Joel Paley, a dancer, playwright and director who wrote the book and lyrics for “Ruthless!,” an award-winning Off-Broadway musical about an ambitious girls who will do anything — including murder her rival — to star in a grade school snow, died on Jan. 11 in Milford, CT. He was 69. “Ruthless!” won the 1992 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical and the Drama Desk Award for Mr. Paley’s lyrics. The musical has been [...]
Deborah Lipstadt, whom President Joe Biden named the U.S. State Department’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, will step down. President Donald J. Trump has not yet named a successor to Lipstadt, one of the world’s foremost scholars of the Holocaust and antisemitism. “She brought expertise, gravitas, and determination to the role,” said Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt. In as related item, an ADL global survey found that 46 percent of the world’s adults [...]
Robert Spitzer of Mercer Island, WA, was elected president of B’nai B’rith International by the organization’s International Board of Governors. Spitzer immediately begins a three-year term, leading the world’s oldest and most widely known Jewish humanitarian, human rights and advocacy organizations. As president, Spitzer plans to enhance grassroots engagement and continue to address rising antisemitism and the organization’s support for Israel.
Will Scharf, one of President Donald J. Trump’s personal attorneys, has been appointed White House staff secretary. In his new role, Scharf, who was raised in a Modern Orthodox household, will oversee the flow of information to the president, and manage the circulation of material among senior staff. He previously served as a senior advisor to former Missouri governor, Eric Greitens, who is Jewish and resigned in 2018 amid allegations of sexual misconduct, and [...]
This poignant photo of Jewish soldiers preparing to observe the holiday of Hanukkah recalls the events that took place in ancient times, when Judah Maccabee and his soldiers conquered the Greek-Syrian oppressors, who had defiled the Temple. Here Israeli soldiers light candles for Hanukkah before being deployed to the Gaza Strip, near the Israeli-Gaza border in southern Israel. AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov
A Columbia University law professor retired after a school investigation found that she discriminated against Israeli students by alleging they were harassing Palestinian students on campus. Reported by The Times of Israel. In Trenton, NJ, two Jewish police officers have filed complaints, alleging workplace discrimination and antisemitism. Reported by newjersey.com Two synagogues in Sydney were defaced with swastikas and antisemitic phrases, and a Jewish child care center was torched, prompting police investigations amid a rise [...]
An article by Andrew Higgins in the Jan. 16 issue of The New York Times is illustrated by a photo of the house on Legionow Street in Oswiecim, Poland, once occupied by Rudolf Hoess, commandant of Auschwitz. The house, which overlooks the former Nazi death camp, was occupied recently by Grazyna Jurczak, who sold it to the New York-based Counter Extremism Project that intends to open the house to visitors. Workers are stripping away post-war [...]
A postwar epic about a Holocaust survivor, a contemporary comedy about Holocaust tourism, and a biopic of a Jewish musical legend helped lend a formidable Jewish presence to this year’s Oscar nominations. “The Brutalist,” a three-plus-hour historical drama starring Adrien Brody as a fictional Hungarian Jewish architect inspired by real Jewish designers, is well positioned with 10 nominations, including Best Picture, tied for second-most of the year. Also nominated is another Holocaust-themed film, “A [...]
According to a Dec. 31 article in The New York Times by Franz Lidz, “Camels laden with spices, gold and precious stones accompanied the Queen of Sheba on her biblical journey to Jerusalem in the 10th century B.C. A thousand years later, Flavius Josephus , the Jewish Roman historian, wrote that the haul had included the balm of Gilead a fragrant, highly-prized resin also known as Judean balsam, which served as the basis for perfumes, [...]
Tikkun Olam is currently planning for 2025. Our goal is to help make our community a better place by offering assistance to people in need, our number one priority. If you have ideas, know of local organizations that align with our goals, or want to participate in the Tikkun Olam group, please email ctigreenport@gmail.com with a message for Veronica Kaliski chair of the group.
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