In Belgium, national rupture spreads to Jews
BRUSSELS (JTA)—Few Jewish couples define their marriage as “mixed” just because bride and groom were born and raised 30 miles apart in the same country.
But Linda and Bernard Levy live in Belgium, a country whose long experiment in fusing two distinct cultures recently...
Synagogues slowly expanding inclusion to those with emotional, mental disabilities
BOSTON (JTA)—On a recent Sunday, Ayla Watson celebrated her bat mitzvah.
Ayla, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other behavioral difficulties, ascended the bimah and recited the Torah reading for Rosh Chodesh, the new month. The service culminated a year...
The LifeCyclist: Bar mitzvah honors late father’s wish reflects son’s creativity
(JTA)—In his 2003 memoir “Lessons for Dylan,” Joel Siegel, the late film critic for ABC’s “Good Morning America,” asked that his young son someday sing the Shema prayer.
“But, when you finish,” he wrote, “think about applauding on the inside.”
Siegel passed...
In a Ukrainian Jewish orphanage, Tikva, economic downturn hits home
ODESSA, Ukraine (JTA)—In a colorful room at the Tikva Children’s Home here, 30 young boys stand in two straight lines and wait for the cue signaling that they are to start singing.
The children, students in a music class, are performing “Mind Your Manners” by the Philadelphia-based...
With Obama and Bibi both running is 2012 a replay of 1988 or 1992?
WASHINGTON (JTA)—If Israel goes to elections as expected this summer, will it be a replay of 1988 or 1992?
Both Israeli election years also were American presidential election years, as 2012 is.
In 1988, the Dukakis-Bush race had no discernible effect on a race that saw Yitzhak...