An American basketball player who converted to Judaism through “Biden’s rabbi” was notified on Wednesday that his application for Israeli citizenship had been rejected because of problems with the conversion. Originally from Philadelphia, Jared Armstrong had planned to immigrate to Israel so that he could play point guard for Hapoel Haifa, a team in the…
(JTA) — (New York Jewish Week via JTA) — The glass ceiling of rabbinical ordination was broken at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnatti in 1972 when Rabbi Sally J. Priesand became America’s first female rabbi. Fifty years later, HUC’s New York City branch is celebrating the milestone with an exhibit at its Dr. Bernard…
This story originally appeared on Haaretz, and was reprinted here with permission. The Arab victim of a mob attack by Jewish assailants in the Tel Aviv suburb of Bat Yam during last May’s war with Gaza attempted suicide late Monday night. The man, Said Moussa, was taken to Shamir Medical Center at the central Israel…
(JTA) — Emma Saltzberg knew she might invite criticism by competing on “Jeopardy!” From her years of experience in progressive Jewish groups, including IfNotNow, a group founded in 2014 to galvanize American Jews to oppose Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories, she knew that her appearance on one of the most popular TV shows in the United…
(JTA) — Like most Israelis, Yonatan Winetraub loves hummus, and its protein-packed base legume: the chickpea. But unlike most, Winetraub also has the ability to send chickpeas into space. Winetraub, 35, is one of the three founders of SpaceIL, an Israeli nonprofit best known for attempting to land a spaceship on the moon — the…
Two congregants who worship at a Michigan synagogue targeted every Shabbat by anti-Jewish and anti-Israel protesters are planning to appeal a court ruling requiring them to pay the protesters $159,000 in attorneys fees. The congregants had sued the protesters, who have been showing up weekly for 18 years across the street from Beth Israel Congregation…
LOS ANGELES (JTA) — Mel Mermelstein, a Holocaust survivor who won a five-year court battle forcing a right-wing Holocaust-denying organization to retract its claim and pay hefty damages, died Jan. 28 at the age of 95 from complications of COVID-19. Weeks later, tributes to Mermelstein are continuing to arrive at the family home in Long…
(JTA) — Police in Orange County, Florida, arrested three men accused of violence and theft during a neo-Nazi rally in Orlando that made national headlines. Local media identified the men as Joshua Terrell, 46; Jason Brown, 47; and Burt Colucci, 45. Terrell and Colucci are charged with battery, but officials said that charge could later…
(JTA) — Kuwait has banned the upcoming blockbuster film adaptation of Agatha Christie’s “Death on the Nile” because Israeli Gal Gadot stars in it. The Al-Qabas newspaper reported that the decision was made in response to complaints about Gadot on social media, and a spokesperson for the Gulf country’s information ministry confirmed the ban to…
(JTA) — Activists on the Jewish left celebrated over the weekend as Emma Saltzberg, a Jewish activist who helped co-found the Jewish anti-occupation group IfNotNow, extended a “Jeopardy!” winning streak that has some comparing her to the game show’s most successful contestants. Saltzberg has taken the lead for three episodes in a row and currently…
(JTA) — (New York Jewish Week via JTA) – Steadfast listeners of “Borscht Beat” — a weekly FM radio show featuring Jewish music, old and new — will be thrilled to hear of host Aaron Bendich’s latest project: a new Jewish record label of the same name. On his hour-long radio program, the 27-year-old plays…
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