(JTA) — When Rabbi Emily Losben-Ostrov took her North Carolina congregation on a Rosh Hashanah boat ride on the Cape Fear River, she hadn’t intended for the body of water’s name to be taken literally. The Wilmington Reform synagogue was performing the ritual of tashlich, in which Jews throw pieces of bread into the water to…
Jewish community tensions over the Durham, North Carolina city council’s April vote to ban police officers from educational programs in Israel spilled over last week after police escorted two members of the group Jewish Voice for Peace out of the Jewish Community Center when they tried to hand out flyers criticizing local Jewish leaders. The…
A federal court ruling striking down North Carolina’s gerrymandered congressional districts could boost Jewish Democrat Kathy Manning’s chances of picking up a seat in the state — and bolster the party’s chances of retaking the House of Representatives in the midterm elections. The Aug. 27 decision by a three-judge panel means the districts could be…
Police and the FBI are investigating after several members of a synagogue in Raleigh, North Carolina, received threatening letters over the weekend, The News & Observer reported Monday. Members of Temple Beth Or’s board received a copy of the same letter that contained “threatening language” on Saturday, Robert Gleiberman, executive director of the synagogue, told…
An online textbook that blames Holocaust victims for failing to actualize their strength is required reading at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CNN reported. The textbook accompanies “21st Century Wellness,” part of a one-credit hour course the nearly 19,000 UNC undergraduates have to take before graduation. It aims to teach students how…
A North Carolina man named Adam Bloom is being accused of racial profiling after being caught on video calling police on a black woman at his neighborhood pool. In a July 4 video that went viral, Bloom appears to demand identification from Jasmine Edwards as she attempted to enter her neighborhood pool. “I feel like…
A Republican state legislature candidate in North Carolina wrote on his website that God is a racist white supremacist and that Jews descended from Satan, The Charlotte Observer reported. Russell Walker is running for state House District 48, which includes Scotland and Hoke counties. The North Carolina Republican Party withdrew its support for him on…
When a Reform rabbi resigned from his Durham, North Carolina synagogue recently, the synagogue’s lawyer said the problem was “sexual in nature.” Now the Forward has learned what those words meant. The rabbi had a yearlong, sexual relationship with a woman who regularly worshipped at the synagogue. The Reform movement’s rabbinical association had censured him…
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