Asked what Jews can do about the declining levels of affiliation these days, Uriel Heilman had an interesting answer. “Have more kids,” he told the 40-some people at a recent breakfast talk at Keneseth Israel Congregation, most of whom were … Read More
JERUSALEM, October 18, 2015 (JTA) – “No pepper spray, no tear gas, no nightsticks,” sighed Itzhak Mizrahi to three disappointed men, as if it were a mantra he’d recited dozens of times. The glass-topped display case in Magnum, the central … Read More
July 22, 2014, (JTA) – Until this latest war, if you asked most Israelis about the threat from Gaza, they would probably start talking about Hamas rockets. But that has changed over the last few days of fighting, for two … Read More
by Penny Schwartz BOSTON (JTA) – Ten years ago, shortly after midnight on May 17, 2004, a jubilant Arthur Lipkin and his longtime partner descended the stone steps of Cambridge City Hall clutching a marriage license application. It was a … Read More
by Ron Kampeas WASHINGTON (JTA) – There were amendments and amendments to amendments in a debate lasting for more than four hours. There were dueling T-shirts. There was a last-minute appeal for a joint pilgrimage to speak hard truths to … Read More
January 11, 2014 (JTA) – Ariel Sharon, one of Israel’s last warrior statesmen, whose military and political careers were woven into his nation’s triumphs and failures, has died. Sharon, 85, died Saturday at the Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv … Read More
[by Marcy Oster] November 17, 2013 (JTA) – Obviously wanting to get back to work as the medical manager of the field hospital set up by the Israel Defense Forces in the Philippines, Lt.-Col. Dr. Ofer Merin speaks hurriedly about … Read More
[by Cnaan Liphshiz] KIEV, Ukraine, October 22, 2013 (JTA) – The police station on Stefan Bandera Street in Lviv used to be just another government building to Dmitry Flekman. But that changed earlier this month following a nine-hour interrogation by … Read More
[by Uriel Heilman] NEW YORK (JTA) – In 5773, the religious wars just would not go away. In Israel, elections that extended Benjamin Netanyahu’s tenure as prime minister delivered big wins to two anti-Orthodox-establishment upstarts, Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett. … Read More
[by Ron Kampeas] WASHINGTON, December 2012 (JTA) – With public acceptance of same-sex marriage growing, liberal Jewish groups are hoping the U.S. Supreme Court will strike down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that they have long opposed. The Supreme … Read More