Source: The Washington Post

On April 20, 2001, The Washington Post reported that "the chancellor of Minnesota's state colleges and universities and the president of St. Cloud State University have taken the apparently unprecedented step of asking the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to investigate allegations of systemic anti-Semitism at St. Cloud State. The move follows the filing of complaints with the EEOC by several Jewish members or former members of the St. Cloud State faculty."

Source: Los Angeles Times

On April 20, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported on the latest fashion trend among Southern Californian worshippers at Sunday services. "Sunday wardrobes now reflect age, ethnicity and even hobbies...Clergy do agree on one thing: Clothes styles don't matter to God. The debate is over whether clothes make, or at least help, the worshiper...Other religions [including Judaism and Islam] have seen a slight dip in fashion formality, though nothing like the eclectic fashion sense of Christian congregations."

Source: The Record

On April 15, 2001, The Record reported that "Orthodox leaders say Tenafly's eruv has been vandalized several times in recent months, and police are investigating." The vandalism began in December, when U.S. District Judge William G. Bassler issued a temporary restraining order allowing the eruv to remain while the court case proceeds. Those that are caught tampering with the eruv risk being charged with a bias crime.

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On April 14, 2001, The Houston Chronicle reported that "a poll of U.S. Jews suggests they're generally more interested in social action than religious matters...Asked to pick which is more important, 56 percent favored work for social justice vs. 6 percent for studying the Torah."

Source: Los Angeles Times

On April 13, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported that "Steven B. Jacobs, a Woodland Hills [California] rabbi who has championed social justice issues and traveled to Kosovo on a 1999 peace mission with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, will receive the third annual Walter Cronkite Faith and Freedom Award. Jacobs...has been outspoken nationally and locally on labor and race issues."

Source: Los Angeles Times

On April 13, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported on a "B.C." comic strip by cartoonist Johnny Hart, which "depicts the candles of a menorah being extinguished one by one until the Judaic symbol is finally transformed into a cross. The strip...already has disappointed and angered some readers, religious leaders and newspapers...Critics argue Hart's message is that Christianity replaced Judaism as a viable religion 2,000 years ago." Hart said "his purpose was merely to honor both Easter and Passover."

Source: The Arizona Republic

on April 12, 2001, The Arizona Republic reported that Jewish and Christian leaders are objecting to a B.C. comic strip run on Easter, which carries a religious theme that they see as offensive to Jews. The Los Angeles-based Jewish Defense League said the comic "fuels the ideals that have led to our persecution and murder for thousands of years."

Source: The Record

On April 10, 2001, The Record published an opinion piece, which said that "the construction of an eruv is simple and unobtrusive, and is an overall benefit to any community with a growing Orthodox Jewish presence." The writer offered the eruv in West Orange, New Jersey, as an example.

Source: The Boston Herald

On April 9, 2001, The Boston Herald reported on a shortage of cantors in both the Conservative and Orthodox movements. "Cantors have long played a role in the Jewish faith...Jewish leaders say the cantor's changing role is one of the reasons for the shortage." Besides singing, cantors now have added responsibilities, such as officiating at weddings and funerals, directing the synagogue chorus, and teaching Hebrew scripture.

Source: The Denver Post

On April 8, 2001, The Denver Post reported on the challenges that face couples of mixed religious faiths. "The bumping together of religion and tradition isn't as simple for couples of different faiths deciding how to raise their children, practice their beliefs and cope with their families...Christian ministers are mixed on whether they will co-officiate at [wedding] ceremonies...'There are [only] a couple hundred' rabbis across the country who will co-officiate with a minister, said one Denver rabbi."

Source: The Boston Globe

On April 8, 2001, The Boston Globe reported that "over the last several decades, the Catholic Church has made extraordinary changes in the way it talks about Jews and Judaism...[It] now goes out of its way to" present Jews in a favorable light. "At the same time, Jewish educators have not significantly changed" the negative way they portray Christians. "Some prominent Jewish leaders are beginning to question whether they, like their Catholic counterparts, need to overhaul the way they teach their children." Their desire for...

Source: New York Daily News

On April 7, 2001, the New York Daily News reported on two interfaith groups: the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding and the National Conference for Community and Justice. "The growth in [other] organizations working specifically on togetherness among faiths frees their groups to expand their missions. The National Conference and the Tanenbaum Center have moved on to such matters as diversity in the workplace, religion's role in solving conflicts and development of leaders in institutions with histories of...

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On April 7, 2001, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on "a determined generation of Seder hostesses who creatively work so that their children grow up not just loving Passover foods but the defining story of their ancestors' great escape as well." They find fun ways to tell their children the story of the exodus so that they will understand and love being Jews.

Source: Los Angeles Times

On April 5, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported that observant Jews this week must "prepare a Passover Seder for Saturday night--the work equivalent of a Thanksgiving dinner--without being able to cook for 24 hours before the meal. The culinary quandary is just one challenge posed by this year's back-to-back pairing of the Sabbath...and Passover...Orthodox and Conservative rabbis have been busy advising concerned congregants on how to perform the rituals of both holy days without violating Jewish law."

Source: The Boston Globe

On April 1, 2001, The Boston Globe reported on "70 families involved in the Jewish Family Workshop, an organization that provides weekly Hebrew and religion classes for children, services on the high holy days...and a social network for Jewish or partially Jewish families." The Natick, Massachusetts, organization "provides an easy-going alternative for families that want to preserve Jewish culture without all the rituals and obligations of a synagogue."