(JTA) – Just days after Orthodox lawmakers cut the chains off New York City playgrounds in defiance of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s orders, the mayor announced Thursday morning that playgrounds will reopen in the city starting Monday. The decision comes as the city moves into its second phase of reopening after shutting down in mid-March…
(JTA) — About 15 years ago, a large synagogue in Northern California installed a set of windows in the religious school engraved with the names of some 175 prominent Jews, from biblical figures to famous actors. One of them, sandwiched between Zionist leader Vladimir Jabotinsky and former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, was Judah Benjamin,…
(JTA) — John Bolton, a former Trump administration national security adviser, says in his new book that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu questioned Jared Kushner’s ability to develop a Middle East peace plan. In “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir,” Bolton wrote that he spoke with Netanyahu before Bolton joined the Trump…
A fundraising email from President Trump’s reelection campaign manager Brad Parscale asked would-be donors to give right away, asking them, “If not now, then when?” The email was first noticed by Twitter user Jessie Losch, who pointed out that the quote was reminiscent of a famous dictum by Hillel the Elder, an ancient rabbi. HOLY…
(JTA) — The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that President Donald Trump cannot immediately shut down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, protecting 700,000 or so immigrants brought to the United States with their parents from likely deportation. Liberal immigration reform advocates celebrated the decision, a setback for the Trump team that includes…
In two Facebook posts, Donald Trump’s reelection campaign tied the loose network of anti-fascist activists known as “Antifa” — which he suggests naming a terrorist organization — to an upside-down red triangle, a symbol strikingly similar to one used by Nazis in concentration camps to identify political prisoners and communists. No mention of today’s news,…
President Trump expressed support for China’s detention of Uighur Muslims in concentration camps, former national security advisor John Bolton claimed in his new book. “Trump asked me at the 2018 White House Christmas dinner why we were considering sanctioning China over its treatment of the Uighurs, a largely Muslim people who live primarily in China’s…
TORONTO (JTA) — Annamie Paul will break new ground if she wins the Green Party of Canada’s upcoming leadership race: She would be both the first Black person and the first Jewish person to lead a federal or provincial party in the country. Those facts aren’t lost on her — they’re a big part of…
(JTA) — Chelsea Handler deleted a video clip of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan that the Jewish comedian posted on Instagram, including a defense of Farrakhan’s virulent anti-Semitism. Handler had come under criticism in the comments to her post of Sunday, which was deleted without explanation on Tuesday. She has nearly 4 million followers…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — An incoming member of the Knesset from the Sephardic Orthodox Shas party resigned his candidacy after coming under fire for public lectures that demeaned women. Rabbi Baruch Gazahay, who had been poised to enter the Israeli parliament on Tuesday, announced late that day that he would remove himself from the party’s list….
(JTA) — Victims of the shooting attack on the Chabad of Poway have filed a lawsuit against the gunmaker Smith & Wesson and the gun store in San Diego that sold the suspected shooter his firearm. The lawsuit, filed Monday in San Diego Superior Court by the gun control advocacy group Brady United, also targets…
100% of profits support our journalism
