Jewish News

The beauty, subtlety, elegance and graciousness of the Jewish women gathered in the sun-lit room at the Museum of Contemporary Art on May 20 outshone the stunning Dale Chihuly glass chandelier that hung from the ceiling of the gallery. More than 70 attended the annual Spring Luncheon of the Women’s Cabinet of the United Jewish [...]

The responsibility of raising millions of dollars each year through the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Annual Campaign is an effort that is undertaken by a small core of staff members and a larger, dedicated group of community leaders and volunteers. Over a six-month, or sometimes longer, time span—after all the checks and cash donations [...]

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Perhaps the most lasting image from Pope Francis’ trip to Israel and the West Bank will be the pontiff praying, eyes closed, with his head against a wall. It wasn’t the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Judaism’s holiest site and a necessary stop for visiting dignitaries. It was Israel’s security fence in the West Bank [...]

NEW YORK (JTA)—The Anti-Defamation League’s Global 100 Index of Anti-Semitism is the broadest public opinion survey of attitudes toward Jews ever conducted. It is one of the most important efforts we have undertaken in our history as an organization. The survey was conducted in more than 100 countries and territories, and 53,100 people were interviewed, [...]

This week we celebrate the holiday of Shavuot—the commemoration of the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai some 3,500 years ago. The Torah reading in synagogue will be the Ten Commandments (Exodus chapter 20), which were pronounced for the first time on this date, making it a perfectly logical reading for this holiday. We [...]

As of late May, the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater 2014 Annual Campaign received just over $4 million in donations from about 1,500 individual donors. Gifts to the UJFT enrich and touch the lives of Jews, and many others, in Tidewater, in the United States, in Israel and around the world. There is still an [...]

A French Jewish group is helping organize a special commemoration for 149 Jews who died during the U.S. invasion of Normandy 70 years ago. The commemoration is planned for June 8—two days after the 70th anniversary of D-Day, the first landing by American troops in France—and will feature a collective Kaddish prayer for 149 Jewish [...]

Al Feldstein, the editor of Mad magazine for nearly three decades, has died. Feldstein died Tuesday, April 29 at his home in Montana. He was 88. He became editor of Mad in 1956 and remained at the satirical publication’s helm until his retirement in 1984. Feldstein began working as a comic book writer and artist [...]

Gary Becker, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, has died. Becker, who won the Nobel in economic sciences in 1992, died Saturday, May 3 in Chicago. He was 83. A professor of economics and sociology at the University of Chicago, Becker also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He was known for applying economic analysis to human [...]

Richmond, Va.—Irwin Allen Heller, 71, of Richmond, Va., died Saturday after a brief illness. Irwin was born to the late Ethel and Louis Heller on May 30, 1942 in Richmond, Va. Irwin graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1960 and received a BA from RPI in 1964. Irwin received his Juris Doctor from American [...]