Local News
The College of Jewish Studies will present a spring series of lectures, "Jewish Troublemakers in the ‘60s," on Thursdays, May 10, 17 and 24, at 7:30 pm, at the Jewish Community Center, 500 Clubhouse Rd., Vestal.
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Israel News
Here are some recent stories from Israel that you may have missed.
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National News
Murray Koppelman saw women pushed onto the back of a bus in Tehran and had a nightmare about Israel’s future. Koppelman, a well-known philanthropist in New York, is behind a New Israel Fund pledge drive to combat discrimination against women in Israel. He will match every new dollar donated to the New Israel Fund up to $500,000. A full-page ad in The New York Times including a dramatic photo of a defaced poster featuring a woman’s portrait – one of many that have been vandalized in Jerusalem – announced the drive on April 18. The ad urges Americans to "Help keep Israel strong, free and democratic."
The new Jewish food movement arose here organically, so to speak. No large federation or organization swooped in to make sustainable farming and eating within a Jewish framework a priority. Yet in this city of 100,000 – some 13,000 residents are Jewish – "green" has long been a way of life. So it’s not surprising that interest in sustainability has led to a variety of Jewish grass-roots projects such as the establishment of greenhouses in food deserts, a chicken and egg co-op, community farms and an organic chicken schechting (kosher butchering) project, along with – thanks to a $335,000 grant from three foundations – the arrival of Hazon, a national Jewish environmental group.
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International News
The search to replace Britain’s powerful longtime chief rabbi has gone international, but even as resumes are gathered and interviews conducted, some are questioning whether the position is still relevant and what it means today for the Anglo Jewish community.
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Features
The unexpected loss of a loved one changes the world in sharp and penetrating ways. How each person deals with that loss isn’t easy to predict, and some methods of grieving can create problems. For example, when other family members, or the world, see them as inappropriate. In the novel "Mitzvah Man" by John J. Clayton (Texas Tech University Press), Adam Friedman originally takes a not unexpected approach to dealing with the loss of this wife, Shira.
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Opinion
The Sunday after Passover, as I was procrastinating from un-pesachdicking my kitchen, I read an interesting article in the New York Times Magazine section on matzah. It said that $130 million of matzah is sold each year – most of it in one week’s time. Two companies and one mission: to make and sell kosher food products with an emphasis on the week of Passover with two contrary strategies.
This year I set a record for Passover seder events: six. That includes the Temple Concord Women’s Seder and Religious School model seder, a Passover celebration (based on the seder) at Broome Developmental Center, a first night seder at friends, the Community Seder at Temple Israel on the second night and a post-holiday gathering (featuring a seder) with other friends on the day after Passover. All of these events were fun in their own way. This year, the one that stands out in my mind, though, is the wonderful Community Seder.
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