South Dakota
Which States Had The Fewest Anti-Semitic Incidents? The Answer May Surprise You
The Anti-Defamation League’s annual audit of anti-Semitic incidents was released on Monday, and came with some saddening statistics.
Dan Lederman Elected Chair of South Dakota Republicans
(JTA) — Former South Dakota State Sen. Dan Lederman was elected the state’s new Republican Party chairman. The vote Saturday, in which Lederman unseated incumbent chairwoman Pam Roberts, was 73 to 53. Lederman becomes the first candidate for the job in recent memory to win without the governor’s endorsement, the local newspaper the Argus Leader…
What Red State Jews Tell Us About Ourselves — and Trump’s America
Since the November election, there’s been a lot of talk among journalists about the way our profession overlooked and misunderstood populist, pro-Trump America. It’s a challenge for us at the Forward, as well. That is why we are launching “Red State Jews.”
South Dakota Gets First Full-Time Rabbi
(JTA) — A rabbi and his family have moved to South Dakota, giving the state its only full-time rabbi. Rabbi Mendel and Mussie Alperowitz and their children arrived on Dec. 24 in Sioux Falls, where they will open a Chabad center. The rabbi, who moved from Brooklyn, visited the state twice before deciding to move…
Chabad Plans To Open Center in South Dakota — Now in All 50 States
(JTA) — Chabad will open a Jewish center in South Dakota, meaning that is will now have a presence in all 50 U.S. states. The announcement of the Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Chabad-Lubavitch center was made on Sunday night at the final banquet of the International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries to a crowd of 5,600…
The Jewish Education of Jessye Stein — on a South Dakota Indian Reservation
One day, Jessye Stein, a computer teacher on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, was trying to persuade a student to return to his Lakota language class when the young man suddenly posed an unexpected question. “He asked me where I come from, where my people come from and what my ancestral language is,” she recalled. Stein, 24, told the student she was Jewish and that her ancestors spoke Yiddish. But that just prompted the next, obvious question: “He asked me if I could speak Yiddish,” she recounted. And when she said no, he accused her of being a hypocrite.
South Dakota Inmate Sues Over Kosher Violations
(JTA) — A Jewish inmate in a South Dakota prison filed a lawsuit against corrections staff and a food company alleging that he received food that violated his kosher dietary restrictions. James Irving Dale, who is serving a 15-year sentence for burglary at the Mike Durfee State Prison, alleged in a federal lawsuit that he was…
Of Calamity Jane. Mount Rushmore and 5 Other Things Facts About Jewish South Dakota
With only 345 Jews, South Dakota is the only state without a Chabad presence. Here’s what else you might not know about Mount Rushmore state.
When Deadwood Was Jewish
Ann Haber Stanton didn’t expect to find the shadows of a Jewish community in a tiny High Plains town. But there’s still a little bit of Mount Zion left on Main Street in Deadwood.
As Chabad Gathers, South Dakota Is Only State Missing
Some 4,200 Chabad rabbis from more than 80 countries are gathering this weekend in New York for the annual conference of Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries.