Celebrity rabbi Shmuley Boteach took to Twitter to comment on the passing of Playboy mogul Hugh Hefner — and recall the strange relationship that the rabbi had with the famed porno magazine. “What is Hugh Hefner’s legacy?” Boteach asked on Twitter. “Pamela Anderson told me @Playboy could empower women. I think it exploited them. What…
(JTA) — An Ohio coroner said that a post-mortem examination of Otto Warmbier, the Jewish-American college student who died after being imprisoned in North Korea, did not show any obvious signs of torture. The Wednesday statement contradicted President Trump and Warmbier’s parents, who claimed the 22-year-old was tortured by North Korea. Trump said Warmbier “was tortured…
(JTA) — An Israeli lawmaker doesn’t want a trove of Jewish artifacts returned to Iraq, and called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pressure the United States to keep them out of the country. Anat Berko, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud Party, said the materials belong in Israel. Discovered in the flooded basement of the Iraqi…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The United Nations Human Rights Council has sent letters to 150 companies warning them that they will be placed on a database of companies that do business in Israeli settlements. Caterpillar, Priceline.com, TripAdvisor and Airbnb are among the 30 U.S. companies on the list. The letters sent by the U.N. high commissioner for…
A new Israeli Web series profiles West Bank settler women who carry guns as part of their daily routines, in a look that gets up-close and personal on the widely observed trend of armed settlers. Produced by Israel’s public broadcaster, the Hebrew language series named “Hamushot” (or in English, “Armed”) trails three women as they…
(JTA) — President Donald Trump is “betraying” U.S. commitments to refugees by nearly halving the number the country will allow in this year from 2016, the major Jewish immigrant advocacy group HIAS said. Trump administration officials said Wednesday that the United States will cap the number of refugees at 45,000 for fiscal year 2018 —…
(JTA) — On Saturday, when Jews around the world will fast and gather in synagogues to pray on Yom Kippur, some young Jews will be coming together in the U.S. capital at a more unconventional venue: a beer garden. Aaron Potek, the 31-year-old rabbi for GatherDC, a nondenominational group that does outreach to young Jewish…
Seeking retaliation after the Wednesday vote by the [Interpol]](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-interpol/interpol-approves-membership-for-state-of-palestine-over-israeli-objections-idUSKCN1C20UV) to admit the Palestinians as a full member state, the Israeli government is asking the United States to shut down offices of the Palestinian delegation in Washington. According to reports in Israel, the idea was raised in a meeting of Israeli officials with President Trump’s Middle…
(JTA) — The Anti-Defamation League will work with sports leaders and athletes to promote “positive social change” as the controversy over some NFL players not standing for the national anthem rages. On Thursday, the ADL announced the formation of a Sports Leadership Council, which it said will “work directly with key leaders in the sports…
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, the star of “Seinfeld” and now “Veep,” announced to her legions of fans Thursday that she is battling breast cancer. “1 in 8 women get breast cancer. Today, I’m the one,” the actress wrote in a press release she circulated on Twitter. “The good news is that I have the most glorious group…
(JTA) — Several swastikas were found drawn on message boards outside two dormitory rooms in the same residence hall at Brandeis University. Public safety officers removed the images, officials at the Jewish-founded nonsectarian university said this week in a letter addressed to “Members of the Brandeis community.” Also, the letter said, posters targeting pro-Palestinian student…
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