LOCAL NEWS

Amy Spitalnick visits Cincinnati as first scholar- …

By Melissa W. Hunter Assistant Editor On Thursday, September 7, the JCRC of Cincinnati...

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Prominent Jewish books cited in copyright lawsuit against AI companies

Sep 28, 2023

Prominent Jewish books cited in copyright lawsuit …

(JNS) — Michael Chabon’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2000 novel “The Amazing Adventures of...

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Gazan with knives arrested in Tel Aviv, in second such incident in as many days

Sep 28, 2023

Gazan with knives arrested in Tel Aviv, in second …

(JNS) — A Palestinian resident of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip was arrested in Tel Aviv on Thursday...

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LOCAL NEWS

Local News

Amy Spitalnick visits Cincinnati as first scholar- …

Maccabi Games Encourage Competition and Connections for Team Cincinnati

Maccabi Games Encourage Competition and Connection …

Submitted by The Mayerson JCC Jewish teens from all over the world entered the FLA Live Arena in Fort Lauderdale in August. Colorful lights flashed around them, loud music hyped up the entire arena, and teens cheered from all corners — probably the...

Simchat Torah on the Seven Seas

Submitted by Congregation Etz Chaim Congregation Etz Chaim is known for doing Simchat Torah a little differently. Yes, of course we sing, dance and read from the Torah, but we also theme the evening and have shtick and food to correspond with each...

Yeshivas Lubavitch Cincinnati celebrates 18 years with alumni hakhel

Yeshivas Lubavitch Cincinnati celebrates 18 years …

Submitted by Yeshivas Lubavitch Cincinnati Yeshivas Lubavitch Cincinnati, under the leadership of Rabbi Gershon Avtzon, has begun their 18th year of stellar chinuch (education). To celebrate this special occasion, the Yeshiva arranged — through a...

Rockdale Temple to kick off bicentennial year on September 30

Rockdale Temple to kick off bicentennial year on S …

Submitted by Rockdale Temple K.K. Bene Israel/Rockdale Temple will begin its Bicentennial year on Saturday, September 30 at Tikkun Farm. The opening event will include tours of the farm, the opportunity to decorate and dedicate a pergola...

Giving With Your Heart First: Interview with Three Generations of Kravetz Women

Giving With Your Heart First: Interview with Three …

Submitted by The Jewish Federation of Cincinnati. Interview by David Harris, Chief Development Officer, Jewish Federation of Cincinnati I invited four of the Kravetz family women for an interview about who their family is in relation to their...

Approaching National Suicide Prevention Week, Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati shares how it addresses mental health

Approaching National Suicide Prevention Week, Jewi …

Submitted by The Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati Over the coming weeks, in addition to celebrating the High Holidays, we also have the opportunity to mark National Suicide Prevention Week, September 10-16. This observance, sadly, is...

‘The J is Thriving:’ Leaders Discuss Broad Impact of JCC at Annual Meeting

‘The J is Thriving:’ Leaders Discuss Broad Imp …

Submitted by The Mayerson JCC Another day at the Mayerson JCC is coming to a close. Parents pick up their children from After Crew after an exciting afternoon of swimming, playing games, and creating artistic masterpieces. Others are...

E. Randol Schoenberg to give lecture, film screeni …

E. Randol Schoenberg will present the first lecture in the Nancy & David Wolf Lectureship on his work retrieving Klimt’s “Golden Lady” painting, among others, after a protracted legal battle with the Austrian government. The lecture is hosted...

“Praying with our Feet”

Submitted by Congregation Etz Chaim During the height of the Civil Rights era, Dr. Martin Luther King led a march from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, Alabama. One of the people who participated in that march was Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. When...

Fall Market held at Mayerson JCC

By Melissa Hunter Assistant Editor On Sunday, September 10, the parking lot of the Mayerson JCC was transformed into an outdoor market for their 2023 Fall Market. More than 50 vendors set up booths offering everything from...

JCGC, Cincinnati Judaica Fund dedicate “Foundations of Our Future” installation at Loveland Cemetery

JCGC, Cincinnati Judaica Fund dedicate “Foundati …

By Julia Olson Assistant Editor On Sunday, September 10, at Loveland Cemetery, Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Judaica Fund dedicated a new installation of rescued historical plaques that represent hundreds of years of...

JCRC condemns West Chester Tea Party’s antisemit …

Submitted by JCRC Recently, the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati’s Jewish Community Relations Council learned that — on September 5 — the West Chester Tea Party hosted a speaker who disseminated numerous extreme antisemitic conspiracy theories. The...

Responding to the Mental Health Crisis: A Call to …

Submitted by Jewish Family Service Over the past three decades, Leah Marcus, Director of Youth Mental Health Services at Jewish Family Service (JFS), has lost ten high school classmates to suicide or overdose. These tragic deaths underscore a...

A more colorful world: Siona Benjamin’s art brings diversity to the J

A more colorful world: Siona Benjamin’s art brin …

Submitted by the JCC What color are you? Indian American Jewish artist Siona Benjamin poses that question to the Cincinnati Jewish community as she takes on an artist residency at the Mayerson JCC this September. Benjamin is excited to bring...

Bee Happy! Bee Healthy!

Submitted by Congregation Etz Chaim Synagogue Shannah Tovah to You, Me and the Bee. Congregation Etz Chaim is pleased to present a four part year long program on Bees, Eco-Judaism, Urban Farming, and Conservationism. On Rosh Hashanah we say, “Dip...

Cincinnati’s Sephardic Beth Shalom Synagogue Remembered

Cincinnati’s Sephardic Beth Shalom Synagogue Rem …

Submitted by Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Cincinnati After the first Jew, Joseph Jonas, arrived in Cincinnati in 1817, Jews from many lands and ethnicities migrated to Cincinnati. Most of them were Ashkenazic Jews from Europe, but beginning in...

Judaism, Veterans and New Pre-Rosh Hashanah Tradit …

Submitted by Congregation Etz Chaim Synagogue Join Congregation Etz Chaim as we welcome and prepare for 5784, the New Jewish New Year with a New tradition. On Tuesday Night, September 12, we will be traveling as a synagogue caravan from our...

Leo Harold Munick

Leo Harold Munick, age 92, passed away peacefully surrounded by family at his home in Wyoming, Ohio on August 21, 2023. Born on June 29, 1931, in Malden, Massachusetts, Leo’s passion for life and spirited determination were characteristics...

New memorial honors forgotten generosity via “re …

Submitted by Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Cincinnati JCGC is a unique burial organization and a national model, performing burials for all denominations and overseeing 23 diverse Jewish cemeteries in our area. The oldest of them, Chestnut Street...

NATIONAL

National

Prominent Jewish books cited in copyright lawsuit …

(JNS) — Michael Chabon’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2000 novel “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay,” which describes two Jewish cousins’ collaboration on comic books, is at the center of a lawsuit filed on Sept. 8 against OpenAI,...

A California county calls off ‘American Christian Heritage Month’ after fierce backlash

A California county calls off ‘American Christia …

(J. Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) — Two months after proclaiming that July would henceforth be known locally as “American Christian Heritage Month,” the board of supervisors in El Dorado County, California has reversed course....

Genesis Prize CEO Stan Polovets accused of drugging and sexually assaulting woman

Genesis Prize CEO Stan Polovets accused of druggin …

(JTA) – Stan Polovets, an oil industry executive who used his wealth and connections to help establish one of the most prestigious awards in the Jewish world, has been accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman he took out on a date. The...

Texas teacher reportedly fired after reading from Anne Frank’s diary to students

Texas teacher reportedly fired after reading from …

(JTA) – A middle school teacher in a district outside Houston, Texas, has been fired reportedly for reading a sexual passage from Anne Frank’s diary out loud to eighth-grade students, the district told local news. The passage came from a...

California ethnic-studies faculty label Jews ‘highly funded lobby groups’

California ethnic-studies faculty label Jews ‘hi …

(JNS) — A faculty group contacted California Gov. Gavin Newsom to air its grievances in response to efforts by Jewish and other organizations to remove antisemitism from proposed public-school curriculums. The Sept. 8 letter from the...

Biden and Netanyahu meet for the first time this year, signaling friendship amid disagreements

Biden and Netanyahu meet for the first time this y …

(JTA) — After months of icy relations, President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met face to face for the first time since Netanyahu’s return to office late last year — with both appearing eager to convey that the...

At least 49 synagogues have been evacuated due to bomb threats in the last 2 months. Next up, the High Holidays.

At least 49 synagogues have been evacuated due to …

(JTA) — At least two more synagogues in the United States evacuated their congregants over the weekend following bomb threats, the latest in a series of such calls that have put dozens of congregations on high alert heading into the High...

NJ court rules in favor of woman who used social media to lobby for Jewish divorce

NJ court rules in favor of woman who used social m …

(JTA) — Advocates for Jewish women who say their estranged husbands are abusing them by refusing to assent to a religious divorce are cheering after a New Jersey appellate court overturned a ruling against a woman in that state who used...

House bill amasses bipartisan consensus to continue Iran sanctions

House bill amasses bipartisan consensus to continu …

(JNS) — Three measures opposing violence and human-rights abuses perpetrated by the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism passed in the U.S. House of Representatives. On Tuesday, the Combat Rampant Iranian Missile Exports (Fight CRIME) Act...

Ramaswamy defends New Hampshire co-chair’s right to call Israel ‘apartheid’

Ramaswamy defends New Hampshire co-chair’s right …

(JNS) — Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is defending the co-chair of his campaign in New Hampshire, who posted that “Israel is an apartheid state.” “This is such a dumb game the media and shallow career politicians play,”...

At Rosh Hashanah reception, Doug Emhoff and Kamala Harris talk about putting antisemitism plan ‘into action’

At Rosh Hashanah reception, Doug Emhoff and Kamala …

(JTA) — A Rosh Hashanah celebration at Vice President Kamala Harris’s official residence was a celebration of American Jewish success that included a reminder of the threats Jews still face. Douglas Emhoff, the second gentleman, began by...

University of Pennsylvania buys medieval Hebrew manuscript collection

University of Pennsylvania buys medieval Hebrew ma …

(JNS) — A leaf (folio) from a Hebrew manuscript of Psalms, which dates to early 10th-century Syria, or maybe Israel. An Esther scroll written on deerskin, likely from 18th-century Iran. A fragment from a 14th-century Spanish Bible that...

High Holiday services are set to return this year — with a new eternal flame — to a Texas synagogue damaged in a 2021 arson

High Holiday services are set to return this year …

(JTA) — A portion of the stained glass that survived the 2021 arson of an Austin, Texas synagogue has been rebuilt into a three-dimensional eternal flame that will be installed in the social hall of the synagogue’s building next week. While the...

A Florida JCC canceled a slavery-focused talk with a Jewish author, citing ‘the current political climate’

A Florida JCC canceled a slavery-focused talk with …

(JTA) — A South Florida Jewish community center has landed in the middle of the state’s culture wars after canceling a talk by an author whose novel focuses on race in America. The Mandel JCC in West Palm Beach had booked Jewish author...

ADL CEO: Elon Musk is a ‘great innovator’ who engages with ‘users who are espousing antisemitism and hate’

ADL CEO: Elon Musk is a ‘great innovator’ who …

(JTA)— Days after Elon Musk threatened to sue the Anti-Defamation League for billions of dollars and amplified a hashtag spread by white supremacists, the ADL’s CEO praised Musk’s business acumen but called his behavior “frustrating” and...

Biden nominates Jack Lew as next US ambassador to Israel

Biden nominates Jack Lew as next US ambassador to …

(JNS) — U.S. President Joe Biden nominated Jacob (“Jack”) Lew on Tuesday to serve as U.S. ambassador to Israel. Washington insiders told JNS last month that Lew, who was seen as a frontrunner to replace Thomas Nides in the position, knows his way...

Vivek Ramaswamy is guest of a podcaster who said Jews ‘own almost everything’

Vivek Ramaswamy is guest of a podcaster who said J …

(JTA) — Vivek Ramaswamy appeared on the podcast of an influencer known for his broadsides against the Jews, including accusing them of owning “almost everything,” in the upstart Republican presidential candidate’s latest dustup involving...

Man who killed 3 Black shoppers in Jacksonville carried a swastika-decorated gun

Man who killed 3 Black shoppers in Jacksonville ca …

(JTA) — The man who killed three Black shoppers at a Florida Dollar General on Saturday carried a gun that had a swastika on it, according to police in Jacksonville. The shooter, who died by suicide inside the store, left behind multiple...

California Jewish groups, on guard against antisemitism, welcome state’s mandate that ethnic studies classes avoid ‘bigotry’

California Jewish groups, on guard against antisem …

(JTA) — California Jewish groups applauded a letter from the state’s education board saying that high school courses meeting an ethnic studies mandate must avoid “bias, bigotry, or discrimination against any person or group of persons.” The...

NY congregation can evict tenants of historic Touro Synagogue, Rhode Island judge rules

NY congregation can evict tenants of historic Tour …

(JTA) — A Rhode Island judge has ruled in favor of a historic New York City synagogue that is seeking to remove the leadership of the congregation that meets at another historic synagogue building — Newport’s famed Touro Synagogue. The...

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INTERNATIONAL

International

Germany bans neo-Nazi group to send ‘signal against racism and antisemitism’

Germany bans neo-Nazi group to send ‘signal agai …

(JTA) — Germany has banned a neo-Nazi group after raiding the homes of its leaders across the country, in a move the government said “sends a clear signal against racism and antisemitism.” The Hammerskins, a local spinoff of a group founded...

Medieval German synagogue added to UNESCO World Heritage list

Medieval German synagogue added to UNESCO World He …

(JTA) — A United Nations committee designated a group of medieval Jewish buildings in Erfurt, Germany, as a World Heritage Site on Sunday. UNESCO, the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, also gave the World Heritage...

Newly discovered letter shows Pope Pius XII likely knew about Nazi death camps

Newly discovered letter shows Pope Pius XII likely …

(JTA) — A newly uncovered letter provides the strongest evidence yet that Pope Pius XII knew about the Nazi extermination of the Jews as it was happening, the latest in a series of recent discoveries that have transformed the debate over the...

Final investigation into prominent German Reform rabbi affirms abuse of power allegations

Final investigation into prominent German Reform r …

(JTA) — A long-awaited final report has arrived in the investigation of a leading German Reform rabbi and his partner after allegations of abuse of power and sexual harassment against them erupted last year. Clocking in at 806 pages, the...

Claudia Sheinbaum is on track to become Mexico’s first Jewish and woman president

Claudia Sheinbaum is on track to become Mexico’s …

(JTA) — The way things stand now, Mexico is headed to elect its first woman president next year. The two leading candidates in the polls for the 2024 election are Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico City’s former mayor, and Xóchitl Gálvez, a senator...

EU, Arab states launch effort to reinvigorate Israeli-Palestinian peace

EU, Arab states launch effort to reinvigorate Isra …

(JNS) — Over 40 countries and delegations joined a high-level meeting at the United Nations on Monday aimed at injecting new life into moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. The meeting, dubbed a “Peace Day Effort,” was the initiative of...

Tens of thousands of Jews flock to Uman for Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage despite another year of wartime warnings

Tens of thousands of Jews flock to Uman for Rosh H …

(JTA) — The U.S., Israeli and Ukrainian governments have all called it an extremely dangerous voyage into the heart of an ongoing war. But despite the warnings, tens of thousands of Jewish men and boys are expected to travel to Uman, Ukraine, for...

How roving rabbis help the few Jews of rural Australia celebrate Rosh Hashanah

How roving rabbis help the few Jews of rural Austr …

(JTA) — Ruth Hannah has lived in the Australian coastal town of Mallacoota for more than 30 years. The 72-year-old daughter of Holocaust survivors knows of only one other Jewish person in her town, which has a population of 1,183 people. Known for...

A Talmudic tale gets a 12th-century Chinese twist in children’s book aimed at diverse Jewish readers

A Talmudic tale gets a 12th-century Chinese twist …

(JTA) — Rabbi Akiva’s daughter was destined for death on her wedding day, at least according to the star-gazers. So the early Jewish sage seemed resigned to his daughter’s fate. But on the wedding day, Rabbi Akiva’s daughter offered a poor...

Ireland’s first kosher restaurant in decades attracts local Jews and non-Jewish celebrities

Ireland’s first kosher restaurant in decades att …

(JTA) — The first kosher delicatessen to open in Ireland in over half a century is proving a surprise hit among Dubliners since it opened its doors in March — and not only among Jews. Located in the southern part of the city, Deli 613 has been...

Toronto event to focus on countering antisemitism at Canadian schools

Toronto event to focus on countering antisemitism …

(JNS) — Canada recognized the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism in 2019, and Ontario adopted it in 2020. However, many school boards in the province have opted not to adopt the definition. “They have...

Hundreds flock to London for global Jewish genealogy conference

Hundreds flock to London for global Jewish genealo …

(JNS) — Through meticulous research, Leigh Dworkin helped his cousin Stacey identify people in family photographs she owned. Now the two meet regularly in London, where he lives, and New Jersey, where she lives, during meetings of the...

Libyan foreign minister is fired and flees to Turkey after meeting her Israeli counterpart

Libyan foreign minister is fired and flees to Turk …

(JTA) — Libyan Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush has been fired and has fled to Turkey following a meeting last week with Israel’s foreign minister, Eli Cohen. Libya and Israel do not have diplomatic relations, and when he first announced the...

How Jews are joining the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington on Shabbat

International, National

How Jews are joining the 60th anniversary of the M …

(JTA) — Six decades ago, shortly before Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Rabbi Joachim Prinz called for racial equality in an address that began with the words, “I...

Austria’s plans for Hitler’s birth house stir controversy

Austria’s plans for Hitler’s birth house stir …

(JTA) — Plans to turn Hitler’s birth house into a police station have turned a small Austrian town upside down. The local administration of Branau announced Monday its concrete plans to put the building to practical use, promising to house a...

Jewish resistance hero identified 80 years after execution by Nazis

Jewish resistance hero identified 80 years after e …

(JNS) — Dutch forensic investigators have identified the remains of a man executed by the Nazis in the Netherlands eight decades ago as that of a Jewish resistance hero after locating a cousin in Australia, investigators said on Wednesday....

A medieval massacre nearly wiped out the Jews of York, England. New research shows how the community recovered.

A medieval massacre nearly wiped out the Jews of Y …

(JTA) — Earlier this month, the small Jewish community in the British city of York celebrated the arrival of a new rabbi, its first since the city’s Jewish community was nearly wiped out in a pogrom in 1190. Or so they thought. Just weeks...

Top European human-rights judge exposed as a Jew-hater

Top European human-rights judge exposed as a Jew-h …

(JNS) — The European Court of Human Rights, which has jurisdiction over more than 46 countries and whose rulings are legally binding on all 27 member states of the European Union, is facing calls to re-examine cases involving Jews after its...

Russian court extends pretrial detention of Jewish journalist Evan Gershkovich until November

Russian court extends pretrial detention of Jewish …

(JTA) — A Russian court has extended the pretrial detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich for another three months. In a hearing on Thursday at Lefortovo District Court that was closed to press, a judge ordered Gershkovich to...

Windows shattered at headquarters of Holocaust memorial site foundation in Germany

Windows shattered at headquarters of Holocaust mem …

(JTA) — Police are seeking witnesses to a violent act of vandalism early Tuesday morning that destroyed windows at the headquarters of a foundation that manages multiple Holocaust memorial sites. The Foundation for Memorial Sites in Lower...

ISRAEL

Israel

Gazan with knives arrested in Tel Aviv, in second …

(JNS) — A Palestinian resident of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip was arrested in Tel Aviv on Thursday in possession of two knives, in the second such incident in as many days. The 60-year-old suspect was detained after security guards at the Central...

Israel unveils AI-powered main battle tank

(JNS) — The Israel Defense Forces and Defense Ministry on Tuesday revealed for the first time its new main battle tank, equipped with advanced sensors and artificial intelligence capabilities. Nicknamed “Barak” (“Lightning” in Hebrew), the...

Left-wing protesters attack, pursue rabbi on Tel Aviv streets

Left-wing protesters attack, pursue rabbi on Tel A …

(JNS) — Rabbi Yigal Levenstein, one of the heads of a military preparatory academy in the town of Eli in Samaria, required police protection after he was attacked and chased in Tel Aviv by irate protesters on Tuesday night. In footage of the...

Israeli injured in ramming attack at Qalandiya cro …

(JNS) — An Israeli was lightly wounded in a car-ramming attack at the Qalandiya crossing between Jerusalem and Ramallah on Thursday. Magen David Adom emergency medical personnel treated the victim, a civilian security guard in his 30s, for injuries...

Archeologists uncover ancient stone workshop outside Jerusalem

Archeologists uncover ancient stone workshop outsi …

(JNS) — Israeli archeologists have discovered an ancient workshop for the manufacture of stone utensils just outside Jerusalem, the Civil Administration’s Archaeology Unit announced on Monday. The workshop, which experts said dates back to the...

(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and António Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations, met on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday in New York City. The Israeli leader stressed Iran’s role in...

Land Authority approves ’unprecedented’ discounts on Negev, Galilee plots

Land Authority approves ’unprecedented’ discou …

(JNS) — The Israel Land Authority, which manages the country’s public lands, on Wednesday approved “unprecedented” discounts on residential land in the Negev and Galilee, the first step in a government plan to settle the sparsely populated regions....

Nearly 50,000 Jews ascended the Temple Mount in 5783

Nearly 50,000 Jews ascended the Temple Mount in 57 …

(JNS) — Nearly 50,000 Jews ascended the Temple Mount in Jerusalem during the Hebrew year 5783, according to the Beyadenu movement, a Temple Mount activist group that monitors Jewish visits to Judaism’s holiest site. A total of 49,000 Jews...

Blinken: Israel-Saudi deal ‘cannot be a substitu …

(JNS) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia could not come at the expense of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Speaking on the “Pod Save the...

Rothman to High Court: No right to interfere in legislative process

Rothman to High Court: No right to interfere in le …

(JNS) — A tense exchange took place between Israel’s High Court of Justice and member of Knesset Simcha Rothman during Tuesday’s hearing on the “reasonableness law” as the latter told the court it had no right to intervene in the law, and...

Israeli researchers create synthetic embryos from …

(JNS) — Scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science have successfully created complete synthetic models of human embryos using laboratory-grown stem cells, according to an official release from the Institute. The synthetic embryos were...

Border policeman wounded during Judea arrest raid

Border policeman wounded during Judea arrest raid

(JNS) — An Israeli Border Police officer was wounded during a counterterrorism operation in Judea early Thursday, the IDF said. The policeman was transported to a hospital after suffering light injuries while conducting an arrest raid in the...

Hackers publish Israeli hospital records after cyb …

(JNS) — A ransomware hacker group on Wednesday published patient data stolen from Israel’s Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Center. The “Ragnar Locker” group followed through on a threat to release the sensitive information gathered in the...

Rothman’s request to remove Hayut from ‘reasonableness’ case denied

Rothman’s request to remove Hayut from ‘reason …

(JNS) — Israel’s High Court of Justice on Thursday rejected a request to recuse Court President Esther Hayut from hearing petitions against the “reasonableness” law. Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee Chairman Simcha Rothman on Monday...

US diplomat: Normalization with Israel a clear Sau …

(JNS) — A peace deal with Israel is a clear Saudi interest and will likely lead to further accords with additional Muslim countries, the acting American ambassador to Israel said Thursday. The remarks by Stephanie Hallett, the chargé d’affaires at...

Jerusalem archaeologists uncover large Second Temple-era aqueduct

Jerusalem archaeologists uncover large Second Temp …

(JNS) — Archaeologists in Jerusalem have discovered a 300-meter (985-foot) portion of a Second Temple-era aqueduct, the longest such continuous stretch ever found in Israel’s capital, the Israeli Antiquities Authority announced on Monday....

Israel’s Health Ministry bars swimming at three …

(JNS) — Israel’s Health Ministry on Tuesday banned swimming at three beaches, including two in Tel Aviv, until further notice after water quality tests yielded abnormal results. The ban applies to the Nordau and Hilton beaches in the...

Hebrew U. pushing scholarships to Palestinians in ‘occupied territories’

Hebrew U. pushing scholarships to Palestinians in …

(JNS) — An official document from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem urges Palestinians from “the occupied territories” to apply to the Yad Hanadiv doctoral scholarship program. The scholarships, in the sum of 8,000 shekels (about $2,100)...

Israelis arrive home after emergency stop in Saudi …

(JNS) — The 128 Israelis whose flight from the Seychelles was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Monday night arrived at Ben-Gurion Airport on Tuesday afternoon. They spent Monday night at an airport hotel in the Red Sea...

Lapid to meet US officials in DC as Netanyahu visit still up in the air

Lapid to meet US officials in DC as Netanyahu visi …

(JNS) — Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) will travel to the United States next week for high-level meetings in Washington, his office said on Tuesday. Lapid will meet with senior officials at the White House and the State...

COLUMNISTS

Columnists

The MLB has more Jewish players than ever — but none of them faced a Yom Kippur dilemma this year

The MLB has more Jewish players than ever — but …

(JTA) — For Jews and baseball fans, [last weekend] was one of the most important weekends of the year. Yom Kippur, Judaism’s holiest day, began Sunday evening. That day also kicked off the final week of the MLB regular season, when the fight...

Trite is right

I am returning home from a three-day family vacation in New England with four of my five sons and their families. It was a great get-away: beach time, pool time, sumptuous sweets like whoopie pie and apple cider donuts, coupled with lots of Moscow...

Iran banned a weightlifter for life after he took a photo with an Israeli opponent

Iran banned a weightlifter for life after he took …

(JTA) — Iran’s weightlifting federation banned one of its athletes for life after he shook hands and posed for a photo with an Israeli athlete at an international competition in Poland. Mostafa Rajaei finished second in his category at the...

Two recent books with Cincinnati ties

This first book is a new edition of a guidebook to all things Cincinnati. “100 Things To Do In Cincinnati Before You Die,” by Rick Pender After three years of canceled events and closed venues, more of our favorite activities are happening again....

Turning 76

I just turned 76 years old. Constantly adjusting to the aging process can be an energy sucker: Clutching the bannister when going down the stairs — no more bounding up and down effortlessly. Ditto for getting out of bed. The operative word...

“Shelf Life” explores Jewish life in the world of high fashion

“Shelf Life” explores Jewish life in the world …

"Shelf Life" by Martin Sneider The lucrative world of high fashion women’s shoes is the setting for this Jewish family saga. Max Feldman is the patriarch of the family and the owner of the Fratelli Massimo luxury shoe store chain. Though...

I really did think I was alone

I really feel alone. I think most of my contemporaries are kicking back their feet: Leisurely going through their days. Taking an exercise class. Traveling to Israel. Lunching with their tribe. Doing something totally frivolous at whim. And here I...

An in depth examination of the women of the Rothsc …

“The Women of Rothschild,” by Natalie Livingstone Several clichés may come to mind when thinking about the Rothschilds — the epitome of wealth and power, a banking dynasty, and at one time, the richest family on earth. Yet we would relate almost...

Italy

I just got back from spending seven days in Italy. My bank of miles allowed me to travel free to Europe in Premium Economy. (You get “special amenities” and your seat is right behind First Class or Business.) I paid for my trip back to the United...

Rising football star Harry Sheezel could be ‘greatest ever male Jewish athlete in Australia’

Rising football star Harry Sheezel could be ‘gre …

(JTA) — Jews in Australia have seen their community prosper in many areas, from business to the arts to the highest levels of government. But there is one arena that Aussie Jews have not featured prominently in: Australia’s biggest sport,...

Nesher discusses the history of casting lots

Casting Lots : Ancient Hebrew Divination Magic, by Elisheva Nesher Depending which translations and scholars you consult, casting of lots is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible between 40 and 50 times. A few of those references are Joshua 7:14, where a...

Palestinian flag causes tension at Israel’s first U-20 World Cup game

Palestinian flag causes tension at Israel’s firs …

(JTA) — Around 4,000 Jewish Argentines showed up to cheer on Israel at their first appearance in a FIFA World Cup tournament in over 50 years, at times chanting songs in Spanish. But their festive mood changed after a Palestinian flag...

Kibbutz Gezer to the Cincinnati Reds

If you have been to Israel and traveled between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, you likely missed it. If you’re going to Israel and plan on traveling between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, stop at kibbutz Gezer. Why? Because you will be able to see the Israeli...

A Legal Look

A legal look at Ohio’s new law against distracte …

By Michael Ganson Ohio has a new “hands free” law for electronic devices such as cell phone, tablets, etc. that went into effect on April 3, 2023. The new law prohibits the use of all handheld electronic devices while driving. The new law is very...

I hated my mother a lot

By Iris Ruth Pastor Mother’s Day is over, but my intense feelings about my mother follow me as I go through my days. Hence this column. I hated my mother. I hated my mother, especially when I was 13 and she adamantly refused to allow me to shave...

Three Books for Children on Jewish Themes

Three Books for Children on Jewish Themes

By Sheryl Pockrose With all the devices and electronics available, it can be a challenge to get children interested in traditional books on paper. A bedtime story or reading together as a family provides an experience that can’t be replaced by...

Interview with the interviewer

He was a man on a mission. “My first day at Northwestern, I called the office of the student newspaper, The Daily Northwestern. That night, I covered the match between the Northwestern women’s soccer team against DePaul.” Charlie Goldsmith...

Getting Happier As We Age

By Iris Ruth Pastor I never thought it could happen, but it did. Studies show that as people age they get happier. How can this be? We have more health-related issues: High blood pressure Faulty hips and knees begging for replacement ...

Historical fiction novel places Jews in the world of Jane Austen

Historical fiction novel places Jews in the world …

By Sheryl Pockrose The Meyersons of Meryton, by Mirta Ines Trupp Jane Austen’s novel “Pride and Prejudice” is so well-known that there is a genre of historical fiction just for sequels to it written by modern authors. “The Myersons of Meryton” is...

JUDAISM

Judaism

Succot

Efrat, Israel – What is the true symbolism of the succah? The Talmud (B.T. Succah 11b) cites a difference of opinion between Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Eliezer as to whether the succah commemorates the actual huts in which the Israelites dwelt in...

Parshat Haazinu — Deuteronomy 32:1- 32:52

Parshat Haazinu — Deuteronomy 32:1- 32:52

Efrat, Israel – “Remember the days of yore, understand the years (shenot) of each generation.” Deuteronomy 32:7 Are we commanded to study world history? Certainly, I would say, on the basis of the simple meaning of the verse cited at the head of...

Rosh Hashanah

Efrat, Israel – “And [Nehemia] said to them, ‘Go, eat delicious foods and drink sweet beverages, and send portions to whoever has nothing prepared, for [Rosh Hashanah] is holy to our Lord. And do not be sad, for the joy of the Lord is your...

Parshat Nitzavim-Vayelech – Deuteronomy 29:9- 31:30

Parshat Nitzavim-Vayelech - Deuteronomy 29:9- 31:3 …

Efrat, Israel – “For this commandment that I have commanded you today is not concealed from you, nor is it far away.” [Deut. 30:11]. How often it is that we — and people we know — say, “I can’t help it. It’s in my nature to get angry.” Or, perhaps...

Parshat KiTavo – Deuteronomy 26:1 – 29:8

Parshat KiTavo - Deuteronomy 26:1 – 29:8

Efrat, Israel - For I have come to the land which the Lord swore to our forebears to give to us. Deuteronomy 26:3 When the individual Jew brings the first fruits of the Land of Israel to the Holy Temple on the Festival of Shavuot, he...

Parshat Ki Tetze – Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19

Parshat Ki Tetze - Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19

Efrat, Israel – When you go forth to battle…and you see among the captives a beautiful woman and you desire her…. When a man has two wives, one the beloved and the other the hated…. If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son… (Deuteronomy...

Parshat Shoftim — Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9

Parshat Shoftim — Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9

Efrat, Israel – You shall appoint judges…[who] will not pervert justice…. Justice, justice shall you pursue… You shall not plant for yourselves an Asheira [tree used for purposes of idolatry according to Rashi and Ibn Ezra] near the altar of the...

Parshat Re’eh — Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17

Efrat, Israel – “You shall smite, yes smite, all of the inhabitants of that city by the sword…and you shall burn entirely with fire the city and all of it spoils to the Lord your God, and it shall be an everlasting desolation (tel); it shall not be...

Parshat Ekev - Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25

Efrat, Israel – “And now Israel what does the Lord Your G-d ask of you, only to revere the Lord your G-d and to walk in all of His ways, and to love Him and to serve the Lord your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul. To observe the...

Parshat Vaetchanan – Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11

Parshat Vaetchanan - Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11

Efrat, Israel – ‘Comfort you, comfort you, My People’ (Isaiah 40:1) The Shabbat after Tisha B’Av is known as the Shabbat of Comfort, a phrase taken from the first verse of the prophetic reading from Isaiah. Additionally, a most fascinating...

Sedra: Parshat Devarim

Parshat Devarim - Deuteronomy 1:1 - 3:22 Efrat, Israel – “Zion shall be redeemed because of her moral justice and her children shall return to her because of her compassionate righteousness” (Isaiah 1:27). The Shabbat before the bleak day of...

Parshat Matot-Masei — Numbers 30:1-36:13

Parshat Matot-Masei — Numbers 30:1-36:13

Efrat, Israel – This week’s double portion records how the Jews finally cross the Jordan River on their way to conquer the Promised Land. The tribes of Gad, Reuven and half the tribe of Menashe possess a great multitude of cattle, and “paradise”...

Parshat Pinchas — Numbers 25:10-30:1

Efrat, Israel – Fanaticism, particularly when garbed in the clothing of myopic fundamentalism, rarely evokes in us a sympathetic bent. How could it, given its association with an uncontrollable zeal and violence for the sake of heaven? But...

Sedra: Parshat Chukat Balak — Numbers 19:1- 25:9

Efrat, Israel – “I see it but not now; I look at it, but it is not near. A star has stepped forth from Jacob and a scepter-bearer has risen from Israel; [Israel] will pierce and vanquish the nobles of Moab….” [Num. 24:17]. The interaction of Jew...

Parashat Korah — Numbers 16:1 – 18:32

Efrat, Israel – “And Korah, the son of Yitzhar, the son of Kehat, the son of Levi took Datan and Aviram, the sons of Eliav… and they rose up in confrontation before Moses…” (Numbers 16:1, 2) “And Korah, the son of Yitzhar, the son of Kehat, the son...

Parshat Shelach - Numbers 13:1-15:41

Efrat, Israel – “And the Lord spoke to Moses saying ‘send forth for yourself men to explore the land of Canaan…” (Num. 13:1-2) The great sin of humanity was Adam’s disregard of G_d’s command not to eat the fruit of knowledge; the great sin of...

Parshat Beha’alotcha — Numbers 8:1 - 12:16

Efrat, Israel – “The nation was ‘kvetching’ evilly in the ears of the Lord, and the Lord heard, and His anger inflamed.” (Num. 11:1) Why is there a marked difference between God’s reaction to the complaints recorded here in the Book of Numbers...

Sedra, Judaism

Parshat Naso - Numbers 4:21-7:89

Efrat, Israel - Few passages in the Bible are as well known as the Priestly Benediction. In Israel, the kohanim (priests) rise to bless the congregation every morning, while in the Diaspora Ashkenazi Jews are permitted to include this special...

Shavuot

Efrat, Israel – Our calendar moves from the spring festivals of Passover and Shavuot to the fall festivals of universal redemption and plenty, a journey in time that parallels a journey in space, from the barren desert to the land of milk...

Parashat Bamidbar

Numbers 1:1- 4:20 Efrat, Israel – “Count the heads of the entire witness-congregation of Israel” (Numbers 1:2) The Book of Numbers opens with a most optimistic picture of a nation poised for redemption. The Israelites have been freed from Egypt...

OBITUARIES

Obituaries

Henry Perry Mentle

Henry Perry Mentle died on September 3, 2023 in Boca Raton, Florida. Henry was born in 1949 to Edith and Philip Mentle and grew up in Bronx, NY. He was a die-hard Yankees fan and grew up near Yankee Stadium. Henry studied Aerospace Engineering at...

Violet Spevack, weekly chronicler of Cleveland Jewry for 50 years, dies at 107

Violet Spevack, weekly chronicler of Cleveland Jew …

(Cleveland Jewish News via JTA) — Violet Spevack, whose popular society column ran in the pages of the Cleveland Jewish News for nearly 50 years, died Sept. 7. She was 107. Spevack, who started writing “Cavalcade” on March 5, 1965 — six months...

Minette Hoffheimer (née Goldsmith)

HOFFHEIMER, Minette G., age 96, passed away on September 7, 2023, beloved wife of the late Arthur Hoffheimer Jr., devoted mother of Craig (Debra) Hoffheimer, Roger Hoffheimer (Steve Mei), James (Karen) Hoffheimer and Mark Hoffheimer, loving...

Claire Golomb, Holocaust survivor and scholar of children’s art and dreams, dies at 95

Claire Golomb, Holocaust survivor and scholar of c …

(JTA) — Claire Golomb was 10 years old and living in Frankfurt, Germany when, early one morning, there was a loud knock at the door. Nazis had come to take her father away. She, her mother and her older sister soon fled to Holland, where...

Stewart L. Horn

Stewart L. Horn, 87, of Cincinnati, Ohio, passed away on August 18, 2023. He is survived by his sons Bradley (Heather) and Douglas (Jennifer) Horn, and his grandsons Dylon and James. He is also survived by his brother Jerry (Dee) and his...

Shelley Ingber

With sadness, the family of Shelley Sandra Ingber (née Nadler) announces her passing on August 14, 2023, in her home in Montreal, Canada. Beloved mother to Avital Ingber, Dorit (Michael) Corwin, Tamar Ingber (Avi Starr Glass), and Arielle...

Cantor Philip Sherman, the ‘busiest mohel in New York,’ dies at 67

Cantor Philip Sherman, the ‘busiest mohel in New …

(JTA) — Cantor Philip Sherman’s biggest audience might have been for his role as a judge on the Netflix series “Orange is the New Black.” But his most prominent role was as one of New York’s most in-demand mohels, performing, by his own...

Louise Levy, ‘supercentenarian’ subject of longevity study among Ashkenazi Jews, dies at 112

Louise Levy, ‘supercentenarian’ subject of lon …

(JTA) — Louise Levy, who was the oldest living resident of New York State and a participant in a genetic study of long-living Ashkenazi Jews, died July 17 in Greenwich, Connecticut. She was 112. “Throughout her long life, which spanned two global...

Dugo Leitner, Holocaust survivor whose falafel ritual made him a social media star, dies at 93

Dugo Leitner, Holocaust survivor whose falafel rit …

(JTA) — David Leitner, one of the most famous lovers of falafel in a country full of them, has died at 93 in Israel, the country that became his home after he survived the Holocaust as a young teen. Leitner’s death comes nearly a decade after his...

Paul Reubens, Pee-wee Herman creator and son of a pilot in Israel’s war of independence, is dead at 70

Paul Reubens, Pee-wee Herman creator and son of a …

(JTA) — I was just out of college when I got a freelance assignment from a small entertainment magazine to interview a rising comic named Pee-wee Herman. Of course that wasn’t his real name, but the man-child persona — one part Howdy Doody,...

Journalist and scholar Aharon Ariel, 97, veteran of Israel’s war of independence and ‘walking encyclopedia’

Journalist and scholar Aharon Ariel, 97, veteran o …

(JTA) — “My grandfather was a true son of Jerusalem,” a granddaughter, Tamar Ariel, wrote in a tribute posted shortly after his death. “Born just outside of Jerusalem in the Palestinian Mandate in 1925, the youngest of 6, and raised on King...

Stuart Tobin

Stuart Tobin, 80 of Cincinnati, Ohio passed away on July 4th of Leukemia surrounded by his family. Born on July 6, 1942, Stuart was the oldest child of Bertha and Harry Tobin. Growing up in Cincinnati, Stuart loved playing baseball, the...

Marlena Spieler, globetrotting writer of Jewish cookbooks, dies at 74

Marlena Spieler, globetrotting writer of Jewish co …

(JTA) — In an essay she wrote in June, Marlena Spieler reminisced about her grandfather’s neighborhood in San Francisco in one long, exuberant sentence: It was basically a small shtetl transplanted to San Francisco, with delis redolent of pickle...

Alan Arkin, Jewish actor with uncommon versatility, dies at 89

Alan Arkin, Jewish actor with uncommon versatility …

(JTA) — Alan Arkin knew he was going to be an actor from the age of five. “Every film I saw, every play, every piece of music fed an unquenchable need to turn myself into something other than what I was,” he wrote in his 2011 memoir, “An Improvised...

Sheldon Harnick, the lyricist who made Jewish longing universal in ‘Fiddler on the Roof,’ dies at 99

Sheldon Harnick, the lyricist who made Jewish long …

(JTA) – The moment when Sheldon Harnick realized that his new musical might be something special came when he sang the lyrics he had just composed for a new song: “Sunrise, Sunset.” He was sitting in the basement studio of his friend and...

Rita Harkavy Edlin

Rita Harkavy Edlin, of Atlanta, GA, passed away on June 24, 2023 at the age of 94. Born in Brooklyn, NY and raised in Cincinnati, OH, Rita was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Rita graduated from Walnut Hills High School...

Local, Obituaries

Remembering Jeffrey Ganson Elkus

Jeffrey Ganson Elkus, age 39, passed away June 11, 2023, beloved son of Steve and Nancy Elkus, dear brother of Bradley (Sarah) Elkus, and devoted uncle of Noah Elkus. He is also survived by many loving aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. Services...

Robert Gottlieb, legendary editor who championed Joseph Heller, Robert Caro and Chaim Potok, dies at 92

Robert Gottlieb, legendary editor who championed J …

(JTA) — Robert Gottlieb, the legendary literary editor who shepherded into print and best-sellerdom such 20th-century classics as Joseph Heller’s “Catch-22,” Robert Caro’s “The Power Broker” and Chaim Potok’s “The Chosen,” died Wednesday at age 92....

Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, revered haredi leader in Israel, dies at 100