(JTA) — John Eaves can name plenty of people in Congress who look like him. And there’s a fair share who share his faith. But not a single lawmaker shares his two identities: an African-American and a Jew. Eaves, who previously served as county commissioner of Fulton County, Georgia, hopes to break that barrier by…
“Wonder Woman” star Gal Gadot is once again under fire for her response to a national calamity — this time, critics aren’t taking aim at her singing voice, but her military record. This weekend Gadot posted an Instagram message urging followers to be “vocally anti-racist” in response to the protests surrounding the death of George…
A Washington, D.C. kosher restaurant that was damaged in riots on Sunday night published a message of support for those protesting systemic racism. “Last night windows were broken and a fire was set at our K Street location,” the restaurant Shouk, which serves Israeli cuisine, posted on its website. “While we are sad that this…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The ancient Israelites burned cannabis on their altars during religious rituals, researchers have found. Israeli archaeologists found a mixture of cannabis and animal dung in the residue found on a 2,700-year-old altar discovered in a temple at Tel Arad in the Negev. It is the first evidence of the use of a…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli Border Police shot and killed an autistic Palestinian man in Jerusalem that they believed to be armed but was not. One of the officers was placed under house arrest and the second was released from police custody and placed under restrictive conditions. Israel’s defense minister, Benny Gantz, has apologized for the…
A Jewish teenager who created a graphic design supporting anti-racism protesters that went viral on social media is selling regalia with that logo for charity. Adam Garvey, 16, created a graphic of a Star of David inlaid with the words “Tikkun Olam means Black Lives Matter,” which has been shared hundreds of times on social…
MONTREAL (JTA)—Vandals ransacked a small Montreal synagogue sometime after it closed weeks ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic in what was described as one of the worst local synagogue desecrations in memory. The damage at the Kol Yehouda Sephardic congregation included tallitot, or prayer shawls, and tefillin stuffed in toilets; Torah scrolls cut up and…
(JTA) — AIPAC has canceled its 2021 policy conference, citing the “continued uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic.” Betsy Korn, the president of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, made the announcement in a letter sent to the organization’s membership on Sunday. The annual conference had been scheduled for March 7-9 in Washington, D.C. One…
NEW YORK (JTA) – Norman Lamm, the prolific author and Modern Orthodox rabbi who headed Yeshiva University for nearly three decades, died Sunday. He was 92. As president and chancellor of Y.U., Lamm helped rescue the institution from the financial brink in the late 1970s and rebuild it in the decades that followed into the…
The German parliament voted unanimously Thursday to allow rabbis to serve as military chaplains in the Bundeswher, Germany’s military. Rabbis have not been able to serve as chaplains in the German military since Adolf Hitler expelled them in 1933. Jewish soldiers could only use Protestant or Catholic military chaplains. The change was first put forward…
A Maryland county issued an executive order that permits synagogues to reopen but effectively prohibits kiddush receptions. As of May 29, houses of worship in Howard County may hold services with up to 10 people inside and 250 people outside. However, most forms of physical contact, from shaking hands to sharing food, are prohibited. “No…
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