National News

Who Should Pay For Jewish Education?

03/17/2000 | Jonathan Mark | Associate Editor

Most polls ranking campaign issues place aid to education near the top of voter concerns. And judging by a series of congressional votes, most Americans don’t seem to mind if Jewish schools get government funding, as well. Nevertheless, a Senate vote earlier this month, which would free up money for parents with children in day schools as well as public schools, has ignited a fierce debate in the Jewish community over whether this was a necessary gift or a Trojan horse.

Reform Rabbis Set To OK Gay Unions

03/17/2000 | by Eric J. Greenberg | Staff Writer

Call it the showdown in Greensboro. When hundreds of Reform rabbis gather at the 111th annual meeting of the Central Conference of American Rabbis next week in North Carolina, they will continue an intense debate over whether to officially support performing gay marriages or similar commitment ceremonies.

Jews Sound Warning On Muslim Merger

03/03/2000 | by Eric J. Greenberg  | Staff Writer

A historic partnership between Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan and the largest African-American Muslim group in the United States is a “troubling and disturbing” development that threatens dialogue between Jews and black Muslims, American Jewish officials cautioned this week.

CIA Ripped On Recruiting Charges

02/11/2000 | by Eric J. Greenberg | Staff Writer

Charges by a mysterious CIA official that Israel recruits religious American Jews to spy on the United States has sparked outrage from several Jewish leaders and a call for a public CIA response.
The allegations were aired Sunday night on the CBS news show “60 Minutes” focusing on the case of Adam Ciralsky, a former CIA attorney who claims he was fired because of his ethnicity.

Virtual Education: Jewish Education on the Web

02/01/2000 | James Besser` | Washington Correspondent

Sometimes reality almost matches the hype. Case in point on the World Wide Web is the proliferation of sites intended to enhance Jewish education. Here’s a sampling. Parents and teachers should check out the Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education (www.caje.org). CAJE’s attractive site doesn’t offer much free content, but it provides a handy way to order a wealth of Jewish educational materials aimed at kids. But you have to join CAJE to order from the packed “curriculum bank.”

Irving Stone, 90

01/21/2000 | by Steve Lipman | Staff Writer

Irving Stone, a greeting card executive and philanthropist who funded the best-selling, modern English translation of the Torah, died Monday at University Hospitals in Cleveland after a long illness. He was 90.
Mr. Stone, founder-chairman of American Greetings Corp. in Cleveland, endowed four major educational programs at Yeshiva University and supported a wide variety of Jewish and Israeli causes.