Ruth Westheimer, the diminutive guru of the American sexual revolution whose straightforward, matter-of-fact way of discussing the facts of life led to a career as a radio talk-show host, television personality, author and advice expert, died July 12 at her home in New York City. She escaped Nazi Germany in the 1930s and was one of the entertainment industry’s last survivors of the Holocaust. The turning point for her career came in 1980. After giving [...]
Maxine F. Singer, a biochemist and federal health official who in the 1970s was instrumental in developing guidelines that protected the then-nascent field of biotechnology while calming fears that this new science would give way to the spread of deadly lab-produced microbes, died on July 9 at her home in Washington, DC. She was 93. In a letter to the journal Science, Dr. Singer pointed out the risks to laboratory workers and called on the [...]
David Liederman, whose confections redefined the chocolate chip cookie and whose chain, David’s Cookies, grew to more than 100 stores nationwide, died on July 4 in Mount Kisco, NY. He was 75. The unique feature of Mr. Liederman’s innovative version of the chocolate chip cookie was that it was not made with standard Toll House chocolate chips, but was studded with irregular pieces of dark Swiss Lindt chocolate. He called his cookies chocolate chunk. He [...]
Dorothy Lichtenstein, a prominent arts patron and widow of the acclaimed Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein, died on July 4 at her home in Southampton, NY. She was 84. Described as an elegant, engaging woman and a gracious philanthropist, instead of seeking to sell the work left in her husband’s estate, she gave most of it away. Her donations consisted of paintings and sculptures, piles of sketchbooks, file drawers bulging with correspondence, and even the building [...]
Abe Krash, who as a junior partner at the law firm of Arnold, Fortas & Porter played a critical role in Gideon v. Wainwright, the 1963 case in which the Supreme Court unanimously declared a right to counsel in criminal cases, died on July 6 at his home in Chevy Chase, MD. He was 97. The Gideon decision is widely considered one of the most significant of the 20th century, part of a string of [...]
Martin Indyk, a former U.S. Ambassador to Israel under President Bill Clinton and former special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations under President Barack Obama, died on July 26 at his home in New Fairfield, CT. He was 73. “From the Oslo process to the policy of ‘dual containment’ of Saddam’s Iraq and Islamic Iran, Martin left a deep and lasting imprint on the making and shaping of American Middle East policy,” said Dr. Robert Satoff, executive [...]
Best ‘Jews in the News’ item this issue: Our own Miriam Gabriel, golfer extraordinaire, won the Match Play tournament at Pine Hills Golf and Country Club in Manorville. According to Adrianne Greenberg, a pretty nifty golfer herself, the championship was a three-step challenge: Miriam first had to qualify. Then, she won the semifinals. And on July 9, “she trounced her opponent,” Adrianne said, for the big win. [Miriam is co-editor of The Shofar, and this [...]
Lady Victoria Starmer, a Jewish woman with a rich cultural heritage and deep-rooted traditions, is Keir Starmer’s wife. Keir Starmer is the new British prime minister. Victoria Starmer will bring Shabbat to No. 10 Downing Street, and will maintain strong connections to the Jewish community, according to the Jerusalem Post. Her father was of Polish-Jewish descent, and her mother, a community doctor, converted to Judaism upon marriage. Growing up, she was immersed in Jewish [...]
“Chaver,” an honorific with origins in ancient Jewish history, has been awarded traditionally to rabbinical scholars and pillars of the religious community. But the title has evolved over the centuries, and on June 30, it was awarded to Tobi Kahn, an Orthodox artist, at the Museum at Eldridge Street in Manhattan. Kahn’s ceremony coincided with the unveiling of “Memory & Inheritance: Paintings and Ceremonial Objects,” a solo exhibition of Kahn’s art, which draws modern imagery [...]
Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter falsely accused by Russian authorities of spying, was sentenced to 16 years in a high-security penal colony after being wrongfully convicted in a hurried trial that the U.S. government has condemned as a sham. “We will continue to do everything possible to press for Evan’s release and to support his family, said Almar Latour, the chief executive of Dow Jones and publisher of The Wall Street Journal, and [...]
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