Two rabbis spoke at the inaugural prayer service on Jan. 20. President Biden, first lady Dr. Jill Biden, Vice President Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff all participated the virtual event. Rabbi Sharon Brous, the senior rabbi of Los Angeles-based IKAR, offered the following prayer: Makor haHayim, Holy One, we stand before you in this…
(JTA) — New Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff already had one artifact from American Jewish history on display when he was sworn into the Senate: the book of scripture on which he took his oath of office. But the 33-year-old said on Twitter Wednesday night that he had been carrying another item that reflected his American…
LOS ANGELES (JTA) — UCLA has opened a center to explore the history of Jewish music in America with an eye toward breaking ground. The Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience was backed by a $6.75 million endowment by the Milken Family Foundation. The center, which opened last month, aims to “become…
On his final day in office, Trump pardoned Aviem Sella, the Israeli businessman who recruited Jonathan Pollard. Sella, a former commander in the Israeli Air Force, was indicted on three counts of espionage in 1986 for recruiting Pollard. Sella was not extradited to the U.S. from Israel. Though less high-profile than Pollard, Israeli officials had…
On his final day in office, President Donald Trump issued a wave of last-minute pardons — including one for Elliott Broidy, the disgraced former Republican National Committee finance chair. According to a statement from the White House, Broidy’s pardon was supported by five rabbis and other high-profile Jews. Rabbis Steven Leder, Steven Burg, Pini Dunner,…
(JTA) — Synagogues in Washington, D.C., are receiving a fake letter purported to be signed by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris warning them to close or they will go to prison. “Myself and President Joe Biden, will shut down your Synagogue of worship and place heavy fines upon your religious institution,” said the letter, according to…
Jon Ossoff, the newly elected U.S. senator from Georgia, will be sworn in Jan. 20 using a Hebrew Bible that belonged to Rabbi Jacob M. Rothschild. Rothschild, who died in 1973, is an icon of the Jewish South who played an integral role in the region’s civil rights and social justice movements. In 1946, the…
Max Rose, the outspoken Staten Island Jewish congressman defeated in his bid for reelection, appears headed to the Pentagon to be a top adviser on the coronavirus pandemic. Rose appeared on a long list of likely Biden administration political appointees leaked on Tuesday to Defense One, which covers the Pentagon. His title would be special…
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat from Michigan, accused Israel of being “racist” for not offering to distribute coronavirus vaccines to Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza in an interview with Democracy Now published on Tuesday. “I think it’s really important to understand Israel is a racist state and that they would deny Palestinians,…
WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of State-nominee Antony Blinken will open his confirmation hearing on Tuesday by discussing how his family’s experiences in the Holocaust inform his worldview. Blinken released his opening statement to the public in advance of his appearance before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which is overseeing the hearing on Tuesday afternoon….
A protest at the Michigan state capitol was mostly peaceful, especially compared to the violent riots at the U.S. Capitol earlier this month. However, there was one commonality – antisemitism. Just as a D.C. protester was photographed with in a “Camp Auschwitz” sweatshirt, the far-right protesters in Michigan were also seen bearing antisemitic imagery. In…
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