Anti-semitic offenses have increased 58 percent in France since last year. [JPost] US Congressmen arrived in Cuba to press parliament members for release of imprisoned American-Jewish contractor Alan Gross. [Times of Israel] A Women of the Wall member was granted visitation to Western Wall on Purim after previous detainment from the site. [JPost] Notable Jewish themes run through all of Prousts’ literary work. [The Jewish Week] The parents of murdered Jewish Yemenite request that their son’s body …More

Rahm Emmanuel blasts the NRA and calls for new gun laws. [Reuters] A collection of lost Jewish tombstones is recovered in Greece. [ABC] In 2012, the UN General Assembly passed 26 country-specific resolutions--22 were against Israel. [Algemeiner] Cuban Jewish leaders bring Alan Gross latkes behind bars. [Fox] Brisket: the holy grail of Jewish food. [Forward] An iconic kosher market in San Francisco is closing. [JWeekly] Lena Dunham is TIME's Coolest Person of the Year. [TIME] Kvelling and kvetching with …More

Multiple anti-Semitic attacks in Sweden have prompted the European Jewish Congress to call for a meeting with the Swedish Prime Minister. [Israel National News] There is lower enrollment in Jewish day schools in Massachusetts due to a combination of lower income for parents and less funds for scholarships. The solution may be a statewide education tax credit program. [Boston.com] A Jewish Buenos Aires radio station, launched after the Israeli embassy bombing, will mark its 20th anniversary with a street party …More

Jewish-American contractor Alan Gross asked the US government to sign a non-belligerency pact with Cuba in an effort to obtain his release from a military hospital there. In a meeting with a Cuba specialist from a non-profit research center in Washington, Gross asked that the United States negotiate for his release and a dialogue with no preconditions be held between the two governments, NBC News reported. On Sunday, about 300 people held a candlelight vigil in front of the Cuban Embassy in Washington to mark …More

Judy Gross turns up the heat to get her husband freed from Cuba. [Times of Israel] Tzipi Livni blames Benjamin Netanyahu for yesterday's UN vote. [Times of Israel] Tablet looks at why the Czechs voted with Israel. [Tablet] A new poll says half of Israelis believe peace with Palestine will not happen. [Algemeiner] Boycotters are targeting Alanis Morissette for her planned performance in Israel. [JC] Christian groups are seeking to reconcile after a recent anti-Israel letter that caused tensions with the …More

More than 500 rabbis urged the release of Alan Gross, citing the possibility that he has a cancerous growth. "We would urge your government to release Mr. Gross on humanitarian grounds," said the letter sent Sunday to Cuban President Raul Castro. "Alternatively, if despite his and his family’s suffering over the past three years in prison you remain determined to detain him, we would urge you to allow a doctor of his choosing to evaluate and treat him for whatever medical conditions that he may have." The …More

US prisoner Alan Gross may be suffering from cancer, according to a review released today. "Gross has a potentially life-threatening medical problem that has not been adequately evaluated to modern medical standards," U.S. radiologist Alan Cohen said in a statement released by Gross' attorney Jared Genser. Gross’ wife Judy originally reported her husband had developed a mass on his shoulder, after her last visit to his Cuban prison. A Cuban doctor deemed the mass as a “hematoma,” stating it …More

Shimon Peres calls Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a "modern Haman." [Arutz Sheva] A look at Jewish history in English football. [Evening Standard] Benjamin Netanyahu says his trip to New York has cleared the air with the US. [Jerusalem Post] New brit mila legislation may be weeks away in Germany. [Jewish Press] Insiders say Alan Gross may be suffering from cancer. [Jerusalem Post] Ehud Barak says Hamas will rise even further if Mahmoud Abbas steps down. [Jerusalem Post] Media watchdog in Guardian Jerusalem …More

A Cuban Jewish leader visited Alan Gross last week in honor of Yom Kippur, saying she found the imprisoned contractor to be in “good spirits.” Adela Dworin, president of the Hebrew Community of Cuba, described her meeting with Gross to Reuters. Gross is a 63-year-old Jewish US citizen serving 15 years in a Cuban cell for installing illegal Internet connections in 2009. Since then, activists have petitioned the Cuban government for Gross’ release. Last month, his wide Judy Gross said she was …More

Jewish British historian Eric Hobsbawm dies at 95. [Haaretz] U Conn's Jewish database updates US population stats. [UConn Advance] Jewish shop owners in Fairfax embrace influx in tourism. [LA Weekly] A swastika was painted near a Jewish activist's home. [Journal News] A Cuban Jewish leader visits Alan Gross in prison. [Haaretz] Obama enacts visa for religious workers, in favorable move for Jews. [Haaretz] Bob Dylan's 10 most Jewish songs. [Forward] Anne Hathaway married her Jewish fiance over the …More

Cuban President Raul Castro's daughter said that jailed American Jewish contractor Alan Gross should be released in conjunction with the United States release of the so-called Cuban Five. In an interview on CNN to be aired Monday, Mariela Castro told host Christiane Amanpour: "Alan Gross has been granted everything that he’s asked for: He has been able to see his wife, he has been able to have matrimonial, conjugal visits, and he has been treated with respect and dignity the way we always treat prisoners in …More

Alan Gross supporters are pushing for concessions to be made toward the Cuban Five in exchange for the release of the Jewish-American prisoner. Gross was jailed in 2009 for installing Internet systems in a small Jewish community on the island nation, sentenced last year to 15 years in prison. An official in the Cuban Foreign Ministry recently intimated that the fate of the Cuban Five, a group of Cuban spies imprisoned in the US, would be a contingency of Gross’ release. Anonymous sources close to the issue …More