(JTA) — The Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly appointed Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal as its new chief executive. Blumenthal, the spiritual leader at Shaare Torah in Gaithersburg, Maryland, will start in July, the organization announced Thursday. He succeeds Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, the first woman to serve as chief executive of a major rabbinical organization. She announced in March 2018 that…
(JTA) — The student government at the University of California, Santa Barbara rejected an Israel divestment resolution. Santa Barbara is the only school in the University of California system whose student government has not passed a divestment proposal targeting Israel, according to the student newspaper, the Daily Nexus. It marked the sixth time in seven years…
(JTA) — A swastika was burned into the asphalt near the playground of a Denver public elementary school. Gasoline was used to burn the anti-Semitic symbol at Ellis Elementary School on Monday night, the Denver Post reported. The swastika was covered up before students arrived at school the following morning, according to the report. The vandalism…
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Nine Jewish groups, including five associated with the Reform and Conservative movements, wrote to President Donald Trump asking him to preserve the two-state solution in the face of a pledge by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex West Bank territory. The letter is unusual, if not unprecedented, in mainstream Jewish groups…
(JTA) — Twenty faith groups — many of them Jewish — called on members of Congress to “stop weaponizing anti-Semitism” and said the issue should not be used to attack politicians from the other side of the aisle. In a letter sent Thursday, the organizations said they were concerned “about the use of anti-Semitism for…
The family of billionaire businessman Irwin Jacobs said it is “heartbroken” after Jacobs and his wife Alexandra were found dead in their estate in suburban Minneapolis on Wednesday in an apparent murder-suicide. “Our family is shocked and devastated by the death of our parents, Irwin and Alexandra Jacobs,” the family said in a statement to…
Anti-Semitic posters were found on bookshelves and tables at a library at the University of North Carolina on Wednesday. It’s the second racist incident to occur at the school in the past two weeks. The posters, which warned of an “evil Jewish plot,” were condemned by the university administration. “I am extremely disappointed and appalled…
The Israeli moon lander Beresheet on Thursday failed to be the first spacecraft built by the private sector to safely land on the moon. After entering orbit, the spacecraft lost its main engine and went into an uncontrolled descent. The Israeli spacecraft had to tackle one of the biggest challenges of its lunar journey –…
Rep. Ilhan Omar appeared on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on Wednesday, and right away was pressed to talk about the accusations of anti-Semitism that have bedeviled her in the last year. After Colbert gave a rundown of one of her controversies – specifically, her tweet claiming that congressional support for Israel was “All…
(JTA) — Eighteen Jewish organizations called on Congress to pass a bill seeking to end President Donald Trump’s executive order banning citizens of certain predominantly Muslim countries. On Wednesday, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., introduced bills in the Senate and House, respectively, to repeal three versions of the president’s travel ban….
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Texas lawmakers are amending a law banning business with Israel boycotters after the application of the law was vexed by embarrassing incidents and at least one lawsuit. State Rep. Steve King, who authored the original 2017 bill banning the state from doing business with those who abide by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions…
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