BELMONTE, Portugal, Oct. 13 (JTA) — A small crowd has gathered in the synagogue and the Orthodox rabbi stands in front, trying to reassure the worshipers that the new prayer books he brought from Israel don’t threaten this Jewish community’s 500-year-old traditions. “When Miguel or Don Rafael or I read aloud, we will read the […]

A woman from El Azariya, an Arab neighborhood in Jerusalem, attempted to smuggle a gun, two magazines, and a knife in her baby’s carriage this morning. A woman from El Azariya, an Arab neighborhood in Jerusalem, attempted to smuggle a gun, two magazines, and a knife in her baby’s carriage this morning. She was caught […]

WASHINGTON, Oct. 16 (JTA) — In August 2001, thousands of human rights activists from around the globe gathered in Durban, South Africa, for a United Nations conference that participants hoped would address racial injustice plaguing humanity, from Rwanda to Sri Lanka to the United States. But after more than a year of preparatory conferences held […]

TEL AVIV – Israel has modified U.S.-supplied cruise missiles to carry nuclear warheads on submarines, giving the Middle East’s only nuclear power the ability to launch atomic weapons from land, air and beneath the sea, according to senior Bush administration and Israeli officials. The previously undisclosed submarine capability bolsters Israel’s deterrence in the event that […]

ATHENS, Oct. 9 (JTA) — A Jewish group is threatening to call for a boycott of the 2004 Olympics if an art exhibition that allegedly glorifies Palestinian suicide bombings is allowed to proceed in Athens. An embroidery montage in an exhibit called “Body Milk,” scheduled to open Oct. 20, shows a pregnant woman pushing a […]

Sukkot is a 7-day holiday. We build a temporary booth called a “Sukkah” where we eat, sleep and shmuze for the entire week. Each day we also wave the Four Species of plants, in celebration of God’s gift of bounty. During the first day (or first two days outside of Israel) no creative activity is […]

There are Diasporas and then there are Diasporas. We Jews in the American Diaspora are fortunate to be exiled in the freest country in the world, with full religious freedom and the benefits of an affluent society. Our Torah communities are strong, healthy and growing in the midst of the majority of Jews who still […]

MTRE Advanced Technologies At Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Petah Tikva, surgeons will not begin a 10-hour liver operation until the patient has been wrapped in a ThermoWrap. The disposable wrap, which was designed by Israeli company MTRE Advanced Technologies, helps stabilize and control the temperature of a patient through surgery. It ensures that, despite […]

NEW YORK, Sept. 30 (JTA) — When Rabbi Mitchell Ackerson blew the shofar this past Rosh Hashanah, it reverberated throughout one of Saddam Hussein’s former palaces. More than 100 Jewish members of the U.S. forces stationed in Iraq attended the High Holiday services at the former Iraqi dictator’s Baghdad compound. They seemed shocked and awed, […]

In the three years of Palestinian terrorist warfare, there have been almost 19,000 terrorist attacks against Israeli targets. Despite its tiny size, Gaza was the site of 54% of the attacks, 42% in Judea and Samaria, and only 4% in the rest of Israel. These attacks include suicide explosions, car bombs, shootings, mortar shellings, bombs, […]