Jewish

Oh, holy Moses. It’s probably the headline of the year, and possibly even of the millennium. From Haaretz, November 23: “Jewish Law Was Never Meant to Be Set in Stone.”

“It would send a demoralizing and dangerous message to the world that the United States makes judgments about people based on the country they come from and their religion.”  Have these groups ever heard of the struggle for Soviet Jewry? Was it wrong to single out that group in legislation? If not,…

According to the New York Times, rocks now throw themselves. Or at least that’s what The Scrapbook was forced to conclude upon reading the paper’s curious headline: “Jewish Man Dies as Rocks Pelt His Car in West Bank.” The Times eventually “corrected” this headline, but only after it appeared in…

Secretary Kerry passed up the opportunity this week to recognize one of the most important holidays on the Jewish calendar, Rosh Hashanah. In recent weeks, however, Kerry took time to recognize the Independence/National Days of Guatemala, Papua New Guinea, and Andorra, among others. He also issued…

Barack Obama is personally hurt when people call him an anti-Semite, the president said in an interview with the Jewish newspaper the Forward. Obama says "there not a smidgen of evidence for" the accusation.

Speaking today at a Washington, D.C. synagogue, President Obama called himself an "honorary member of the tribe."

Although neither the White House nor the State Department released statements or posted greetings on the 67th Independence Day of the nation of Israel last Thursday, Vice President Joe Biden did attend the annual Israeli Independence Day Celebration at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington…

As America prepares to mark the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s death on April 15, fresh insight into the events that occurred a century and a half ago can be gleaned by seeing that entire week through the eyes of America’s Jews, and especially of those Jews who attended America’s oldest and most…

This morning at 10:00 a.m., in Israel, all activity came to a halt as sirens sounded, and Israelis stood for two minutes with heads bowed in memory of the 6 million Jews, one third of the Jewish people, who perished in the Holocaust. Yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at Yad Vashem…

Eric Cohen writes about Jewish conservatism for Mosaic magazine:

Shlomo Papirblat of Haaretz is reporting that:

A member of the Virginia State Bar (VSB) passes along this email, sent along last night to the members by VSB president Kevin E. Martingayle:

Reuters and Agence France-Presse report that four hostages at the Kosher market in Paris are dead.

CNN is reporting that the sounds of shots and explosions were heard near the Kosher market in Paris, where a terrorist has reportedly been holding several captives.

Mark Strand died today at the age of 80. The Montreal-born writer, who served as U.S. Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1990-1991, was also a brilliant translator. When I was a junior editor at Ecco Press in the late 80s, Strand used to visit the editor in chief,…

Here, in the parlance of the times, is a “pro-tip.” When attempting to rebut the notion that anti-Semitism in Europe is largely a problem caused by young Muslim men, don’t cite two horrific anti-Semitic atrocities perpetrated by . . . young Muslim men.

Our friends at the admirable Italian newspaper, il Foglio, have announced a rally in front of their headquarters in Rome Wednesday night. The rally has two goals: First, to support the right of Israel to defend itself -- something that will be a useful challenge and rebuke to the anti-Israel…

Yesterday, on the last day of Passover, protesters surrounded the doors of Zabar’s—the iconic Upper West Side grocer famous for its knishes and lox—to demand the store stop selling the carbonated beverage maker SodaStream. The roughly 40 protesters, carrying guitars and signs decrying “Apartheid…

Here's video of the detained suspect in yesterday's shooting at the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park, Kansas:

The Obama administration is worried that Israel is riling up American Jews, according to a report in the Israeli press. The allegations are detailed in a story headlined, "'US perceives Israel as encouraging anti-Obama backlash among Jews,'" which appears in the Jerusalem Post.

The New York City human rights commission is putting seven Jewish business owners on trial tomorrow for discrimination in the heavily Hasidic neighborhood of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The Orthodox Jewish business owners' supposed crime? Posting a dress code in storefront windows: 

Annika Hernroth-Rothstein, writing for Mosaic:

Yuval Levin, writing for Mosaic: 

The website Jewish Ideas Daily has been, for quite some while, a star of the web, featuring interesting original material as well as links to other worthwhile writing embodying a lively, serious, and committed approach to Jewish issues and ideas. Today, Jewish Ideas Daily has re-launched as Mosaic.…

An important Washington Free Beacon report:

At a Jewish American Heritage Month reception last night in Washington, D.C., Vice President Joe Biden talked about Jews, power, and influence.

President Obama says he discussed the IRS scandal with Treasury secretary Jack Lew. The thing is, it's a Jewish holiday, Shavout, and Lew is an observant Jew. 

National Review Online reports that Chuck Hagel has been endorsed by Louis Farrakhan. The Nation of Islam head likes Hagel because he sounds just like himself.

The American Jewish Committee released a statement yesterday urging the Senate to continue to examine the nomination of Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense. 

The newly discovered 2008 video of Chuck Hagel has drawn attention, as it should, for his comments dismissing the U.S. even “thinking” about acting militarily against Iran, and for his seeming to be more concerned about Israel's nuclear weapons than Iran's.

Yesterday, David Gregory asked Colin Powell about Chuck Hagel's remark that "the Jewish lobby" intimidates a lot of people on Capitol HIll. "What kind of thinking does that reflect? Can you understand pro-Israel senators being concerned by that comment?"

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with Bill Kristol, hosted by Michael Graham:

The pro-Chuck Hagel forces, having failed to pick up momentum from the president's announcement today, seem to be getting desperate. Why else would the following bombshell magically appear on BuzzFeed's website?

House majority leader Eric Cantor blasts the nomination of Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense in a statement: 

The Emergency Committee for Israel sends out the following press release:

The surprising thing about the slew of supposedly "pro-Hagel" pieces—articles that at first blush would seem to say that Chuck Hagel should be the next secretary of defense—is that none actually make the case for Hagel.

In response to reports that Barack Obama is likely to choose Chuck Hagel to be the next secretary of defense, a top Republican Senate aide emails, "Send us Hagel and we will make sure every American knows he is an anti-Semite."

Denmark has long been regarded as one of the world's most attractive nations, for citizens and tourists alike. My own visits there, years ago as a student, were delightful. And the Danes have a wonderful history of civic virtue, not least during the Holocaust. As the United States Holocaust…

President Obama declares Hanukkah "an opportunity for people of all faiths to recognize the common aspirations we share."

At a farewell roast for retiring Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman, his Republican colleague from Arizona, John McCain, joked that he was now converting to Judaism.

The New York Times opens up an article on the city's mayoral race by asking, "Where are the Jews?"

A new poll from CNN finds that most American support for Israel's retaliatory action in Gaza targeting Hamas.

The Republican Jewish Coalition will be running this print ad in several Jewish newspapers, calling attention to the growing rift in the Democratic party over support of Israel: 

The first day of the Republican convention had two highlights, one at its beginning, one at its end.

Tampa

She says she's for President Obama this election because they have similar "values." As she told Haaretz, "The Democratic Party is more aligned with my values." 

The Democratic National Committee is hosting an "Obama Shabbat" tonight at its Washington, D.C. headquarters to observe the Jewish sabbath. 

A new list of non-Jews "who are most positively influencing the Jewish future" lists Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in the top position. The list was created and compiled by the Algeimener, a Jewish newspaper.

Scandinavia is boring. People living there apparently have little to do. And as European history teaches, when there is nothing much to do you may as well amuse yourself by attacking the Jews.

A new television advertisement released today by Mitt Romney's campaign promises that "Romney will be a different kind of president—a strong leader who stands by our allies." 

Daniel Halper has called attention to Nancy Pelosi's remarkable interview with Al Hunt on the topic of Barack Obama and Israel. I'd note one comment in particular: Pelosi's claim that President Obama "has been there [Israel] over and over again."

In an interview, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi said that she believes Republican Jews are "being exploited," but she was sure to add, "And they're smart people."

THE WEEKLY STANDARD has been able to confirm reports that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney plans to be in Israel on Sunday, July 29. That day coincides on the Jewish calendar with the observance of the ninth day of the month of Av—Tisha B’Av, the fast day that commemorates the…

President Obama's support among Jewish voters in the state of New York has dropped 22 percentage points in only a month, according to the results of a just released poll.

Elliott Abrams is rightly and eloquently outraged about this morning's New York Times article, which features Obama administration officials discussing sensitive and classified national security matters, for the sake of making the president look tough. The leakers—none of whom "would allow their…

The president is out of town tonight, spending the night alone at his home in Chicago after a day filled with six fundraisers. But his campaign in Washington, D.C. continues.

On May 7, 2012, the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA), the largest organization of rabbis in the United States, approved a resolution recognizing that the Health and Human Services (HHS) regulation that mandates employers provide access to contraceptives, abortifacient drugs, and sterilizations…

On Friday, the boss took on Democratic congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts at a debate sponsored by the American Jewish Committee in Washington, D.C. Watch here: 

Former Palestinian intelligence official Muhammad Abu Shahala has reportedly been sentenced to death by the Palestinian Authority for selling a Hebron home to Jews. In response, Jewish officials from the community in Hebron are calling for international officials now to get involved—in order to…

Juan Williams reviews Stephanie Deutsch's You Need a Schoolhouse: Booker T. Washington, Julius Rosenwald, and the Building of Schools for the Segregated South for the Philanthropy Roundtable:

Here's the text of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's powerful Holocaust Remembrance Day speech to his countrymen. Worth reading.

Caroline May reports that "More than 2,500 evangelical and ministry leaders from a range of denominations have signed a letter to President Obama voicing their opposition to the administration’s new mandate requiring that all health insurance plans contain contraceptive coverage."

The great tragedy of Yiddish literature is that, at the very moment when it was blossoming into modernity in all genres, its writers, audience, and cultural matrix were completely destroyed by the double knockout punch of German and Soviet anti-Semitism.

For those interested in things Jewish, the formidable literary critic D. G. Myers has provided a terrific guide to the 38 best Jewish books of 2011, ranging from Jewish history to thought to literature. I’ve long been an admirer of Myers, but I must admit I’m even more of one now, thanks to his…

William McGurn, writing in the Wall Street Journal: 

On Friday, President Obama addressed the Union for Reform Judaism's convention. As Jen Rubin notes, "A good two-thirds of the address was devoted to liberal nostrums, reflecting his confidence that no matter how badly he treats the Jewish state, liberal Democratic Jews will stick by him."

Steven Amarnick reviews Gertrude Himmelfarb's The People of the Book in the Wall Street Journal:

The American Jewish Committee responded today to remarks the U.S. ambassador to Belgium, Howard Gutman, made about anti-Semitism last week in Europe.

Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz has recently been going around her home state of Florida trying to convince Jews that Barack Obama is in fact pro-Israel. As the Sun-Sentinel reports, “Democrats hope to avoid losing Jewish voters in South Florida.”

For five memorable seasons, Sandy Koufax dominated baseball as no other major league pitcher ever had before. From 1962 to 1966, Koufax led the National League in earned run average, the only pitcher ever to do that. At the same time, he compiled a record of 111-34, a winning percentage of .766,…

Via Jeffrey Goldberg: "This is the greatest video ever made. I'm completely serious. The greatest. The action sequence begins at about 4:45:"

Ben Smith reports that Jewish support of Obama has dipped below 50 percent: 

President Obama tried to reassure more than 900 rabbis today on a half-hour conference call that he’s a stalwart friend of Israel. In the midst of all the happy talk, though, he inadvertently revealed how he really thinks about the Middle East:

Dan Senor, writing in the Wall Street Journal:

Andrew Ferguson inexplicably neglected, in his fascinating and entertaining piece on Rick Perry in the current issue, to raise the question that’s surely on so many readers’ minds: But is he good for the Jews?

The name of Iranian ayatollah Seyyed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi is little known outside his own country, which is unfortunate. Ayatollah Boroujerdi has been held in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison since 2006.

Where was Sarah Palin last Friday night, before coming to Washington to speak at the Glenn Beck gathering Saturday?