Should Jewish celebrities be wearing yellow stars?
In September 1939, while Nazi Germany invaded Central Poland and initiated World War II, Polish Jews were ordered to wear signifying markers on their clothing to identify them as such.
Germany was already steeped in...
Will Israeli soccer embrace British-Jewish player?
British-Jewish striker Nick Blackman, who is currently playing for Derby County, was flown to Israel at the invitation of BMaccabi Tel Aviv to meet the team and examine the option of relocating to coastal...
When the INS threatened a 2-year-old Jewish girl with deportation
A Philadelphia taxi driver, Sanford Jacobs, 21, and his wife, Louise, have been notified by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service that they will have to take their 2-year-old daughter, Lesley, out of the...
A Dutch filmmaker searches for his Jewish roots
“My father, Marcel Bregstein, was a successful professor of civil law. He later became Rector of what was, at the time, Amsterdam Municipal University. My father forced me to study law. As a Jew,...
At 95, She makes herself at home at B’nai Israel
The invitation to Sylvia Stroger’s 95th birthday party stated “no presents,” with the suggestion that a donation to Congregation B’nai Israel would be appreciated as an alternative. What does a 95-year-old need that she doesn’t have?
A...
Asenath Barzani: Remarkable Hebrew scholar
Can you fathom a young Kurdish Jewish woman in 17th century Iraq who for years served as rosh yeshivah in Mosul and as leader of the Jewish community?
Asenath Barzani was the daughter of Rabi...
‘I’ve always been seen by other people as Jewish’
My experience of comedians is that they’re rarely funny to meet. I’ve interviewed Ben Stiller, Bobcat Goldthwait, Ricky Gervais, Rob Schneider, Robin Williams and Woody Allen, and they were all interesting, intelligent individuals, but...
Jewish ‘Sopranos’ actress announces pregnancy, says she discovered the news after trip to Israel
Former “Sopranos” star Jamie-Lynn Sigler announced on Tuesday on Instagram that she was pregnant with her second child.
The Jewish actress — her father is of Greek and Romanian Jewish descent and her mother converted...
Moses Mendelssohn: Personally observant progenitor of Reform Judaism
The son of Menachem Mendel, a Torah scribe, Moses Mendelssohn (“son of Mendel”) not only studied in yeshiva and became a promising rabbinic scholar, he also pursued secular learning, particularly languages and philosophy, studying...
Married couple complete bike ride from Auschwitz for Jewish charity
A woman is supporting the charity that helped her family after their escape Nazi-occupied Germany by taking part in a charity bike ride.
Suzanne Gould, 49, and her husband Michael, 51 from Bushey have raised...