Short Takes

Will Cantor Sing Mitt’s Praises?

08/21/2012 | Adam Dickter | Assistant Managing Editor/Online Editor

As Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan head toward the GOP convention in Tampa next week and the home stretch of the campaign, could House Majority Leader Eric Cantor be the man with a mission to woo the Jews?

Cantor endorsed Romney back in March, saying he’s the right guy “to lead this economy back to a growth mode, create jobs so people can feel better about the future.”

Tuesday The Rabbi Made Porn

08/21/2012 | Michael Orbach | Special To The Jewish Week

A rabbi and a pornographer walk into a coffee shop. Insert your own crude punch line here.

That’s essentially the plot of “Your Good Friend,” a feature film/mockumentary directed by Matthew Jacobs. The film, which is still on the festival circuit and looking for a distributor, stars and is co-written by Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, a prominent Reform leader and author of over a dozen books on mysticism including the novel, “Kabbalah: a Love Story.”

A ‘Daf Yomi’ For Liberal Jews?

08/14/2012 | Stewart Ain | Staff Writer

Taking a page from the Orthodox movement’s successful “Daf Yomi” or page-a-day Talmud study initiative, the chancellor of the Conservative movement’s Jewish Theological Seminary has triggered a discussion about Jewish learning for the non-Orthodox Jewish community.

Taxing Situation For Survivors

08/14/2012 | Stewart Ain | Staff Writer

For years, without fail, Holocaust survivors in Brooklyn went to their mailboxes and pulled out their monthly, non-taxable reparations checks from the German government.

But last month, they were shocked to see a letter from the German Federal Tax Office providing them with a tax identification number for use in paying taxes on their pensions.

This week, in a quick reversal, German officials are telling survivors who received those letters, “Fuhgedaboutit.”

Raising The Olympic Bar

08/07/2012 | Steve Lipman | Staff Writer

Alexandra “Aly” Raisman, who entered the London Olympics last week in the shadow of gymnastics teammates Gabby Douglas and Jordyn Wieber, stepped into the sunlight this week.

Twice.

A week after her performance in floor exercise sealed a team gold medal, and a few hours after she won an individual bronze medal in the uneven parallel bars on Tuesday, Raisman won gold in her specialty, floor exercise.

State Dept. Report Cites Rising Tide Of Anti-Semitism

07/31/2012 | Ron Kampeas/JTA

The U.S. State Department’s report on religious freedom described a “global increase” in anti-Semitism and said the “rising tide of anti-Semitism” was among the key trends of last year.

The executive summary of the report for 2011, released Monday, also detailed the “impact of political and demographic transitions on religious minorities” and “the effects of conflict on religious freedom.”