Short Takes

Money Woes For Birthright

06/07/2002 | by Stewart Ain | Staff Writer

Birthright israel is receiving high marks for its success in bringing thousands of Jewish young adults to Israel on free 10-day trips. But is it receiving sufficient funding?
It seems that one of birthright's three primary partners, the United Jewish Communities, is having fund-raising problems that could have an adverse effect on the 2-year-old program, sources tell The Jewish Week.

Council Speaker To Lead Israel Delegation

06/07/2002 | by Adam Dickter  | Staff Writer

A delegation of City Council members will leave for Israel upon the completion of the city budget process, Speaker Gifford Miller announced Sunday.
"We're going to show that we as New Yorkers understand [the situation in Israel] and we want to be supportive in any way we can," Miller told several hundred Jewish community leaders and elected officials at the annual breakfast of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty.

Taking A Crack At Mah Jong

06/07/2002 | by Steve Lipman | Staff Writer

What happens when East meets West?
When they meet on the Lower East Side, they play mah jong. Or mah jongg.
About 700 participants in the second annual Egg Rolls & Egg Creams Block Party, sponsored by the Eldridge Street Project, learned on Sunday that the game has two spellings. And two sets of rules.
"The Western version has one 'g.' The Chinese spell it with two," says Rebecca Faulkner, a staff member at the project, whose aunt, Sheila Solomon, right, came from upstate Suffern to try her hand at the tiles game.

Tolerance On Ice

06/07/2002 | by Steve Lipman | Staff Writer

It was a usual scene in a locker room at the Chelsea Piers hockey rink Sunday morning. Two teenagers sat next to each other, removing their pads and uniforms, discussing a late-game lapse that allowed the only goal surrendered in their team's 9-1 victory.
But something was unusual: One of the players was an Orthodox Jew, a student at the Ramaz day school on the Upper East Side; his teammate was black, a Catholic who studies cross town at St. Agnes Boys High School.

Keyes Doesn't Fit

06/07/2002 | by Steve Lipman | Staff Writer

Some MSNBC viewers want to throw away the Keyes.
Arab Americans and other critics of Israeli policies who are fed up with the staunchly pro-Israel stance of Alan Keyes have started an on-line petition drive to get the talk-show host and former presidential candidate (or his views) off NBC's news channel.
MSNBC learned about the campaign from Keyes supporters, not his detractors.

Politics From The Pulpit

06/07/2002 | BY Steve Lipman | Staff Writer

In a New Jersey synagogue last Shabbat, a rabbi urged his congregants to attend a local fund-raising event for Rep. Tom DeLay, conservative Republican and House majority whip.
In a Riverdale shul, a rabbi lauded the efforts of City Councilman Oliver Koppell, who introduced a bill to brand the Palestinian Authority a terrorist organization.