Pondering the state of American Jewry
Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski, who came from a long line of multiple Hasidic dynasties, has died, aged 90, of COVID-19. The famed Pittsburgh psychiatrist was considered a leading authority on addiction, and authored more than 60 books. Twerski, who never lost his strong Milwaukee accent, though he lived in Pittsburgh for many years, was …
Chanuka is a time of light and miracles, so perhaps it should be no surprise that archaeologists just found a 2000-year-old lantern from the Hasmonean period in the City of David, in Jerusalem. The candle holder, preserved in its entirety, dates back to the Second Temple era. According to Israel Hayom, Antiquities Authority Director of …
Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on Rosh Hashanah of complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer. While traditional Jews do not blow the shofar when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat, Reform Rabbi Matt Soffer of Durham, North Carolina, blew the shofar minus one blast, to signify that the Supreme Court was now minus one justice. Actor Mandy Patinkin, …
A dining establishment and prepared food takeout place in Canada, Foodbenders, was already in the news after an Instagram post with the hashtag #zionistsnotwelcome. Now the owner of the restaurant, Kimberly Hawkins, is being sued by prominent designer Shai DeLuca, the subject of two defamatory Instagram posts by the Toronto eatery accusing DeLuca of being …
Threats against Jewish students at Monument Valley Regional Middle School have been ruled “no threat to safety” by school officials, according to a report by the Berkshire Eagle. The report cited parents of students in the school, who detailed several threats and incidents. Parents said one student told Jewish students that he was going to …
Fred Behrend had a bar mitzvah in 1939, after his family fled to Cuba from Nazi Germany. The family left with nothing, so guests brought their own food. Exactly 80 years later, on the 81st anniversary of Kristallnacht, the 93-year-old Behrend will celebrate his bar mitzvah once again in Voorhees, N.J. at Congregation Beth El. …
Israel’s Minister for the Interior, Ariyeh Deri, decided not to allow the two Democratic representatives, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib to enter Israel, on legal grounds. Israel’s No Entry law bars BDS activists from entering the country. After the decision was made, Tlaib appealed to Deri to visit her grandmother. On humanitarian grounds, Deri agreed, …
Jews have an attitude of gratitude. That’s the gist of the story of the Holocaust survivor from Israel who donated money to buy a $1,200 medical bed for 102-year-old Krystyna Danko, a non-Jewish woman from Warsaw, who risked her life to save Jews from genocide. Danko is thought to be the oldest of the Righteous Among …
Denying that the Jewish people were sovereign in Jerusalem before the birth of the other two major world religions is done only for political reasons, according to a recent video on the City of David. The video, produced by Fox News show host Pete Hegseth, is just a taste of what we will see in …
Israel’s IDF soldiers aren’t just brave, they’re cultured, too. One young female soldier entertained people waiting in an Israeli train station by playing Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody with an unparalleled proficiency. Her playing was full of Jewish soul. I guess we know what she’s going to do when she gets out of the army. May she …