Norm Macdonald, the former Saturday Night Live news anchor and stand-up comic, wasn’t Jewish. But the Canadian-born comedian, who died Tuesday from cancer at the age of 61, left behind two of the greatest Jewish humor moments in recent memory. Macdonald’s stand up made him famous, but his talk show appearances with Howard Stern, Conan…
(JTA) — (J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) — Jewish lawmakers critical of early drafts of an ethnic studies curriculum said they were satisfied with a version of the curriculum that cleared both houses of the California Legislature last week. The bill mandating ethnic studies would make the state the first in…
(JTA) — A federal court sentenced an Ohio man to 20 years in prison for planning deadly attacks on a Toledo synagogue. Damon Joseph of Holland had pleaded guilty in May to providing material support to a terrorist organization and attempting to commit a hate crime. Along with the prison term, the U.S. District Court…
(JTA) — If there’s one thing Rabbi Sholom Lipskar wants to remember from the aftermath of the Surfside condo collapse in June, it’s the small cards that he distributed to the first responders and search-and-rescue teams working at the site. Inscribed with Psalm 23, a psalm often recited in times of trouble that begins with…
This article originally appeared in Haaretz and was reprinted here with permission. For the first time since taking office, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi in Sinai on Monday, and praised Egypt for its stabilizing role in the region. Bennett described the first formal, public meeting between leaders of both countries in…
This article originally appeared in Haaretz and was reprinted here with permission. Last month, as calls to poison call centers spiked and animal supply stores began reporting shortages of animal deworming drugs, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a rather unusual plea. “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all….
(JTA) — (TC Jewfolk via JTA) — A suburban Minneapolis synagogue closed in the early hours of Friday morning after receiving what its managing director deemed “a specific threat of violence” — about one day after 32 headstones were knocked down at a nearby Jewish cemetery. Although local officials do not believe at this time…
(JTA) — (New York Jewish Week via JTA) — New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced last month that beginning Sept. 13, restaurants would have to ask customers for proof that they received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in order for them to dine indoors or else be fined. With the…
(JTA) — If you know any young children or fidgety adults, chances are you’ve seen, heard, or coveted a handheld piece of dimpled silicone known as a “pop-it.” The must-have toy was originally created in the 1970s by an Israeli couple with a penchant for playthings, according to a BBC report that calls the pop-it…
(JTA) — On Sept. 11, 2001, the greatest Holocaust film ever made, before or since, premiered at a festival — and quickly disappeared, largely unnoticed. The film’s cast included Steve Buscemi, Harvey Keitel, David Arquette, Michael Stuhlbarg and Mira Sorvino, and it was written and directed by the acclaimed Jewish actor Tim Blake Nelson. Roger…
(JTA) — Arizona is divesting close to $200 million from Ben & Jerry’s parent company Unilever, becoming the first state to do so because of the ice cream brand’s decision in July to stop selling its product in the West Bank. The state’s Treasurer Kimberly Yee, a Republican who is running for governor, had sent…
