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Opening Our Eyes: Embracing Complexity in the Jewish Community
In our morning liturgy, we recite the words Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Haolam Pokeach Ivrim — Blessed are You, God, Sovereign of the Universe, Who opens the eyes of the blind. This prayer is a profound invocation, calling on us to open our eyes to deeper truths about our Jewish community and broader society. The...
Affirming the Miracle of Creation
It is remarkable that while human beings share over 99% of our DNA, we often focus on our differences. Moreover, we tend to use those differences to establish hierarchy and privilege. A famous teaching of the Talmud (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5) establishes equity as a Jewish value: “A tribute to the greatness of the Holy Blessed...
‘Best friends I ever had’: Willie Mays’ treasured bond with a Jewish family
Willie Mays was in the prime of his career in 1963, but his finances were a mess. The Giants’ star outfielder had plunged into debt amid divorce proceedings, and even with more than half of his career home runs under his belt, was staring down bankruptcy. Then he met Jacob Shemano. Shemano was a banker...
Netanyahu accuses Biden of withholding weapons. White House: We ‘do not know what he’s talking about.’
(JTA) — WASHINGTON — White House officials denied withholding weapons from Israel after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video statement criticizing the Biden administration for an “inconceivable” delay in delivering weapons. The exchange came following reports that the administration had pressured congressional Democrats to sign off on a major arms sale. The statements on...
ADL faces Wikipedia ban over reliability concerns on Israel, antisemitism
(JTA) — Wikipedia’s editors have voted to declare the Anti-Defamation League “generally unreliable” on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, adding it to a list of banned and partially banned sources. An overwhelming majority of editors involved in the debate about the ADL also voted to deem the organization unreliable on the topic of antisemitism, its core focus....
Analysis: Jewish moderators will grill Trump and Biden at CNN’s debate. What should they ask about Israel?
Israel will likely get significant airtime next week during the first presidential debate of the 2024 presidential election. Two Jewish journalists, CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, will moderate the matchup, hosted by their network in Atlanta, and set the stage for this summer’s national political conventions. Former President Donald Trump’s court battles, immigration and...
Who is the Jewish attorney general taking on one of the state’s most powerful Democrats?
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin unsealed a racketeering indictment against George E. Norcross III, an influential Democratic power broker in southern New Jersey, Monday. The 13-count indictment alleges that Norcross’s company used political influence with state and local authorities to take advantage of hundreds of millions of dollars in government-issued tax credits. In one...
A subway mask ban won’t fight antisemitism, but it will punish immunocompromised Jews like me
When I heard the news this week that New York Governor Kathy Hochul proposed a plan to ban masking in the New York City subway with the absurd claim that this public health measure endangers Jews, I was immediately brought back to the two weeks of isolation I spent with my second COVID-19 infection in...
Joe Mazzulla wants to go to Israel. Which Celtics would go with him?
Back in May, when the Boston Celtics were merely an NBA Finals contender, head coach Joe Mazzulla vowed to go to Israel with his family were the team to win it all. “If we win the championship this year, we’re flying to Jerusalem and we’re walking from Jericho to Jerusalem,” Mazzulla said in an interview...
How everyone got the Brooklyn Museum story wrong
“Antisemitism Notebook” is a weekly email newsletter from the Forward, sign-up here to receive the full newsletter in your inbox each Tuesday Many progressives are reluctant to accept allegations of antisemitism because they feel like these claims are often made in bad faith to damage their political movement. It was striking, then, to see so many prominent...
What the world has lost with the loss of Anouk Aimée
Nicole Françoise Florence Dreyfus, the actress who became world famous as Anouk Aimée, died this morning in Paris at the age of 92. With her death, a certain idea of France — an idea, at least, that swept away Americans of my generation — died a little more too. Born in Paris in 1932, the...
This Pride, queer Jews are feeling the strain — and sometimes unsafe — over Israel
(JTA) — After finding themselves on the receiving end of a socialist group’s “Naming and Shaming” campaign, two married Jewish organizers of a Cincinnati-area Pride group resigned from their roles last week over concerns for their personal safety. “Individuals and Organizations have targeted our board members, including [with] threats of violence,” Cincinnati Pride said in...
New film captures the talent and devotion of musicians choosing Yiddish
Read the original article in Yiddish here. Yiddish enthusiasts often use the term Yiddishland to describe their community of like-minded people. This Yiddishland isn’t a nation or physical location but rather a concept that describes people and projects devoted to the Yiddish language and culture. It is variously characterized as symbolic or “post-vernacular,” utopian,...
Why Paul McCartney should be known as ‘the Jewish Beatle’
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published June 17, 2019. Given Paul McCartney’s apparent love affair with all things Jewish — including collaborators, business associates, girlfriends and wives — the title of the artist’s 2013 album New could well be meant as a transliteration of the all-purpose Jewish word nu. Recently, McCartney was in New York with...
All New York district attorneys vow full prosecution of hate crimes amid rising antisemitism
In a rare joint statement on Tuesday, New York’s attorney general and the district attorneys from all 62 counties condemned the recent increase in antisemitic incidents and reiterated their commitment to public safety. “We support the rights of all New Yorkers to lawfully and peacefully gather and protest,” the prosecutors said in a statement, “but...
In a Virginia primary between hardline candidates, the bottom line for Republican Jews is support for Israel
(JTA) — WASHINGTON — The Republican Jewish Coalition is taking sides in a Virginia congressional primary race between two candidates with links to the party’s hardline right — citing their differences over Israel. The RJC’s preferred candidate in Virginia’s fifth district, State Sen. John McGuire, is challenging incumbent Rep. Bob Good, who rallied a group...
Investigation says many students at LA rabbinical school experienced sexism and homophobia but it was not ‘systematic’
A law firm hired to investigate alumni complaints about sexism and harassment at the Ziegler School of Rabbinical Studies found that the concerns were not shared by most graduates, but were widely corroborated by those who did not complete the program. The firm, Cozen O’Connor, said nearly 90% of about 150 graduates of Ziegler, a...
‘We cannot look away,’ Kamala Harris says after White House screening of Sheryl Sandberg documentary on Oct. 7 sexual violence
(JTA) — WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris screened “Screams Before Silence” at the White House on Monday, in part to refute denialism of Hamas’ sexual violence as exposed in the documentary produced by Sheryl Sandberg. “We cannot look away and we will not be silent,” Harris said ahead of the screening, to a room...
San Jose Sharks’ Ryan Warsofsky becomes first Jewish NHL head coach in 32 years
(JTA) — For the first time in more than three decades, an NHL team will have a Jewish coach. On Thursday, Ryan Warsofsky was named head coach of the San Jose Sharks after previously serving as an assistant coach with the team. At 36, he is also the youngest coach in the 32-team league and...
No matter who won the Finals, Jewish ‘NBA Countdown’ host Malika Andrews has become a star
(JTA) — As millions of basketball fans tune into ABC Monday night for Game 5 of the NBA Finals, they’ll see a Jewish star front and center — though she doesn’t play for the Boston Celtics or Dallas Mavericks. Malika Andrews, 29, is the host of ABC’s “NBA Countdown” pregame show as well as ESPN’s...
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