by Jeremy Gillick [caption id="" align="alignright" width="184" caption="Settlers in Hebron"][/caption] Much of the West Bank is in turmoil following this morning's highly anticipated evacuation of the Orwellian "House of Peace" in Hebron. Though the evacuation itself was a success, as Israel's security forces took several hundred settlers...
By Benjamin Schuman-Stoler [caption id="attachment_1650" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg"][/caption] This eulogy for Rivka and Gavriel Holtzberg found its way to us at ITM and we think it's worth sharing with our readers. It is by Hillary Lewin, who met and became friends with the Holtzbergs...
By Benjamin Schuman-Stoler All our Thanksgiving weekends were touched with sadness as news from Mumbai interrupted what should have been cheery days watching football and spending time with family. The details of the perpetrators' motivation and planning are still being worked out, but we know a...
By Benjamin Schuman-Stoler [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBMluWgN5Bc] If you're wondering which brother is which, just check out the suits: The one with the power pinstripes has to deal with Capitol Hill, that's Barack Obama's White House Chief of Staff Rahm. The puke colored tie gives away the eldest brother Ezekiel, who is a...
By Benjamin Schuman-Stoler According to data based on precincts "with High-Concentration Of Orthodox Jewish Voters," Orthodox Jews were not only unafraid of Barack Obama, some communities voted for him in larger numbers than they did for John Kerry in 2004. Shmuel Rosner blogs (and has a nice...
By Benjamin Schuman-Stoler [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1wse5_MeT8] In the aftermath of the election and an entirely new incoming administration, the Republican and Democratic parties have shuffled their rosters to prepare for the next Congress. As a result, some Jewish members have been promoted and now hold top positions. This week, representatives...
By Jeremy Gillick There is an interesting drama developing around one of the West Bank’s most radical and controversial Jewish settlements. Home to the Ma’arat HaMachpelah—the Tomb of the Patriarchs—Hebron is a sacred cow for Israel’s religious right (read Glenn Frankel's January story about Hebron in...
[caption id="attachment_1542" align="alignright" width="252" caption="Mayoral also-ran Gaydamak"][/caption] By Mandy Katz Jerusalem voters may have told Arcadi Gaydamak, "You're fired" last week, as Nir Barkat edged him for the Jerusalem mayoralty. But don't imagine the oligarch just sitting at home counting his shekels, or making prank phone calls to...
By Benjamin Schuman-Stoler Nir Barkat, the newly elected mayor of Jerusalem, gave the UJC a tender statement on what could be seen as the very essence of Zionism: "Every Jew in the world is a 'shareholder' of Jerusalem," he said. Besides the serious concept of "global Jewish...
By Benjamin Schuman-Stoler Well, it's been a few weeks now since Barack Obama was elected, and preliminary indications do not point to a massive restructuring of the fundamental American traditions (besides the ones that said only white people should be president). No, Obama has not nominated...