JTA: The Global News Service of the Jewish People

The News Shticker

By Uriel Heilman · July 29, 2008

• A growing number of Hispanics are discovering their Jewish roots, and one organization, Aliyah Sepharad International, wants to help them make aliyah, the Fort Myers, Fla., News-Press reports.
• Meanwhile, The Oregonian reports, more Chinese adoptees and other non-whites are being raised as Jews. "But – you don't look Jewish," they're often told.
• And in Israel, the Jerusalem Post features a group of 22 Polish youth who recently discovered their Jewish roots and arrived in the Jewish state for a three-week seminar in Jerusalem organized by Shavei Israel, a non-profit that strengthens ties to Israel among descendants of Jews around the world.
• Gregory Levey, the author of "Shut Up, I'm Talking: And Other Diplomacy Lessons I Learned in the Israeli Government," writes in The New Republic about what happens when a member of the Israeli delegation takes Arabic classes at the U.N.
• The Chicago Tribune has a piece on how some younger Jews are reclaiming the ancient rite of immersion in the mikvah, seeing it as a way to honor and nurture women in times of transition.
• Jonathan Freedland has a new novel out on the Jewish avengers who tracked down and executed their Nazi tormentors after World War II.
• A new "wiki" helps educators design curricula for Torah teaching, thanks to Lubavitch.