(JTA) — The final book published by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks before he died in November is the Jewish Book Council’s top book for 2020. “Morality: Restoring the Common Good in Divided Times,” published in the United States in September, was awarded the Everett Family Foundation Book of the Year when the Jewish Book Council announced…
(JTA) — HBO Max will stream a six-episode French-Israeli psychological thriller series titled “Possessions” on Thursday, the latest in HBO’s long line of Israel-affiliated offerings. “Possessions,” filmed in French, Hebrew and English, involves a young French ex-pat woman living in Israel who is accused of murdering her husband on her wedding night. A French diplomat…
(JTA) — Israel continues to far outpace the entire world in its COVID-19 vaccine rollout. This weekend the country’s health ministry announced that teenagers between the ages of 16 and 18 are now eligible for the vaccine. In all, Israel has vaccinated about 2.5 million out of its approximately 9 million citizens since beginning its…
(JTA) — When Donald Trump became president of the United States in 2017, Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz felt he could no longer say the standard prayer for the United States government that is recited in most Modern Orthodox congregations. Yanklowitz, who is president and dean of the Valley Beit Midrash in Phoenix, was far from the…
(JTA) — Joe Biden is Irish and Catholic, but his family clearly has a soft spot for Jewish food. On the way back to the White House from Biden’s first Sunday mass as president at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church, the family motorcade stopped in the Georgetown neighborhood so that Hunter Biden could get bagels…
(JTA) — For many centuries, the city of Khujand in Tajikistan, a mountainous Muslim-majority country, had been a center of Jewish presence in Central Asia. But the once-rich communal life of Bukharan Jews in Khujand ended last week with the passing of the city’s last remaining Jewish person: Jura Abaev died Jan. 15 at the…
(JTA) — Even without hearing the words, the pictures that animate the “Appreciation Song for President Trump” sung by a group of Hasidic boys clearly spell out the reasons for their appreciation for Donald Trump. “With devotion so strong, you lead us like you know how,” they sing as a photo of Sholom Rubashkin, the…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Seven Israeli police officers were injured in clashes with Orthodox protesters over COVID-19 restrictions, the latest in a series of violent conflicts with law enforcement in Israel’s Orthodox communities. Following the unrest Thursday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for a crackdown on violations of the country’s COVID-19 lockdown. Netanyahu’s opponents have…
(JTA) — Hawaiian-Jewish surfing star Makua Rothman may have successfully ridden the largest recorded wave in the history of the sport, estimated to be at least 100 feet tall. The 36-year-old posted video of the achievement from last Saturday on his YouTube page on Wednesday. Footage starts here around 23:00. The final estimate of the…
(JTA) — Police in London broke up an illegal wedding party with 400 participants that was held at a Jewish haredi school. The organizer of Thursday’s wedding at Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls’ School, which violated emergency measures put in place to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus, are facing a fine of $12,000 each,…
WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Joe Biden named Stephanie Pollack, the Massachusetts transportation secretary known for her ability as a Democrat to cross party lines, to help helm the Federal Highway Administration. Boston media reported on Thursday her appointment as deputy administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, which will take place next week. Pollack, a progressive…
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