Friday Is 15th of Av — Jewish Valentine’s Day
Tu B'Av is a rabbinic holiday, and Jews are not prohibited from performing weekday work. We are, however, encouraged to celebrate the day, which is uniquely fortunate for men and women looking for a mate. But the roots of our Tu B'Av joy are quite dark.
Nadler Introduces Legislation to Keep Families Seated Together on Flights
HR 3334, The Families Flying Together Act of 2015, would require the US Department of Transportation to direct airlines to notify passengers traveling with minors if seats are not available together at the initial booking stage, and for each airline to establish a policy to ensure, to the extent practicable, that families are seated together during flights.
Palestinian Baby Killed in Terror Arson Attack, Israeli Police on High Alert
Report: Ohio State Band Songbook Makes Fun of Holocaust Victims
Abbas Reshuffles Unity Govt with Hamas, Claims ISIS Is Already in Gaza
6 Stabbed in Jerusalem ‘Gay Pride’ Parade by Ultra Orthodox Repeat Gay Stabber
Six people were stabbed during a gay pride parade held on Thursday in Jerusalem. Large police forces converged on Keren Hayesod Street, in the affluent neighborhood of Rehavia, in downtown Jerusalem, the marchers were ordered to return to Independence Park, where the parade had begun.
Woody Allen: The Imperfectionist in Work and Life
In a life characterized by controversy in the past twenty years, Woody Allen wants his work to be his last word. Although he insists that being prolific isn’t everything (“James Joyce [did] just a couple of things, but they resonate way beyond anything I’ve ever done or could dream of...
Colorado School District Settles with Jewish Teacher over Promoting Evangelical Christian Ideals
Producer Avi Lerner Spending Way Too Much Time in Court
Munich City Council Upholds Ban on Tiny Holocaust Memorial Bricks
Munich's City Council on Wednesday upheld a decision to ban brass bricks commemorating Jewish victims of the Holocaust on city streets, in response to the city's Jewish community's insistence on repeating this practice.
Jason Segel, Jesse Eisenberg, Team Up in Road Trip Film Tribute to David Foster Wallace
NGO Monitor Poses 10 Questions over Amnesty Report on Israeli ‘War Crimes’
Amnesty’s Gaza Platform has been exposed as having numerous basic factual mistakes – the result of simply copying, without independent verification, allegations from Al Mezan and Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR).
Upcoming ‘Manhattan’ Season Exploring Moral Quandaries on 70th Anniversary of Hiroshima
Although Jewish scientists had been instrumental in the development of the atomic bomb, they also became the most ardent voices in support of nuclear disarmament. Albert Einstein said, "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."
How Do German Kids Feel when They Learn What their Country Did in the War?
Of the 28 answers posted so far, quite a few are retorts demanding to know how American kids feel about annihilating Native Americans and enslaving African Americans, and how British kids feel about destroying Indian culture, etc. There is even a smattering of mild neo-Nazi stuff. But quite a few German posters actually dare meet the challenge posed by the question, and answer honestly and without rancor.
Tel Aviv Ranked Best Startup Ecosystem Outside the US
Compass, a provider of automated reporting and benchmarking software for 34,000 startups and tech companies around the globe, has issued its Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking report, and Tel Aviv, Israel, ranked the world’s number 1 startup ecosystem in Europe, and number 5 Worldwide.
UK Report Cites 44 Violent Anti-Semitic Assaults in First Half of 2015
Knesset Advances ‘Norwegian Law,’ Forced Feeding Law, following Filibuster
Late Wednesday night, the Knesset approved in a third reading the "Norwegian Law" with 64 votes in favor versus 51 opposed. It then passed, well past sunrise, a law legalizing forced feeding prisoners on a hunger strike, with 46 in favor, 40 opposed.
Vatican Exhibition Celebrates John Paul II’s Outreach to Jews
Two Youths Charged with Setting Fire to Church of Loaves and Fish
Yinon Reuveni, 20, of Ofakim, and Yehuda Asraf, 19, of Elad, were indicted Wednesday on charges of setting fire to the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish, a Roman Catholic church located at Tabgha, on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee.
Amnesty International Says Israel Committed War Crimes in Effort to Free Soldier Kidnapped by Hamas
Amnesty International issued a report Wednesday saying there is "strong evidence" the IDF committed war crimes in Gaza in its attempt to release Lt Hadar Goldin, a soldier kidnapped by Hamas last summer, during the Gaza war.
NBA Player Omri Casspi Says Adelson-Funded Israel Trip Not About Politics
While it might seem like a nice off-season vacation shared by Israel's first NBA player, Omri Casspi, forward for the Sacramento Kings, with his teammates, the funding for the Israel trip was generously provided by casino tycoon and Republican super donor Sheldon Adelson, and that has caused some to suspect political motives.
Sex Worker Says Lena Dunham Should Try Prostitution
Sex workers may recognize that celebrities such as Lena Dunham, Meryl Streep, Kate Winslet and Emma Thompson are well-meaning in their opposition to Amnesty International's proposal to decriminalize prostitution, but one woman in the sex industry, who calls herself Jane, says until Dunham steps into her spiked heels and is paid for sex, she can't possibly know what she is talking about.
Brandeis Study: Anti-Semitism on College Campuses Is in the Eye of the Beholder
The study was designed to understand the extent of hostility toward Israel and antisemitism on North American campuses, and to assess the relationship between these trends and Jewish students’ support for and connection to Israel.
Dreinoff Houses Demolished (Updated)
The Yesh Din movement, which originally petitioned the High Court along with the Palestinian who claimed ownership of the land, sought to reject the appeal against demolition outright, on the grounds that the petitioner was seeking to undermine a final judgment of the court.
Mila Kunis & Ashton Kutcher Sue over Paparazzi Shots of Baby Wyatt
What Kunis and Kutcher found particularly invasive was that the pictures were used as a marketing strategy for clothing products. The Mail often gives readers such "hints" and shopping suggestions so they can attempt to copy a celebrity's style.
What Has Chelsea Been Doing Lately? Mostly Netflix
Kosher Hotel to Open in Rio in Time for 2016 Olympics
The Best Western Eretz Copacabana will open its gates to Jewish travelers in the neighborhood of Copacabana in Rio de Janiero, Lubavitch.com reported. The Best Eretz will offer kosher accommodations for Jewish visitors, in time for next year’s Summer Olympics. Copacabana will be one of four Olympic Zones during the...
Donald Trump Defends Huckabee’s ‘Ovens’ Imagery
Trump said he questioned Secretary of State John Kerry's and President Obama's intelligence. "Maybe they're not bright. I've watched Kerry negotiating, and I've said to people, 'Is he bright? Is he an intelligent man? Maybe they're not bright. Maybe there is something wrong with them.'"
Jewish Olympics Kick Off in Berlin
Jonathan Pollard Movie in Development by The Jackal Group
Pollard Paroled, Will Be Released in November
Bernie Sanders May Outrun Hillary Now, But Could Stumble on Super Tuesday
The current Super Tuesday states, which include Texas (with more delegates than most three Super Tuesday states combined), tend to have Democratic voters, such as African Americans and Latinos, who have supported Hillary Clinton.
Michael Bloomberg Pays $26.5 Million for Second London Mansion, But Won’t Run for Mayor
Jon Stewart’s Long Goodbye: Daily Show Audience Q&A
After expressing dismay at Jon Stewart's announcement that he will be leaving the "Daily Show" after over 16 years, his fans have a few questions for America's favorite satirist. And so Jon Stewart opened the floor, or rather, the studio, to questions from the audience before the show this week.
Hebron Police Destroys 3 Tons of Marijuana
Legal Saga of Russian Jewish Goldman Sachs Programmer Not Just a Flash in the Pan
14 IDF Soldiers Abandon Syrian Border Post to Protest a Dismissal
More than 20,000 French Jews Arrived in Israel in Five Years – 200 this Morning
The wave of French immigration to Israel continues: more than 200 French Jews, half of them children, arrived in Israel Tuesday morning, aboard a special Aliyah flight organized by The Jewish Agency for Israel and the Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption.
World’s Largest Space Conference to Meet in Jerusalem
Canadian Woman Wanted to Kill ‘Small Jews’ to Save Them from Hell
Amanda Korody, who was found guilty, together with her husband John Nuttall, of organizing a terrorist bombing wanted to infiltrate a synagogue and kill "small Jews" to save them from going to hell, the Vancouver, BC, Supreme Court heard on Monday.
Surrogacy in Israel Boosting Budgets Across Class and Economic Lines
Since surrogacy became legal in Israel, in the mid-90s, hundreds of women have enlisted, for a fee, to help childless couples bring new life into the world. But in recent years, the profile of these women has been changing, as more and more middle-class women take on paid pregnancy, to improve their quality of life.
Court Releases Two Youths Detained in Church Arson Case
Violent Clashes over Evacuation of Buildings Slated for Demolition in Beit El
There were violent clashes Monday night between some 200 youths and hundreds of police and border guard troops using riot control equipment, over the evacuation of the two Dreinoff buildings in the town of Beit El in Judea and Samaria.
American Black Holocaust Museum Depicts Parallel Histories of Slavery and the Shoah
With the rise of racial tensions, evidenced by the shooting of nine congregants at an historically black church earlier this summer, the debate over whether the Confederate flag should be displayed, and fresh charges of police brutality against African Americans, the American Black Holocaust Museum (ABHM), with its online presence,...
Hamas Senior Official: Iran Halts Gaza Military, Humanitarian Aid
Dylan’s Booed Electric Guitar Cheered 50 Years Later at Newport Folk Festival
According to some, Pete Seeger said he would take an ax and cut the power cord, but Wald says that was a misunderstanding arising from Yarrow's saying Dylan was going to get his "ax" which is a slang term for guitar.
Rumsfeld Objects to Pollard’s Release
UPDATE: Teva Buys Allergan for $40.5
Teva has been fighting hard to take over the Dutch company Mylan, but it is now considering buying part of Allergan instead. Meanwhile, Allergan, producer of Botox, is reorganizing its business with the purchase of Naurex, which makes treatments for depression.
Green Laser from Judea and Samaria Directed at El Al Flight
Flight LY81 Departing from Ben Gurion Airport Sunday night was targeted with green laser, according to a passenger who contacted JNi.media. The passenger, who lives in Samaria, identified the laser beam as coming from the village of Beit Ur al-Tachta, some 15 miles from the airport.