The American media seems shocked — shocked! — by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s speech calling for the Palestinians to recognize Israel as the JEWISH State, giving it headline status. more

A hint of frustration flashed across Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon’s face when I asked him about the criticism he has received from American Jewish establishment organizations concerning his rejection of the two-state solution. more

Fresh off brokering a deal to place Syrian chemical weapons under international control, Russia has reasserted itself as a Middle East power player, hearkening back to the days of the Cold War. Israel, meanwhile, enjoys much stronger bilateral relations with Russia than it did during the Soviet era. But will Russia’s meteoric rise in the region change the nature of that relationship? more

Want to build a fire, tie a knot and learn first aid — all in a Jewish context? These and other life skills are experienced by boys in sixth through 12th grades at Boy Scout troop number 613, now recruiting, in West Hempstead. more

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, one of the greatest halachic, Torah and Talmudic minds of our generation, passed away on Monday at the age of 93 in Jerusalem. Police reported that as many as 800,000 attended his funeral that evening, ten percent of the population of Israel. The funeral procession inched along the streets of Jerusalem, through the crush of mourners, from Yeshivat Porat Yosef, where the Rav had attended school as a youth and eulogies were delivered, to his burial at the Sanhedria cemetery. more

With music and dancing, more than 400 men, women and children welcomed a century-old Sefer Torah rescued from Europe into the growing and vibrant Bais Tefila of Inwood at Yeshiva Ketana of Long Island, 321 Doughty Blvd. The event was originally planned for last autumn, but was delayed by Hurricane Sandy, that wreaked havoc one week before the scheduled date. more

New reports from the Pew Research Center and Brandeis University’s Steinhardt Social Research Institute (SSRI) estimate the Jewish population of the United States at 6.7 million and 6.8 million, respectively. Demographer Leonard Saxe, co-author of the SSRI report, believes the similarity of the reports paints a picture of stability that presents an opportunity to “get beyond the numbers” and instead focus on their implications. more

Hospitals need to raise funds to stay in the vital business of treating the sick and injured in our communities. Fees for services and government and private insurance payments are insufficient to fund the enormous expenses hospitals incur in salaries, physical plant operations and medical care for thousands of patients. A variety of health care industry and hospital-specific changes are having an impact on those fundraising efforts. Changes in the way medical services are provided, the still-struggling economy, and talk — and the reality of — hospital closures affect fundraising. more

With the close of summer and the close of the yom tov season, came the end of baseball’s regular season, and the greatest closer closed his last game. I’m a diehard Atlanta Braves fan, yet last week, when Mariano Rivera played his final game at Yankee Stadium and I watched clips of it after yom tov, I actually cried. Not because he had one the most iconic careers in major league history, winning more awards and holding more records than I could ever fit into this article, but because it was the close of a career of an amazing human being. more

Last year’s election had all the hype, with the hotly contested race between President Barack Obama and challenger Mitt Romney, and the battle for control of Congress. This year, there will be a battle for control of Nassau County. Republicans are looking to keep their majority in the Legislature and hold on to the executive branch. Democrats want to take back the power they lost four years ago. The marquee election is the rematch between Republican Ed Mangano and Democrat Tom Suozzi for county executive. more