Louis Keene is a reporter for the Forward. His work has also been published in The New York Times, New York Magazine and VICE. He is based in Los Angeles and can be followed on Twitter @thislouis.
Louis Keene
By Louis Keene
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News Jewish nonprofits look to feds, states to help pay for security. But there’s not enough grant money to go around.
Note: This story has been updated to reflect more recent events. After he took a job leading a synagogue in Bakersfield, California, in May of 2020, Rabbi Jonathan Klein realized his community was vulnerable. Temple Beth El didn’t have much in the way of protection, and the rabbi worried about extremists, including the Ku Klux…
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News Alexei Bychenko, Israeli who skated to Hava Nagila in 2018, taking opera to third Olympics
In the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Alexei Bychenko thrilled the Jewish world by skating to Hava Nagila, the ubiquitous Hebrew folk song based on a Hasidic tune. To this day, the Ukrainian-born Israeli figure skater calls it one of his favorite performances. A veteran now preparing for his third Winter Games, Bychenko won’t be…
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News All the Jewish athletes at the 2022 Beijing Olympics and how to watch them
Despite ongoing COVID chaos and mounting protests about China’s human rights record, the 2022 Beijing Olympics are proceeding on schedule, just six months after the delayed Tokyo games — and we have your guide to the Jewish athletes who are on their way. In Tokyo, dozens of Jewish athletes competed, and many clinched medals. The…
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News The downhill duo: Skiing siblings to represent Israel at Winter Olympics
There’s a rivalry brewing between the two skiers competing for Israel in the Winter Olympics — a sibling rivalry. Barnabás Szőllős and his sister Noa Szőllős, born in Hungary, raised in Austria and trained by their Hungarian-Israeli father, will hit the slopes next week wearing blue and white. Both will compete in all five individual…
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News A second San Diego Chabad rabbi named in Poway scandal
The sprawling financial fraud case centered around former Chabad of Poway rabbi Yisroel Goldstein has reeled in a second San Diego-area rabbi. The Justice Department announced Wednesday that the founder of Chabad of University of California at San Diego, Yehuda Hadjadj, pleaded guilty to conspiring with Goldstein to defraud a local company’s donation matching program….
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Fast Forward Teacher suing Westchester Reform Temple says she was fired for anti-Zionism
A teacher who says she was fired for identifying as an anti-Zionist online is suing a high-profile Reform synagogue, and dozens of Jewish leaders have signed a letter supporting her. In her complaint, Jessie Sander said she began teaching Hebrew language at Westchester Reform Temple’s religious school last July, and was fired three weeks later…
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News L.A.’s Got Kosher closes restaurant to focus on challah
A stalwart of the Los Angeles kosher restaurant scene has closed its doors, citing the pandemic’s effect on business. The kosher Tunisian restaurant Harissa and its adjoining bakery and deli Got Kosher have closed for good, chef and owner Alain Cohen announced on Sunday. “We have been losing money for months and it is not…
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News NBA player who used antisemitic slur says incident traumatized him
An NBA player who used an antisemitic slur while livestreaming a videogame suggested this week that he had suicidal thoughts in the aftermath of the incident. Meyers Leonard, a seven-foot-tall center who at the time was a player for the Miami Heat, described his regret and his efforts to repent during an appearance at University…
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