Britannia Radio

Daily Briefing

Thursday, January 6, 2011

FEATURED STORYIn U.S., Israeli expats turn to growing number of Israeli rabbis As Israelis living in America look for Jewish institutions that will give their families connections to the tradition and culture they left behind in Israel, a growing number of Israeli rabbis in the United States are trying to cater to their needs. Read more » EDITORS' PICKS Live chat on JTA 100 JTA is featuring a moderated live chat at 12:30 p.m. EST today with Jeff Katz of Twitalyzer, the Twitter metrics service that JTA used to compile its recently released JTA 100 Twitter list. To participate, bookmark the blog post here. The Eulogizer: Raphael Hillyer, Amy Aaland and a halachic death' debate JTA's Appreciation column remembers a Juilliard Quartet founding violist and a former Yale Slifka Center, and looks at a new rabbinic debate over "halachic death." Anti-Israel on campus: The real danger The campaign on some campuses to delegitimize Israel has the potential to erode future U.S. support for the Jewish state, The Israel Project's David Bernstein writes in a JTA Op-Ed. The incredible shrinking rabbi Rabbi Michael Torop of Temple Beth-El in St. Petersburg, Fla., enlisted his synagogue board and trustees to help him lose 140 pounds. Several offered to pledge money to the temple for every pound he lost, The St. Petersburg Times reports. Goodbye to Eva David Suissa writes in the L.A. Jewish Journal about the death and life of Holocaust survivor Eva Brown, whose ability to be positive and look to the future was almost inexplicable because she spent so much of her time talking about the pain of her past. Israel perspectives Americans are interested in Israel; they're just not interested in the mainstream media's version of it, Jonathan Mark writes in The New York Jewish Week. The Syrian bride United Nations peacekeeping forces accompany a Syrian bride across the border to Israel to marry her Israeli Druze fiance; Haaretz tells the story in words and photos. BREAKING NEWS The first African-American female rabbi will leave her congregation this summer. Jewish Funds for Justice urged New York City-area radio stations not to pick up Glenn Beck's show after it was dropped by one station for low ratings. Israeli officials at a crossing into Gaza took bribes in order to let goods into the coastal strip, a cable made public by WikiLeaks said. President Obama has received a letter from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requesting clemency for convicted spy-for-Israel Jonathan Pollard. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was heckled and an Israeli government minister was forced to leave a state memorial ceremony for the 44 people killed in the Carmel fire. New York safety inspectors will be trained to do the work of kosher inspectors after budget cuts depleted the state's kosher division. The American Jewish Committee called on Israel's Knesset to reconsider its decision to form a parliamentary committee to investigate Israeli groups critical of the country's military. Gender segregation on Israeli public buses may continue as long as passengers agree, the country's Supreme Court ruled. The United Nations has declined Lebanon's request to make sure that Israel does not encroach on energy resources in its territorial waters. At least 14 Israelis are hospitalized in critical condition with swine flu, six of them children.