Tuesday, March 19th 2024   |

March 2014

Spanish Jews

What is Spain offering to the 3.5 million descendants of Sephardic Jews who were expelled during the Spanish Inquisition?

Map of Spain

A. Autographed pictures of Penélope Cruz.

BFinancial reparations.

CCitizenship.

DAn official apolopgy for the Inquisition, authorized by the Congress of Deputies and signed by King Juan Carlos.

EFree tickets to Real Madrid soccer games.

Click here for the answer.

Former Israel P.M. Ehud Olmert convicted of bribery

TEL AVIV (Tazpit Agency) -– A court in Tel Aviv early this morning convicted former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on a charge of accepting a bribe when he was Mayor of Jerusalem.

Speaking about the case, Justice David Rosen referred to a “corrupt political system which has decayed over years…and in which hundreds of thousands of shekels were transferred to elected officials.” The court’s ruling implies that Olmert lied during...

Poll shows majority of Israelis oppose territorial concessions

JERUSALEM (Tazpit Agency) -– A poll conducted for the Knesset TV channel reveals that the majority of Israelis oppose territorial concessions as part of a peace agreement with the Palestinian Authority. According to the results, 61% of the Israeli public believes Israel should not relinquish land in Judea and Samaria in exchange for a peace agreement.

Published last Thursday, Mar. 27, the poll further shows that 70% of the...

Son born to Chalews

Justin and Talia Abbott Chalew announce the birth of their son on March 27, 2014. The baby is the younger brother of Solomon. Paternal grandparents are Dr Stuart and Gail Chalew.

Chicago’s Loyola student gov’t president vetoes Israel divestment resolution

JTA) — The president of the student government at Chicago’s Loyola University vetoed an Israel divestment resolution that was passed twice.

Pedro Guerrero, president of the Loyola United Student Government Association, on Tuesday rejected the measure that calls on the university to remove its holdings from eight companies that provide equipment or services to Israel for use in the West Bank.

“No matter what viewpoint you hold on the larger...

Tony Kushner talks about ‘Lincoln’ screenplay at NOMA

By ALAN SMASON

Tony Kushner has always felt the influence of Abraham Lincoln, even as a youth growing up in Lake Charles a century after his death, he admitted to a packed audience gathered at the New Orleans Museum of Art this past Wednesday evening.

Kushner, who identifies as an American writer, a Jewish writer and a gay writer, said he first perceived an enormous admiration that his father, the...

Person in the Parsha: METZORA

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

REFLECTIONS ON A ROAD NOT TAKEN

Most of us have experienced a phase earlier in our lives, perhaps in high school, during which we dreamed of some specific career. It sounded glamorous to us, interesting, rewarding in many ways, and consistent with the value system in which we were raised. Then life intervened, we “grew up” and made different choices.

 

We experienced...

OP-ED: Expanding the concept, and reality, of ‘Jewish community’

By JERRY SILVERMAN

Nate couldn’t decide what he wanted to be for Purim – follow his heart and dress as an alien or succumb to peer pressure and wear a superhero costume? It’s a tough decision for a little boy, but he got some help from his two dads.

“The Purim Superhero” is one of PJ Library’s book selections for this month. For nine years, and in partnerships with various...

MENSCHKINS: How Hebrew comes in handy

Former N.O. CFO Kurt Steiner dies, burial in Austin

Kurt David Steiner, who fled Nazi Germany at the age of 10 and served as the chief financial officer of the City of New Orleans during the Sidney Barthelemy administration, died on March 25. He was 82.

A certified public accountant, Steiner was also for many years the managing partner of the New Orleans office of Grant Thornton, one of the largest of accounting firms in the nation.

Born in...