By MARCY OSTER
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Four Jewish Israelis were killed when gunmen opened fire on the car they were riding in at the entrance to Kiryat Arba, near Hebron.
Tuesday night’s attack in the West Bank comes on the eve of the opening of peace talks in Washington between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian [...]

The Northwest Jewish Community will hold an Erev Shabbat service 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 27 in the community room of Lunds, 3455 Vicksburg Ln., Plymouth. The family-friendly service is open to the public and will feature a High Holidays themed story reading for children.
The service is the second in a series of events to gauge [...]

Obama administration invites Israelis and Palestinians to resume direct talks on Sept. 2 in Washington, D.C.

By RON KAMPEAS

WASHINGTON (JTA) — It’s a peace conference where nothing is off the table — or on it, for that matter.
The Obama administration’s invitation to Palestinian and Israeli leaders to launch direct talks on Sept. 2 attempts to reconcile [...]

An upcoming lecture series at the U of M will examine how demented Holocaust denial arguments have been rebranded as ‘alternative narratives’
By BRUNO CHAOUAT
The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota — of which I am honored to serve as the new director — is launching a lecture series titled “Alternative [...]

The title character of the award-winning film Nora’s Will is barely present, except in the hearts and minds of her estranged husband, children and other family members. The affecting comedy from director Mariana Chenillo explores universal issues through the prism of a Jewish family in Mexico City confronting loss and navigating tradition.
Here’s a trailer from [...]

Stuart Ackerberg, a successful real estate developer, is helping spur a turnaround on beleaguered West Broadway Avenue

By MORDECAI SPECKTOR

Stuart Ackerberg’s business card, the one for Catalyst Community Partners, carries a bit of a quotation from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “The fierce urgency of now.”
A successful real estate developer — with substantial holdings [...]

High Holiday Stories: Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur Thoughts on Family, Faith and Food (Frederick Fell) by Nancy Rips is a heartwarming collection of holiday memories and traditions recounted by rabbis, celebrities and ordinary people. The contributors write from far-flung corners of the world, offering a diversity of tales and rituals. Most entries are childhood [...]

“It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future,” said Yogi Berra, Yankees catcher and philosopher.
This week’s edition of the Jewish World features a Page 1 story from JTA about the controversy surrounding Jeffrey Goldberg’s cover story in The Atlantic’s September issue, regarding the possibility of an Israeli bombing attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities — [...]

New Todd Solondz film probes the bounds of social acceptance

By MICHAEL FOX

Todd Solondz revels in ironies, paradoxes, warring impulses and messy dilemmas. So it makes a kind of weird sense that such a sweet, pensive guy makes excruciating — and excruciatingly funny — movies.
With Life during Wartime, the New Jersey-born, New York City-based [...]

School for Orthodox boys works out deal with Minnesota Baptist Conference
By ERIN ELLIOTT BRYAN / Community News Editor
Yeshiva High School of the Twin Cities has secured a loan to purchase its building in Cottage Grove.
“With thanks to Hashem and with the help of all those who have supported our campus rescue campaign… I am [...]