As the historic Hurricane Harvey lingered over Houston this week like the biblical flood, Jewish and evangelical leaders found common ground in a moment of national crisis as both beseeched God to intercede on their behalf — literally. Two major Orthodox religious organizations called on followers to support the flood victims in Houston. They could…
The Anti-Defamation League is advising cops to plant undercover agents among antifa activists, and to film protests where the group may clash with neo-Nazis and white supremacists. The recommendation comes at the end of an ADL “primer for law enforcement” on antifa, the radical anti-fascist protest movement that has gained attention in the weeks since…
For Houston’s devastated synagogues, government funds to rebuild after Hurricane Harvey may not come. The historic flooding that has brought death and terror to parts of Texas this week has damaged an untold number of houses of worship, including at least two synagogues. Government rules could bar those holy sites from receiving government rebuilding grants…
Adam Buchsbaum had been preparing for his bar mitzvah for months. But with Hurricane Harvey lashing his hometown of Houston last Saturday, the boy’s temple closed its building and cancelled all services — including his coming-of-age ceremony. The Buchsbaum family was devastated when they found out Congregation Beth Israel had closed — and resigned themselves to…
In many ways, Jewish education has remained unchanged for centuries. Students and teachers read texts together, and then they analyze them. But the 21st century has become an age of an unprecedented amount of information, all downloadable in seconds. In just a few decades, it’s already changed the way we think and absorb the world….
As many Jewish Houstonians leave their homes for the relative safety of emergency facilities, the rabbi of Texas’ oldest Jewish community is staying put. His congregants — and their synagogue — need him. Congregation Beth Israel’s sanctuary is is filled with three feet of murky water, Rabbi David Lyon told the Forward. Founded in 1854,…
In evangelical circles, anything that evokes Jewish roots carry cachet. Donning Hebrew prayer shawls, blowing shofars, avowing love and unwavering support for Israel — all are in vogue, and have been for years. If you can also claim some “ethnic Jewish” heritage? Even better. A number of high-profile evangelical televangelists, authors and speakers tout Jewish…
The departure of presidential aide Sebastian Gorka from the White House Friday, just one week after that of his mentor, Stephen Bannon, capped a crucial victory for military generals in the Trump administration. As Gorka himself put it in his August 25 letter to President Trump, “[G]iven recent events, it is clear to me that…
As hundreds of members of the white nationalist so-called “alt-right” movement head to San Francisco for a planned “freedom rally” this weekend and local counterprotesters prepare to confront them, police are bracing for the challenge of keeping the two sides apart and preventing Charlottesville-style violence. “Doing nothing in the face of this weekend’s rallies is…
Statues of Confederate generals are being targeted for removal across the country as “hate symbols” in the wake of the bloody white supremacist riots that rocked Charlottesville, Virginia. But in New York, a monument to an iconic Union Army leader and U.S. president is the latest lightning rod for controversy. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s alleged…
Who is “Michael the Black Man”? Spotted earlier this year at Trump rallies enthusiastically hoisting “Blacks for Trump” signs, Michael Symonette is back in the national spotlight after scoring a prominent seat at Trump’s rally this week in Phoenix. He’s not your typical political activist, though. He holds particularly unusual beliefs about ancient history, global…
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