JTA Jewish Life

Celebrating in Jerusalem, suffering in Ashkelon

Thu, 15 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500

While diplomats and Jewish leaders celebrated Israel's 60th in Jerusalem at Shimon Peres' "Facing Tomorrow" conference, a rocket strike in Ashkelon served as a stark reminder that war is never far away.

Cold soups for Shavuot

Thu, 15 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500

In the days before air conditioning, Jews adored dairy soups, beginning at Shavuot and continuing throughout the summer. Here are some recipes that recall a bygone era.

At Shavuot, praise for the scroll

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500

As Shavuot and its focus on receiving the Torah approach, Los Angeles writer Edmon J. Rodman unfurls a paean to the scroll.

Where to give for Myanmar

Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Jewish groups are collecting donations for aid to victims of the cyclone in Myanmar.

Jewish leaders talk about action

Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Leading Jewish academics, ex-diplomats and community leaders met the day before President Shimon Peres' 'Facing Tomorrow' conference to talk about how to implement imperatives in the Jewish community.

Reaching students before they hit campus

Sun, 11 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500

For Hillel and other campus groups, outreach to Jewish students begins even before Orientation Week.

1948 volunteer soldiers reunite

Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500

A group of foreign volunteers in Israel's 1948 War of Independence met on the eve of Israel's 60th birthday to swap war stories and remember how things were in the days after the Jewish state was born.

Where have all the young men gone?

Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500

A new study about the disappearing male in Jewish life gives statistical muscle to anecdotal evidence that has been piling up for years.

U.S. rabbi tied to Olmert probe

Tue, 06 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500

The apparent involvement of a rabbi turned businessman in a financial scandal that could fell Israel's prime minister underscores the potentially perilous relationship Israeli politicians have with wealthy American Jewish supporters.

Revoked conversion sparks uproar

Tue, 06 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500

A rabbinic court ruling in Israel revoking the Jewish status of a convert whose conversion was conducted 15 years ago has sparked a war between Israel's more moderate Orthodox and more zealous Orthodox rabbinic leadership.

On track to be first black female rabbi

Tue, 06 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Alysa Stanton-Ogulnick isn't particularly interested in being a standard-bearer -- it just kind of happened, like so much else in the Reform rabbinical student's life.

Far-flung communities seek place in Jewish world

Tue, 06 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500

The Ibo, Lemba and Abayudaya of Africa, the anusim and xuetas of Spain and Latin America, Ethiopian Jews from Israel, Indian Jews from New York and Asian-American Jews-by-Choice spent three days networking and sharing information about their struggles to join the global Jewish family, a family that is not always eager to embrace them.

Saving Europe's cemeteries and memories

Mon, 05 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Eckehart Ruthenberg, a non-German Jew, for two decades has been "adopting" forgotten cemeteries to preserve the names of Jewish families. And he's not alone in the effort.

Bible quiz brouhaha

Fri, 02 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500

The possibility that a Jewish girl who believes in Jesus will win this year's international youth Bible competition in Israel has prompted a brouhaha in the Jewish state.

UJC set to cut back staff

Thu, 01 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Under pressure to reduce the annual dues it charges Jewish federations, the United Jewish Communities must cut its budget and lay off a significant number of employees, the organization's CEO and president told his staff.

Exodus commander dies at 90

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Yossi Harel, who brought some 24,000 European Jewish Holocaust survivors to the shores of Palestine between 1945 and 1948, including on the Exodus, died at the age of 90.

Ignoring anti-Semitism in N. Dakota?

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500

A rash of anti-Semitic incidents at the University of North Dakota has students and their supporters asking why the university's administration hasn't taken a tougher line against the hate.

Japanese center illuminates the Holocaust

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500

About an hour north of Hiroshima, where the world's first atomic bombing incinerated an entire city, a Japanese educational center teaches about another holocaust half a world away.

Getting ex-Nazis to talk

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500

As the perpetrators of the Holocaust die out, historians, Germans and children of ex-Nazis push to record their accounts of the Holocaust.

Sweatshop-free fashion on stage

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500

The connection between fair labor practices and Jewish values was front and center at a fashion show in San Francisco that gleefully lampooned the fashion industry.