Mark D. Zimmerman

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — Last week saw the indictment of celebrities, financiers, coaching and admissions personnel, entrance exam administrators, and others, all of whom participated in a college admissions cheating and bribery scandal led by William “Rick” Singer. This is by no means the first time that college admissions has been shown to […]

By Mark D. Zimmerman   MELVILLE, New York — The Academy Award for Best Movie went to Green Book, a film about black musician Don Shirley, who toured through the Jim Crow South in the 1940’s, and his relationship with his bodyguard/driver, a white Italian from New York named Tony Vallelonga. The movie title refers to

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has received much negative press in the last few weeks. First, he made a deal with the Otzma Yehudit party, the successor to Rabbi Meir Kahane’s racist Kach party, leading to criticism from many in Israel, as well as American organizations including

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon, has charged that the National Enquirer attempted to blackmail him by threatening to release lurid photographs of Bezos. In 2017, Amazon removed a controversial book from their website. The book, A History of the Palestinian People: From Ancient Times to the Modern Era, was

By Mark D. Zimmerman  MELVILLE, New York — Ann Coulter, the conservative political commentator who is considered a strong influence on President Trump, appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher. She criticized Trump for giving in on the government shut down without getting funding for a wall on the Mexican border, saying “He promised something for 18 months,

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — Actress Carol Channing, best known for playing the role of Dolly Levi in Hello Dolly more than 4500 times in her career, died last week at the age of 97. Channing was raised as a Christian Scientist, though she later discovered that her mother was Jewish. She learned Yiddish fluently from her

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — Lin-Manuel Miranda, the playwright and composer who wrote the mega-hit Broadway show Hamilton, and who is currently starring in the movie, Mary Poppins Returns, just returned to the role of Alexander Hamilton in a production of the show in Puerto Rico. Miranda staged the show there to raise funds and bring

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — Following the election of a Democratic-majority House of Representatives, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi has just been elected as Speaker of the House. Pelosi, a strong supporter of Israel and the Jewish community, is the only woman to have ever held that post, and the first person in sixty years to

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — Israeli writer and peace advocate Amos Oz died last week at the age of 79. Oz wrote novels, essays, short stories, children’s books, and more. Among his most well-known works were the novels Elsewhere, Perhaps and My Michael. His memoir A Tale of Love and Darkness focused on the suicide of his mother when

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — The United States Senate passed a measure to put an end to United States support of Saudi Arabia’s military intervention in Yemen. Only 50 Jews remain in Yemen, following a more than 2000 year history. Almost the entire Jewish community fled the country in 1949 and 1950, immigrating to Israel

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — President George H. W. Bush passed away last week at the age of 94. Bush was generally considered a friend to American Jews and Israel. But at least once in his life, he said something that prompted blow back from members of the Jewish community. What did he