David Schenker, who spent 19 months as an assistant secretary of state in the Trump administration, said in a recent interview that he is “very happy to be sleeping at night again.” “I didn’t sleep well — it was really a lot of responsibility and I was incredibly concerned with the well-being and safety of…
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio condemned offensive remarks by Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York, against the Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn. In an interview with the Gothamist in February, a local New York website, Lerner characterized the Orthodox community as an ‘extremist bloc.’ “I find her comments absolutely wrong,…
(JTA) — (Jewish Exponent via JTA) — Edward Malinoff loved his music and his witty puns. He sang frequently and even sent a song he wrote to Billy Joel, who wrote back to say he only sang his own material. Malinoff remembered the lyrics to songs from old movies with great accuracy despite having dementia in his…
Israel’s High Court ruled Monday that the state must recognize Reform and Conservative conversions to Judaism performed in Israel for the purpose of the Law of Return. The Law of Return allows anyone born to a Jewish mother, who has at least one Jewish grandparent, as well as converts to Judaism or spouses of Jews…
AMSTERDAM (JTA) — Eighty years ago on Thursday, this city was silent. The soft bell chimes of the ubiquitous trams, the main mode of local transportation and a constant presence to this day, were conspicuously absent. It was the start of a consequential yet often-overlooked milestone of the Holocaust: the February Strike. On Feb. 25,…
Israel’s cabinet has approved extending the country’s vaccination campaign to Palestinian laborers working in Israel and in West Bank settlements, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories said in a statement Sunday. Some 100,000 Palestinians are estimated to hold a permit allowing them to work inside Israel and the settlements. The inoculation campaign is…
In 1970, Judith “Judy” Heumann became the first wheelchair user to teach in a New York City public school. Seven years later, she led a 28-day sit-in that resulted in the signing of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act — the first federal civil rights law protecting those with disabilities. Since then, Heumann, 73, has…
The economy is at a standstill, people are out of work and stuck home — and big Israel-support organizations are having a banner year. The Jewish National Fund raised a record $100.8 million last year in the United States, even as the pandemic canceled live fundraising events and JNF-sponsored trips to Israel. At the same…
The COVID-19 vaccination clinic for Holocaust survivors in a local synagogue started out a bit ominously: A police cruiser was stationed outside and a bomb-sniffing German Shepherd was deployed inside, zealously looking for explosives. “Unfortunately, it’s because we’re Jewish,” said Rabbi Danielle Eskow, who organized the clinic Thursday at Congregation Kehillath Israel, a conservative synagogue…
The Young Jewish Conservatives’ Purim luncheon at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) had everything: a speed reading of the Megillah by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, hamentaschen, a kid from Brooklyn dressed in a red squid costume, a comedian in a Rush Limbaugh sweatshirt, and a comparison of Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar to Haman….
A ninja in moon boots. Rectangular brothers, a Rubix cube and washing machine. Many a princess. A few questionable Native American costumes, complete with feather headdress and brownface paint. Purim fell on a warm and sunny day in New York City, after weeks of snow, and the kids were out in force in the Haredi…
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