year in review continued from page 86 JANUARY 2014 Menachem Stark, shown with his wife and seven children, was hailed after his kidnapping and murder as a loving father and generous giver by his Chasidic community in Brooklyn. Brooklyn Chasidic real estate developer Menachem Stark is kid- napped, his lifeless body later found in a dumpster. The New York Post provokes outrage among many Jews with a cover calling him a slumlord and a headline asking, "Who didn't want him dead?" Months later, a construction worker is arrested for the killing. Ariel Sharon, the controversial warrior-turned-statesman who served as Israel's prime minister from 2001 until 2006, when he was rendered comatose by a stroke, dies at age 85. JTA and MyJewishLearning, which includes the popular parenting website Kveller.com, announce their intention to merge. The Israeli government announces that it plans to invest more than $1 billion over the next 20 years to strengthen the Jewish identity of diaspora Jews, particularly young Jews, but the details remain fuzzy. The Chief Rabbinate of Israel reaches an agreement with the Rabbinical Council of America to automatically accept letters from RCA members vouching for the Jewish status of Israeli immi- grants. The agreement follows a temporary suspension by the Chief Rabbinate in accepting such letters from at least one well-known RCA member, Rabbi Avi Weiss of Riverdale, N.Y. Two modern Orthodox high schools in New York stir controversy with decisions to allow girls who wish to lay tefillin. UJA-Federation of New York, the largest Jewish federation in North America, names attorney Eric Goldstein as its new CEO and succes- sor to longtime CEO John Ruskay. Actress Scarlett Johansson comes under criticism for serving as a spokeswoman for the Israeli company SodaStream, which has facilities in the West Bank. Johansson, who is Jewish, stands by SodaStream and resigns as a global ambassador for the British-based charity Oxfam, saying she and Oxfam have "a fundamental differ- ence of opinion in regards to the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement." The Israel Air Force is accused of attacking a warehouse of advanced Russian-made S-300 missiles in the Syrian port city of Latakia. Israel declines to comment on the attack. A federal judge tosses out a $380 million sexual abuse lawsuit filed against Yeshiva University by 34 former students of its high school for boys. The suit alleged that the university ignored warnings of assault by two faculty members between 1969 and 1989. In dismiss- ing the lawsuit, Judge John Koeltl rules that the statute of limitations has expired. E Ariel Sharon is pictured in Jerusalem with the Temple Mount in the background on July 24, 2000. 5 SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum announces Scarlett Johansson as the company's first-ever global brand ambassador on Jan. 10, 2014, in New York City. Coo..1 ,■....T.T.TTITTETTOME TO ITADASSA111'' aD Longtime California congressman Henry Waxman announces his retirement. Waxman had represented California's 33rd District since 1975 and was considered the dean of Jewish lawmakers. Jewish philanthropist and humanitarian Anne Heyman, founder of the Agahozo-ShalomYouthVillage in Rwanda, dies during a horse- riding competition in Palm Beach, Fla. I iMU PP FEBRUARY 2014 The government of Spain approves a bill to facilitate the naturaliza- tion of Sephardic Jews of Spanish descent. Staff at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem go on strike as the hospital, facing a huge deficit, teeters on the edge of bankruptcy and fails to pay its workers. continued on page 90 88 September 18 • 2014 JN The entrance hall of Hadassah's new Sarah Wetsman Davidson Hospital Tower. The tower has cutting-edge facilities, but it opened during a time of financial crisis for the hospital.