Articles written by Debra Rubin
Sorted by date Results 1 - 14 of 14
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New pluralistic military siddur will make the rounds on Memorial Day weekend
The Shabbat of Memorial Day weekend later this month will mark a first in American Jewish life: Three New York City congregations representing the three major U.S. Jewish movements will daven from... Full story
Special U.S. envoy is an advocate for Holocaust survivors in poverty
Aviva Sufian was just 8 years old when her mother took her to an American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors event in Philadelphia in 1985. She remembers survivor after survivor standing up and... Full story
Seattle couple gets married... and married... and married
(JTA)-In less than a year, Dane Kuttler and Rowan Parker exchanged vows in 10 different wedding ceremonies at 10 different venues on two coasts under nine different marriage canopies. In what Kuttler... Full story
For new dad, a stronger bond from a cut foreskin
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Natan Zaidenweber thought the mohel was kidding. His wife, Linda Raab, thought it was some kind of religious formality and didn’t give it a second thought. But the mohel, Cantor Philip Sherman, was serious. Though most fathers dem... Full story
The Lifecyclist: After settling late father's affairs, she moves on to mikvah
(JTA)—Susan Esther Barnes had had a rough two years. Her father’s death in April 2011 came as a shock; she hadn’t even known he had been hospitalized. And his widow leaving town for a week compl... Full story
CUFI student activists, without 'obvious self-interest,' seek to legitimize pro-Israel message on campus
WASHINGTON, DC—Sam Bain knew that life could be dangerous in southern Israel, with rockets fired indiscriminately across the border from Gaza. But it wasn’t until the Ohio college student visited an I... Full story
Boy finds way to bar mitzvah with help of Simms Taback graphic books
(JTA)—As his mother read to him, Levi Davishoff puckered and moved his lips in the universal sign indicating that something is sour. He then pointed to the lemon pictured in the library book. His moth... Full story
Double wedding in Seattle caps rapper's transformation
(JTA)—Five years ago he was D-Black, a hip-hop artist rapping about the violence, gang activity and drugs of his African-American ’hood. Today he’s Nissim Black, an Orthodox Jew davening in a Sepha... Full story
Remembering Stanley Abramovitch, for seven decades 'the embodiment of the Joint'
The year was 1935. Yehoshua Abramowicz, just 14, was leaving Poland to join his father in England. His mother told him, “Try to be a good Jew.” By all accounts, the boy who became Stanley Abr... Full story
Unpeeling the life of Jewish 'banana king'
There might not have been a State of Israel if a Jewish Russian immigrant boy hadn’t found a banana in a back alley by his uncle’s dry goods store in Selma, Ala. That young boy, Sam Zemurray, “fe... Full story
Mother's Day flowers from Jewish Women International raise spirits, awareness
As the director of a shelter for victims of domestic abuse, Naomi Taffet sees a lot of women in tears. But once a year, for Mother’s Day, she has a chance to witness what she calls “happy tea... Full story
Rebuking colleagues, New Jersey rabbi welcomes 'anti-jihadi' blogger
In a fiery speech in Edison, N.J., attended by about 70 supporters, controversial anti-jihadist blogger and author Pamela Geller warned Americans and Jews about a war being waged against Western... Full story
Artist probes Jews and history at Rutgers University
In his video, performance art and photography, Shimon Attie reminds viewers of the way history imposes on the present—and demands that they confront the past. Whether depicting the devastating e... Full story
Somali refugee counters 'apartheid' efforts
After most of Daher Dhudy’s family was murdered in a bloody civil war in Somalia, the teen fled with his only surviving brother on a perilous journey through Egypt, reaching safety only when they crossed the border into Israel. “I never found any... Full story
