“Glee” is best known for its cheesy-but-loveable high school romances and overly staged cover songs, but changed its tone last night from spirited to somber. Gunshots were sounded in the hallways of McKinley High and the show’s viewers were taken through over 12 minutes of the characters’ emotional terror and panic-filled reactions. A long way away from Lea Michele’s upbeat ballads, some question what such a seriously dramatic plotline was doing in a choir room more often home to …More

Former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords will receive the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. Giffords, who survived a 2011 shooting that killed six people, will be recognized for the “political, personal, and physical courage she has demonstrated in her fearless public advocacy for policy reforms aimed at reducing gun violence.” The award is presented each year by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. Caroline Kennedy, JFK's daughter, will present Giffords with the award on May …More

Beth Kissileff, JNS.org On Yom Kippur, Sept. 26, 2012, Sami Rahamim was with his father Reuven at Beth El Synagogue in St. Louis Park, Minn. On Feb. 4, 2013, 17-year-old Sami opened a roundtable discussion at the Minneapolis Police Department Special Operations Center meeting with President Barack Obama. In between? Reuven Rahamim was shot the day after Yom Kippur 2012 at the business he owned and created, Accent Signage Systems, and killed along with five others. The personal tragedy of experiencing the sudden …More

Former Arizona Representative Gabby Giffords was a surprise speaker at today’s first Congressional committee hearing on gun control. Speaking in halted sentences, the result of injuries from 2011’s assassination attempt that left six others dead, Giffords appealed to lawmakers for tighter gun regulations. "Thank you for inviting me here today. This is an important conversation for our children, for our communities, for Democrats and Republicans," Giffords, who is Jewish, said. "Speaking is …More

An interfaith alliance including Jewish religious and lay leaders is seeking a ban on assault weapons and high capacity ammunition magazines. Faiths United to Prevent Gun Violence held a news conference on Jan. 15 calling for the bans, as well as improved background screening of gun buyers. On what would have been civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr.’s 84th birthday, the group also urged Americans to work together to help curb gun violence and spoke of the need to improve how the mentally ill are …More

Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords traveled to Newtown, Conn., to discuss gun control with local and state officials. Giffords and her husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly, spoke with the officials last Friday about such issues as gun control legislation and identifying and treating the mentally ill, according to several news accounts of the 45-minute meeting. They also talked about the many forces in the United States that can desensitize people to violence. The meeting came just days before the second anniversary …More

Rob Lattin is Jspace News' Foreign Affairs Correspondent. In addition to covering foreign affairs for Jspace, Rob is a blogger on Israeli and Middle Eastern foreign policy for the Foreign Policy Association, as well as a freelance writer. He can be reached by email at rob@jspacecorp.com. Since the unfortunate killing spree in Connecticut last week the world has turned its attention to US and international gun laws and regulations. Jspace felt it important to review Israel’s gun culture, as several public …More

Benjamin Netanyahu expresses his condolences on the passing of Sen. Inouye. [JPost] A Hungarian lawmaker declares he's Jewish, "whether you like it or not." [EJP] A Jewish school in Brussels plans a move amid safety concerns. [Times of Israel] Amsterdam is hosting a Jewish food exhibit along its famous canals. [Forward] Are comparisons between gun control and Nazi Germany fair? [Tablet] Jewish schools are ramping up security after Newtown. [Forward] Jacob Ostreicher has been released from Bolivian prison. …More

Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut addressed reporters yesterday, calling for renewed discourse on violence in the wake of his state’s school shooting that left 20 children dead. "I'm always reluctant about commissions, but I really believe we ought to have a national commission on violence,” the Jewish senator said. “These events are happening more frequently and I worry that if we don't take a thoughtful look at them, we're going to lose the hurt and the anger that we have now." "And that …More

Janina Dawidowicz shares her story of being a 9-year-old in the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust. [BBC] Two Swiss hospitals announce that they will suspend circumcision of infants unless it’s medically required. [ynet] Vandals destroy 57 tombs containing the remains of 250 people at a Jewish cemetery in Hungary. [Hurriyet Daily News] Jews in the US support gun control, but the political debate ignores them. [Haaretz] Russian opera singer Evgeny Nitkin withdraws from the Bayreuth Opera Festival because …More