— The state of Florida asked a federal court of appeals to reverse the mandated kosher meals program they say drains their budget. The state is appealing a 2015 decision by a Miami judge requiring kosher food for anyone who requests it, including Jews, Muslims, Seventh Day Adventists and people of other faiths, accounting for about…
WASHINGTON — A former NATO commander being considered as a running mate for Hillary Clinton has called for a formal U.S.-Israel defense treaty and was sharply critical of the Iran nuclear deal. James Stavridis, a retired four-star admiral, is being vetted by Clinton’s campaign to join the former secretary of state as she accepts the…
— Yaakov Thompson, a popular Conservative rabbi in South Florida who was born Protestant and converted to Judaism in college, died suddenly at 61. Thompson’s family said the rabbi died of a heart attack on July 6. Born Rick Thompson and raised in St. Mary’s, Ohio, the future rabbi never met a Jewish person until…
— Donald Trump has filed a $10 million lawsuit against a former campaign adviser, Sam Nunberg. The presumptive presidential Republican nominee is alleging that Nunberg, who was fired last August for racially offensive Facebook posts, may have violated his confidentiality agreement in statements to the media, an unnamed source confirmed to Mic on Wednesday. The Trump campaign…
SYDNEY — Mining magnate “Diamond” Joe Gutnick, once ranked among the wealthiest men in Australia with a fortune totaling more than $230 million, has declared bankruptcy. Gutnick, who is an ordained rabbi, made his fortune in gold and diamond mining on the advice of the last Lubavitcher rabbi, the late Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Gutnick…
BERLIN — Police in 14 German states reportedly conducted raids on 60 individuals in an attempt to root out the sources of anti-Semitic and other hate postings on the internet. The raids on Wednesday marked the first time that Germany has conducted a nationwide hunt for internet hate purveyors, according to German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière, who said…
— A Jewish overnight camp in Southern California will cut short its first session by several days due to a salmonella outbreak. Moshava California, a Bnei Akiva of Los Angeles overnight camp in the San Bernardino Mountains, said it will end the session on Thursday rather than Sunday on instruction from the Department of Environmental…
MONTREAL — A former professional football player fined a year ago by the Canadian Football League for anti-Semitic tweets is still posting such material. Khalif Mitchell, apparently referring to the controversy surrounding a Donald Trump posting, recently tweeted that “the real tribes of Israel would never use a demonic Star of David, only devils would.”…
(JTA) — The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum is not buying into the Pokémon Go craze. On Tuesday, the Holocaust memorial site tweeted that it will not allow visitors to play the new smartphone game because it is “disrespectful on many levels.” New York magazine first reported Tuesday that some users of the Nintendo game, which allows players…
Yes, there are Jews attending the Republican National Convention next week in Cleveland. But they’ll be barely visible, and the reason has everything to do with the presumptive nominee, Donald Trump. The Republican Jewish Coalition usually rolls out major shebangs at party conventions, starting with a news conference where you can count on director Matthew…
White supremacist leader David Duke says he would be the “better” vice presidential candidate for Donald Trump, but the former Ku Klux Klan leader admits he is not expecting to get tapped for the Donald’s ticket. Duke blasted Newt Gingrich, saying he would be “a better pick” than the former Republican House speaker whom Donald…
