Mark D. Zimmerman

By Mark D. Zimmerman NEW YORK — Wells Fargo Bank has just been fined $185 million for fraudulently opening credit card and checking accounts in the names of people who were not aware and did not approve. The original Wells, Fargo & Company provided express delivery and banking services in California. In 1905 the company separated […]

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — In her acceptance speech at last week’s Democratic National Convention, Hillary Clinton made reference to HIPPY. What is HIPPY? A. HIPPY stands for Health Insurance Program for Parents and Youth, an Israeli program designed to provide health insurance coverage for low income families, and it was the basis for the CHIP program (Children’s Health Insurance

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — At this week’s Democratic Convention in Philadelphia, Hillary Clinton will officially become the first female candidate to head a major party ticket for president of the United States, despite controversy over her use of a private email server while she was Secretary of State. Among the thousands of emails written

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — Leading up to this week’s Republican Convention in Cleveland, the Republican Platform Committee under RNC Chair Reince Priebus has been finalizing details of the official party platform, covering such issues as reforming government, women in combat, coal as a clean energy source, and religious liberty. According to Michele Bachmann,

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — A Spanish matador was fatally gored this week in Spain, the first time this has happened since 1985. Though not widely known, there was a gay Jewish man who was born in Park Slope, Brooklyn in 1903 who went on to become a matador. He fought in

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — What argument did British Prime Minister David Cameron make to the Jewish community of Great Britain in an attempt to gain their support for staying in the European Union?   A. Referring to the growing support throughout the European Union for an independent Palestinian state, Cameron said, “Do you want

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — The world is mourning the passing of boxing champion Muhammad Ali. Some years ago, Ali made an appearance at Congregation Rodeph Shalom in Philadelphia. What was the reason for his visit? A. He was in attendance at the aufruf of his daughter Khaliah in 1997, prior to her

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York –Nihar Janga and Jairam Hathwar became co-champions of the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee last week by correctly spelling the words “gesellschaft” and “Feldenkrais,” respectively. In 2013, Arvind Mahankali spelled the winning word, “knaidel,” which led to much controversy in the Jewish and Yiddish-speaking world as to whether

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — Very few climbers have reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the last two years, due to deadly avalanches and a huge earthquake. The 2016 season has just begun, with 9 Sherpas reaching the summit on May 11; however, four climbers have already died this month, with numerous others taking

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — Israel’s honorary consul in Rio de Janeiro criticized Brazil’s embattled president, Dilma Roussef, for her comparison of the effort to impeach her to the Nazis’ persecution of Jews. Yet, two years ago, the criticism went in the opposite direction when what was said?   A. The president of the Brazilian Israelite