All but lost amid the heated talk about a possible Israeli attack on Iran’s suspect nuclear program are the thousands of Jews who live in the Islamic Republic and could be caught in the middle.
Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua Hager, the fifth Vishnitzer Rebbe in Bnei Brak has passed away this evening at the age of 96.
Israel’s Iron Dome rocket shield has aced its first serious test. Gaza’s Hamas rulers have been careful to stay on the sidelines. And Islamic Jihad — now closer to Iran than is its larger rival Hamas — is taking the lead in this round against Israel.
Kaliningrad, Russia [CHI] — Rabbi David Shvedik has been fighting for years for the reconstruction of the Great Synagogue in Kaliningrad, Russia, which was destroyed by the Nazis. For now, his efforts were unsuccessful. At the site where the majestic synagogue once stood, a circus performs today, and its leaders have flatly refused the offer of over half a million dollars to relocate. This is in spite of the fact that the land is outright property of the Jewish community.
Israel pounded Gaza for the second day in a row Saturday, trading airstrikes and rocket fire with Palestinian militants and killing 15 of them as the deadliest Gaza violence in over a year showed no signs of abating.
On the evening of March 7, the Jewish community in Brooklyn celebrated the start of Purim, a holiday commemorating the salvation of the Jews from destruction at the hands of a Persian ruler named Haman. But Wednesday night ushered in a bit of unwelcomed text as well: a large billboard along the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway that reads, in both English and Hebrew, “You know it’s a myth, and you have a choice.”
France’s prime minister urged Muslims and Jews to consider scrapping their halal and kosher slaughter laws on Monday as President Nicolas Sarkozy and his allies stepped up their efforts to woo far-right voters.
Unknown attackers threw a pair of firebombs at a Russian synagogue, the Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday.
New York Jews getting ready for Purim skipped the costume parties Sunday to focus on giving back. Doing extra charity is a must during the two-day celebration that begins Wednesday night and honors Queen Esther for saving the ancient Persian Jews from slaughter.
A two-week old boy died at a Brooklyn hospital after contracting herpes through a religious circumcision ritual that ignited controversy in 2005 after another infant died, the Daily News has learned.
Andrew Breitbart, a Los Angeles born Jew who became one of the faces of new media in America, died early Thursday morning according to a report on his website, Biggovernment.com.
A state association has again voted down a request by a Jewish Orthodox school in Houston to move the start of its scheduled boys’ basketball playoff game this weekend so the team wouldn’t violate its Sabbath. [Update: Team will play on Friday afternoon].
Howard Kissel, longtime theater critic for The New York Daily News, passed away on Friday in his Manhattan home. He was 69. During his long career, he served as chairman of both the New York Film Critics’ Circle and the New York Drama Critics’ Circle. Even after leaving the Daily News, he continued to blog regularly for both that site and The Huffington Post. His last post was only three days before his passing.
It is at once a deeply-rooted Polish neighbourhood with industrial roots where immigrants still speak in their native tongue on the streets. At the same time, Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighbourhood is a fast-gentrifying area of New York full of young families and working professionals who wish to live close to Manhattan.
Thousands of Chassidim gathered in Red hook, Brooklyn this past Sunday to celebrate the wedding of the son of the Bobover Rebbe, which took place on pier 12. The simcha was attended by many Rebbes and Roshei Yeshiva from around the world, and the festivities lasted until the early hours of Monday morning.
Ultra-Orthodox parties inside Israel’s government say they will oppose any new law that would apply Israel’s compulsory military draft to ultra-Orthodox men — a stance that bodes ill for the stability of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition.
The name of a Polish champion horse that surfaced in coverage of the Scottsdale, Arizona Arabian Horse Show has caused a dustup because his moniker is associated with attacks on Jewish people.
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