Heshy Tischler, a Borough Park-based activist and radio host, posted a picture of himself on Instagram wearing a mask with a picture of a yellow Jude star pasted over it. “I am wearing my mask with the Jewish star that our leaders and city officials really want us to wear,” he said. The post is…
The ancient tradition of circumcising infant boys is still legal in Denmark — but perhaps not for long. The vast majority of Danes finds that ritual circumcision on infant boys should be banned, according to a recent TV2/Megafon poll. Yet while 86 % of those polled are in favor of implementing a proposed ban, a…
President Donald Trump’s critics — led by the Anti-Defamation League — say he failed to condemn white supremacy during the Sept. 29 debate, and then gave a shout out to a white supremacist group, the Proud Boys. Many of his Jewish supporters just don’t see it that way. “White supremacists?” said Ruth Reinish, 88, of…
In large measure, Jewish Republicans in Florida are standing by their man. They just wish he’d have let the other guy talk a little more. “I love President Trump; he just needs to keep his mouth shut and stop talking,” said Perri Cohen, president of the Conservative Club of Wynmoor, a senior community in Broward…
Will the pandemic lockdown inspire Amsterdam to purge the sex and drugs from its historic core and focus more on its Jewish cultural heritage? Some natives hope so — but not necessarily the Jewish community. Like most of its European neighbors, Holland closed its borders during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic along with…
Members of the Proud Boys, a group of self-described “Western chauvinists” who yearn for violent civil conflict, are taking President Trump’s debate remarks that they should “stand by” as a “call to action,” said an expert on extremism at the Anti-Defamation League. “Stand by” is a law enforcement and military term, said Joanna Mendelson, associate…
A sukkah is something of a paradox. It’s a symbol of safety. In prayer, the word is literally translated as shelter — often, a shelter of God’s peace, spread over the supplicant. Yet its occupants are also not supposed to feel too safe. The roof of a sukkah must be sparse enough to see the…
In response to a question about whether he would condemn white supremacists and militia groups and ask them to stay peaceful in the coming weeks and months, President Trump singled out the Proud Boys, a racist and antisemitic white supremacist group and told them to “stand by.” “Are you willing tonight to condemn white supremacists…
Former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump will face off Tuesday night in the first presidential debate ahead of this November’s election. The moderator, Chris Wallace of Fox News (who is Jewish himself, and the son of journalists) has chosen to ask the candidates about each of their records, the Supreme Court, the…
A Saudi official who received an award for his work fighting antisemitism and racism in June made antisemitic comments on a Saudi radio program in 2014, according to a report released Monday by a Washington, D.C. think tank that is critical of the Saudi government. Muslim World League Secretary General Dr. Mohammed al-Issa, among the…
Will one of Judaism’s oldest communities survive another generation? For the past two years, the Karaite Qahal in Istanbul’s Haskoy neighborhood has been almost empty for the High Holidays. This Yom Kippur will likely be no different. For an overwhelmingly elderly community, the novel coronavirus pandemic hasn’t helped, nor has the fact that in 2017,…
