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Pro-Palestinian Democratic Socialists face defeats down the New York ballot
Running hard against Israel didn’t help Rep. Jamaal Bowman retain his seat in Congress, and it didn’t help most candidates who tried to oust incumbents in the New York State Assembly. Three of four lost in Tuesday’s Democratic primary. The Democratic Socialists of America, with which all the challengers affiliate, can likely count on only...
Texas school district agrees to remove ‘Anne Frank’s Diary,’ ‘Maus’ and 670 other books after right-wing group’s complaint
(JTA) — The superintendent of a school district in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas recently agreed within minutes to a conservative group’s demands to remove 676 books, including some seminal texts about the Holocaust and antisemitism. Now, weeks later, Carol Perez has been removed from the district she led, just as the Republican governor of...
Harry Schimmelman, we know your wife didn’t die of influenza; she’s looking for you
Harry Schimmelman and Sarah Levine came to New York as teens — Harry from Galicia in 1906 and Sarah from Minsk in 1909. They were neighbors in Jewish Harlem. After Harry left the army, they married in January 1916. They settled in the South Bronx. Harry worked as a cab driver and owned a garage,...
Closed-door espionage trial of American Jewish journalist Evan Gershkovich begins in Russia
(JTA) — The closed-door trial of American Jewish reporter Evan Gershkovich began in Russia on Wednesday, 15 months after his arrest there on espionage charges widely regarded as spurious. The trial is being held in Yekaterinburg, the city where Gershkovich, now 32, was arrested while on assignment as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal...
I’m losing my religion — thanks to the war. Can Jewish tradition guide me?
A Bintel Brief, Yiddish for a bundle of letters, has been solving reader dilemmas since 1906. Send yours via email, social media or this form. Dear Bintel, Ever since the horrific events of Oct. 7, I have been so terribly confused. As a Jew, I was devastated by the loss and capture of so many...
I’m losing my religion — thanks to the war. Can Jewish tradition guide me?
A Bintel Brief, Yiddish for a bundle of letters, has been solving reader dilemmas since 1906. Send yours via email, social media or this form. Dear Bintel, Ever since the horrific events of Oct. 7, I have been so terribly confused. As a Jew, I was devastated by the loss and capture of so many...
How one artist turned the horrors of Oct. 7 into a bold series of paintings
The colors hit first: glowing apricot, smoky mauve, and black interrupted by thick streaks of crimson. They are the colors of conflagration. But it’s the life-size figures that command attention – each one emerging from the impasto, and appearing desperate to spring off the canvas. The triptych is part of the figurative artist David Stern’s...
Equity is our Legacy, as Americans and as Jews
In the tapestry of our nation’s history, equity has been a guiding yet often contentious principle. As members of the Jewish community, with our own history of oppression, it is critical to understand that our healing and freedom is intertwined with the freedom of oppressed communities everywhere. We stand at a crossroads where our Jewish...
Antisemitism is on the Rise. Blaming DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) Only Perpetuates It
The Israel-Hamas war, like so many wars before it, has upended society’s harmony. In the United States, incidents of antisemitism have skyrocketed. Students on college campuses and in our K-12 educational institutions continue to report threats, intimidation, and bullying, and many question their physical safety within their educational environments. As Jews, Americans, and people of...
AIPAC spent more than $14M to unseat Jamaal Bowman. Did it have to?
(JTA) — At his big closeout rally on Sunday with progressive rockstars Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jamaal Bowman uncorked an avalanche of borough pride and a profanity-filled tirade against AIPAC. “We are in the South Bronx. This is the birthplace of hip-hop. I am the hip-hop congressman,” Bowman declared. “We are going to show...
The View from My Crate: Calling for Equitable Jewish Communities
While definitions of equity vary, my most elementary understanding of it is best illustrated by a graphic created by artist Angus Maguire for the Interaction Institute for Social Change. The widely shared graphic draws a simple distinction between equality and equity through three people watching a baseball game over a fence. On the side of...
More Than a Slice of Pie
“If I commit to equity, won’t that mean I will lose out on opportunities or need to give something up?” This is a common anxiety among people with relative privilege. And internalizing this idea often leads groups to engage in the “Oppression Olympics” — a competition against other minority or marginalized groups for a share...
Our Jewish Three-Part Package
As Jews, our foundational values are justice and equity. Yet the heartbreak of the last few months may prompt the question, “why should we be focused on the dire needs of those in Global South countries when we feel on less than steady ground here?” Yes, we must speak up for ourselves, but this doesn’t...
Equity by Design, Behind-the-Scenes
In June 2022, one month after JPro22 in partnership with Jewish Federations, Gamal Palmer and Stacey Aviva Flint wrote about Jewish Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) at the Jewish nonprofit sector’s flagship conference: “Something dramatic happened in Cleveland last month… As Jewish people of color, we saw reflections of ourselves throughout the conference from the...
George Latimer defeats Jamaal Bowman in bitter NY primary fought over Israel
(New York Jewish Week) — This is a developing story. George Latimer defeated Rep. Jamaal Bowman in the Democratic primary in New York’s 16th Congressional district on Tuesday, a significant setback for progressive critics of Israel in a closely-watched race with national implications. Latimer, a centrist who hewed to a pro-Israel position during the campaign,...
Pennsylvania Jewish Dems accuse GOP Senate nominee of profiting from ‘antisemitic’ online platform
In Pennsylvania’s fiercely contested Senate race, Sen. Bob Casey and Jewish elected officials are charging his GOP challenger with profiting off his investment in Rumble, a video platform that has amplified far-right antisemitism and Holocaust denial. The issue, amid rising antisemitism across the U.S., has become a particularly potent one in the contest between Casey...
Looking for a free, online resource to learn Yiddish?
Whether you’re starting from scratch or have a few years under your belt, there are a slew of videos, games, podcasts and guides online to help you on your Yiddish learning journey, many of which have come into existence only in the past few years. Here’s a round-up of the best ones out there now,...
Father Coughlin’s Detroit-area church will now teach visitors about his antisemitism
(JTA) — During his Depression-era run as one of the country’s most popular radio personalities, Father Charles Coughlin spread antisemitic conspiracy theories, praised fascists and suggested Jews deserved the horrors of Nazi persecution. Now, nine decades later, his church is officially declaring him an antisemite — and educating visitors about his legacy of hate. Following...
Wikipedia’s operator rejects Jewish groups’ call to override editors on ADL trustworthiness
(JTA) — The charitable foundation that owns Wikipedia said it respects the decisions of its volunteer editors after receiving a letter from a broad coalition of Jewish groups calling on the foundation to override a move by editors to declare the Anti-Defamation League an untrustworthy source on Israel and Zionism. More than 40 Jewish groups signed a...
Violence in LA demands an answer: No more protests in front of houses of worship
Does the Los Angeles Police Department watch the news? Does the LA Mayor’s Office follow social media? Does anyone in charge of keeping LA safe know there’s a war in the Middle East? When demonstrators converged on Adas Shalom synagogue in the city’s Pico-Robertson neighborhood last Sunday, it turned into an utterly predictable melee —...
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