NEW YORK — Rachel “Ruchie” Freier of Brooklyn was elected a Civil Court judge in New York state, reportedly a first for a Hasidic woman in the state. Freier won Tuesday’s vote in Kings County’s 5th judicial district, which encompasses the Brooklyn communities of Kensington, Sunset Park and Windsor Terrace, among others, according to Patch. Patch cited…
An Arizona yoga instructor accused of letting boys as young as 11 fondle her breasts at a bar mitzvah party was acquitted of all charges on Wednesday, court officials said. Lindsey Ann Radomski, 33, was found not guilty of 18 misdemeanor charges in Scottsdale, Arizona, city court stemming from the incident involving seven boys at…
— A large majority of American and Israeli Jews say Israel should recognize marriages and conversions performed by Reform and Conservative rabbis. A poll conducted by The Jerusalem Post and the American Jewish Committee found that 74 percent of American Jews and 62 percent of Israeli Jews believe the non-Orthodox rites should be recognized. The findings…
— Anti-Semitic incidents in France have decreased by 64 percent in the first half of 2016 compared to a year ago, according to a French official who credited his government’s policing around Jewish institutions. Gilles Clavreul, France’s interministerial delegate for the fight against racism and anti-Semitism, said this week that the drop began in June 2015…
JERUSALEM — The world’s oldest man, 113-year-old Yisrael Kristal, a Holocaust survivor living in Israel, will celebrate his bar mitzvah. Kristal’s daughter, Shulimath Kristal Kuperstoch, told the DPA news agency that about 100 family members will gather in Kristal’s home city of Haifa in the coming weeks to mark the rite. “We will bless him,…
As former Israeli President Shimon Peres continues to recover from the — he remains in stable but serious condition as of Wednesday morning — an extremely diverse group of politicians and other public figures are wishing him well. It’s a testament to Peres’ global appeal as a symbol of peace that he would elicit get- well wishes…
JERUSALEM — Israel successfully launched a spy satellite into orbit, but said it was not performing as intended. On Tuesday, the Ofek 11 reconnaissance satellite was launched from the Palmachim Air Base south of Tel Aviv. Ofek means horizon in Hebrew. The satellite entered its orbit correctly and is circling the Earth every 90 minutes,…
— An editor for Newsweek Middle East magazine posted classic anti-Semitic expressions on Twitter in response to pro-Israel critics of a magazine feature titled “Where is Palestine?” The article, accompanied by a video, appeared on the magazine’s website on Aug. 24 and was written by Ben White, described by the HonestReporting watchdog website as “a well-known…
A search committee has recommended Rabbi Ari Berman as the next president of Yeshiva University. In an email sent Tuesday to members of the Y.U. community, the chairman of its board of trustees, Moshael Straus, said the search committee is “advancing the candidacy” of Berman to succeed Richard Joel. “Over the coming weeks, Dr. Berman…
WASHINGTON — A congresswoman whose office was set to sponsor the first conference in a congressional building backing the boycott Israel movement withdrew her support, cancelling the event. The office of Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, on Tuesday told The Weekly Standard, a conservative news website, that the event, organized by the U.S. Campaign to…
JERUSALEM — Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett said studying Judaism is more important than studying math and science. “Studying Judaism and excelling in it is more important to me than studying math and sciences,” Bennett said Monday night. “Even as a high-tech power that exports knowledge and innovations to the world, we must be a…
