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Meet the Jewish fisherman from Alaska who could flip the Senate blue
The Jews of Alaska call themselves “The Frozen Chosen.” There are only a few thousand of them – people are likely more familiar with fictional depictions of Alaska Jewish life in “The Yiddish Policemen’s Union” or “Northern Exposure.” But in the real world, one community member is about to get a much higher profile: Dr….
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One year later, Chabad of Poway shooting’s legacy of pain and hope
In a moving virtual ceremony last Sunday, Dr. Howard Kaye spoke of his late wife of 34 years, Lori Gilbert-Kaye. It has been one year since a gunman shot and killed Gilbert-Kaye inside Chabad of Poway, and the memorial service to mark the event was a virtual one. “Lori took every mitzvah and every kindness…
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A Showdown in Ann Arbor: Behind the New Lawsuit Challenging Longtime Synagogue Protesters
It’s a brutally cold Saturday morning in February, and Dearborn resident Chris Mark is one of only two people from a group called Witness for Peace standing outside Ann Arbor’s Beth Israel Congregation. The group used to be bigger, but Mark said many members have passed away over the years, and it’s hard to bring…
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Letter from Las Vegas: Why reopening the Vegas Strip is a bad gamble
According to Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman, the lockdown of her city due to coronavirus is “insanity.” To Her Honor, then, sanity is defined as completely reopening a city that depends on strangers from random cities gambling, dining and watching entertainment in close proximity, while in the throes of the deadliest and most contagious worldwide…
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Devout Jewish town rejects rabbis’ plan to use wedding hall amid pandemic
Lakewood, N.J., is a famously devout and rapidly growing town centered around the biggest yeshiva outside Israel — Beth Medrash Govoha. Its citizens devote their lives to fulfilling the Torah’s dictates, including the one many consider to be the first: be fruitful and multiply. When the onset of New Jersey’s strict social-distancing rules meant to…
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Despite social distancing rules, crowd shows up for Brooklyn rabbi’s funeral
At least 100 people gathered Friday outside of the the Chabad Lubavitch’s headquarters in Brooklyn to pay their respects to a rabbi who passed away earlier in the day. Rabbi Aharon Yaacov Schwei, 86, was a prominent figure in the Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Jewish community and held many top roles within the Chabad organization. Despite…
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Reopen Georgia? Atlanta’s Jewish community isn’t so sure
Georgia’s governor is in a hurry to reopen his state. Atlanta’s Jewish community, not so much. “No one is calling us frantic to reopen,” said Robert Wittenstein, president of Temple Emanu-el of Greater Atlanta. Earlier this week, Georgia’s Republican Brian Kemp announced he wanted Georgia to reopen—to the surprise of business leaders and mayors across…
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Avraham Yeshayahu Heber, 55, Helped Hundreds Of Israelis Find Kidney Donors
(JTA) — Avraham Yeshayahu Heber, an Israeli rabbi whose charity facilitated hundreds of kidney transplants, died of the coronavirus. Heber died April 23 in Jerusalem. He was 55. Heber was the founder of Matnat Chaim (Hebrew for “gift of life”), an organization started in 2009 that matches kidney donors with transplant patients. The organization is…
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Soup kitchen and Hasidic philanthropist provide free groceries to Boro Park families affected by COVID-19
Masbia Soup Kitchen has partnered with Mordy Getz, the owner of Eichler’s Judaica Bookstore, to offer free groceries to any Boro Park family which has lost a breadwinner to coronavirus. The novel coronavirus has devastated tight-knit Hasidic communities in New York. And for families, grief over a parent’s death is compounded by anxiety about fulfilling…
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How Laemmle Theatres is weathering the coronavirus storm
What do you do if you own Los Angeles’ premier independent cinema chain and the coronavirus pandemic shuts down all your theatres? You show movies, of course. That’s what Greg Laemmle, chief executive officer of his family-owned Laemmle Theatres, has taken to doing at the theatre’s web site. “My family has been in this business…
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80% of JCCs got SBA loans — but what happens when the money runs out?
Jewish Community Center leaders predict most JCCs will end up cutting more than 90% of employees by the end of the pandemic. But the sector has seen one bright spot over the past few weeks: More than 80% of the JCCs that applied for loans from the Small Business Administration were approved, according to data…
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