A 76-year-old Israeli man is accused of murdering his wife after she disturbed him while he was watching a tennis match on television. Moisei Beiniashvilli of Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv, was charged with murder Thursday in Tel Aviv District Court. Prosecutors said his wife, Malka, disturbed him during a critical moment of the Australian…
Miami-area Jews are reported to be on edge after Muslim women wearing hijabs entered a local synagogue two times asking questions about the congregation. The women visited Congregation Beth Israel twice, the first time on Feb. 12 right before the start of Shabbat, according to local reports, citing police. They reportedly asked about times of…
Speaking to a delegation of American Jewish leaders, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Knesset Opposition Leader Isaac Herzog struck divergent tones on the future of Israeli-Palestinian relations. Netanyahu suggested that a resolution to the conflict may come only after improved relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Herzog reviewed his newly conceived plan for…
Donald Trump said he would remain neutral when it comes to Israel and the Palestinians, but cited Palestinian incitement as a factor in making the conflict intractable. Trump, a front-runner in the race for the Republican presidential nod, appeared at a town hall meeting in Charleston, South Carolina hosted by MSNBC ahead of Saturday’s Republican…
Approximately 10 Brooklyn College students who interrupted a faculty meeting called for “Zionists off campus” among its list of demands. A faculty member at the Tuesday afternoon meeting told JTA that along with the demand on Zionists, the students called one faculty member a “Zionist pig.” The educator who spoke to JTA wished to remain…
A major Jewish foundation with a focus on Jewish education named its first president and CEO on Feb. 17. Barry Finestone will succeed Chip Edelsberg, the Jim Joseph foundation’s first executive director, on Jan. 1, 2017, according to a press release from the foundation. Currently the executive director of the Lisa and John Pritzker Family…
Ted Nugent has joined a Jewish gun rights advocacy group after being sharply criticized for posting an image on Facebook blaming several prominent Jews for spearheading gun control. Nicki Kenyon of the Zelman Partisans group claimed Monday that Nugent accepted the group’s honorary membership offer. The right-wing rocker also reportedly said he would wear a…
Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush tweeted an image of a gun manufactured by a U.S. company with a parent European firm that made firearms for Nazi troops. On Tuesday, the former Florida governor posted the image of a handgun engraved with his name following a campaign stop at the FN America gun manufacturing plant in…
The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism is launching a new push to help congregations become inclusive of people with disabilities. The initiative, funded by a $375,000 three-year grant from the Ruderman Family Foundation, will involve up to 20 congregations. Each synagogue will assess its current handling of disabilities issues, create an action plan to become…
A student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has apologized for vandalizing a menorah outside the campus Chabad house. Ruby Rivera, a junior, took responsibility for the Feb. 7 incident in a letter to the News Gazette, the local newspaper reported Tuesday. She is scheduled to appear in court later this month to face…
A “Vampire Breast Lift.” A laser skin-tightening procedure. A 10-day first-class trip to Israel. Those are a few of the services included in the $200,000 gift bags that one marketing firm has promised for celebrities attending the Oscars ceremony on Feb. 28. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which hands out the awards,…
