A 1,500-year-old mosaic floor with a Greek inscription has been uncovered in Jerusalem’s Old City – a rare discovery of an ancient relic and an historic document in one. The inscription cites 6th-century Roman emperor Justinian as well as Constantine, who served as abbot of a church founded by Justinian in Jerusalem. Archaeologists believe it…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The head of the Sephardic Orthodox Shas party called members of the Religious Zionist movement “borderline Reform,” an insult among his Haredi Orthodox constituents. “Even the ‘knit kippot’ today, as some know even in very large communities, mainly in the center of the country, they’re already borderline Reform,” Aryeh Deri, who is…
A top editor at Breitbart News who thought he was corresponding with Steve Bannon said he’s ready to do “dirty work” to bring down Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump — and suggested he had evidence of a personal scandal involving the power couple. Breitbart editor-in-chief Alex Marlow told an email prankster posing as the ousted…
(JTA) — Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson … and Peter Stuyvesant? One of these things is not like the others. Amid the impassioned debate over whether, when and how to remove statues memorializing the Confederacy, an Israeli nonprofit is seeking a piece of the action. On Tuesday, Shurat HaDin, which represents terror victims…
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Paul Ryan, the Republican speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, dismissed a bid by Democrats to censure President Donald Trump as a “partisan hack-fest” after a rabbi in his Wisconsin district asked him to join because of what she said was Trump’s condoning of racism. Rabbi Dena Feingold, who leads Beth…
George and Amal Clooney are donating $1 million to the Southern Poverty Law Center to fund an initiative that will fight hate groups. George, an Oscar-winning actor and producer, and Amal, a prominent international lawyer and human rights activist, said in a statement that they were inspired to donate after witnessing events earlier this month…
An Hasidic charity whose stated mission is to help the impoverished has been operating an illegal hotel in Brooklyn and charging up to $300 a night. The Chabad Lubavitch Hospitality Center was issued violations for “illegal transient use” on July 21 by the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement, according to a report on the local…
Charlottesville mayor Mike Signer was the target of angry protests at a City Council meeting Monday, the first after the white supremacist rally that led to one death last week. Locals swarmed the meeting, angry at the city’s response to last week’s incidents, according to a report by the Associated Press. In the immediate aftermath…
(JTA) — Iran can begin enriching weapons-grade uranium within five days if the nuclear deal with the world powers is canceled, its atomic chief said. “If we want, we can start the 20 percent enrichment in Fordo in maximum five days and this has a lot of meaning,” Ali Akbar Salehi, who heads the Atomic…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Israeli government said a law that legalizes certain settlements built on Palestinian property is “a humane, proportional and reasonable response to the genuine distress of Israeli residents.” On Monday, the state submitted a brief to the Supreme Court supporting what is known as the Regulation Law. A private attorney submitted the…
(JTA) –Fifty years ago, leaders of the Chabad movement tasked Rabbi Moshe Lazar of Milan with supervising the local production and export of the Calabria etrog, the citrus fruit used by Jews during the harvest festival of Sukkot. Lazar’s job is to make sure the fruit is kosher for the festival, and that local farmers aren’t…
