Jewish American basketball player Tal Brody returned to Assembly Hall at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana on Wednesday, where he was honored by the team and school right before their game with Purdue. His No. 12 jersey was raised in the arena in honor of the former point guard who went on to be a pioneer of Israeli basketball. Brody graduated in 1965, and is currently ranked 38 in the team’s all-time leading scorers with 1,121 points in his college career. In 1962-63 Brody and Illinois won a Big …More

They walked up a tree-lined path through stony hills to a square, white building--men in black hats, beards and frock coats; in T-shirts and jeans; in sweaters, slacks and velvet kippahs. They came by the hundreds--19-year-olds looking for a match, 40-year-olds losing hope that they would ever find one, boys of 15 praying for the unmarried. They had come for a special ceremony: They would blow 1,000 shofars, encircle the building seven times and recite penitential prayers led by a master of Jewish mysticism. …More

Ankie Spitzer spoke at a memorial in Germany yesterday, commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Munich massacre. Spitzer is the widow of Andre Spitzer, one of the 11 Israeli athletes killed by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Olympic games. The tragedy was marked with a ceremony at the Furstenfeldbruck airfield in Munich, where the final showdown between German police and the terrorists took place four decades ago. In her remarks, Spitzer criticized the International Olympic Committee, which refused to …More

The Rabbinical Assembly’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards--which sets halachic policy for the Conservative movement--has voted unanimously to provide the approximately 1,600 Conservative rabbis with guidelines on performing same-sex marriages. The move is an official sanction of the ceremonies by the movement. The CJLS approved the documents Thursday by a 13-0 vote with one abstaining ballot. For years, the Conservative movement has debated how to approach same-sex unions. Traditionalists often …More

Wednesday marked the official memorial day of the assassination of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on November 4, 1996. Ceremonies took place across the state in school classrooms and more official locations. President Shimon Peres appealed for renewed peace talks in Rabin’s name from his graveside during the traditional annual memorial ceremony on Mount Herzl. "This murder will not be forgotten or forgiven." Peres eulogized his friend, "Yitzhak captured the heart of the nation. He was a trusted leader …More

Today, 100 politicians, friends and family gathered on Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl for a ceremony in marking 16 years since the assassination of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. "He is remembered much more than some would want him to be," Rabin's sister, Rachel Yaakov, said after the ceremony. "I feel it everywhere. People get emotional when they recognize me; they tell me stories that haven't heard before." Yaakov blames the political establishment for “trying to cover up the murder.” She …More