When Izek Shomof looks at the massive, abandoned Sears building he owns in a crowded urban neighborhood east of downtown Los Angeles, he sees a kibbutz.A kibbutz for homeless people. When the Israeli-born Shomof, 62, purchased the Boyle Heights property in 2013, he planned to develop it into a high-end, live-work complex taking advantage of…
MEDYKA, Poland — It was weeks after the bombs started falling close to her fifth-floor apartment in Kyiv that Irena Sakada began to really worry about her 15-year-old daughter, Sofia. That’s when Sofia put down her paints. Unlike most of their friends, Sakada, a manicurist who is 46, had expected the Russian attack, and had…
Chabad is sheltering and feeding Ukrainian refugees at five resorts in Moldova, which shares a border with Ukraine. Since the Russian invasion began a month ago, the Orthodox Jewish group’s Moldovan arm has assisted thousands of refugees, and is currently caring for 250. Most stay for between five days and two weeks before they find…
Julia Métraux, now 24, first started having severe fatigue and chronic pain about six years ago — symptoms that led to her eventual diagnosis with vasculitis, which involves inflammation of the blood vessels, in January 2018. She was hospitalized for a week and then bedridden for six months. Her medical needs made it necessary for…
For the last five years, a coalition of progressive activists have been calling on the Anti-Defamation League to stop facilitating American police training in Israel. Now they’re planning to gather at the organization’s New York City headquarters Tuesday night to celebrate a win: according to an ADL memo leaked to the media last week, the…
Suraj Patel, a self-described “pragmatic progressive,” came within four points of beating longtime U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney in their last primary battle. In their third matchup, Patel says he aims to appeal to a broad array of Maloney voters, including centrists who think, after 30 years, she has had enough time in Washington. He’s still…
Orthodox advocacy groups are launching a longshot bid to stall a bipartisan bill that would make daylight saving time permanent across the nation. In a letter expected to be sent to congressional leaders on Monday, an advanced copy which was obtained by the Forward, the Orthodox Union warned that the bill, which was passed by…
Israel should take a strong stand in the global community’s united front against the Russian assault on Ukraine, said Nir Barkat, a member of Israel’s Knesset, who is on a diplomatic tour in the U.S. He also sees current events as an opportunity to lobby the American people against concessions to Iran. Barkat, 62, is…
Younes Nazarian, an Iranian-Jewish community leader and self-made billionaire philanthropist, died March 18 in Los Angeles. He was 91. Local Iranian-Jewish community members remembered Nazarian as a pro-Israel advocate who gave millions to organizations in Israel as well as to Jewish and non-Jewish causes in Southern California. “He truly believed that strengthening Israel was the…
American Jewish leaders and organizations are traveling to Ukraine’s borders on missions to witness first-hand the largest refugee crisis since World War II. It’s part of a larger Jewish effort to help feed, clothe and shelter Ukrainians in neighboring countries. But the delegations of rabbis and other Jewish leaders visiting the region has sparked some…
More than 500 current and former employees of the Union for Reform Judaism have signed a letter criticizing its response to a February report detailing a history of sexual harassment at summer camps and other institutions run by the organization. “We await–with high expectations and limited patience–a concrete plan and public timeline for institutional review…
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