On the surface, it seems that the recent public quarrel between Israel and the Bush administration over Jewish settlement blocs in the West Bank could have been put off until Israelis and Palestinians get around to negotiating permanent borders.
Congressional staff members heard cogent arguments on the topics of separation of church and state, women\’s reproductive health and banning assault weapons from some singular constituents recently — the confirmation class members of University Synagogue in Brentwood. Led by Rabbi Morley Feinstein, the students — Alyssa Mannis, Sabrina Benun, Ben Marcus, Eric Rosenstein, Spencer Strasmore and Jack Eller — attended the L\’Taken Seminar of the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism in Washington, D.C., in February.
After less than 10 months on the job, the president of the Brandeis-Bardin Institute has announced plans to step down, a development that surprised board members and raised questions about the health and future of the Jewish-owned camp, retreat and conference center.
Rabbi Isaac Jeret insisted his departure was voluntary and amicable. He said he enjoyed his time at Brandeis but wanted to move on to a more spiritually fulfilling job.
The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), a pro-Israel group associated with right-wing Israeli politics, is setting up shop in Los Angeles and, in keeping with California custom, has named a personality from the entertainment industry as its local president.\n\nHe is Ed Ames, the smooth-voiced former lead singer of the Ames Brothers, one of the most popular harmony groups of the 1950s.
If you want to follow the thread of religious innovation and ethical behavior in modern Jewish life, you won\’t need to stray far from the career and philosophies of Rabbi Harold Schulweis. In fact, you probably can\’t confront those topics without confronting the work of Schulweis.
Since he was ordained in 1950, Schulweis has challenged the status quo with an intellectualism and a fearlessness born of the confidence that moral rightness is on his side.
Top officials at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) have appeared before a grand jury and two senior staffers have been placed on paid leave in the latest developments in the federal investigation of the pro-Israel lobby for allegedly passing classified information to Israel, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the case.
At the same time, the Pentagon staffer at the center of the allegations, accused of espionage by the FBI and then pressured into an alleged FBI \”sting\” against AIPAC, has been quietly rehired by the Pentagon, over the FBI\’s objections.
Hitler knew in detail about the attempted extermination of the Jews. That\’s according to \”Das Buch Hitler\” — \”The Hitler Book\” — a newly published German translation of a work written in Russian for Soviet dictator Josef Stalin in 1949.
Many of the major Jewish religious streams, lobbying groups and civil rights groups are encouraging the Bush administration, lawmakers and opinion makers to maintain political support for Israel\’s July 20 withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements.
The reason Goodman\’s words carry extra authority will become clear to anyone who reads his excellent new memoir, \”Let Me Create a Paradise, God Said To Himself: A Journey of Conscience From Johannesburg to Jerusalem\” (Perseus Books Group). Anyone who equates Israel with an apartheid state should be left in a quiet room with a copy of the book. If anyone can compare the old South Africa with the current Israel, it\’s Goodman.
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