Israel - The past 12 months have seen the lowest number of terror attacks this decade, and the least number of Israeli casualties of terror, according to a report from the Shin Bet. The Shin Bet credits the low number on the ability of Israeli security forces to thwart attacks, as well as efforts by Palestinian security organizations. According to the report, 15 Israelis were killed in the...

New York - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg struck a humble tone in his inauguration speech on the first day of his third term. Mr. Bloomberg said he understands his third term is a "special opportunity." And he promised to listen and lead in the next four years. He was initially barred from running for a third term but got that law changed. Many voters weren't happy about the way he...

Paramus, NJ - - The Orthodox Union’s Nach Yomi program, in which a chapter of Nach – Nevi’im (Prophets) and Ketuvim (Writings) – is completed every day, just had its youngest participant ever complete the cycle, which takes approximately two years. Menachem Gans, 12, of Paramus, just celebrated the completion of the books, and is now set to celebrate another milestone: his bar mitzvah on...

New York - Over the years, I've spent many hours, more than I care to count, in airports around the world. From the perspective of security, one is in a class by itself: Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport. In the wake of the thwarted terrorist attempt on Northwest Flight 253, it's time to revisit the Israeli model, as other countries ask what more can be done to prevent such...

New York - Foreign countries including Saudi Arabia and Norway gave millions of dollars to former President Bill Clinton’s charity as Hillary Rodham Clinton served her first year as President Barack Obama’s secretary of state. A donor list released on New Year’s Day by the William J. Clinton Foundation shows that Saudi Arabia and Norway each gave $10 million to $25 million to the former...

New Brunswick, NJ - Imagine driving a major highway first at 45 mph, then a few hundred yards later 55 mph, then shortly after that 50 mph, and finally, half a block later 40 mph. Got it? Well drive out on the newly rebuilt Route 18 and that's exactly what you get--a highway with speed limits that go from 45 mph to 55 mph to 50 mph to 40 mph within just half a mile. "I would say I'm happy I...

Jerusalem - He can be impulsive. She has a touch of bossiness. Next-door neighbors for nearly a year, they talk, watch television and explore the world together, wandering into each other's homes without a second thought. She likes his mother's eggplant dish. He likes her father's rice and lamb. Friendship often starts with proximity, but Orel and Marya, both 8, have been thrust together in a...

Israel - Q: The High Court recently censured a Beit Ya'acov girls' school for forcing its Sephardi students to adopt the Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation for prayer. Can you explain the halachic background to this controversy? A: The recent controversy in Emmanuel, deemed a case of social bias not mandated by religious law, highlights the modern debate over proper Hebrew pronunciation. With the...

Brooklyn, NY - Van Gogh painted flowers and wheat fields; Chagall painted goats and flying ethereal figures; Rabbi Yonah Weinrib paints spirituality and expressions of G-dliness. Quiet and unassuming, Rabbi Weinrib has devoted his life to interpreting and portraying Torah through art. His works range from beautiful renditions of the Grace after Meals to painstaking microcalligraphy...

Manhattan, NY - A 9-year-old girl found her mother dead Thursday in their upper West Side apartment, apparently killed when she fell in the bathtub and struck her head. Shele Covlin, 47, a financial adviser for UBS Wealth Management, was found in the W. 68th St. condo about 7 a.m., but police sources said the accident may have happened earlier while her daughter was sleeping. Detectives...

Cedarhurst, NY - When they returned from vacation in Panama a few weeks ago, Avi and Rayna Deutsch and their two young sons found that their neighbors had shoveled the snow from the front walk and driveway of their house, a three-bedroom four-bath colonial that they bought for less than $500,000 last February. "It's a very close sense of friendship where people are helping each other," said...

New York - Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of one of the most prominent families in American politics, has chosen a Jew for a husband. The groom-to-be, Marc Mezvinsky, is the member of a family of businesspeople and politicians. Further proof that Jews can be found in the very center of the American establishment: The former president and the current secretary of state will be the in-laws of a...

Gaza City - A small group of ultra-Orthodox Jews were preparing Friday to celebrate the Jewish Sabbath in Gaza, in an unlikely show of support for Palestinians in the Hamas-run coastal territory. Bearded and wearing black hats and coats, the four members of a tiny Jewish group vehemently opposed to Israel's existence were a rare sight in the poverty-stricken enclave. Members of the Neturei...

New York City - Scott Stringer is the Manhattan Borough President. He took office on January 1st, 2006. Mr. Stringer grew up in Washington Heights. He is a former Assemblyman and is a democrat. During his Assembly career, Stringer served as Chairman of the Cities Committee, Chairman of the Real Property Taxation Committee and Chairman of the Oversight, Analysis and Investigation Committee. This...

Israel - Students of the Har Bracha yeshiva petitioned the Supreme Court Friday against Defense Minister Ehud Barak's recent decision to remove the school from the Hesder program, which mixes Jewish studies and military service. The school was ousted over remarks by the head of the yeshiva, Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, against the use of soldiers to uproot Jews from their homes in the land of...