In 1842, members of one of the first synagogues in Maryland broke away after a rebuke from their rabbi, an Orthodox hardliner who was deeply troubled by secularism among American Jews. He decried their use of Masonic rituals at Jewish funerals — in effect, idol worship. So they formed their own synagogue, Har Sinai Congregation….
The man who tried to kill Jews at prayer over Yom Kippur in Halle, Germany, was unable to enter the synagogue: It was locked. So the man, an avowed white nationalist, turned his gun on bystanders, killing two people. The two victims of the #Halle attack on Yom Kippur have been identified as 40-year-old Jana…
BOSTON (JTA) — – An Israeli flag defaced with a swastika and white supremacist symbols was found on the grounds of a Cape Cod synagogue hours after the end of Yom Kippur. Police are investigating the incident at Falmouth Jewish Congregation after being notified by the synagogue’s rabbi, Elias Lieberman, who found the flag on…
(JTA) — The doors of a synagogue in Grand Rapids, Michigan were plastered with posters described by police as anti-Semitic. Rabbi Michael Schadick of Temple Emanuel discovered the posters on Sunday morning, prior to the start of Sunday School at the synagogue. Local media did not report the contents of the posters. But photos of…
On Yom Kippur, 51 congregants in a Halle synagogue watched the feed from security cameras as their would-be shooter tried to break down the door. He pushed it, fired a few rounds with his gun and even attached an explosive to the jamb. The heavy wooden door wouldn’t budge, CNN reported.. The door and the…
NEW YORK (JTA) — The windows of a synagogue in Brooklyn were broken during Rosh Hashanah services. A video showing people throwing milk crates at the the Rivnitz synagogue in the Williamsburg neighborhood was circulated Wednesday on social media. Police said that the incident took place on Monday afternoon and they were searching for two…
It’s a dilemma familiar to many a not-so-observant Jew as late September rolls around: fork over hundreds of dollars for High Holiday services or scandalize bubbe by skipping out altogether. Fortunately, in NYC some synagogues are opening their doors to wandering Jews during the High Holidays. Other organizations have sprung up specifically provide free and…
The High Holidays are here. Synagogues will swell with their biggest crowds of the year on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. But in the wake of the Pittsburgh and Poway shootings in the past year, and amid a nation-wide uptick in anti-Semitic incidents, American Jewish communities are on edge. What role can you, as a…
100% of profits support our journalism
