Auchincloss: ‘There was never going to be a ticker-tape parade out of Afghanistan’
After a young Harvard graduate named Jake Auchincloss deployed to Afghanistan with the U.S. Marine Corps in 2012, he commanded patrols in the southern province of Helmand, guiding infantry through villages that the Taliban were seeking to control. Now a Democratic Congressman representing the 4th District of Massachusetts, Auchincloss was one of several Jewish Afghan […]
Area researchers, activists sound alarm over climate report
BOSTON – Following an international scientific body’s grim prediction for the future of Planet Earth, Jewish scientists and researchers in the Boston area and the North Shore shared their thoughts on the dire forecast. On Aug. 9, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a part of the UN, released its latest findings in the […]
Swampscott man’s tennis lessons for the disabled a labor of love
MARBLEHEAD – On a Sunday afternoon in late July, the rain held off just enough so Gabriella Foley, 30, of Swampscott and others with disabilities could take their weekly tennis lesson from Matthew Jacobs outdoors on the Jewish Community Center’s courts. As she went about her lesson, Foley proclaimed she was the “queen of tennis!” […]
How to hatch a Jewish chicken farm in Uganda
For over 100 years, the Abayudaya (“People of Judah”) community has been devoutly practicing Judaism in their villages near the city of Mbale, in eastern Uganda. Their five synagogues cooperatively share an organization called the Abuyadaya Men’s Club. The Men’s Club leaders, Allan and Sam, have been pursuing ideas that might support their communities, ideas […]
Spirit of tikkun olam drives many riders in annual Pan-Mass Challenge
SALEM – The Pan-Mass Challenge bike-a-thon has raised $767 million and counting for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in its more than four decades. The ride involves more than 6,000 riders, supported by thousands of volunteers, pedaling along various routes from 25 to 211 miles during the first weekend of August. It’s goal this year is […]
Weiner’s wish comes true: 500,000 COVID vaccines to reach Bosnia
After working through back channels since March to get doses of a COVID-19 vaccine donated to the struggling residents of Bosnia, Boston attorney Phillip Weiner is rejoicing. “I’m walking on air,” he said as he relayed the news. “I just learned that the American vaccine will arrive shortly in Sarajevo. It is great news,” he […]
A hot topic: Keeping seniors cool during the dog days of summer
With the region’s hottest June in history and more heat in July, Jewish organizations that serve the elderly have been working hard to keep seniors safe. “Elders are very vulnerable to extreme heat so we don’t want people going outside, even for short amounts of time, when the temperature and humidity is high,” Jill Tura, […]
In Gloucester, Rabbi Lewis leads another new beginning for Temple Ahavat Achim
GLOUCESTER – Rabbi Steven Lewis said he feels as if he has come full circle when it comes to the reopening of Temple Ahavat Achim. Like many others in the region, the Gloucester shul has been closed to in-person worship since the coronavirus pandemic hit in March 2020, and now the congregation’s leaders are making […]
2021 Ruderman Scholar Award winners continue a legacy of loving-kindness
In a fitting introduction to a ceremony celebrating Rose Ruderman, Combined Jewish Philanthropies President and CEO Rabbi Marc Baker compared schools to gardens and educators and heads of schools to the gardeners tending the soil. He remarked that the seven Boston-area Orthodox Jewish day school students being honored with the Rose Ruderman Scholar Award were […]
Temples and Jewish center plan for reopening as COVID capacity limits end
MARBLEHEAD – When Governor Charlie Baker announced the state was ending COVID restrictions and capacity limits as of May 29 – two months earlier than expected – it sent reopening committees scrambling to come up with plans to welcome members back to local synagogues. As Rabbi David Meyer put it in an email to members […]