Howard Safir, who presided over diminishing rates of violent crime as New York City’s police commissioner in the late 1990s, but who was severely criticized for not acknowledging racial sensibilities after the deaths of Black men by his officers, died on Sept. 11 in Annapolis, MD. He was 81. Murders, the most closely watched crime category, fell impressively on Mr. Safir’s watch — down from 1,177 in 1995 when he took over, to 673 when [...]
Peter C. Newman, a maverick journalist and historian who skewered the political establishment in Canada, to which he had fled as a boy from Nazi-occupied Europe, died on Sept. 7 in Belleville, Ontario. He was 94. In a long and prolific career, Mr. Newman had stints as editor of the Toronto-based Maclean’s magazine and of The Toronto Star while churning out nearly three dozen books, some delving into the inner sanctums of four Canadian prime [...]
Eva Fahidi, a Holocaust survivor who late in life began speaking out and writing about her experiences, as well as expressing them in dance, died on Sept. 11 in Budapest. She was 97. After the war ended in 1945, Ms. Fahidi kept her experiences at Birkenau largely to herself for more than a half-century. Then, in 2003, on the anniversary of the day when she last saw her family members, she visited the Birkenau site [...]
Bobby Schiffman, who guided the Apollo Theater in Harlem through the cultural and musical changes of the 1960s and early ‘70s, cementing its place as a world-renowned showcase for Black music and entertainment, died on Sept. 6 at his home in Boynton Beach, FL. He was 94. In 1961, Mr. Schiffman inherited the storied Apollo Theater on West 125th Street in Manhattan from his father, Frank Schiffman. During the younger Mr. Schiffman’s tenure, the Apollo [...]
Sarah Wunch, a civil liberties lawyer who championed citizen protections on issues of race, gender and free speech, and helped persuade New York’s highest court to declare that men could be prosecuted for raping their wives, died on August 17 at her home in Brookline, MA. She was 75. As deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts for almost three decades, Ms. Wunsch brought innovative challenges before the courts, aimed at [...]
President Biden will nominate former Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew as his next ambassador to Israel. Mr. Lew has served in some of the government’s most important posts under two Democratic administrations, in the process earning him many admirers across the aisle. He ran the Treasury Department for President Barack Obama, was also Mr. Obama’s White House chief of staff, deputy secretary of state, and director of the Office of Management and Budget. Mr. Lew [...]
Shul member Susan Schrott has published a new book, Rise With Radiance, a collection of inspirational words illustrated with drawings originally created on fabric “to light your path every day of the year,” the writer says. A psychotherapists, artist, and certified yoga instructor, Susan Schrott invites readers to embark on a transformative journey of self-discovery and daily inspiration. While caring for her ailing father, she embarked on a personal journey that led to the creation [...]
The Ben Ezra Synagogue in Cairo, famed for once housing the “Cairo Geniza,” a treasure trove of Jewish communal documents, was reinaugurated last month after an extensive restoration project. The Ben Ezra is one of the oldest and most important synagogues in Egypt, believed to date to 882 CE, although the building itself has been damaged and rebuilt several times through the centuries. The geniza documents were discovered in 1896 by Jewish scholar Solomon [...]
The historic city of Chernovtzy, also known as Chernovitz, located in Western Ukraine has been relatively peaceful compared to other parts of the war-ravaged nation. Here, even amid the turmoil of war, the Jewish community of about 2,000 has been experiencing a renaissance. A new Chabad husband-and-wife team is setting down roots in the city to join the already thriving Chabad-Lubavitch of Chernovtzy team. Enter Rabbi Mendy and Mushky Halperin, the first rabbi-and-wife team to [...]
Fifty years ago, Israeli archaeologists discovered an ancient Hebrew inscription on a stalactite in a remote cave near the Dead Sea. Recently, three researchers — an archaeologist, geologist and photographer — returned to the cave, hoping to find additional inscriptions. While exploring a new level of the cave, they discovered the iron head of a Roman javelin, hidden in a narrow crevice. The trio immediately contacted the Israel Antiquities Authority, which has been searching Judean [...]
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