Open Letter to Ellie About God

By Susan Esther Barnes
Published on June 27, 2012

Intermarriage:The Contest

By Julie Wiener
Published on May 8, 2003

Since the 1990 National Jewish Population Survey (NJPS) reported that 52 percent of Jews were marrying non-Jews, the American Jewish community has been split on how to respond. While many on the left have called for greater outreach and acceptance for interfaith families, others have urged the community to more aggressively promote "inmarriage."

Groups Call for Divestment

By Julie Wiener
Published on May 30, 2002

Israel supporters in Cambridge, Mass., have hit back hard in response to a small faculty campaign urging Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) to divest from companies doing business in Israel.

UJC Israel Campaign Sets Priorities

By Julie Wiener
Published on May 16, 2002

The North American Jewish federation system has designated five priority areas for allocating funds from its Israel emergency campaign.

Recession Hits Jewish Education

By Julie Wiener
Published on March 14, 2002

Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit, a Conservative school, is raising its tuition by $1,000 for next year -- more than twice the usual rate of increase -- to make up for shortfalls in its endowment revenues.

Enron Fallout in Houston

By Julie Wiener
Published on January 17, 2002

Enron Fallout in Houston.

Reform Leader Angers Orthodox

By Julie Wiener
Published on October 25, 2001

U.S. Orthodox Jewish leaders are outraged by an Israeli Reform leader's comments drawing comparisons between fervently Orthodox Jews and the Islamic fundamentalists who attacked the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

An End to Denial

By Julie Wiener
Published on September 6, 2001

The Borough Park section of Brooklyn is one of America's most visibly Jewish neighborhoods.

On several residential blocks of one- and two-family brick homes, almost every front door has a mezuzah. Modestly dressed women push strollers, while girls in dresses and boys in tzitzit and kippot play on the sidewalks. Sixteenth Avenue, one of the main drags, is lined with religious study centers and yeshivot, small synagogues and Judaica stores.

And in the middle of it all is an agency that runs a treatment program for Orthodox Jewish pedophiles.

Jewish Art Makeover

By Julie Wiener
Published on September 6, 2001

A women's tefillin set with a beaded velvet box and blue satin straps.

A silver "Kiddush" cup in which ceremonial wine passes through a delicately crafted silver net formed from the Hebrew word for "blessed."

A sukkah with brightly painted walls made of the long, plastic

strips found in industrial-sized refrigerators -- and furnished with stools and a mirrored table symbolizing the self-reflection expected during the High Holy Days.

Dirty Money?

By Julie Wiener
Published on February 1, 2001

Exactly two weeks before a controversial last-minute presidential pardon made him a household name in the United States, Marc Rich was sitting in the VIP section at a mega-event for Birthright Israel in Jerusalem.

Establishing Boundaries

By Julie Wiener
Published on December 14, 2000

For those who look up to the American Jewish clergy, it has not been a good year. Last week, one of the Reform movement's most prominent rabbis was suspended from the movement's rabbinical association for past sexual misconduct.

Nervous But United

By Julie Wiener
Published on November 16, 2000

In a speech that was the centerpiece of the North American Jewish federation system's gathering in Chicago this week, Israel's prime minister recalled being a small child when he heard of the United Nations' 1947 vote to partition Palestine.

Inspired Leader

By Julie Wiener
Published on November 16, 2000

Rabbi Alexander Schindler, the longtime leader of the Reform movement best known for his support of outreach to intermarried couples and recognition of patrilineal descent, has died at the age of 75.He died early Wednesday morning from heart failure at his home in Westport, Conn. As president of Reform Judaism's Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) from 1973 to 1996, Schindler - who viewed Judaism as a dynamic faith - championed a number of dramatic changes.

Beyond the Glass Ceiling

By Julie Wiener
Published on October 5, 2000

When word got out last week that Janet Engelhart had been named executive vice president of the Jewish Federation of Rhode Island - making her the only woman professional at the helm of one of the 40 largest federations - she received a flood of phone calls.

Most were colleagues and friends offering congratulations. But more than five - and the ones that Engelhart found most touching - were from young women professionals at Jewish organizations asking her to be their mentor.

Spreading the Word

By Julie Wiener
Published on September 21, 2000

Shirley Kotler of Los Angeles said her commitment to day schools stems from her interest in "perpetuating Judaism."

Uniting the Divided

By Julie Wiener
Published on August 10, 2000

Minutes after the official announcement that her husband would be the first Jewish vice presidential candidate on a major ticket, Hadassah Lieberman stepped on the national stage.

Dropping Out

By Julie Wiener
Published on June 22, 2000

Elliot Maltz had a Bar Mitzvah two years ago, but he says his Hebrew school experience was "really boring" and "discouraged me from future practice."

Jewish Research Calling

By Julie Wiener
Published on April 27, 2000

If you get a phone call in the next few months from a stranger with lots of questions, don't assume it's a telemarketer.

Starting Up

By Julie Wiener
Published on March 2, 2000

When a 30-something British financial investment manager took a few years off to study Jewish texts in Israel, he was struck by the differences between the financial and Jewish communal worlds.