Jewish organizations are scrapping publicly about whether they can work together on combating anti-Muslim bigotry after a statement made Monday by the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League. Jonathan Greenblatt told the Algemeiner on Monday that he was “deeply upset” and “troubled” after discovering that a public statement his organization had signed last week condemning discrimination…
At the White House on Wednesday, President Trump admonished Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas to “resolve” the issue of paying the families of Palestinian terrorists to show that he is serious about peace. But Palestinians might not be the only ones making controversial payments to violent offenders in their midst. Now, a liberal American Jewish…
As writer Danielle Berrin published her illuminating piece last week on how an “accomplished journalist from Israel” sexually assaulted her, my first thought was naturally one of disgust. In the wake of the innumerable assault claims that have piled up against Donald Trump, it was another sobering reminder of the sexism and harassment that women…
Conservative Rabbi Jill Jacobs is known for her social activism, and her young daughter is already fighting injustice too. Six-year-old Lior’s issue: The New Yorker cartoon contest’s policy against accepting submissions from minors. “It isn’t fair. Seriously,” she wrote in a letter to The New Yorker cartoon editor Robert Mankoff. Clearly cowed by the young…
Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum was observing the Sabbath on December 20 when New York police officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were shot and killed in their patrol car in Brooklyn by 28-year-old Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who then took his own life. After sundown, Kleinbaum, who leads New York’s Congregation Beit Simchat Torah and has been an…
Rabbis for Human Rights North America, which began as a support group for the Israel-based Rabbis for Human Rights, is parting ways with its Israeli counterpart. In a January 15 press release, the North American group announced it will now be known as T’ruah: The Rabbinical Call for Human Rights, thereby ending organizational and fundraising…
Women are running a growing number of Jewish organizations, at least those represented in “Slingshot: A Resource Guide to Jewish Innovation.” While about half of the groups selected in recent years for the annual guide of 64 innovative Jewish organizations have been led by women, this year the percentage has shot up to 64%, or…
Last week, Rabbi Jill Jacobs wrote about Sukkot and social justice and asked discussed the importance of place. Her posts are being featured this week on The Arty Semite courtesy of the Jewish Book Council and My Jewish Learning’s Author Blog Series. For more information on the series, please visit: As I write this blog…
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