JNS.org U.S. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ), who died Monday at age 89, had received the Renaissance Award from Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life at a Hillel gala last Thursday in New York City. Lautenberg received the Hillel award in recognition of accomplishments including the law named after him. The Lautenberg Amendment allowed Soviet Jews and other minorities from the former USSR to immigrate to the U.S. “It is truly an honor to be recognized by Hillel—a great organization that …More

A Jewish man offering up his spot in heaven has been shut down by eBay. Ari Mandel, 30, placed his heavenly ticket up for bid on the online auction site, sparking hours of intense bidding that reached over $100,00 before eBay stepped in. Mandel, a New Jersey native, said afterward he wasn’t surprised eBay pulled the plug, saying he meant the whole scheme as a joke from the start. “It was nice to fantasize. But I didn’t think it was going to happen,” he told the Forward. “I’m …More

Hal Rifkin may well be the last Jewish farmer in Monmouth County, New Jersey. For decades, along with his wife, Marcia, the third generation farmer has earned his living growing produce and ornamentals on 25 acres of rural New Jersey land. During his lifetime, Rifkin, 65, has seen the decline of the farming industry in the lands around him. Development has caused many farmers to sell their land and busy lifestyles make fresh produce a harder sell. “Sales volume has dropped considerably,” he said. …More

Every year, hundreds of eager 18-year-old girls from all over the world step off the plane at Ben Gurion airport to spend a year studying in seminaries across Israel. These girls, also known as ‘sem girls’, devote their whole academic year to Judaic study programs. Although learning is a major aspect of the seminary year, there are other important experiences that motivate many recent high school graduates, especially from America, to spend their gap year in Israel. For Talia Epstein, who hails from …More

An Israeli team is behind a new, greener bio-fuel soon to be launched in New Jersey. Primus Green Energy plans to open a full-scale demonstration plant in Hillsborough, New Jersey in April to produce their revolutionary, drop-in jet fuel. “The chemical steps we go through in our process are well understood, but the method by which we implement them is unique,” said George Boyajian, the VP for business development. “What we’re doing is a big step in the evolution of making gasoline, and we …More

One menorah, two menorah, red menorah, blue menorah. It isn’t the start of a Yiddish Dr. Seuss poem--it’s a description of the Jewish Center of Princeton’s record-breaking Hanukkah lighting. The center played host last night to a massive gathering of congregants and menorahs, so large it had to be held in a hangar at the Princeton Airport. In total, guests brought in 834 candelabras, breaking the Guinness World Record for most lit menorahs in one location. The record was previously held by …More

Jews from the Neturei Karta International group plan on gathering in front of the UN today in support of a Palestinian state. [Sacramento Bee] The Jewish Museum in Oslo displays how Jews lived before the Holocaust. [Foreigner] German Chancellor Angela Merkel addresses the Jewish community in Germany, assuring them she would preserve their religious rights. [YNet] A bomb threat yesterday caused the evacuation of a Jewish Community Center in San Francisco for a couple of hours. [Mercury News] For the first time, …More

Voters in New York and New Jersey affected by superstorm Sandy will be permitted to vote at any polling place in their respective states using a provisional ballot. “Just because you’re displaced doesn’t mean you should be disenfranchised,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday, a day before Americans went to the polls to pick their next president. Some polling places were completely unusable due to the storm, and some voters had sought shelter far from their polling places. President …More

A method of paired studying popular at yeshivas has been blamed on an outbreak of mumps among the Orthodox community. Ninety-seven percent of some 3,500 recent mumps cases in New York and New Jersey were connected to the ultra religious Jewish community. The outbreak was charted between June 2009 to June 2010, with results of a Center for Disease Control study just now published. The research found that "intense exposures, particularly among boys in schools, facilitated transmission and overcame vaccine-induced …More

Meet Corporal Jesse Berkowsky, 26 years old and hailing from New Jersey. Jesse is celebrating his birthday today, but his present already arrived last Thursday. Jesse and his friends finished their months-long basic training in the Paratroopers Training Base, marked by an arduous beret march up to Jerusalem, which occurred last week. At the end of the march, graduates receive their trademark red berets and turn from trainees to combat soldiers. For Jesse, who made aliyah from the US and volunteered to serve, it …More

Jewish communities along the east coast are prepping for Hurricane Sandy, as analysts predict the storm might cause massive power outages to afflicted areas. The UJA Federation of New York and the Manhattan JCC both cancelled planned events and shut down offices Monday, as the city readied for a possible fallout from the rain and wind. NYC metro servics shut down late Sunday and were still closed Monday afternoon. Manhattan has a large Jewish communtiy, including its mayor. “This evacuation is mandatory …More

A Jewish day school has cut ties with the Boy Scouts of America, citing the group’s anti-gay policies as reason. The Golda Och Academy, a Conservative New Jersey school, informed parents of the decision to end its chapter of the BSA in a recent letter. “To exclude same-sex families from membership and adult volunteerism is in direct contradiction of school policies, which place high value on inclusion,” the Oct. 17 note read. Rabbi Lisa Vernon and Mike Schazberg are scout leaders for the …More