Jewish News

Jewish spiritual care: Creating sound spirit

When Rabbi Mike Schultz met Sharona (alias), she was a young mother of two girls, suffering of terminal cancer, and angry – mostly at God that is not planning to let her see her girls grow up.Schultz, a Jewish spiritual care provider in profession, helped her understand that she can use the illness to prepare her daughters for life, and ...

Jewish Softball Player Ryan Braun Wins Appeal of Drug Ban

National League Most Valuable Player Ryan Braun won his appeal of a suspension imposed after he allegedly failed a test for performance-enhancing drugs, the baseball players union announced Thursday.The Milwaukee Brewers slugger, the first Jewish MVP in a half-century, became the first baseball player ever to successfully appeal a positive drug test.“I am very pleased and relieved by today’s decision,” ...

Jewish Services Expand in Sub-Saharan Africa

In 1991, Rabbi Shlomo and Miriam Bentolila arrived in the former Zaire – now the Democratic Republic of the Congo – to direct what is today Chabad-Lubavitch of Central Africa. Headquarters for Jewish communities ranging from 100 to 1,000 strong across a wide swath of the continent, the operation now serves approximately 12 African countries, and over the past 20 ...

Jewish School’s Basketball Game Rescheduling Request Denied

An Orthodox high school in Texas was rejected in its bid to have the state basketball semifinals rescheduled to avoid a conflict with Shabbat.In a decision Monday, the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools informed the Robert M. Beren Academy of Houston that semifinal games scheduled for Friday night and Saturday afternoon would not be rescheduled to accommodate the ...

Jewish Ritual Slaughter in Question in France

The Conference of European Rabbis (CER) called on French President Nicolas Sarkozy to uphold the Jewish right of ‘shechita,’ Jewish ritual slaughter, in Europe and to oppose a regulation that would introduce a system of classification that, Rabbis say, “would lead to stigmatization,” the European Jewish Press reported.French Prime Minister Francois Fillon sparked a controversy this month when he said that Jewish ...

Jewish ritual bath found in Baltimore may be oldest in U.S.

Archaeologists peeling back layers of history beneath the historic Lloyd Street Synagogue in East Baltimore have uncovered what is believed to be the oldest Jewish ritual bath complex in the United States.Hints of the presence of the 1845 bath, or “mikveh,” were first detected during excavations in 2001. But further digging this winter has revealed about a quarter of a ...

Jewish Rescue Group Builds Interfaith Cooperation

Leaders of ZAKA, an Israeli medical and rescue organization best known for its work in the aftermath of suicide bombings, has launched a program that seeks to work with Muslim and Christian counterparts on emergency rescues.ZAKA – who signed a declaration of its interfaith program on January 4 in Zichron Yaakov – reasons that because man is created in God’s ...

Jewish Reaction Mixed to Socialist Victory in France

Jewish reaction was mixed to the election of the Socialist Party’s Francois Hollande as the president of France.The European Jewish Congress congratulated Hollande, who was elected Sunday over Nicolas Sarkozy with 51.7 percent of the vote to 48.3 percent for the incumbent.“Our recent meeting with Mr. Hollande was very constructive and touched on many areas of concern to the Jewish ...

Jewish publisher who Suggested Israel kill Obama Resigns

Andrew Adler, the owner and publisher of the Jewish weekly Atlanta Jewish Times announced his resignation on Monday after publishing an op-ed in which he suggested that Israel assassinate US President Barack Obama.Adler decided to step down as editor and handed those authorities to one of his reporters. Meanwhile, CNN reported that the Secret Service has launched an investigation into ...

Jewish Plaintiffs Win Discrimination Suit Against California Hotel

The Hotel Shangri-La in Santa Monica and its owner illegally discriminated against a group of young Jews, a jury in a California Superior Court found on Aug. 15.The verdict in this closely watched case was read late Wednesday afternoon, at the end of the fifth full day of deliberation by the jury. The jury found that the hotel and its ...

Jewish photographer’s work debuts at Islamic center near Ground Zero

On a wet afternoon in Lower Manhattan, an elderly man in a rain-drenched tweed coat strolled into the photo gallery at America’s most famous Islamic cultural center, dubbed the “Ground Zero Mosque” by its critics, and perused the portraits of New York children from 169 of the world’s 193 countries.Danny Goldfield, the unassuming photographer behind the exhibit, stood to introduce ...

Jewish philanthropists help people with disabilities

A new initiative aimed at uniting philanthropic efforts to improve the treatment of people with disabilities in the Jewish community and to raise awareness of their needs was announced Friday by the Jewish Funders Network (JFN), an international umbrella organization for Jewish philanthropy.Some 13 Jewish foundations, including the Ted Arison Family Foundation in Israel, the Jewish Federations of North America, ...