A Jewish high school in Texas was the prime example of Judaism and Jewish identity taking precedent over other desires and passions in the world. The Robert M. Beren Academy of Houston’s basketball team thought that they would have to forfeit, as the semifinals games were scheduled on Shabbat. Although the tournament did accommodate the needs of the players following a potential lawsuit by angered parents, the school’s determination to keep Shabbat as the top priority is admirable and shows the value …More

“The Center for American Progress and Media Matters claim to be in the liberal mainstream. But is being anti-Israel a liberal value?” asks an Emergency Committee for Israel ad in the New York Times Thursday. The full-page advertisement highlights criticism of the watchdog and think tank by Jewish groups, and urges charitable foundations to stop funding those who criticize Israel. On Media Matters, the ad quoted Alan Dershowitz and Spencer Ackerman. Ackerman hit back on his blog, calling the ECI …More

The extraordinary life and times of the last of New York’s great Jewish gangsters is finally public, thanks to the Freedom of Information Law. The New York Daily news obtained once-confidential FBI documents detailing the connections between the Genovese crime family and Julius Bernstein, known in his heyday as Spike. Born in 1922, Bernstein lived long enough to see the rise and slow fall of New York’s five Mafia families. He shook down the Sbarro restaurant chain, controlled a bus driver’s …More

Both Matt Lauer and Zac Efron squirmed uncomfortably while addressing the now-infamous condom drop on the “Today” show. You know what we’re talking about, right? How video footage proves that the “High School Musical” hunk is not quite so innocent anymore? How he mouthed “Oh my God!” after dropping a condom on the red carpet before the premiere of “The Lorax”? Well, Efron can still blush, and did so while trying his best to avoid talking about the incident on …More

Ehud Olmert, the former Israeli prime minister, will be a keynote speaker at the annual J Street conference. Olmert will speak at the dovish pro-Israel group's gala dinner on March 26, according to an invitation sent Thursday morning to members of the U.S. Congress. JTA obtained an invitation, and a J Street official confirmed its authenticity. Olmert started his political career in the Likud Party, but gravitated toward the center with former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, joining with him in establishing the …More

The Jewish Agency for Israel will give $1 million over the next two years to Greek Jews affected the country’s current financial crisis. The funds will come from the Jewish Agency, United Israel Appeal, and the International Fellowship of Christians of Jews, and will support several Greek Jewish institutions that are the verge of collapse. “The Jews of Greece are known particularly for their generosity, especially for needy communities in Israel and the rest of the world,” Jewish Agency …More

The tensions are hidden beneath the surface. There aren’t many protest wars. There’s very little outright violence. But in 2002, The David Project realized that there was something wrong on American college campuses. “The problem is a drip-drip of negativity on Israel, rather than what’s often characterized as hostility toward Israel or Jewish students,” Executive Director David Bernstein explained to Jspace News. It’s far from an overt problem, with no easy solution. To …More

Andrew Breitbart, a conservative Internet publisher who was the first to show an explicit photo that former Rep. Andrew Weiner sent from his Twitter account, has died. Breitbart, the publisher of several conservative news and commentary websites, including BigGovernment.com and BigJournalism.com, died early Thursday morning "of natural causes," his websites announced. He was 43. He reportedly collapsed shortly after midnight while walking near his home in the affluent Brentwood section of Los Angeles. He had …More

Hundreds gathered in Itamar to mark the one-year anniversary of the murder of the Fogel family. [Israel Hayom] A Palestinian terrorist is hosting a talk show on the Hamas-affiliated Al-Quds TV about Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. [The Jerusalem Post] Israel recently unveiled its most advanced bomb shelter, located underneath the Habima national theater. Amidst rising tensions with Iran and Gaza, the Jewish State has been updating shelters and emergency services. [Israel Hayom] Ariel …More

It’s finally here! The trailer for “That’s My Boy” has been released! Starring Andy Samberg and Adam Sandler, the movie follows Sandler’s character, a deadbeat dad who owes $43,000 in back taxes, as he tries to reconnect with Samberg, who is now one of the youngest hedge fund managers in the industry. Oh, and did we mention Samberg's tame self is getting married to Leighton Meester’s high-strung bride-to-be? Yikes. Wonder if everything is gonna go smoothly. Hmm... Watch below …More

The Ohio Senate race is heating up, with six GOP candidates vying to match up against democrat incumbent Sherrod Brown. The current favorite for the March 6 primary is young Jewish military veteran and current state treasurer Josh Mandel. “I know Josh was actively recruited by top party leaders and insiders to run for this seat,” Matthew Brooks, the Republican Jewish Coalition’s executive director, said to the Times of Israel. “It was a process that unfolded over several months, with Josh …More

Famed attorney Alan Dershowitz, former Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel -- three prominent Jewish activists who have joined with other prominent people in a bid to remove a group with a blood-soaked history from the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations. The names on the growing list of influential American advocates to de-list the Mujahedin-e Khalq, or MEK -- known in English as the National Council of Resistance of Iran -- suggest an effort to give …More