Jewish leaders lash out at new, left-leaning report; cite lack of dialogue with major groups here.
JCPA's point man on divestment, Ethan Felson, is angered by new report by
Presbyterians.
by Stewart Ain Staff Writer
Jewish community leaders are furious that a committee of the Presbyterian Church USA has lashed out at major American Jewish groups over their Israel policies without ever consulting them.
Although a member of the church committee insisted that it was not again calling for divestment from Israel — as the church did in 2004 — Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, director of interfaith relations at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said he understood the committee would be endorsing the Kairos Palestine Document, which calls for a boycott and sanctions against Israel. - Read Story -
A haredi rabbi’s actions — telling Persians at a private house party that ‘tragedy for eternity’ would befall them — have sent shockwaves through the community.
Rabbi Mordechai Aderet: Party crasher frightens guests.
by Sharon Udasin Staff Writer
Like biblical plagues raining down on them from an angry God, the white-bearded, black-hatted rabbi laid a string of curses upon the unsuspecting suburban partygoers. Banging a siddur on a table and screaming “Shema Yisrael,” the rabbi, accompanied by a four-man entourage — all of whom had burst into a Great Neck home — lit into those gathered for an evening of celebration, mixed dancing and traditional Iranian fare in honor of a little girl’s first birthday. - Read Story -
The Israeli approval Tuesday of another 1,600 new housing units in east Jerusalem — coming just hours after Vice President Joe Biden announced in Jerusalem the launching of new Israeli-Palestinian peace talks — stunned the White House but should not have been surprising, according to Middle East expert Stephen P. Cohen.- Read Story -
Jerusalem — With five kids and monthly rent topping $1,200, it didn’t take long for Ronen Mizrachi to calculate how much more he would get for his money if he moved his family out of Jerusalem.- Read Story -
A leading observer of the American Jewish scene says it is “madness” that Jewish communal institutions seem more focused these days on helping non-Jews than Jews.
Writing in the March issue of Commentary, Jack Wertheimer, a professor of American Jewish history at the Jewish Theological Seminary, asserts that at a time when Jewish federations and foundations “are failing to attend to the needs of Jews at home and abroad, the hot trend in Jewish philanthropic and organizational circles, incredibly, is to channel ever more of their resources to nonsectarian causes.”- Read Story -
