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Jewish

Tales of the Gaonim

Stories For Pesach

By Rabbi Sholom Klass

Shares In The Embarrassment          Among the famous practitioners of our forefather Abraham’s virtue, hospitality, was Rav Akiva Eger. Naturally, on Pesach, it was “Let all who are hungry come and eat...’’ Once, at the Seder, a guest accidentally overturned his cup. As the red wine stained the fine white tablecloth and the guest’s face […]

Teens and Twenties

God is Always There

By Jewish Press Staff

God is always there, waiting for you to stretch out your little pinky so that He can tug on it and engulf you in a never-ending warm hug.

For the Home

Bringing Home Baby

By Pnina Baim

Ahh, that wonderful time when you return home from the hospital with a brand new bundle of joy nestled in your arms. Without getting into the pros or cons of sending yourself or your other children away, or the benefits and possibilities of family or paid help, eventually everyone will go home and you’ll be all by your lonesome, raising the family. So how to make this momentous occasion truly memorable, instead of weeks of what could be construed by some as torture?

Impact Of Women On Jewish History/Prof. L. Jackson

The Heroines Of The Pesach Story

By Prof. Livia Bitton-Jackson

It’s fascinating to realize that the People of Israel growing into a mighty nation in Egypt was a reward for the heroism of the Hebrew midwives.

Halacha & Hashkafa

Birthday Parties (Keritut 2a; Shabbat 25a; Moed Katan 28a; Ta’anit 5b)

By Raphael Grunfeld

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.

Halacha & Hashkafa

Coming To Shul To Think

By Rabbi J. Simcha Cohen

Question: If a person has a number of personal concerns that need to be thought out and analyzed, can he go to shul to do this?

Op-Eds

Kerovim Or Rechokim: Where Should Our Kiruv Priorities Lie?

By Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer

As rav of the Brooklyn Jewish Experience, a local kiruv organization devoted to reaching out to Brooklyn’s almost 70 percent non-observant Jewish population, I also teach and counsel young adults (18-33 years old) from the frum community. These students are often indistinguishable from their frum peers. Outwardly they may appear frum, but inwardly they’re disenchanted, jaded, and alienated. Their exterior appearance is largely a façade and their feeling of disenfranchisement from frumkeit is frighteningly real. There are others that are part of our program who, tragically, already took the next step and are no longer observant.

US / News Briefs / Media

This Just In: Warner's 'Maccabees' Suspended, Mel Gibson Stil Hates Jews

By Tibbi Singer

In an explosive letter, Hollywood screenwriter Joe Eszterhas ("Basic Instinct," "Jagged Edge") writes Mel Gibson, Joe is accusing Mel of “hating Jews” and of using him to deflect his anti-Semitic reputation. Eszterhas wrote that Gibson, the director of a sadomasochistic flick about how the Jews killed you-know-who, never actually intended to make the movie about Jewish heroism, titled “The Maccabees.”

InDepth / Holidays / The Yishai Fleisher Show on JewishPress.com

Jewish Press Radio: Journey Into Passover

By Moshe Herman

Special Pesach edition kicks off with Yishai and Malkah sharing the story of their own inspiring journey into Pesach 5772. Then Yishai is joined by Shmuel Sackett, the International Director of Manhigut Yehudit, who tells the moving story of his personal discussions with Jonathan Pollard during visits to see him in prison. The third segment of this week’s show features the true meaning of Pesach, presented by David Sacks, a television writer and producer for The Simpsons, 3rd Rock From the Sun, and more. Finally, Yehuda HaKohen talks about how love breeds courage and destroys fear, and gives an example with a masterful presentation of the history of the Lehi movement.

Global / News Briefs

When in Trouble, Marine Le Pen Attacks Jewish Bankers

By Tibbi Singer

French National Front leader Marine Le Pen has been slipping in the polls ahead of the April 22 first-round vote, placing fourth President Nicolas Sarkozy and two other candidates. And so, to boost her ratings, she's been doing whatever she can, including pick the very Jewish sounding Goldman Sachs, as her target.

News Briefs

Civil Administration Issues Construction Permits to Palestinians, While Throwing Jewish Residents to the Street

By Jewish Press News Desk

While forcibly removing Jewish residents from their legally purchased home in Hebron, the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria has just issued construction permits for two United Nation's Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA)-run Palestinian schools to be constructed in the region. One of the schools is an all-male facility and the other all-female, in the […]

Teens and Twenties

To Be Jewish

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.

Features On The Jewish World / Lessons In Emunah

These I Shall Remember

By Rayzel Reich

It was Moishele, and Itche, and me. We did everything together. We even made our own language, which only we understood. In shul they jokingly called us “the troika,” after the three bishops whose authority extended across Poland.

InDepth / Holidays

The Battle for Eretz Yisrael, Then and Now

By Rabbi Nachman Kahana

At this time of the year, "Jewish eyes are smiling" as we look back to our Egyptian experience of 3300 years ago and the great salvation that HaShem had brought forth for us. But on this 10th of Nisan, corresponding to the general calendar of April 2, the eyes of all enlightened nations are on Egypt, but for different reasons. The Moslem Brotherhood political party in Egypt, that now controls the two houses of the Egyptian Parliament, is going to have their man as the next president of that country. This group is among the most radical Islamists in the world, and they have an unabashed, open, straightforward Islamic agenda. Not only will they turn Egyptian society back 300 years, their end game is to uproot the Jewish State.

Halacha & Hashkafa

Chametz Credit Card

By Raphael Grunfeld

It's 1 p.m. on Friday, Erev Pesach. The rabbi had already sold the chametz at 10 a.m. But I forgot to sell mine. Now the synagogue office is closed and I can't get hold of the form the rabbi uses to sell the chametz. The Torah requires me to remove all chametz from my house on Pesach. But I just cannot bring myself to throw out that Glenfiddich. Is there a way the whisky can remain in my house during Pesach, and would I be able to drink it after Pesach?

InDepth / The Yishai Fleisher Show on JewishPress.com

Jewish Press Radio: Migron Resident, "I Had To Teach My Children Not To Hate Our Own Police"

By Moshe Herman

It’s crunch time as Pesach is rapidly approaching. Yishai delves into deep thoughts on the holiday with Rabbi Shimshon Nadel. Then insights into the state of the Jewish world from Chicagoan Jack Berger, a scholar of Jewish history and experienced Israel advocate. Third up, a Migron insider (Aviela Deitch) walks us through the birth of the community up to the present. Don't miss the final segment featuring a powerful presentation from Yehuda HaKohen that will wake up and enliven the inner Jew among the pre-Pesach stress.

News Briefs

On Day of Hebron House Evacuation, Netanyahu Says He Wants to Legalize Some Judea and Samaria Outposts

By JTA

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will submit a plan to legalize several Judea and Samaria outposts and avoid the demolition of another. At Wednesday's Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said he asked Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein to "find a solution" for the Ulpana neighborhood in Beit El "that would obviate the need for demolition." The […]

IDF & Security / News Briefs

IDF to Become 'Kosher for Passover' by Thursday

By Tibbi Singer

As of Thursday, the Military Rabbinate will render all IDF bases kosher for the Jewish holiday of Passover. After weeks of heavy-duty spring cleaning, soldiers across the IDF will be joined in the field by military rabbis who will certify the bases and assist if need be. By the end of the day, with the mission accomplished, the IDF will be declared Kosher for Passover.

Glimpses Into American Jewish History

The Jews Of Washington During The Civil War

By Dr. Yitzchok Levine

Washington, D.C. was created in 1790 as a result of a political compromise. “Washington was a Federal city. It did not have a ‘State’ government. It was under the direct control of Congress for even the simplest of things; schools, streets, courts and land use by private individuals and corporations. Accordingly, Congress dutifully passed on the last day of the first session of the 28th Congress, June 17, 1844, ‘A Bill, concerning conveyances or devices of places of public worship in the District of Columbia.’

Op-Eds

A True Jewish Hero

By Michael Zobin

Stories of the heroes of our Jewish nation are heartwarming, eye opening, encouraging, and sometimes even frightening. When we hear such stories, we salute those people (most of whom we have never met) for their courage and perseverance, but most of all for their commitment to Judaism and the Jewish people.

Op-Eds

Some Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Jewish Major Leaguers

By Peter Ephross

Nearly all fans of baseball history have heard of Hank Greenberg. Most have heard of Al Rosen. But fewer have heard of Cal Abrams, and hardly any, it’s safe to say, have heard of Lou Limmer. All four are members of a compelling team – American Jews who played Major League Baseball.

Interviews and Profiles

The Republican Congressman Who Discovered He’s Jewish: An Interview with Representative Lee Terry

By Sara Lehmann

When Lee Terry began serving as a Republican congressman in 1999, representing Nebraska’s second congressional district, he didn’t realize he would become one of the House of Representatives’ Jewish members. Always a friend of Israel, Terry discovered his Jewish roots some ten years ago and began a personal odyssey to reconnect with his heritage.

Middle East / Levant

Tunisia’s Jews Fear Erosion By Islamists Of Country’s Moderate Tradition

By Armin Rosen

TUNIS – More than a year after Tunisia became the first Arab country to overthrow its dictator through a popular, nonviolent uprising, two political movements are challenging Tunisia’s cosmopolitan political and social attitudes, and are threatening to reverse the country’s longstanding moderation toward Israel and Jews.

Jewish / US / News Briefs

New Survey: Fewer US Jews Support Obama, Fewer Still Like Sarah Silverman

By Tibbi Singer

As of now, 62 percent of Jewish voters favor Obama's return—down from 78 percent in 2008—but this number is still more than twice the number who said they would prefer a Republican candidate, according to the survey released Tuesday at a National Press Club briefing. Only 37 percent said Comic Sarah Silverman represented Jewish values well or very well. Eric Cantor only got 38 percent.

Israel / News Briefs

Ya'alon Wants Barak Removed from Decision Making on Hebron House, Jewish Communities

By Jacob Edelist

Deputy Prime Minister Ya'acov Ya'alon accused Defense Minister Ehud Barak of "starting up fires," after Netanyahu and his cabinet had decided that the newly settled Machpela House, at the Cave of the Patriarchs, would be evacuated only if it is proven that it had been purchased illegally. According to Ya'alon, Barak is purposefully "sticking up the process, not only in Hebron, but all across the Jewish communities."

NY / News Briefs

Met Council and NYC Food Bank Launch Virtual Food Drive for Passover

By Jacob Edelist

This Passover season, more than 100,000 Jewish families in NYC will find themselves struggling to put food on the table, according to the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty. Many households have lived through job loss, dwindling savings and maxed-out credit cards. Met Council and the Food Bank For New York City, two of New York […]

Analysis

Jihad in France Just Beginning

By Guy Millière

Once it emerged that the killer of seven people was a Muslim, French commentators ceased to speak of anti-Semitism. Anti-racist associations became silent. All attention focused on the killer, Mohamed Merah. He was presented as a "nice young man" by his neighbors, then as a "petty criminal" who inexplicably drifted, and finally as a "lone wolf" without any significant connection to terrorist organizations.

Israel

Recently Settled Hebron House Receives Eviction Order from IDF

By Solomon Burke

UPDATE: Hebron house resident to Jewish Press: "Baruch Hashem, we will live in this house for a long time to come." Eviction order states that the families must evacuate the premises by 3:00 PM on Tuesday, on the grounds that their presence disrupts public order.

Holidays / Analysis

The Audacity of Redemption

By Rabbi Shimshon HaKohen Nadel

It has been said ‘It is easier to take the Jew out of the Exile, than to take the Exile out of the Jew’. While in Egypt, the Jewish people could not even hear Hashem’s promise of Redemption because of their “shortness of spirit.” Their bondage wasn’t merely a physical bondage, but a mental one. And so, while still in Egypt, Hashem began the process of taking the Jew out of the psychology of Exile, ridding him of his slave mentality.

Recipes

Great Pesach Ideas

By dvora

Lots of people think that if you can’t use rice like the Sephardim do on Pesach, nor matza meal like many Ashkenazim do on Pesach, then there’s “nothing left to eat!” This article is being written to dispel all these gloomy forecasts. Baruch Hashem, there is so much you can do if you just turn your creative juices up. Clip this out and save it – it’s also great for those who need to eat gluten-free. Let’s focus now on some delicious dishes that present really beautifully, and then on some easy and refreshing desserts.

Features On The Jewish World

A Morah’s View from Out-of-town

By Penina Scheiner

When you‘re here, over the rainbow, it is different. Being out-of-town is not about living in some neighborhood of Brooklyn (other than Boro Park, Williamsburg, or Flatbush). Living out-of-town also does not mean living in other parts of the Big Apple, like Manhattan or Queens. It doesn’t even mean living in the suburbs – like the Five Towns or Great Neck. Being here, over the rainbow, means living away.

Book Reviews / Arts

Bird’s Head Haggadah Revealed - The Medieval Haggadah: Art, Narrative & Religious Imagination

By Richard McBee

Bird’s Head Haggadah Revealed The Medieval Haggadah: Art, Narrative & Religious Imagination By Marc Michael Epstein, Yale University Press, New Haven and London 2011

Impact Of Women On Jewish History/Prof. L. Jackson

The Fast of Esther: International Agunah Day

By Prof. Livia Bitton-Jackson

This year International Agunah Day was observed on March 7th, the Jewish calendar date of Taanit Esther, the Fast of Esther. The date was determined by ICAR - The International Coalition for Agunah Rights. ICAR is a coalition of 27 organizations working together to abolish defiance in granting a “get” (Jewish divorce) and extortion in the divorce process within the framework of Jewish Law.

On Our Own/Cheryl Kupfer

Israel's Children Of Valor

By Cheryl Kupfer

Every Friday night at the Shabbat table, Jewish men display their hakarat hatov for their particular "woman of valor", by singing an ode to her that describes in great detail her many meritorious attributes and activities.

Book Reviews

Title: When General Grant Expelled the Jews

By Harold Holzer

Title: When General Grant Expelled the Jews Author: Jonathan Sarna Publisher: Schocken

Book Reviews

Title: The Koren Ethiopian Haggada Journey to Freedom: Celebrating Ethiopian Jewish History, Traditions & Customs

By Yocheved Golani

Title: The Koren Ethiopian Haggada Journey to Freedom: Celebrating Ethiopian Jewish History, Traditions & Customs Editor: Rabbi Menachem Waldman Publisher: Koren Publishing

Halacha & Hashkafa

Eating Matzah Before Pesach

By Rabbi J. Simcha Cohen

Question: What is the basis of the custom to refrain from eating matzah for a period of time before Pesach?

Analysis

Before The Deluge: The Jews Of Libya

By Ezra James Nollet

Libya lies in North Africa between Egypt and Tunisia and consists of Cyrenica and Tripoli. Even in the 3rd century before the Common Era, Cyrenica was a destination for Jewish emigration. Over the next century the Jewish population grew in numbers but was strongly Hellenized.

Keeping Jerusalem

Marching On Jerusalem

By Hillel Fendel and Chaim Silberstein / KeepJerusalem.org

A million Arabs plan to march on Jerusalem highlighting strange "accusations" that Israel is seeking to retain the Jewish character of its holy capital.

Moshe Feiglin

The Lack Of Vision From Zion

By Moshe Feiglin

Nothing is new. The recent murder of the Jews in France should surprise no one. It exposes a dismal reality that is taking shape in Europe and throughout the world.

Analysis

Hebron: Facts on the Ground

By TPS / Tazpit News Agency

When Sigmar Gabriel wrote on his Facebook page that Hebron was “an apartheid regime for which there is no justification,” the chairman of Germany’s main opposition party sparked an outcry that reverberated beyond his virtual wall. But such a conclusion is inevitable when one relies on sources and organizations that present Hebron in an extremely skewed light, like the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH).

Parsha / Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

Tackling Tomorrow’s Problems

By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l

In her book The Watchman’s Rattle, subtitled Thinking Our Way Out of Extinction, Rebecca Costa delivers a fascinating account of how civilizations die. Their problems become too complex. Societies reach what she calls a cognitive threshold. They simply can’t chart a path from the present to the future.

Editorial

Stony Brook And Religious Holidays

By Editorial Board

We share the dismay many have expressed over the recently announced decision by the State University of New York to abandon a longtime practice and no longer refrain from scheduling classes on major Christian and Jewish holidays. Nothing in the nature of new facts on the ground has been offered by the university to explain the controversial move, though concerns for Muslim sensitivities were apparently behind it.

Monitor

An Anti-McCarthyite’s McCarthyism

By Jason Maoz

Lawrence Hoffman is a politically liberal Reform rabbi who writes about his favorite Jewish books in his own recently released book, titled, not altogether unexpectedly, One Hundred Great Jewish Books.

Family / America's Rabbi / Shmuley Boteach

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach: Make Men More Mature Rather than Send Girls Under the Knife

By Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Is this what three thousand and three hundred years of Jewish tradition has come to, that a nation that has always dared to walk alone, with different ideals and values from the wider culture, should so fully capitulate to the most corrupt, misogynistic values, that we would advocate that our young women have plastic surgery in order to get married?

Holidays

The Art of Ignoring - So Safe, So Repulsive, So Dangerous

By Rabbi Yehoshua Grunstein

As one that has trained and followed rabbis throughout their careers, I can generally say that rabbis gain detractors not so much because of their sermons, vision, lectures or the like, but rather when they fail to return phone calls, when they avoid bikur cholim, and when they fail to respond to emails. One can deal with refusal, disagreements, debates and the answer 'no', but how should one deal with being totally and utterly ignored?!

News Briefs

Brandeis Students Disrupt Meeting with Israeli Lawmakers

By JTA

Brandeis University students disrupted a panel discussion at a Boston-area synagogue featuring Israeli lawmakers and Jewish community leaders. The students, members of the Brandeis Students for Justice in Palestine group, removed their shirts Monday night in Temple Emanuel in Newton, Mass., to uncover T-shirts that read "apartheid" in Hebrew. They also chanted "Free, free Palestine" […]

Analysis

Europe's Islamic Future Has Arrived

By Soeren Kern

In country after European country, the post-modern charade of the bliss of multiculturalism -- the idea that all cultures can coexist peacefully side-by-side in any given country -- is unravelling.

Analysis

The Truth About Migron, The Truth About the Palestinians

By Vic Rosenthal

The actual question has almost nothing to do with the Palestinian Arabs and whether they have a state. It has to do with whether the Jews can continue to have one. There is a huge amount of human energy and financial resources that are being wasted in support of the Palestinians. It wouldn’t be necessary if the world could simply get used to the idea of a Jewish state.

Analysis

Migron Saga Goes On - For the Good

By David Ha'ivri

Recently, the court refused to accept the deal and annulled the Benny Begin agreement. In my opinion, this is a blessing that will lead to a better outcome for this community and for the future of other such communities in Judea and Samaria. Historically, the settlement movement in Judea and Samaria has always come out stronger when obstacles are put in its way.

Analysis

Why I Support Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria

By Vic Rosenthal

I am not particularly interested in writing another post excoriating the UNHRC or the UN itself, which is a vile institution, far less than worthless. Rather, I want to summarize some important issues about ‘West Bank settlements’ — that is, Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria — and why I support them.

Analysis

Rubin Reports: France - Here Comes the Whitewash

By Barry Rubin

In the past, the mass media could be expected to present a debate on how to interpret this event but now all too often they give a monopoly to the whitewashers and the apologists.

News Briefs

Jewish Press Special: Live Coverage of The 3rd Annual International Temple Mount Awareness Day, Sunday, March 25th

By Jewish Press Staff

The Jewish Press will offer live coverage of the six-hour event hosted by the International Department of the Temple Institute, its Third Annual International Temple Mount Awareness Day, on Sunday, March 25th.

The Yishai Fleisher Show on JewishPress.com

Jewish Press Radio: Tragedy in France, History of Gaza, Florida Victory

By Moshe Herman

Yishai's shares his recent experiences on IDF reserve duty, the tragic murders in France and how we can fight evil. Malkah starts anticipating Pesach, Yehuda HaKohen delves into the history of Gaza. Yishai interviews ZOA Florida Director, Joe Sabag on recent legislative victories. Finally traditional Jewish values meet high tech to provide First Aid in under two minutes.

Halacha & Hashkafa

Calculating The Day

By Rabbi J. Simcha Cohen

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?

Fundamentally Freund/Michael Freund

Does Hasbara Matter?

By Michael Freund

As the U.S. election season enters into high gear, an important Gallup poll released earlier this month offers Israel and its supporters much reason to cheer.

Electronics Today

If I Only Had One Jewish App On My iPhone

By Yoni Glatt

This past week I saw a video preview of an upcoming iPod app that excited and inspired me to the point of near tears. It was for RustyBrick’s jaw-dropping ArtScroll Schottenstein Talmud app. Unfortunately that app won’t be out for another few months (but take the time to check out the preview at www.rustybrick.com), yet I realized after months of writing this column that I had yet to give the due attention to RustyBrick’s Siddur app.

Halacha & Hashkafa

Who’s Watching Anyway? (Me’ilah 2b, 9a)

By Raphael Grunfeld

If you pay only $5 or if you creep back, retrieve your $10 bill and make off with the money and the flowers. Doing that would be a breach of trust.

Parsha / Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

Making Sense Of The Sin Offering

By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l

We think of a sin as something we did intentionally, yielding to temptation perhaps, or in a moment of rebellion. That is what Jewish law calls b’zadon in biblical Hebrew or b’mezid in rabbinic Hebrew. That is the kind of act we would have thought calls for a sin offering. But actually such an act cannot be atoned for by an offering at all. So how do we make sense of the sin offering?

Holidays

Rabbi Shimshon Nadel: My Essential Haggadot

By Rabbi Shimshon HaKohen Nadel

With thousands of Haggadot in print, it can be overwhelming to decide what to buy and what to use at the Seder. Just like kashering the home for Pesach requires preparation, so too the material for the Seder. And according to the investment is the return. Below are twenty of my favorite Haggadot.

Analysis

Alan Dershowitz: The Case Against the Left and Right One-State Solution

By Alan M. Dershowitz

The one-state solution that the extreme left and extreme right seek is completely different: the left wants yet another Arab state in place of Israel; the right wants a Jewish state that encompasses what is now the West Bank, in place of any Palestinian state. Both are prescriptions for undemocratic disasters and for the ultimate delegitimation of Israel as the democratic nation-state of the Jewish people.

Rubin Reports

Rubin Reports: The True Perpetrators of the Antisemitic Attacks in Toulouse and Throughout the World

By Barry Rubin

The street thugs, fanatics, and mentally-twisted may be pulling the trigger, but the distinguished, the powerful, and the honored are providing the ammunition.

Israel / NY

Backlash Against Inclusion of BDS in Israel Day Parade

By Malkah Fleisher

A major backlash against a UJA-Federation and Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) decision to permit groups encouraging Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel to march in the upcoming Celebrate Israel Parade in New York City has led to a campaign to oust the groups from the event. “A coalition of community Jewish organizations urgently […]

Rebbetzin's Viewpoint

Hashgachah Pratis – Guidance From Above

By Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis

Most people have difficulty discerning Hashem's call since His messages are usually hidden behind many veils. On occasion however, hashgachah pratis – Divine providence – is so clear and obvious that even a blind man has to see it, a deaf man has to hear it.

Editorial

New Focus On Obama And Israel

By Editorial Board

A new book by foreign policy pundit Peter Beinart, The Crisis of Zionism, seems certain to reignite the debate over President Obama’s feelings toward Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But the focus will be a little different this time around. It will be not on his exposure to the likes of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, William Ayres or Rashid Khalidi but rather on the prominent members of the Chicago Jewish community who took him under their wing.

Op-Eds

We’re Fortunate To Have Ray Kelly As Police Commissioner

By William E. Rapfogel

In July 1993, I joined a group of Jewish leaders on a visit to Israel with then-Mayor David N. Dinkins. One morning as we had breakfast at the King David Hotel terrace overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem, Dinkins confided, “I wish Ray Kelly were in charge before Crown Heights blew up.” By this time, Ray Kelly had become police commissioner and had made a clear impact on the mayor.

Op-Eds

Embracing The Temple Mount

By Rabbi Chaim Richman

The study of Jewish history teaches us that throughout the ages, numerous edicts and decrees have prevented the practice of Jewish traditions and religious observance. Yet it has gone almost completely unnoticed that in recent weeks, Jewish rights and freedoms in the Land of Israel, of all places, have once again come under attack.

Op-Eds

What Does It Mean To Be ‘Pro-Israel’?

By Jonathan S. Tobin

There is no one definition of the term “pro-Israel.” It does not require anyone to be a cheerleader for Netanyahu or any other Israeli leader or party. But there are some things one cannot do and still claim to be within the pro-Israel camp. One of them is to adopt rhetoric that apes the efforts of Israel-haters to delegitimize supporters of Israel and which adopts the classic themes of anti-Semitism.

Front Page

Please – Take Our Jews

By Dr. Ervin Birnbaum

What made the deportation of more than 80,000 Jews from Slovakia during World War II unique? It was this striking fact: In contrast with other countries, the Slovak government actually appealed to the Germans to enact deportation.

Middle East / Levant / Global

Toulouse Slayings Leave French Jews Shaken

By Dana Kennedy

PARIS – When Arie Bensemhoun, a Jewish community leader in Toulouse, woke up Tuesday morning, he thought for a moment the horrific shooting of three children and a rabbi at a local Jewish school might have been a bad dream.

News & Views

Victims of Toulouse School Shooting Buried in Jerusalem

By Jewish Press Staff Writer

Thousands of mourners attended the funeral of four Jews murdered in the shooting attack at a Jewish school in Toulouse, France. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, Interior Minister Eli Yishai, and Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin were among those that arrived at Givat Shaul's Har HaMenuchot cemetery in Jerusalem on Wednesday morning to lay the victims to rest.

News & Views

French Police Deny Reports They Have Arrested Mohammad Merah, Ozar HaTorah Killer

By Jewish Press Staff Writer

French Police and the French Interior Minister have denied that the the 15-hour standoff is over. Instead, they say, hundreds of police have surrounded the building as they prepare to storm the complex in which he lives.

News Briefs

Thousands March in Memory of Toulouse Victims

By JTA

Thousands silently demonstrated Monday evening in Paris to pay tribute to the four victims of a shooting attack at a Jewish school in southwestern France. A man riding a motorbike opened fire Monday morning outside the Ozar Hatorah School in Toulouse, where students were waiting to enter the building at the start of the school […]

Analysis

Dutch Government Opposes Anti-Israeli EU Report

By Peter Martino

The Dutch government is on a collision course with the EU over Israel, and some critics warn that the position of the Dutch will isolate their country in Europe. It is, however, also possible that the Dutch are pioneers, whose example will soon be followed by others.

Israel

Exclusive: Palestinians Attempt to Erase Jewish Roots in Hebron's Old City

By TPS / Tazpit News Agency

This is not the first time Arabs have been engaged in the destruction of archaeological artifacts in Hebron. But recent acts of vandalism have been more methodical, leading to suspicion that they are purposeful and orchestrated by an entity bent on the erasure of archaeological artifacts that testify to the ancient Jewish roots in Hebron.

Analysis

Defending Fences: Israel's Security Barrier Saves Lives

By Jerrold L. Sobel

From time immemorial, security fences have been built around the world - often in disputed territories to disrupt terrorists, drug smugglers, and illegal immigrants from entering. No doubt, these fences often cause difficulties for native populations in the vicinities they are built. Yet it is only Israel's barrier that arouses the conscience of sanctimonious hypocrites around the world.

Jewish

Killer Cam: Toulouse Murderer Likely Filmed Jewish School Shooting

By Malkah Fleisher

Surveillance footage from the security cameras at the Ozar Hatorah Jewish school in Toulouse indicate that a video camera may have been strapped to the chest of the shooter, who calmly killed a rabbi, his two children, and the daughter of the school’s principal on Monday. The murderer then escaped on his scooter. He is still at-large.

Judaism / Book Reviews

Reviewing The Koren Ethiopian Haggada Journey to Freedom

By Yocheved Golani

The Hebrew-English haggada provides a wealth of photographic evidence of the lives led by Ethiopian Jews. The pottery, the unembellished homes, school, and synagogues, the gaunt Jews in modest clothing and head coverings portray dedication to Torah values despite harsh political and topographical conditions.

News Briefs

Jewish Cemetery in Poland Vandalized

By Jewish Press News Desk

The AP reports that last Sunday vandals desecrated a Jewish cemetery in Wysokie Mazowieckie, eastern Poland, spraying swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans on tombstones and memorial plaques. according to the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland, the vandals also wrote "This is Poland, not Israel" on one sign at the Jewish cemetery. Police […]

Jewish / Global / News Briefs / The Knesset

MK Eichler Returning from France: Jews Feel Imprisoned

By Tibbi Singer

Shortly after returning from France, MK Rabbi Israel Eichler (United Torah Judaism) said anxiety surrounds the French Jewish community: "There is a constant tension, the Jewish community is living in a prison-like situation." Eichler said France poses "a great danger to Jews."

News Briefs

Video from Inside Ozar HaTorah

By Malkah Fleisher

A video was posted to Youtube documenting life at the school which was attacked Monday morning. Entitled, Ozar HaTorah: A Passion for Learning, the 15 minute film shows students and faculty interacting at the school, with students attesting to the quality of the Jewish and academic education.

News Briefs

France Chief Rabbi "Horrified"

By Jewish Press News Desk

The Chief Rabbi of France Gilles Bernheim said he was "horrified" and "upset" by the shooting Monday morning outside a Jewish school in Toulouse, which killed three people including two children, witnesses said, and planned to visit the site "immediately," according to French TV.

Global

Victims of Shooting at Jewish School in Toulouse, France Identified, Several Still Fighting for Their Lives

By Jewish Press Staff

At least 4 are dead and others critically wounded after an unidentified attacker mowed down Jewish schoolchildren and teachers - at close range - outside the Otzar HaTorah school in Toulouse, France. Included in the dead: a teacher and his two children. Principal's daughter succumbs to her wounds.

News Briefs

Drive-By Shooting Attack on Jewish School in France Kills Three; Two of the Victims Children

By Jewish Press Staff

AFP has reported that a shooting attack occurred Monday outside Ozar HaTorah Jewish school in Toulouse in the southwest France. Eyewitnesses said three people have been killed. French media reported that a man riding on a black scooter opened fire on the school, killing at least two children and one adult, and wounding several others.

Israel / Jewish / US

Author A.B. Yehoshua: American Jews are 'Partial Jews'

By Rafi Harkham

Noted Israeli author and Israel Prize Laureate A.B. Yehoshua said that living outside Israel "is a very deep failure of the Jewish people," and lamented that immigration numbers from the United States are "minimal" and "embarrassing." He was equally acerbic regarding the large Israeli ex-patriot community.

Analysis

The Ongoing War with Iran

By Vic Rosenthal

A war between Israel and Iran is not something that may or may not occur in the future. It is in progress now.

Impact Of Women On Jewish History/Prof. L. Jackson

A Journey with Destiny: The Story Of A Righteous Filipina's Conversion To Judaism

By Prof. Livia Bitton-Jackson

The heading of this article is the title of Angelita Valdes’ biography written by her husband, Dr. Robert Dublin. Dr. Dublin was the physician who treated and nursed the young Filipina dancer and TV starlet back to life when she became ill with tuberculosis meningitis - a life threatening disease. Angelita Valdes’ biography is an astonishing story of an amazing woman’s life.

Arts

The Twelve Tribes At The Bialystoker Home

By Richard McBee

A quiet monument to the courage and determination of hundreds of thousands of Jews sits vulnerable on the Lower East Side of New York City at 228 East Broadway. This location was the former home of the Bialystoker Center, built in 1931.

Analysis

Sovereignty and Suzerainty in The Israel-U.S. Relationship

By Herbert London

The threat and the ominous effects of an air attack against Iran is the pull and tug of sovereignty versus suzerainty. Is Israel an independent nation free of American influence? Does the president of the U.S. have a veto over Israeli military actions? Or is Israel free of outside influences, a state enjoined by what it believes to be its self interest?

West Coast Happenings

NCSY Philanthropy

By Jeanne Litvin

Over the past three months seven groups of NCSY teen leaders researched non-profit organizations, meeting with and learning from these organizations’ representatives about the Jewish perspective regarding philanthropy.

The Yishai Fleisher Show on JewishPress.com

Jewish Press Radio: Biblical Joseph Becomes Real and What of Benjy?

By Moshe Herman

Before leaving for IDF reserve duty, Yishai put together a great show bringing two very special talks he gave in Canada to Jewish high school students and Canada Christian College.

Parsha

Vayakhel/Pekudei: The Devotion Of Women

By Rabbi Avigdor Miller

Despite the intense suffering of slavery in Egypt, it was there that Israel became a nation – not just in the spiritual sense, but in the physical sense: it was there that our numbers swelled. This is to the credit of the Jewish women, who despite their oppression at the hands of Egypt relentlessly encouraged the growth of Israel. This provides a glimpse of the greatness of the Jewish women of that generation. Likewise in our times, it is the Jewish woman’s selfless devotion to service of Hashem that builds and sustains Israel.

Halacha & Hashkafa

More On Temurah (Temurah 2,3 and 9)

By Raphael Grunfeld

The act of temurah, consecrating another animal in place of an already consecrated animal, incurs the punishment of malkot - lashes. This is somewhat surprising. There is a halachic rule that a prohibition that does not involve an overt act does not incur the punishment of malkot – “lav she’einbBo ma’aseh, ein lokin alav.” Why then does a person incur malkot?

Halacha & Hashkafa

Requests Or Demands? (Part II)

By Rabbi J. Simcha Cohen

Question: When we pray, are we requesting or demanding that God fulfill our wishes?

Parsha / Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks: The Power Of Art

By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l

The name Bezalel was adopted by the artist Boris Schatz for the School of Arts and Crafts he founded in Israel in 1906, and Rav Kook wrote a touching letter in support of its creation. He saw the renaissance of art in the Holy Land as a symbol of the regeneration of the Jewish people in its own land, landscape and birthplace. Judaism in the Diaspora, removed from a natural connection with its own historic environment, was inevitably cerebral and spiritual, “alienated.”

Editorial

'No' To A Jewish Super District

By Editorial Board

The current New York State Senate redistricting map championed by the Republican majority calls for the establishment of what has been characterized as a super Jewish district.

Op-Eds

The Academic Jihad Against Israel

By David Solway

In Genocidal Liberalism: The University’s Jihad Against Israel & Jews, published by the David Horowitz Freedom Center, Dr. Richard Cravatts pulls no punches, relentlessly anatomizing the pedagogic bias currently in place, which is neo-Marxist in its orientation and undeniably anti-Jewish in its expression.

News Briefs

Report: Turkey Warns Iran Against Attacking Israeli and Jewish Targets on Turkish Soil

By Jewish Press Staff

Israel's Army Radio cited a report in the Turkish daily newspaper Zaman as saying that Turkey has warned Iran against perpetrating acts of terrorism against Israelis or Jewish targets in Turkey. The report comes after Israel's counter-terrorism bureau on Tuesday issued a travel advisory to citizens against traveling to Turkey, due to an unspecified plan by "terror […]

Global

Report: US Conveys Iran Ultimatum via Russia - Cooperate or Face Military Confrontation This Year

By Solomon Burke

Russian diplomat: 'The invasion will happen before year’s end. The Israelis are in effect blackmailing Obama. They’ve put him in this interesting position - either he supports the war or loses the support of the Jewish lobby.'

Serials

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