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Los Angeles philanthropist Guilford Glazer dies

LOS ANGELES (JTA) — Guilford Glazer, a leading Los Angeles philanthropist and real estate developer, died in his Beverly Hills home.Glazer, 93, died on Dec. 23. He was well known for his support of Israeli universities, including Tel Aviv University and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and for his friendships with prominent Israeli leaders, including Israeli Prime Ministers David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin and Benjamin...

Will Russia’s economic woes burst bubble for Jews?

By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (JTA) — In the basement of one of Europe’s largest synagogues, 100 Jews are waiting to meet local film star Boris Smolkin.

The crowd applauds enthusiastically as the 66-year-old funnyman, who gave his voice to Master Yoda in the Russian-language version of the “Star Wars” trilogy, sucks daintily on an electronic cigarette during a public interview about growing...

Libeskind-designed Holocaust monument ‘collecting dust’ in Toronto warehouse

By JOSH TAPPER

TORONTO (JTA) — Mere days after the Wheel of Conscience was unveiled in January 2011, it broke down — something that would happen to the Daniel Libeskind-designed Holocaust monument twice more within the year.

In January 2012, the wheel broke again and was sent from its home at the Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, for repairs at a Toronto...

Carolyn Starman Hessel, Jewish world’s book maven, turns the page

By BETH KISSILEFF

(JTA) — When Carolyn Starman Hessel joined the New York-based Jewish Book Council in 1994 — at the request of friend Marsha Posner — she knew nothing about the publishing world.

Since then, she’s been called the “Jewish Oprah” for her ability to help authors find audiences, and has enjoyed enormous clout and influence among publishers.

The soon-to-be retired director, who says she simply learned “on the...

UPDATE: Rabbi Berk and family reported injured in wreck

Touro Synagogue Rabbi Alexis Berk and her family members were reportedly injured in a car wreck outside of Mobile, AL on Tuesday, Dec. 23.

According to the report, Berk, her husband Bob and their two sons were driving on a family vacation to visit Bob Berk’s parents in Florida when a truck crossed the median and smashed into their car. Berk and her older son, Ari, were hospitalized due to...

11-year-old clings to life after West Bank terror attack

WEST BANK (Tazpit News Agency) — An 11-year-old girl was seriously wounded and her father lightly injured when Palestinians threw a firebomb at their car in the West Bank, this evening, December 25.

The young girl suffered from third degree burns to her face and upper body as the car burst into flames. The two were traveling on Route 55 near the El Matan community when their car was hit.

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Million-dollar ‘Chocolate Bar’: First-grade buddies raise seven figures for rare disease

By TOM TUGEND

LOS ANGELES (JTA) — A fundraising campaign started quietly by two first graders two years ago to help find a cure for a rare genetic disease just passed the $1 million mark, with donations streaming in from all 50 states and 60 countries across the globe.

The million-dollar achievement has been celebrated as the perfect feel-good story, but the trigger for this global effort was a somber...

In Dallas, a storied Jewish ‘Christmas Day Classic’ turns 50

By HILLEL KUTTLER

(JTA) – While chestnuts roast on open fires elsewhere in Dallas, another holiday tradition beckons for some of the city’s Jews: the Christmas Day Classic recreational football game.

The first such game took place in 1964, when 16 teenage boys were looking for a diversion on an otherwise uneventful day. Now those “boys” are in their mid-60s, and joined on the field each year by grown sons,...

Labor holds edge over Likud, poll shows

(JTA) — Israel’s Labor Party would take two more seats than Likud, according to a new poll on the upcoming elections.The poll, which was published Monday by the Knesset Channel, shows Labor winning 23 seats, Likud 21 and Jewish Home 16 in the March 17 vote.The centrist Yesh Atid, which had 19 seats in the last Knesset elections, would drop to 11 seats. Kulanu,...

Abbas: Palestinians won’t deal with Israel if statehood resolution falls

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said he will stop dealing with the Israeli government if the U.N. Security Council does not pass the Palestinian state draft resolution.“In case of failure, we will no more deal with the Israeli government, which will then be obliged to assume its responsibilities as an occupier,” Abbas told reporters Tuesday in Algiers, the Algerian Press Service reported. 1 580 581 582 583 584 861