October 02, 2020
By RON KAMPEAS
(JTA) — Keith Ellison, the Minnesota attorney general and a leader of Democratic Party progressives, will join an Americans for Peace Now memorial event marking the 25th anniversary of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin.
The participation of Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress and the former deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee, has added significance because Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the freshman New York Democrat emerging...
October 02, 2020
(JTA) — President Donald Trump announced early Friday morning that both he and First Lady Melania Trump had tested positive for COVID-19 and would begin quarantining.
Several prominent Jewish White House officials are among the many people close to the president who could have been exposed to the deadly virus this week.
Trump’s announcement — coming just weeks ahead of the presidential election — came hours after news broke that Trump...
September 29, 2020
By JONATHAN SARNA
(JTA) — As news of the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg spread on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, a common question heard in discussions among American Jews was “When will she be buried?”
As a longtime scholar of American Jewish life, I understood that the question behind that question was whether, in death, Justice Ginsburg’s family would comply with longstanding Jewish tradition that mandates...
September 29, 2020
By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
(JTA) — Any other day of the year would have been easier for the head rabbi of Thessaloniki, Greece, to welcome Mike Pompeo for a visit.
The U.S. Secretary of State’s schedule for a whirlwind tour of southern Europe this week left only Monday open, which happened to be Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. But for Rabbi Aharon Israel, the opportunity was too...
September 29, 2020
By HANNAH DREYFUS
(NY Jewish Week via JTA) — Students at Columbia University have passed a first-ever referendum to boycott and divest from companies that “profit from or engage in the State of Israel’s acts towards Palestinians.”
The news was released to the Columbia student body via email Tuesday morning, the day after the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. According to the vote results shared with The Jewish Week, 61%...
September 26, 2020
By RON KAMPEAS
(JTA) — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the popular progressive New York congresswoman, is withdrawing from an Americans for Peace Now event memorializing Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli prime minister a Jewish extremist murdered in 1995 for his efforts to achieve peace with the Palestinians.
“We are sorry to hear that Rep. Ocasio-Cortez will no longer be speaking at our Oct. 20th Yitzhak Rabin memorial,” Hadar Susskind, Americans for Peace Now’s...
September 25, 2020
NEW YORK (JTA) – After an initial first wave that devastated New York City’s Orthodox Jewish communities, the coronavirus is on the rise again. Meanwhile, Israelis are back under lockdown after new infections there reached crisis levels.
As we did this spring, we’re tracking the news flowing in from across Jewish communities here. And as always, we want to hear from you. Have questions, tips or insights about how your...
September 25, 2020
By BEN SALES
(JTA) — The Google results are shocking: Do an image search for “Jewish baby strollers” and you’ll see row upon row of portable ovens — an offensive allusion to the Holocaust.
Google says it’s looking into the search results and wants to improve them. But according to researchers, the results may not be an accident. It’s possible that they’re the result of a coordinated extremist campaign on...
September 23, 2020
(JTA) — One of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s signature white lace jabot collars will go on display at the Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv.
The collar and a signed copy of the late Supreme Court justice’s autobiography, both personally donated to the museum by Ginsburg, will be part of the new core exhibition set to open in December.
Ginsburg is also part of the museum’s exhibit on “Heroes...
September 23, 2020
(JTA) — The Jewish Advocate, a 118-year-old newspaper in Boston founded by Theodor Herzl, is the latest victim of the coronavirus crisis.
The weekly announced Wednesday that it will suspend publication.
“The decline of advertising revenue and now in the current pandemic its virtual disappearance, has not been sufficiently offset by contributions and organizational support, and The Jewish Advocate has been left with no alternative but to suspend publication,” the...
