Thursday, May 2nd 2024 |
By RUTH W. MESSINGER
NEW YORK (JTA) — Fewer than 800 miles from our shores, a deeply disturbing crisis is unfolding as tens of thousands of citizens of the Dominican Republic face deportation from their country simply because of their heritage.
Tragically, people of Haitian descent who were born in the Dominican Republic have been stripped of their rights and their citizenship, and are living in a state of legal...
By STEVEN FINE
NEW YORK (JTA) — The burning a few weeks ago of the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes, a historic church in the Galilee region of Tabgha built on the foundations of a sixth-century house of worship, is not the first act of evil allegedly carried out by Jewish hooligans in the region in recent years.
Three years ago, the fifth-century Hammath Tiberias synagogue...
By ABRAHAM H. FOXMAN
NEW YORK (JTA) — Today is the last day of my long tenure as national director of the Anti-Defamation League. It has been a highly satisfactory and meaningful 28 years as director and 50 years as a professional at this prestigious organization.
So why am I choosing to write an article on my last day? It is the same imperative that has motivated me all these...
In case you hadn’t heard, the 1st Original Red Beans & Rice Cook-Off is being held on Labor Day, Monday, September 7, and jointly sponsored by the Crescent City Jewish News and Torah Academy. We wanted to clarify why we are holding this fundraising event and why we hope all segments of the Greater New Orleans Jewish community will participate.
Ten years ago on a similar Labor Day weekend in...
By SHMUEL GOLDIN
ENGLEWOOD, N.J. (JTA) – I have a confession: I am a convert regarding conversions. That’s the stark realization I reached as chairman of the Rabbinical Council of America’s recent conversion review committee.
The committee was established last fall to review the RCA’s Geirus Policies and Standards system, the network of regional Orthodox conversion courts operating under the aegis of the RCA and its affiliated Beth Din of...
By AVI WEISS
CHARLESTON, S.C. (JTA) — My father died a few weeks ago. The hardest part of the shiva was when it ended. Friends and family were, by and large, no longer visiting. I was alone in pain and agony.
I thought of this reality during my visit to the Emanuel AME Church in this city merely two weeks after the racially motivated massacre that killed nine people.
Joined...
By ARYE DWORKEN NEW YORK (JTA) — My father passed away nearly 13 years ago, and while I think about him daily, every so often there are moments when I especially miss him.
Last week’s Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage was one of those moments.
You see, my father, Rabbi Steven Dworken, was the longtime professional leader of the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA), the country’s main modern Orthodox...
By IDIT KLEIN
BOSTON (JTA) — Four years ago, I stood under a chuppah with the woman I was about to marry overlooking a valley in Massachusetts. I have an emotional memory of sweetness and joy from my wedding day, but I can’t recall many specific moments.
What I do remember vividly is the end of our ceremony, when Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld declared, “I’ve said this many times before...
By ALAN SMASON, CCJN Editor
The fallout from the racially motivated shootings in Charleston has traveled to New Orleans and reignited a discussion among its citizens about statues and buildings named for heroes of the Confederacy or for former slave owners. This thorny point was addressed by Mayor Mitch Landrieu, who announced this week that he is now in favor of removing several statues erected to Confederate heroes, including the...
By ADAM D. MENDELSOHN
CHARLESTON, S.C. (JTA) — A prominent Jewish Charlestonian’s inspiring response to the massacre last week at the Emanuel AME Church has circulated widely in recent days. Robert N. Rosen’s essay points to the best traditions of life in the city: tolerance, an attentiveness to history, and a powerful sense of place and community.
But Rosen has also whitewashed the city’s history. His account lacks critical context...
