Gary Rosenblatt

Medical simulation technology wins Ziv $100K Bronfman Prize

Published on June 28, 2007

Amitai Ziv, recipient of the $100,000 Charles Bronfman Prize in May, would like to see his work in medical simulation -- a discipline that trains doctors and other health professionals to avert errors in times of crisis -- expand to the entire Middle East, and well beyond the field of medicine.

Rabbi Gafni Ousted for Misconduct

Published on May 25, 2006

Rabbi Mordechai Gafni's dismissal came last week after four women, including students of his and a staff member, filed complaints of sexual misconduct against Gafni with the police in Israel.

UNFORGIVEN

Published on September 30, 2004

Is there a statute of limitations for rabbis accused of abuse -- and should there be? Prompting these thoughts in this season of repentance and forgiveness is the continuing saga of Rabbi Mordechai Gafni.

UNFORGIVEN

Published on September 30, 2004

Is there a statute of limitations for rabbis accused of abuse -- and should there be?

A Filmmaker’s Monument to Dad

Published on January 8, 2004

Of his father, Nathaniel Kahn knew the myth; he wanted to know the man. Five years ago he set out to make a documentary film about the work and life of Louis Kahn, and his quest has taken him down many paths. It has led him to professional fame and success with the critically acclaimed film "My Architect," and to a warm and close friendship with a Jewish communal executive who helped raise the funds to make the film possible.

In Search of Moderate Muslims

Published on February 27, 2003

Khaled Abou El Fadl, a professor of Islamic law at UCLA, estimates that two years ago he received between 30 and 40 requests from around the country to participate in interfaith dialogues between Jews and Muslims.

Last year he received just one.

"They just vanished," he said during an interview. "Such invitations are a barometer of the level of dialogue, though my experience may not be representative because of my own idiosyncrasies."

Joining ‘Gangs’ to Work With the Best

Published on January 2, 2003

When the now-legendary film director Martin Scorsese first discovered Herbert Asbury's book, "Gangs of New York," in 1970 and decided to make it into a film, Rick Schwartz was a 2-year-old growing up in a modern Orthodox home in Teaneck, N.J.

Back to Center for YU?

Published on December 12, 2002

Will Richard Joel -- elected Dec. 5 as Yeshiva University's (YU) new president -- redirect the flagship institution of modern Orthodoxy from its rightward move of the past several decades back toward the center?

That's a question being asked in the halls of YU and throughout the community at the culmination of a long and difficult search process for a successor to Dr. Norman Lamm, who has guided the institution since 1976.

Closed Chapter

Published on November 7, 2002

"One People, Two Worlds" (Schocken Books, $26) the title of the current book by a Reform rabbi and an Orthodox rabbi exploring the issues that divide them, proved to be all too accurate this month when the Orthodox author, Yosef Reinman -- under pressure from religious leaders in his Charedi community -- canceled a 17-day, 17-city book tour that was to begin Sunday with co-author Ammiel Hirsch.

The Necessary Fight

Published on October 3, 2002

With all the discussion, confusion and controversy about the Bush administration's planned actions against Saddam Hussein, it's ironic that President Bush, a born-again Bible reader, appears to have rejected the Christian position and adopted instead the Jewish stance on self-defense and responding to evil people.

The Necessary Fight

Published on September 5, 2002

With all the discussion, confusion and controversy about the Bush administration's planned actions against Saddam Hussein,it's ironic that President Bush, a born-again Bible reader, appears to have rejected the Christian position and adopted instead the Jewish stance on self-defense and responding to evil people.

Losing the War for the Temple Mount

Published on August 15, 2002

While the military conflict between Israel and the Palestinians continues, there is one war the Jewish state appears to have lost -- without even a struggle.

Waking Up to the Right

Published on June 6, 2002

Be honest: ever wake up in a cold sweat these days after dreaming that Al Gore and Joe Lieberman had indeed been elected, after all? Ever look around, while driving to or from work, to see if anyone can tell you're listening to Rush Limbaugh on the radio -- and loving what he says about Israel? Ever given any thought, however fleeting, to voting for Alan Keyes, the vigorously pro-Israel Fox TV host, next time he runs for president?

They say politics makes strange bedfellows, but the sudden discovery, and embrace (however hesitant), of outspoken conservative Republicans by lifelong liberal Democrats has been extraordinary. As Israel finds itself increasingly isolated in diplomatic and political circles around the world, we are starting to realize that not only do we supporters of the Jewish state have few friends, but that many of the ones we have are the very ones we ignored, feared and/or disliked until yesterday, it seems.

Mission Impossible?

Published on March 15, 2001

On a brisk night in early January, hundreds of American Jews from throughout the United States, still jet-lagged from their arrival in Israel that morning, are filing into a large airplane hangar at Hatzor, an isolated air force base near Ashkelon.

Dollars, Identity And Jewish Education

Published on June 22, 2000

Religionists like to isolate homosexuals for special opprobrium because the Bible calls homosexuality an abomination.

Russian Jewish Culture

Published on June 15, 2000

About 800,000 to 1 million Jews remain in Russia, at least half of them in the two largest cities, and though emigration continues on a steady if undramatic level - 30,000 to Israel last year - the estimated Jewish population in these two cities remains fairly constant as emigrants are replaced by other Jews who move here from more rural areas of the FSU.

Is Jewish the Next Next Thing?

Published on January 6, 2000

Is Judaism the next big trend to sweep American society? Is there a downside to this, and if not, why do some of us feel vaguely uneasy about this seeming infatuation with things Jewish on the part of non-Jews?