By Symi Rom-Rymer This year’s Oscars brought us some surprises (Sandra Bullock), some truly painful dance sequences (I’m looking at you Adam Shankman), and some deserving winners (The Hurt Locker). It also proved, once again, that Hollywood wouldn’t be funny without the Jews. From a running gag...
By Sarah Breger MILLIONS OF CATHOLICS ARE OF JEWISH ANCESTRY Steve Jones of the UK Telegraph examines the complex issues of religious identity and DNA, finding that "Y chromosomes reveal much leakage across the religious divide. A fifth of all the male lineages of modern Spain are...
By Sarah Breger A few weeks ago a woman's title, but not her duties, changed. Maharat Sara Hurwitz, a member of the religious leadership at a modern Orthodox synagogue in Riverdale became Rabba Sara Hurwitz at the same synagogue. This set off a firestorm in...
By Michelle Albert Last May, a 17 year-old girl in Utah paid a man $150 dollars to beat her up—kicking her in the stomach—in the hopes of inducing a miscarriage. The baby survived, and the assailant was sent to jail, reports the New York Times. Now, a...
By Symi Rom-Rymer On International Holocaust Memorial Day (January 27) this year, a report from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) was released outlining the current Holocaust education curriculum in EU secondary schools. The report advocates linking the study of that era with more...
By Michelle Albert Washington, DC has legalized gay marriage. [NYTimes] The Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum is pushing what might be the last call for names of Jews murdered during the Holocaust. [JPost] In Gaza, Hamas has banned male hairdressers from cutting and styling women's hair. The eight male...
By Caroline Kessler So, it's been a little over a week since I've returned from the gathering of the tribe that I previously mentioned: Jewlicious Festival 6.0. I've already written a tiny bit about it, mostly scribbled notes to myself and a blog post on New...
By Michelle Albert Gird your phone lines: The Senate has voted to extend the US Patriot Act for another year. [WashingtonPost] A bill up for vote in the United Kingdom would allow same-sex couples to marry in British synagogues and other places of worship. As it is...
By Symi Rom-Rymer [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpC3JeZl5LA&hl=en_US&fs=1&] Three thin little black books have been creating a firestorm of controversy in Israel recently. No, they have nothing to do sex scandals. Rather, they are publications from Breaking the Silence (BTS), an Israeli human rights group founded by four former Israeli Defense...
By Caroline Kessler Although it's only Monday, I'm already planning for this Friday, February 19. Why? Because that's when I leave, at approximately 5.30 in the morning, for Jewlicious Festival 6.0. Although I can barely speak the slightly cheesy name of this festival, Google has no...
