Jewish Family Services has been an anchor in Olga Vaynshtok’s life. Through the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, Vaynshtok relocated from St. Petersburg, Russia in 1991 with her son and was resettled by JFS. Her husband, Sam, had already moved to the Milwaukee area in 1989. Her husband’s family had a close friend in southeastern Wisconsin who agreed to sponsor their move. On July 1, Vaynshtok, of Mequon, will take the helm of the organization that helped her start her life in the United States. Her peers on the board of JFS chose her to serve as the agency’s next...
GRAFTON — Nestled in Ozaukee County, Grafton is as about as tranquil as any of the more far-flung suburbs ringing the city of Milwaukee. Thirty-two years ago, however, the small village was home to one of the biggest controversies southeastern Wisconsin has ever seen. And it all had to do with a library. In 1987, […]
ChallahFromHome has spread all over social media. This Shabbat will only be the 11th #ChallahFromHome, but it already feels like an enduring institution. The digital world is now filled with pictures of challah accom- panied by the Milwaukee-born #ChallahFromHome hashtag. Clicking on the hashtag leads Internet users to tons of people who are making Challah […]
Eva Goldschmidt Wyman was 5 years old when she emigrated to Chile from Germany in 1939 to escape the Nazi regime. She and her parents were among the 15,000 Jews who entered Chile between 1934 and 1947, according to her book, “Escaping Hitler: A Jewish Haven in Chile.” As the book describes, one of Chile’s […]
Alexandra Hart experienced the stigma of being a woman in combat in the Israeli Defense Forces. The then 19-year-old Milwaukee native had to prove herself capable of running as fast, lifting as much and being as mentally fit as the men in her combat unit. “Wow, you’re really good for a girl,” she would hear, […]
At least four exchanges among Israelis and Wisconsinites have been canceled or postponed, according to the Israel Center of Milwaukee Jewish Federation. The changes are due to worldwide concerns over the coronavirus. Milwaukee Jewish Federation had already been considering or making changes in plans, when the Jewish Agency for Israel announced in early March […]
Mequon Jewish Preschool is postponing an educational development opportunity, due to the coronavirus. “We decided to err on the side of caution,” said Rivkie Spalter, director of Mequon Jewish Preschool. “It was really on the side of caution. We all see what’s going on in the news. We see the impact of the coronavirus.” The professional development […]
Note: This event has been canceled. Rabbi Ariel Burger, author of “Witness: Lessons from Elie Wiesel’s Classroom” published last year, will be the speaker at the sixth annual Edie Adelman Lecture on March 30, 2019. Wiesel saw his core life mission as teaching, according to Burger, and that mission is an inspiration for Burger’s […]
All American Jews over 18 are eligible to vote for representatives to the 38th World Zionist Congress. This vote takes place every five years. Those elected from the U.S. will join delegates from around the world at the World Zionist Congress in October 2020 in Jerusalem. Delegates will make decisions regarding the allocation of nearly […]
We’ve returned from a men’s’ trip to Israel and we’ve come back with a mission — keep it going. I traveled with six other “dads” from Milwaukee’s greater Jewish community, on the Momentum Men’s Trip to Israel from Nov. 11-17, 2019. Momentum Men’s theme is #ChooseAwesome. Being awesome Momentum-style means to be the best […]
In the wake of the overwhelming victory by Conservatives in the United Kingdom’s elections, American progressives need to be careful not to fall into the plight of the British Labour party. Among worthy causes, antisemitism festered in the party, initially cloaked under the guise of being “critical of Israel” (often with inaccurate information or vague […]
Leo Soroka’s coworker wanted to know: was he Russian or Ukrainian? Soroka moved to the Milwaukee area from Ukraine in 1992 after the Soviet Union collapsed. A few years later, when asked about his nationality, Soroka answered that he was Jewish. “He wouldn’t understand,” Soroka said. “For him, Jewish is just religion, it’s not nationality. […]
Loading ...