Communicated: TefillaChillul Tefila Bifarhesia, as well as halachicly challenged verbiage and dress, are external manifestations of a critical lack of personal yiras shomayim which has lethal consequences.
A Philadelphia-area Reform temple will feature a Republican speaker to balance an appearance by U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee.
Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) is set to speak Monday at the Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel in Elkins Park, Pa., on behalf of President Obama.
The synagogue’s senior rabbi, Lance Sussman, told JTA that he is now working with the Republican Jewish Coalition to set up an alternative event.
Sussman said the synagogue had reached out to multiple Republican officials, including at the Romney campaign, at the office of Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the Jewish U.S. House of Representatives majority leader, and Republican state lawmakers before announcing the Wasserman Schulz event.
In the absence of a speaker, and with Wasserman Schultz’s appearance approaching, Sussman said the temple had no choice but to go ahead with her event, while noting in the literature that a Republican speaker would also appear at another date.
The RJC’s Philadelphia-area chapter then objected through social media to what it called a one-sided program.
“The RJC presumed – and didn’t check with us – that we are not having another evening with a Republican speaker, which is something we are committed to and announced in our publicity,” Sussman told JTA.
Sussman ackowledged that the RJC had not been “on my radar,” although it has a high profile among political Jewish groups. But he also noted that his other Republican interlocutors had not referred him to the group. He said he would now establish a relationship with the group.
JTA left a message late Sunday with Matthew Brooks, the national RJC director, seeking further comment.
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The annual Home Front Drill is quite routine. This year there are more reasons for Israelis to take it more seriously, such as Assad, Hezbollah and chemical weapons, for starters. Hope for the best.
JERUSALEM – As Shiite Hizbullah and Sunni anti-Syrian government rebels battle across Syria and Lebanon, and Egyptian and Jordanian forces confront al Qaeda terrorists in the Sinai and southern Jordan, the emir of Qatar blamed Israel for the chaos that threatens to plunge the entire region into war.

WASHINGTON – Poland is a stalwart American ally in Europe, a bulwark against an increasingly belligerent Russia and, with the recent opening of a major new Warsaw museum, is enjoying a flush of accolades for its belated embrace of its Jewish roots.

Israelis are familiar with archaeological finds dating back centuries and sometimes thousands of years. Now the world’s most popular museum, the Louvre, exhibits a 1,700-year-old mosaic found in Lod.
The LA mayoral race was between a man with a Jewish mother and a woman married to a Jew.
At the inaugural Values Network Gala on June 4, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach will be honoring Holocaust survivor Professor Elie Wiesel, renowned philanthropists Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson and influential health advocate Dr. Mehmet Oz for their outstanding work as champions for Jewish and human values. Proceeds from the dinner, to be held at the New [...]
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rejected a decision by election overseers to disqualify his own top aide, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, from the June 14 presidential vote in Iran as an act of “oppression” and threatened to take the case to the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, AP reported. His comments were posted Wednesday on his website [...]
An Israeli soldier was killed in a mine explosion in the southern Golan Heights. The soldier was taking part Tuesday in a minefield-clearing operation, according to the Israel Defense Forces, and was killed when an old anti-tank mine exploded. Two other soldiers were injured. The mine reportedly was cleared and marked before it exploded. The [...]
“A majority of the claims made by the person who wrote the anonymous letter were refuted by Mr. Domnitser,” the report said.
An April 19, 2013 Quinnipiac University survey gives Weiner 15 percent of Democratic primary voters.
I often think that a sharpshooter must be the calmest and most focused person. The Reconnaissance Platoon of the 601st Brigade is a small unit in the Combat Engineering Corps. Earlier this year, they held an exercise in a densely wooded area, where they practiced combat fighting, reconnaissance and evacuating injured soldiers. They also practiced [...]
An IDF soldier was killed Tuesday afternoon in a training accident on the Golan Heights. The soldier, in the Combat Engineering Corps, was clearing anti-tank mines when one mine unexpectedly exploded.
There are only about 5000 Jews in the Greater Oklahoma City area, but the Chabad of Oklahoma City is working around the clock to provide assistance tp anyone in need.
Israel’s Waze user-run navigation service easily beat out Google’s app Tuesday night when the Israel Electric Corp. closed down the high-speed Ayalon Highway that runs through Tel Aviv. Drivers using the Google app, which uses Android devices that broadcast information of traffic, found themselves being directed to the Ayalon even though it was closed, the [...]
Israel is uncovering terror cells in Judea and Samaria at an alarming rate. This time, a Hamas cell was nabbed before it could murder an Israeli. The Palestinian Authority’s silence speaks loudly.
The man who solicited government proclamations for naming May 19 “Palestinian American Day” had publicly expressed outrage over the NYPD surveillance of Muslims. No one even noticed he was a convicted felon.
An Israeli soldier was killed in a mine explosion in the southern Golan Heights. The soldier was taking part Tuesday in a minefield-clearing operation, according to the Israel Defense Forces, and was killed when an old anti-tank mine exploded. Two other soldiers were injured. The mine reportedly was cleared and marked before it exploded. The [...]

“A majority of the claims made by the person who wrote the anonymous letter were refuted by Mr. Domnitser,” the report said.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has named Ira Forman, who led President Obama’s reelection campaign in the Jewish community, as his envoy to combat anti-Semitism. The State Department announced the appointment Monday, the same day it released its 2012 report on religious freedom that recorded a “continued global increase in anti-Semitism.” Forman replaces Hannah [...]
Vandals spray painted the Jerusalem home of a long-time board member of the Women of the Wall (WOW) with vicious graffiti, the first time opponents to WOW have resorted to vengeance. Some of the graffiti sprayed on the door and stairwell of Peggy Cidor’s apartment read in Hebrew: “Women of the Wall are wicked,” “Peggy, [...]
An anonymous letter sent to the Claims Conference’s Frankfurt office in 2001 identified five cases where restitution was approved for ineligible claimants.
A Hungarian martial arts fighter was disinvited from an event in Prague because of his Nazi tattoos, including one reading “death to the Jews.” Some of the sponsors of the Heroes Gate martial arts tournament told organizers that Attila Petrovszki from Hungary could not attend the May 17 event because he had a tattoo of [...]
CIA director John Brennan made an unannounced visit to Israel to discuss the situation in Syria with Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon on Friday. They reportedly compared intelligence assessments on Syria and its two-year civil war and talked about Israel’s intent to continue striking shipments of advanced weapons destined for Hezbollah from Iran via Syria. [...]
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will be in Israel and the Palestinian territories next week in his bid to revive the peace process. “These meetings are to follow-up on ongoing discussions as we continue to assess how best we can support the parties in getting back to the table and in having dialogue leading [...]
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