The thought of Klara Kogan, who exists on a paltry government pension, haunts Steven Schwager, executive vice president of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), which provides relief and welfare to Jews abroad.
Do the words \”innovative\” and \”Jewish groups\” seem like oxymorons? Not to the publishers of \”Slingshot,\” a new guidebook to the \”50 most innovative Jewish groups in North America,\” published by a division of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies.
A wave of recent gatherings has tackled the existential questions facing world Jewry, and many are aimed at or driven by new actors. The slew of new forums focusing on the future of the Jewish people reveals a certain angst about today\’s challenges and raises questions about how much faith Jews have in existing institutions to address those challenges.
As the United Nations prepares to celebrate the 60th anniversary of its founding in San Francisco, the occasion is bittersweet for Jewish observers.
It was the United Nations that sanctioned the State of Israel\’s birth in 1948, but it gave the Jewish state the status of an ugly stepchild — constantly singling out Israel for condemnation and excluding Israel, alone among U.N. member states, from full membership in the regional groupings that apportion key positions at the world body.
That said, Israel recently has made strides at the United Nations.
Until now, the 1964 murders of three civil rights campaigners has been unresolved. The recent arrest of a suspect in the Mississippi murders of Andrew Goodwin and Michael Schwerner — both Jews — and James Chaney, a black man, has re-focused attention on a relationship once bound in blood.
As Jews prepare to mark Martin Luther King Day, however, to what extent have black-Jewish relations shifted from their historic marriage?
When it comes to helping victims of the Southeast Asian tsunami, the American Jewish World Service (AJWS) is taking the adage, \”teach a man how to fish,\” quite literally.
As part of its long-term relief efforts for victims of the Dec. 26 tragedy, the group is working with its partner organizations in the region, including the Sanghamitra Service Society in Andhra Pradesh, India, which helps local fishing communities with sustainable development and disaster preparedness. The philosophy behind the group\’s post-tsunami effort is the same as that behind general AJWS operations — long-term efforts through collaboration with groups in the region.
Bemoaning the way Israel is portrayed in the news is something of a favorite pastime for many American Jews. But rather than complain that Israel is depicted unfairly in its conflict with the Palestinians, two Silicon Valley executives are taking a different approach.
Who\’s up and who\’s down in Jewish charities? While a recent snapshot of some of the largest Jewish charities reveals that Jewish fundraising generally is stable, nuances in the numbers reveal the viccissitudes — and why.
The Israeli-Palestinian issue is intensifying the fall-semester buzz at Duke University this year.
When it comes to action at the United Nations, Europe — considered by many observers to be the organization\’s moral bellwether — often decides the course.
That was the case again this week as the U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution demanding that Israel comply with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling that it must tear down its West Bank security barrier and compensate Palestinians affected by its construction.
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