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ZAKA volunteers at Kibbutz Be’eri identifying the bodies of Israelis slain by Hamas terrorists, Oct. 11, 2023. Credit: ZAKA. By Richard Friedman Editor’s Note: Southern Jewish Life associate editor Richard Friedman was executive director of the Birmingham Jewish Federation for 37 years. During his tenure, […]

An interfaith March 2017 rally at the Birmingham Islamic Society following emailed threats. SJL file. On Oct. 11, the Birmingham Islamic Society issued a statement about the current war in Gaza, expressing concern for those in Gaza, but not mentioning the Hamas incursion into Israel […]

The Kutz family. Photo courtesy Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv. A family with a philanthropic tie to Alabama was murdered in the initial wave of the Hamas invasion on Saturday. Rabbi Shmuel Bowman of Operation Lifeshield told the Birmingham Jewish Federation that Livnat Katz, husband Aviv, […]

Peleg Salem Though Rosh Ha’Ayin is not in the immediate zone of fighting, the city has already felt the war’s effects, announcing six deaths thus far. Rosh Ha’Ayin is Birmingham’s sister city in Israel, and the Partnership2Gether city for the New Orleans Jewish community. Numerous […]

By Arieh O’Sullivan Editor’s Note: Arieh O’Sullivan is an award-winning journalist in Israel. He grew up in Mississippi and Louisiana, where his father was police chief of Ocean Springs, Miss., and Jennings, La. After his father was wounded in the New Orleans Howard Johnson sniper […]

Organizers of the New Orleans Stands With Israel community gathering on Oct. 9 had printed 400 handouts. It turned out to be nowhere near enough. About 10 minutes after the scheduled 7 p.m. start, Rabbi David Gerber referenced Jewish Standard Time, and said there were […]

In Tuscaloosa, Mayor Walt Maddox had city buildings lit in blue in solidarity with Israel. Throughout Alabama, flags are at half-staff this week “in honor and remembrance of the lives lost in Israel at the hands of Hamas terrorists on Saturday, October 7th, 2023, which […]

By Arnie Fielkow Today the Jewish world, both here in New Orleans and around the globe, wakes up to a very different reality than what was faced just a mere 48 hours ago. As of this writing, more than 700 Israelis have died, more than […]

The beginning of October marks Nobel Prize season, as the year’s winners are announced in Oslo. For those who haven’t been named this year, there is now a rare opportunity to get a Nobel Prize, at M.S. Rau in New Orleans. The high-end antiques and […]