New York News

A Code For A New Age

11/13/1998 | by Eric J. Greenberg | Staff Writer

Clinton and Lewinsky. The general manager of the New York Mets. Teens shaving their heads and piercing their tongues. High schoolers killing their classmates with guns.
Popular culture in America is not providing a pretty picture to those interested in teaching their kids ethics and morals.
But how should they be taught? Whose ethics?
And what are morals, anyway?

The Brawl About Paul

11/13/1998 | by Eric J. Greenberg | Staff Writer

He’s the most famous and controversial convert in Jewish history. And he’s also been widely misunderstood these past 2,000 years, say people who study his work. So yet another effort was made last week to shed light on the contribution or obstacles presented by Paul of Tarsus to Jewish-Catholic relations.

Grappling With Groping

11/06/1998 | by Stewart Ain | Staff Writer

Earlier this year in a crowded elevator at a Manhattan high school, a boy reached out and grabbed the buttocks of his girlfriend. “She turned and told him to stop,” recalled Claire Wolinsky, 15, a high school junior. “But he continued to grab her rear end. It was more liked he groped her — it wasn’t just a little pinch. After a while she became more accepting of it because everyone was watching, but she clearly did not want him to do it.”

Anti-Semitism ‘No Motive’ In Abortion Slayings

11/06/1998 | by Steve Lipman | Staff Writer

Jewish physicians who perform abortions are not being singled out for attack by anti-abortion extremists, although some anti-abortion literature does contain a frightening amount of anti-Semitic references, spokesmen for abortion groups and Jewish organizations agree.

The ‘Putzhead’ Factor

11/06/1998 | by Eric J. Greenberg | Staff Writer

As Jewish supporters of both Sen. Alfonse D’Amato and Rep. Charles Schumer milled around their respective campaign headquarters Tuesday night, they all spoke of the “defining moment” that cost D’Amato his Senate seat — his now-infamous “putzhead” gaffe.
“It was a defining moment,” said former Democratic Deputy Mayor Abraham Biderman at the Schumer victory party at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Midtown.

Anti-Wye Accord Ad Scored

11/06/1998 | by Eric J. Greenberg | Staff Writer

A newspaper ad by a Yeshiva University-linked Orthodox rabbinical group is denouncing the Wye agreement as a violation of Jewish law that threatens the lives of all Jews in Israel.
But the rabbinic group called Ichud Harabonim, or Union of Rabbis, is itself being criticized for using language some say evokes the violent rhetoric used against the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin — who was assassinated three years ago this week.