Archived News

Synagogue dedications, while always joyous, rarely have a large significance outside of their local communities. Not so with Sunday’s dedication of Beth Israel in New Orleans (More photos here). Numerous speakers stated that the Orthodox congregation’s dedication ceremony should reverberate throughout the Jewish world. Rabbi […]

By Lee J. Green Marie Pittler hopes to re-open the kosher Israeli-style Sababa restaurant soon, and plans to enhance the dining experience with traditional Jewish/deli fare, cakes and desserts, beer and wine and live acoustic entertainment. Sababa, the community’s only full-scale sit-down kosher restaurant, has […]

Two $1 million gifts will help support Jewish life on campus at the College of Charleston, and benefit children of clergy from all faiths. The two pledges were made by Regina and Samuel Shapiro of Atlanta, who wanted to ensure that Jewish student life flourished […]

It isn’t often that an Orthodox congregation dedicates a new building by starting a procession at a Reform congregation. But in New Orleans, that’s par for the course, as Hurricane Katrina and the resulting flood from the levee failure in 2005 ushered in an unusual […]

By Lee J. Green Since Birmingham’s Levite Jewish Community Center has become known as a place focused on health and wellness, it is a fitting site as one of the locations for a major, nationwide American Cancer Society study. To better understand ways to prevent […]

Birmingham brings home the gold in basketball The Memphis Maccabi Games ended last night, and the Birmingham and New Orleans teams are bringing home some hardware, and some medals are also going to Jackson. Birmingham’s Levite Jewish Community Center received its first-ever team gold medal […]

Several congregations in the region are offering classes on Judaism this year, with some getting under way this month. The courses are designed for anyone with an interest in Judaism, whether a Jewish person who needs a refresher course, interfaith couples, a non-Jew who is […]

Duke University announced on Aug. 6 that it will acquire the papers of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. Heschel was a highly visible and charismatic leader in the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements. He co-founded Clergy Concerned About Vietnam and served as a Jewish liaison […]

By Lee J. Green A comedy feature from a Jewish filmmaker will open the 12th annual Sidewalk Film Festival in Birmingham, August 24 to 26, rated by several sources as one of the top 10 film festivals in the nation. “Supporting Characters,” co-written and directed […]