Books
In 1951, the Jewish philosopher Hannah Arendt published “The Origins of Totalitarianism,” her 600-page twin study of Nazism and Stalinism. The book received rave reviews; Norman Podhoretz, the Jewish New York intellectual, compared it to an epic poem. Then, 66 years later, in December of last year, Arendt’s book began selling at 16 times its…
(JTA) — Government sources in Israel said the ruling Likud party had reached a deal with Haredi coalition partners on the future of conversions to Judaism in Israel. The deal entails preserving the current status quo on conversion in Israel for six months, with parties working for and against state recognition for conversions without Orthodox…
Though Basil, a pizza joint in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, may have won the battle, it may yet lose the “pizza war.” The restaurant recently had its kosher certification — or hechsher — revoked by OK Kosher, a New York-based kashrut agency. (The restaurant remains open to the public.) Until OK Kosher’s “Kashrus Alert,” Basil was…
On Jay-Z’s latest single, the hip-hop superstar makes what some took to be an anti-Semitic comment, rapping that Jewish people “own all the property in America.” Wasnt really expecting Jay-Z to go anti-semitic when I started the new 4:44 album this morning. https://t.co/WugWbMpNue pic.twitter.com/zNiM72Lh72 — Jerry Gamblin (@JGamblin) June 30, 2017 In a song titled…
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have an opportunity to mend their countries’ ties when they meet next week, former top U.S. diplomat Henry Kissinger said on Friday, a day after he followed up a meeting with the U.S. president by having talks with Putin. The U.S. and Russian leaders are to have their first face-to-face…
(JTA) — The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has released footage of what it said was the unlawful slaying of a Palestinian fishermen by Israeli troops last month. The video, published Thursday on the online edition of the Haaretz daily and filmed on May 15 off the coast of Gaza, shows a fishing boat with…
(JTA) — Police in Crimea, a territory that Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, are investigating the desecration by robbers of a mass grave of Holocaust victims near the city of Simferopol. The investigation opened Tuesday following the unauthorized exhumations performed last week at the site of a firing trench, where Nazis and their collaborators…
(JTA) – Israeli diplomats in North America rejected a talking point handed down to them from Jerusalem to blame Liberal Jews for the Western Wall controversy. The top diplomats refused to repeat the narrative that Jonathan Shechter, a top advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, handed down to them earlier this week in telephone…
Simone Veil, a French politician and Holocaust survivor who secured the legalization of abortion in France in the 1970s, died at her home in Paris on Friday, her family said. She was 89 years old. A Jewish survivor of the Nazi death camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau and Bergen-Belsen with the prisoner number 78651 tattooed on her…
Here’s a Chicago fun fact: You know that statue on East Wacker Drive at Lake Street, right in front of the river, of George Washington with two random colonial guys? Well, the one on the right is Haym Salomon, a Polish-born Jew who funded Washington’s army by negotiating foreign loans at rock-bottom interest rates and…
North Carolina Pride has scheduled its annual NC Pride march on Yom Kippur, drawing a backlash from LGBTQ Jewish groups. The organization released a statement noting that the parade is traditionally held on the last Saturday in September, which happens to coincide this year with the holiest day on Judaism’s calendar. (NC Pride is held…
