(JTA) — More than 1,500 U.S. rabbis signed a letter calling on the incoming Trump administration to maintain the federal refugee resettlement program. HIAS, a global Jewish nonprofit that protects refugees, released the letter on Wednesday. Formerly known as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, the agency was founded in 1881 to help Jewish immigrants fleeing pogroms…
In the midst of a stormy confirmation hearing for Donald Trump’s Secretary of Education nominee Betsy DeVos, Minnesota Senator Al Franken left the nominee speechless with attacks on her suitability for the position. “It surprises me that you don’t know this issue,” Franken said, after asking DeVos whether she believes individual improvement or meeting grade-linked…
As the Forward reported yesterday, the 2016 finalists for a number of National Book Critics Circle Awards include Jewish authors from Michael Chabon to Robert Pinsky. While the prize for excellence in reviewing has already been decided — the honor went to Michelle Dean, who shared that one of the reviews to help her garner…
(JTA) — The San Francisco-based Koret Foundation has given the Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot in Tel Aviv a $10 million grant — the largest from a U.S. philanthropic foundation in the museum’s 40-year history. The grant will establish the Koret International School for Jewish Peoplehood, the museum said in a statement….
The city of Whitefish, Monatana, which last week rejected an incomplete application for a parade permit from a neo-Nazi group, has said that it will approve future applications, according to local news station Fox Montana. Citing a letter from Whitefish’s city manager, the news station reported that the city would allow the controversial march, but…
JERUSALEM (JTA) – Israeli President Reuven Rivlin will be admitted to the hospital to be fitted with a pacemaker. Rivlin, 77, will enter the hospital over the weekend for about 24 hours, according to a statement issued by his office. The procedure will not require general anesthetic, and he will return to his residence after…
(JTA) — A swastika was drawn in the snow on the front lawn of a columnist for a Canadian Jewish publication. The swastika and a sexist slur were drawn on Saturday night at the home of B’nai Brith Canada columnist Sara McCleary, who frequently writes about anti-Semitism. McCleary lives in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, which…
Ghost churches on the western bank of the Jordan River, near where Jesus is believed to have been baptized, could be reopened to pilgrims as part of a project to remove booby-traps and land mines. The river banks were once a war zone between Israel and Jordan, and were littered with thousands of mines and…
As Steve Mnuchin prepares for his Thursday confirmation hearings to become secretary of the Treasury, the Goldman Sachs alum has a powerful new detractor: a widow in Oregon who blames him for the foreclosure on her home. “We did everything the bank asked. They lied to us and took our home anyway,” said Linda Fraser,…
President-elect Donald Trump will add two more businessmen to his Washington, D.C. inner circle, picking fellow New York developers Richard LeFrak and Steven Roth to help oversee his infrastructure spending plan. “They’re pros,” the incoming leader said about the two men, speaking to the Wall Street Journal. “That’s what they do. All their lives, they…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Arab-Israeli lawmaker Ayman Odeh, head of the Arab Joint List, was injured in clashes between Israeli police and Bedouins after Israel demolished several homes. Odeh was hit in the head and back by sponge-tipped bullets fired by Israeli forces during the clashes on Wednesday morning. “This has been a terrible morning,” Odeh…
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