The latest Edward Snowden revelation is that the NSA and GCHQ, the British equivalent, were spying on the communications of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his cabinet, including Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak and his chief of staff, Yoni Koren. Reaction from senior members of the Israeli Cabinet has been muted, perhaps because they operate on the assumption that they are being monitored. more

I have to thank my long time friend, Danny Levine, proprietor of America’s oldest family-owned Jewish book store, J. Levine and Co., for bringing to my attention the recently released “Derashot Ledorot: A Commentary for the Ages, Exodus” [Maggid Books, 2013] by Rabbi Norman Lamm. This second volume Bible sermons is a most eloquent work going back to over a half century of Rabbi Lamm’s rabbinical career at Manhattan’s The Jewish Center. more

It is time to set the record straight. The undertaking of this column each week is often driven by a desire to find new approaches to oft-repeated ideas in the Torah. By “new” I mean “not the way you’ve been learning it since second grade.” more

It is nearly 20 years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday. I lost about eight seconds of my life and almost died. I had been kept late with a group of students I was teaching, some of whom were struggling with some deep issues, and by the time I got in my car to head home it was nearly 4 am. I was an idiot; I should have stayed over in the dormitory with my students, but I guess I thought I was invincible. I had a cup of coffee with me and assumed that would be enough to get me home; I was wrong. more

The decision by the 5,000-member American Studies Association (ASA) to boycott Israeli universities has drawn widespread condemnation. “As a scholar, I deeply value the free exchange of ideas,” former American Studies Association president and Stanford University Professor of English Dr. Shelley Fisher Fishkin said. “Academic boycotts make the free exchange of ideas impossible. For that reason, I think the ASA’s endorsement of the boycott was a big mistake.” more

Executive Director Beth Raskin celebrated Kulanu’s bar mitzvah on motzei Shabbat, announcing at the group’s annual gala that, in line with Kulanu’s amended charter, a new state education department contract would allow the Five Towns-based organization to expand its vocational and rehabilitative services to adults over age 21. more

This being my two-year anniversary writing this column, I want to thank all of you for the dozens of emails I receive each week in regard to the column. I’m glad I was able to connect with all of you, whether it brought back memories of Grossinger’s, bungalow colonies, Boro Park, the Catskills, school, camp, vacations, and just about anything else. I am truly touched at the wonderful letters of appreciation and positive feedback on many levels. more

Edwin Black presented three talks based on his bestselling books, two during Shabbat and one after, inaugurating the Young Israel of Woodmere’s Holocaust Memorial Lecture series there. Black traced the roots of the Holocaust to the rivalry between Yitzchak and Yishmael, sons of Avraham, and to Mohammed’s conquest of Medina, a city with a significant Jewish population, in 627 CE. more

Three people from the Five Towns who helped create Chai Lifeline’s i-Shine program, were honored this week as “People of the Year” by the Nassau Herald newspaper. more

As 2013 draws to a close, JNS.org takes a look at its biggest news stories from Israel and the Jewish world that have shaped the outgoing year. more