis

Zero Tolerance for ISM ‘Activists’

By Vic Rosenthal

These people are in effect combatants in the Arab war against Israel, albeit without guns. They do their best to disrupt operations and protect terrorist fighters, who do have guns and explosives.

Analysis

U.S. Sends Anti-Israel Advisor to Anti-Semitic Sweden

By Soeren Kern

Hannah Rosenthal, President Obama's Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, and Malmö mayor Ilmar Reepalu share similar perspectives on the root cause of anti-Jewish hate crime in Europe - namely, Jewish support for Israel. Thus, over the course of Rosenthal's visit, they can be expected to downplay the severity of anti-Semitism in Sweden and focus their attention on Islamophobia instead.

Potpourri / Judaism 101

The Ultimate Title Match

By Rabbi Michoel Gros

Pesach is the time of redemption and salvation, which can often come from the most unexpected sources. Such is the story of a boxing title fight in Yankee Stadium that launched a young boy from Russia on a journey to discover his Jewish heritage in Israel.

News Briefs

Hebron Jews Appeal on Behalf of Arab Seller of Machpela House, Sentenced to Death by the PA

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 […]

Serials

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