(JTA) — All Reform Jewish summer camps will remain closed for the 2020 summer due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency has learned. Related story: He made the call to cancel summer camp for 10,000 kids. Here’s what he has to say. The landmark decision, made Thursday afternoon, will affect 16 overnight…
Police officers issued a series of summonses and tickets to Hasidic Jews and institutions in Williamsburg and Borough Park Thursday, making good on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s promise that, in the wake of a large funeral which he personally had a hand in breaking up, police would stop issuing warnings for violating…
Update 6:00 p.m. A Chabad synagogue in Atlanta announced Wednesday that it would open its doors for daily prayer, but reversed course the following day, a few hours after the Forward published a story about the opening. Chabad Israeli Center Atlanta – Congregation Beit Reuven, an Orthodox synagogue that caters to the city’s Israeli expat…
A letter signed by prominent Jewish politicians and organizations condemned a controversial tweet from New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, which scolded “the Jewish community” in the wake of a Hasidic funeral that violated social distancing guidelines on Tuesday. “With thousands of New Yorkers dead, and many more sick, we all understand the danger of…
(JTA) — President Donald Trump reiterated his rejection of anti-Semitic bigotry and hate attacks in a proclamation for Jewish American Heritage Month. “Tragically, Jewish men, women, and children continue to face anti-Semitic discrimination, persecution, and violence today, and Jewish institutions and places of worship remain targets of vandalism and destruction,” Trump wrote for the commemoration…
A chevra kadisha society serving Queens and Long Island is facing a critical shortage of tallit and soliciting donations from the community. The society was short on essential supplies “due to the pandemic and the increased number of Jewish people who have passed away in recent weeks,” wrote a volunteer on Facebook. Chevra kadisha societies…
(JTA) — An adviser to Joe Biden said the former vice president would keep the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem if elected president. Tony Blinken, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee’s senior foreign policy adviser, said that reversing President Donald Trump’s decision to move the embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv “would not make sense practically and…
Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York on Wednesday defended his actions the night before in personally venturing to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to disperse a crowd at a funeral for a Hasidic rabbi and then sending a Tweet about it that outraged many in the Orthodox and broader Jewish community because it seemed to blame all…
The most viral video in Israel today is one honoring the Arab-Israeli health care workers who are on the front lines fighting the spread of COVID-19 in the country. The video has topped 2 million views in Israel alone, meaning it has been viewed by a quarter of all Israelis, which is more than any…
(JTA) — The Seth Rogen Jewish immigrant pickle movie is still happening, and we now have some striking photo evidence. If you missed the news from a year and a half ago, Rogen plays a Jewish immigrant in 1920s New York City who gets trapped inside a pickle vat for a century in the upcoming…
(JTA) — The number of anti-Semitic incidents in Canada rose to a record high for the fourth consecutive year mainly due to online harassment. The League for Human Rights, part of B’nai Brith Canada, recorded 2,207 anti-Semitic incidents in its 2019 Annual Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents. That’s an 8% increase over the 2,041 incidents from…
