Other News

JERUSALEM (JTA)—A nearly equal majority of Israelis and Palestinians back a two-state solution, a new poll shows, but the Palestinians’ support is rising. Support among Israelis is at 53 percent, a decline of 2 percentage points since December, and at 52 percent among...

Volunteering isn’t something to put off until you have extra time and money. There are numerous reasons why the returns far outweigh the time invested, especially during lean times. Alene and Ron Kaufman both volunteer at Jewish Family Service. “Everyone has some...

No Jewish home, or even room, is complete without a kosher mezuzah on the door post. That will certainly be the case when the renovation of the Berger-Goldrich Home is completed by next summer. (see article on page 27) By donating a minimum of $1,000 to the Honor or...

(JTA)—American Jewish leaders are calling it a betrayal. They say that 17 months after achieving a historic agreement to provide a non-Orthodox space at Judaism’s holiest prayer site, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reneged in a Cabinet vote Sunday, June 25,...

(JTA)—The Israeli Chief Rabbinate says that its list of foreign rabbis has been misconstrued, and that the list does not imply that those rabbis cannot be trusted to vouch for the Jewish identities of their followers. On Saturday, July 8, JTA reported on a list of...

(JTA)—In February 2015, Sen. Jim Inhofe carried a snowball on to the floor of the Senate to prove global warming did not exist. Everyone knows “it is very, very cold outside,” the Oklahoma Republican said. “Unseasonable.” That, says Al Franken, gave him an idea. “I...

School may be out for summer, but the business of education takes no vacation. While students bask in their break, administrators prepare for a new year of learning, facility crews repair and refresh buildings and grounds, and teachers continue to develop new and...

Congregation Beth El made good use of its sukkah and the Sukkot holiday this year with programming covering a range of interests, ages and celebratory activities. The festivities kicked off with the “First Annual Sukkah Raising,” which was held as part of the opening...

The Tidewater Chapter of the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities held its first meeting of the fiscal year on Sept. 9, 2013 at the Simon Family JCC. Under the leadership of Carolyn Abron-McCadden, who is beginning her third year as chair, members discussed...

Matthew Levitt, author of Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon’s Party of God will speak at The Lee and Bernard Jaffe* Family Jewish Book Festival, in a program partnership with the Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. A...

WASHINGTON (JTA)—The first lawmaker to speak at a closed-door Capitol Hill confab convened by the Republican Jewish Coalition’s women’s affiliate was, naturally enough, a woman. So was the second. Against the background of the current federal budget battle, that’s...

NEW YORK (JTA)—There are a lot more Jews in America than you may have thought—an estimated 6.8 million, according to a new study. But a growing proportion of them are unlikely to raise their children Jewish or connect with Jewish institutions. The proportion of Jews...

Netanyahu warns: If necessary, Israel will stop Iran on its own WASHINGTON (JTA)—Israel is prepared to strike on its own if Iran is poised to obtain a nuclear weapon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the United Nations General Assembly. “Israel will not allow...

Marcel Reich-Ranicki shaped the literary world of the Federal Republic of Germany in the last half century probably like no other public intellectual in German history. An expert of German literature, he became the most articulate critic of the country’s new literary...

The board of directors of American Friends of Tel Aviv University, a donor group that supports Israel’s largest academic institution, Tel Aviv University, recently elected Bonnie Brand to its board. A Tidewater native and lifelong resident, Brand serves on the board...

WASHINGTON (JTA)—Jewish groups called on the Republican candidate for Virginia’s lieutenant governor to explain a sermon in which he said non-Christians are engaged in a “false religion.” E.W. Jackson, a pastor, on Sunday, Sept. 22 preached at the Restoration...

WASHINGTON (JTA)—The good news for Israel in President Obama’s speech at the United Nations was his insistence that any steps Iran might take to solve the standoff over its nuclear program must be transparent and verifiable. The bad news was that Obama wasn’t clear...

DERBENT, Russia (JTA)—Accustomed to the sound of gunfire at night, neighbors of Rabbi Ovadia Isakov were not particularly startled when a shot rang out on Pushkin Street on July 25. But unlike the volleys that partygoers often fire heavenward in this lawless corner of...