Source: The Houston Chronicle

On September 30, 2000, The Houston Chronicle reported that "Ben "Bunny" Leff's vision is fading. At 81 years of age, he can no longer read or drive. Joe Mendelovitz, 84, needs a three-legged cane to assist his strides. But their hearts are strong. For years, Leff, Mendelovitz and other volunteers have shown up at Seven Acres Jewish Senior Care Services to lead the morning prayer service known as a minyan, Hebrew for quorum. Orthodox Judaism requires the presence of 10 men to hold a public worship service or Torah reading....

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On September 30, 2000, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported that "what you see first is a huge sign with hand-painted letters reading 'Blue Star Camps.' It's mounted on two blue panels, nailed to 7-foot wooden poles. Then there's a long silver canoe. And a tiny cot and bedroom used by young campers. And a white nurse's uniform owned by Hilda Ney, 75, who wore it for more than 20 years in the camp's health center. A new exhibit mounted by Atlanta's William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum is bound to evoke...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On September 30, 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported that "Aryeh Fein put a gnarled ram's horn to his lips and blew until veins stood out on his forehead. The 10-year-old from Rancho Santa Margarita sounded the shofar Friday morning to herald the start of Rosh Hashana in a program sponsored by Morasha Jewish Day School in Mission Viejo. 'I blew it a little too long,' Aryeh said, sitting in the grass until his dizziness passed. 'It's cool because it makes so much noise.' The shofar is used to signal the start of the Jewish New Year...

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On September 29, 2000, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution published an article entitled "Muslim 'Man of Peace' to Help Jews Greet New Year." It reported that "as Jews in metro Atlanta and around the world begin their holiest season of the year, one Atlanta congregation will be hosting an unusual guest speaker: a Muslim sheik. Sheik Abu Saleh el Refai, a Sufi Muslim and spiritual leader of Arabs living on the West Bank, will be the guest speaker this evening at services sponsored by the nondenominational Shema...

Source: The New York Times

On September 29, 2000, The New York Times reported that "the 10-year-old boys of the Avon Soccer Club will not be playing the lads of Fairfield United in the Connecticut state soccer tournament this Saturday. Whether this is due to religious intolerance, as Avon's coach believes, or the inability of some suburban parents to follow the rules, as the Fairfield coach thinks, is for the lawyers to decide. The conflict between the two teams arose this week after it became known that the parents of 7 of the Avon squad's 11 starting...

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

On September 29, 2000, The San Francisco Chronicle published an article entitled, "Temple-State Separation; At Rosh Hashanah, Jews Reflect on Sen. Lieberman and Their Place in American...

Source: USA TODAY

On September 28, 2000, USA TODAY reported that while "he's in the tightest race for the White House since 1980...when the sun sets Friday, Joe Lieberman will be nowhere near the campaign trail. Instead, the nation's first Jewish vice-presidential candidate will be in a synagogue in New Haven, Conn., wrapped in a prayer shawl and deep in reflection for the start of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year of 5761. It is probably the most publicized Jewish observance since 1965, when star Los Angeles Dodger pitcher Sandy Koufax refused to pitch a...

Source: The Buffalo News

On September 25, 2000, The Buffalo News reported that "the upcoming 10-day Jewish holiday period, which starts with Rosh Hashanah and culminates with Yom Kippur, can act as a barometer of workplace religious tolerance, according to Marlene Glickman, retired executive director of the Western New York chapter of the American Jewish Committee. Glickman said the yearly fall observances, and Passover, which occurs in the spring, often pit the dominant Christian calendar against the Jewish calendar. 'In most places of work, you'd never...

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On September 24, 2000, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that "near sundown Friday, many of the region's 62,000 Jews will observe the beginning of the Jewish New Year 5761. The evening service begins 10 days of prayer, repentance and family gatherings for the observant. Jewish holidays always begin on the eve of any holy day. Sept. 30 is Rosh Hashana, the first day of the New Year. Morning service that day begins with a series of prayers, the first letters of which spell: "Tear up Satan" in Hebrew. Then, the shofar - the...

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On September 23, 2000, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported that "Judy Marx was raised in a strongly identified Reform Jewish home and has a full-time job working in a Jewish organization. But she's not a member of a congregation. 'There isn't a synagogue in town that meets my needs,' said Marx, 38, who is assistant area director of the American Jewish Committee. Yet Marx wouldn't miss worship for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, the upcoming High Holidays of the Jewish calendar. She'll be attending Atlanta...

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On September 23, 2000, The Houston Chronicle reported that "if present trends continue, by the year 2080 North America's Jewish population will drop by a third, to 4 million, according to projections in the new American Jewish Year Book...The article says that outside Israel there has been 'unprecedented erosion' in the Jewish family due to lower birth rates and such factors as delayed marriages, couples cohabiting out of wedlock and rising divorce. The annual, published by the American Jewish Committee, reports there are...

Source: The Kansas City Star

On September 23, 2000, The Kansas City Star reported on the Outreach to the Unaffiliated program. The program, facilitated by the Council of Presidents of area Jewish congregations and facilitated by the Jewish Community Information and Referral Project of the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City, connects people with complimentary memberships for one year at area congregations. "Michelle Lawner, who coordinates the outreach program, said an increased number of people have been contacting her in recent weeks before the High...

Source: Chicago Sun-Times

On September 22, 2000, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that "adherence to kosher dietary laws, thought by some to be dying out in America 50 years ago, appears stronger than ever. In recent years, the ritual is being followed not only among Orthodox Jews, but across Judaism's other branches. Kosher popularity...has been cresting in recent years, according to author Samuel Freedman, who notes the return to religious traditions in his book Jew vs. Jew: The Struggle for the Soul of American Jewry (Simon...

Source: St. Petersburg Times

On September 16, 2000, the St. Petersburg Times reported that, "Rosh Hashana Services Mark a Day of Prayer."

Source: Star Tribune

On September 11, 2000, the Star Tribune reported that this year "General Electric, Wal-Mart, Merck Pharmaceuticals, Exxon-Mobil and many other corporations were confronted with shareholder resolutions offered by religious orders...Diane Bratcher, a spokeswoman with the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, which coordinates many such resolutions, said her organization has grown to 275 member groups with $110 billion of investments. They represent Catholic, Protestant and Jewish denominations, though some city and union pension...