NEW YORK (JTA) — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez raised a ruckus when she said detention centers holding undocumented immigrants on the southern border are “concentration camps.” “The U.S. is running concentration camps on our southern border, and that is exactly what they are,” the freshman New York Democrat said Monday night in an Instagram Live video. “If…
Birthright Israel has sent 650,000 young Jews to Israel over the past two decades, and few have complained about their free trip to the Jewish state. But last summer, something strange started happening. Members of IfNotNow, the Jewish organization that raises awareness about Palestinian suffering and American complicity in it, would go on the trips…
The American Hebrew Academy, a prestigious and ambitious Jewish boarding school in North Carolina, abruptly announced its closure Tuesday morning, surprising its students and leaving its faculty without jobs. The closure was announced in an email signed by both the AHA’s chief executive and the chairwoman of the board. The email was notification to most…
When Rabbi Ted Falcon dies, plant a fig tree over his remains. Sorry, with his remains: Falcon wants his body to be composted. “I’m just trying to apply the principle of returning dust to dust,” he said. “How do you do that in the most productive way?” In May, Washington became the first state to…
Congress has hundreds of caucuses, collections of politicians with common interests in everything under the sun –- the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the Medicare for All Caucus, the Chicken Caucus. On Monday, a new, bipartisan caucus was announced, one that hopes to rebuild a historic alliance that has lately seen some tensions: the Congressional Caucus on…
Which demographic group of the American Jewish community has more members: Jews of color, or the Orthodox? They’re actually around the same size — 12-15% of American Jews, or about 1 million people — according to a new study released last week. The study aimed to correct the widespread misconception that American Jews are almost…
Like many South Florida Jewish seniors, 92-year-old Ricki Marks didn’t need any persuading to support legalizing medical marijuana. Marks, a resident of a Palm Beach Gardens assisted living facility who brags that “I still have all my marbles,” voted for legalization twice, once in 2014 when it narrowly lost in a statewide referendum, and again…
At least one student from every graduating class at Carmel Academy has enlisted in the military. That wouldn’t be so remarkable if Carmel were a public school, or a large private school in an area with relatively high enlistment rates. But Carmel is a Jewish day school in Connecticut with 200 total graduates, 13 of…
(JTA) — Early on Friday mornings, Diane Weil leaves her house in Montgomery, Alabama, with an umbrella. The 64-year-old registered nurse doesn’t need it to shield her from the rain. Instead she uses it to block patients from protesters who come to the health clinic where she has been volunteering every week since September. Reproductive…
I say, “Jewish Lower East Side.” You say, “Bagels.” Or perhaps, “Katz’s corned beef.” But what if I told you, “Bourekas”? What if I told you, “Baklava”? Those foods, as Jewish and as native to LES as schmaltz and herring, were on sale by the thousands at the fifth annual Greek Jewish Festival, hosted by…
The 2020 presidential race is only a few months underway and has already seen many firsts among its major candidates, including the first Asian-American, Hindu and openly gay contenders. It’s also the first race where a serious candidate’s campaign manager is a teenager – let alone a teenager who’s equally comfortable quoting classic “Simpsons” episodes…
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