July 01, 2022
By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
(JTA) — Ahead of his first presidential visit to Israel, Joe Biden congratulated Yair Lapid on becoming prime minister on Thursday, following the resignation of his predecessor Naftali Bennett.
“Congratulations to @YairLapid, Israel’s new Prime Minister, and thank you to Alternate Prime Minister @NaftaliBennett for your friendship over the past year. I look forward to seeing you both in July to celebrate the unbreakable U.S.-Israel partnership,” Biden...
June 29, 2022
By ANDREW LAPIN
(JTA) – After nearly a year of legal and financial battles, Ben & Jerry’s will continue to be made and sold in Israel and the West Bank, as its parent company Unilever announced Tuesday it had reached an agreement with its current Israeli licensee to assume ownership of the brand in the region.
Under the terms of the new agreement, Unilever is selling its Israel business interest...
June 25, 2022
By RON KAMPEAS
WASHINGTON (JTA) — An array of Jewish groups across the country are kickstarting into action to protest and potentially challenge the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that had enshrined the right to an abortion in the United States.
The 6-3 decision released Friday has many Jewish activists buzzing about how to respond to the bombshell ruling that they find a...
June 23, 2022
By GABE FRIEDMAN and RON KAMPEAS
(JTA) — It has become a common refrain: Israel is heading towards another national election. A whopping five times since 2019, to be exact.
On Monday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, the two men who had cobbled together a historically diverse coalition to oust Benjamin Netanyahu from power a year ago, announced that they will help fast-track a bill to...
June 22, 2022
By JACOB GURVIS
LOS ANGELES (JTA) — For Jewish sports fans around the world, Sandy Koufax has for decades occupied an unmatched legendary status.
Now, 57 years after the Hall of Fame pitcher sat out a World Series game to observe Yom Kippur, Koufax has officially been immortalized with a statue at Dodger Stadium — next to his former teammate, Jackie Robinson.
The Los Angeles Dodgers unveiled the Koufax statue...
June 17, 2022
By ALAN SMASON
In a statement by White House Press Secretary Karine-Jean Pierre, it was announced that President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. will visit the Middle East region from July 13-16 including to Israel.
The reason for the trip Pierre said is “to reinforce the United States’ iron-clad commitment to Israel’s security and prosperity and attend a Summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council plus Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan (known as...
June 15, 2022
By ASAF SHALEV
(JTA) – The fighting in Ukraine has been called “a WhatsApp war” amid widespread reliance on messaging apps by journalists, soldiers and ordinary civilians, and their central role in spreading propaganda.
Meanwhile, WhatsApp’s inventor, a Ukrainian-born Jew whose creation made him one of the wealthiest people in the world, has kept conspicuously quiet throughout the conflict. Jan Koum, who controls a multi-billion-dollar charitable foundation, has not uttered a public word even as...
June 13, 2022
By ANDREW LAPIN
(JTA) – “Ella Fitzgerald, wherever you are, I apologize in advance.”
Billy Crystal gave this year’s Tonys a jolt of Jewish shtick when he coaxed the audience into a call-and-response “Yiddish scat” routine, as part of a live performance to promote his Broadway musical, “Mr. Saturday Night.”
In a good-faith mockery of Fitzgerald’s own famous “scat” routine, Crystal, in character as his show’s fading comedian star Buddy...
June 10, 2022
By ALAN SMASON, Exclusive to the CCJN
Rabbi Deborah Silver, the spiritual leader of Shir Chadash Conservative Congregation for the past six years, has been busy for much of the past month preparing for Shavuot, but also packing her belongings in anticipation of her return to Los Angeles, the place from which she received her rabbinic training.
Silver, the first female Conservative rabbi to lead a Louisiana synagogue, is bittersweet...
June 09, 2022
By RON KAMPEAS
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol is about to tell a story, and it comes with a warning: Some parts might be unsettling to Jews.
The committee, chaired by Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, is launching primetime hearings at 8 p.m. eastern Thursday night. They will be broadcast on ABC, NBC, CBS,...
