Submitted Stories by Ben Harris RSS Feed Stories Submitted by Ben Harris
Hail to the Chief
Poland’s chief rabbi, Michael Schudrich, has the air of someone who enjoys being a little unorthodox. I suppose you have to be to leave behind a comfortable Upper West Side upbringing, spend six years leading a community in Japan, and after that set up shop in post-Communist Poland. He’s an Orthodox rabbi who was originally ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary, a vegetarian in a meat-and-potatoes country, and seemed to relish telling me about seeing the Grateful Dead perform at Nassau Coliseum in 1973. Read more »
Live from Europe …
... it’s The Wandering Jew’s stories. Read more »
The Jewish Hangout of Budapest
Years ago, philanthropist Michael Steinhardt financed the establishment of Makor, a spot on the Upper West Side that was supposed to allow Jews to do Jewish, and sometimes not-so-Jewish, things in a Jewish space that didn’t scream I’M A JEWISH SPACE! Read more »
Leipzig becoming Orthodox Jewish hub in Germany
Due in large part to Jewish immigration from the former Soviet Union, Leipzig has become an Orthodox Jewish hub, funneling students from around the region to institutions of Jewish learning in Berlin and beyond. Read more »
German city juggles challenges, benefits of Russian Jewish immigration
The arrival in Germany of some 90,000 Russian Jewish immigrants over the last 20 years has enabled an astonishing rejuvenation of Jewish life in Germany, but also handed German Jews the challenge of integrating a culturally and linguistically distinct group that generally lacks Jewish knowledge and an understanding of democratic norms. Read more »
Dear God
It’s cold here. Read more »
Warsaw!
As a habitual orderer of the kosher option on airplanes, I’ve grown accustomed to watching in envy as my fellow passengers devour a nice hot meal while I’m stuck with some dry, overcooked, soulless option prepared in a factory in Queens. So I was more than a little shocked when, after distributing shrink-wrapped mystery meat sandwiches to everyone else on the hourlong flight from Budapest to Warsaw, I was presented with an elegant black and red box, inside of which was a multi-course meal of meat and fish and fruit and crackers and even a little halva bar for desert. Read more »
Time is Running Out
On the Wandering Jew iPod contest. Tomorrow is the deadline folks, so submit an entry and you could win ... a visit from me! Oh, and an iPod. Read more »
Budapest Stories
After the Vienna train debacle, I finally managed to check into my hotel in Bedapest after 10:00 Thursday. This is my third time here, and each time I’ve stayed at the King’s Hotel. It’s in the Jewish quarter, just down the street from the massive Dohany synagogue, the largest in Eastern Europe, convenient to much of what I plan to do here, and, well what can I say, I’m a creature of habit. But every time I mention where I’m staying to anyone Jewish and under 35, the eyes start to roll. Read more »
Hard At Work
That’s me at the Cafe Spinoza in Budapest, hard at work on my final Vienna article (no, that only LOOKS like Facebook). Read more »
RSS Feed Breaking News
Updated 11/08/09 @ 10:36AM EDT
- A leading Kadima Party member presented a plan to establish a Palestinian state within one year.
- President Obama called on Israelis to continue to pursue peace with the Palestinians in a video message screened during a memorial to Yitzhak Rabin.
- The United Nations secretary-general said he will send the Goldstone report to the U.N. Security Council "as soon as possible."
- Reform Jews should eat less red meat and consider more carefully what food they serve in their synagogues, the movement's leader said.
- Composer Richard Wagner's great-grandson criticized the music chosen to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall because it includes a composition by his "anti-Semitic" great-grandfather.
- Mofaz proposes Palestinian state in one year
- Obama calls for peace in Rabin rally address
- Security Council to receive Goldstone ‘soon’
- Yoffie to Reform Jews: Eat less meat, blog more
- Wagner great-grandson objects to Berlin Wall event music
- Jerusalem mayor: U.S., Israel should improve communication
- Norway drops war crimes case against Israel
- Palestinians try to knock down part of security fence
- Obama’s Nobel, Israel’s problem?
- Jews of color come together to explore identity
- FBI: Alleged spy wannabe asked for Israeli citizenship
- Family likely murdered by professional killer
- New signs that Ethiopian aliyah will resume
- U.S. appetite for Israeli food grows
- Female Orthodox scholars helping women talk about sex
- Attacks on J Street as parley approaches
