Jewish Advocate

Study: Jewish numbers on rise

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:19:36 +0000

By Elise Kigner

Advocate Staff

Brandeis Professor Leonard Saxe has some good news for those fearing for the future of Judaism in America.

The number of American Jews is actually increasing, not decreasing.

A Brandeis team estimates the total US Jewish population at 6.4 million as of 2010, up from 5.7 million in 2000, and 5.5 million in 1990.

Happy tree year

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:19:44 +0000

In the spirit of Tu B’Shevat, third graders estimate the age of trees by counting growth rings, as part of their science studies at Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Boston.

Above from left: Leetal Fishman, Doron Peer, Marissa Lehv and science teacher Elana Schrieber.

A Holocaust survivor’s last stand

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:19:44 +0000

By Leah Burrows

Advocate Staff

Somewhere in the crumbling files or computer database of a Polish insurance company, says Israel Arbeiter, is an insurance policy with his name on it.

He wants it back.

Rabbis to Pats fans: Have faith

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:19:44 +0000

By Leah Burrows

Advocate Staff

What does the Torah have to say about this year’s Super Bowl?

Take this tale, from the Book of Numbers:

The Israelites are trudging through the Sinai desert, after the Exodus from Egypt. They are searching for the Promised Land, a home flowing with milk and honey. After weeks of wandering, Moses spots a fertile land off in the distance – Canaan.

SHABBAT CANDLE LIGHTING TIMES

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:19:44 +0000

Parshat	Beshalach
BOSTON		4:42	PM
MANCHESTER,	N.H.	4:42	PM
FALL RIVER		4:44	PM
PORTLAND,	MAINE	4:36	PM
PROVIDENCE,	R.I.	4:

The Jewish World

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:19:44 +0000

Jewish leaders visit Pollard

Fogel children consoled; murderers hailed

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:19:45 +0000

The Israeli Defense Forces chief of staff, Lt. General Benny Gantz, meets with the children of the Fogel family, whose parents and three siblings were murdered by Palestinians last March in the West Bank settlement of Itamar.

Mazel tov, Bubbe

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:19:45 +0000

Kibitzing in the kitchen with bubbe is a Jewish pastime, but Avrom Honig of Brookline turned that tradition into an Internet sensation with his Web site, “Feed me Bubbe.”

Honig’s Bubbe, who uses the Yiddish endearment as her nom de plume, has taught thousands of podcast listeners and YouTube viewers how to cook dishes like latkes, kugel and chicken soup.

Remembrance Day

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:19:46 +0000

Shul, church consider sharing space

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:19:46 +0000

By Jason M. Rubin

Special to the Advocate

For more than two years, Temple Shalom of Milton has been weighing its future. Saddled with a building too large and expensive for its present size, the 67-year-old congregation wanted to sell a portion of its land to a commercial developer and use the proceeds from the sale to build a shul it could both fill and afford.

Correction

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:19:46 +0000

The headline on the story about Rabbi Barry Starr in the Jan. 27 Advocate gave the wrong name of his synagogue. He is rabbi of Temple Israel in Sharon, as the story itself correctly stated.

Locally in Brief

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:19:46 +0000

Butcherie set to switch to glatt

The Butcherie in Brookline expects to officially announce its switch to serving glatt kosher meat this week, said owner Walter Gelerman,

Religious zealotry, Indian style

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:19:47 +0000

Charles A. Radin

This column was filed from New Delhi. I ndia and Israel are doing a lot of business these days as they celebrate the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between them. Trade, diplomacy and educational exchanges all are burgeoning.

Adelson gambles on Gingrich

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:19:47 +0000

Sheldon Adelson has been extraordinarily generous with the American Jewish Community and Israel.

Columnist hit wrong target

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:19:47 +0000

Charles Radin is right to be outraged by the fact that Dr. Channa Maayan was not allowed to go onto the podium to receive her prize because she was a woman (“No women on the podium,” Jan. 20). He is, however, wrong to pick on David Harris, American Jewish Committee executive director.

Israel singer struck wrong chord

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:19:47 +0000

In her praise of Yafa Yarkoni, Linda Dittmar (Jan. 13) refers to Yarkoni’s “courage” in speaking out against the IDF in its treatment of the so-called “Palestinians.” Yarkoni said: “We are a nation that went through the Holocaust. How can we do things like this to another nation?”

A firsthand look at the state of Judaism in the Jewish State

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:19:48 +0000

Mike Rosenberg

I t’s easy to understand why so many American immigrants are drawn to Beit Shemesh. In this city, nestled in a valley 18 miles southwest of Jerusalem, the pace is slower, temperatures are milder. Residential life extends into gardens and courtyards; vistas are everywhere; and some neighborhoods exude a flavor of California.

Echoes of Hitler’s mufti

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:19:49 +0000

Charles Jacobs

“T he Hour [of Resurrection] will not come until you fight the Jews,” the grand mufti of Jerusalem told the crowd. “The Jew will hide behind stones or trees. Then the stones or trees will call:

‘Oh Muslim, servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.’ Except the Gharqad tree [which will keep silent].”

A challenge we dare not refuse

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:19:49 +0000

By Rabbi Shlomo Riskin

Israel saw the great hand that G-d inflicted on Egypt and the people revered G-d and they had faith in G-d and in Moses His servant – Exodus (14: 31)

Divorced and feeling guilty over gifts

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:19:49 +0000

By The Rebbetzin KORFF

Dear Rebbetzin,

The children who brave the homefront

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:19:50 +0000

Judy Bolton- Fasman

There is one standing order that I’ve given my children with which they have never argued. When we see a woman or man in uniform, we go up to them and thank them for their service to our country. No exceptions. A few years ago Adam and I had a stark and unforgettable encounter with a veteran.

Is it OK to pray on the job? Let’s ask the scholars

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:19:51 +0000

Dr. Erica Brown

“Craftsmen may pray at the top of a tree or on the top of a wall; they may not do so with the Eighteen Benedictions”– Mishna Brakhot 2:4

Making Tu B’Shevat a family affair

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:19:53 +0000

Amy Salinger

Do you recall your parents sending money to the Jewish National Fund (usually during January or February) to plant a tree in Israel in honor of your birthday or in memory of a relative? Some weeks later the JNF produced a certificate recognizing the donation, which was handed to you by your Hebrew education teacher. Perhaps you may recall planting parsley seeds on Tu B’Shevat.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:19:55 +0000

BY JANE HERMAN

Each month during the school year, Jane Herman, a senior at Buckingham Browne & Nichols in Cambridge, surveys Jewish students in Greater Boston about an ethical dilemma. She also puts the question to a prominent community member.

‘The Jazz Singer’ in clown face

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:19:56 +0000

By Daniel M. Kimmel

Movie Maven

“The Jazz Singer” was a Broadway hit in the 1920s with Georgie Jessel playing the cantor’s son who didn’t follow family tradition because he wanted to go into show business. In 1927 the story was immortalized on screen by Al Jolson in what would be the first talking feature film.

A painting threatens a friendship

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:19:56 +0000

By Jules Becker

French Jewish playwright Yasmina Reza could have been thinking of Reb Zusha of Hanipol when she wrote “ART.” The 18th century Hassidic sage didn’t make it his goal to become another Abraham or Moses, but rather to be simply himself.

Olympic mystery: Why were 2 Jews benched in Berlin?

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:19:57 +0000

By Adriane Spunt

Special to the Advocate

Think of the 1936 Berlin Olympics and the name Jesse Owens likely comes to mind.

With his four gold medals, the black track-and-field star made a mockery of Hitler’s claims of Aryan superiority.

Top children’s books honored

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:19:57 +0000

The 2012 winners of the Sydney Taylor Book Award, which honors new books for children and teens on Jewish themes, have been announced.

A singles’ night on Valentine’s Day