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Bimah Them Up!

Local architects find southern comfort in rebuilding a New Orleans synagogue

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If they build it, they will ... daven. What was once a field of dregs is about to be resuscitated and relocated, as a Modern Orthodox shul becomes part of a post-Katrina kashrut connection in New Orleans. And the men behind the T-square and the time line are Michael I. Hauptman, AIA, a Philly guy, and his partner David B...

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What to Make of Evangelical 'Love-Fests'?

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Bryan Schwartzman

Throughout time, it's safe to say that Jews haven't been overwhelmingly embraced by Christian groups. Out and out "love-fests" are practically unheard of. But that's exactly what Pastor John Hagee's gatherings in support of Israel have come to symbolize. Now that love-fest is coming to town, with more than 1,000 people, including evangelical Christians and a number of Jewish supporters,...

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Exponent Garners Top Awards

The Jewish Exponent has been named "Best Overall Weekly Newspaper" in the state of Pennsylvania. The honor is one of five given by the Keystone Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists for work done in 2009. In a separate statewide competition, the Exponent received five Keystone Press Awards, including second place in the category of "Niche Publication." Executive...

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Volunteers Find Israel Means Back to Base-ics

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Aaron Passman

Jacob Couzens narrowed it down to two options this summer: The 17-year-old could find a job at a place like Starbucks, work indoors in the air-conditioning and possibly earn enough money to afford a car, or he could volunteer at an army base, earn no money, sleep in barracks and spend his days doing manual labor. So much for Starbucks...

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On Israel, Reforming a Sentiment

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Bryan Schwartzman

Back in 1988, the sociologist Steven M. Cohen published a piece in Reform Judaism magazine under the provocative headline "Are Reform Jews Abandoning Israel?" Cohen, who now teaches at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York -- the Reform seminary -- argued that results from a national survey taken a year earlier pointed to a gap between...