JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
A Republican state senator in Tennessee cited Adolf Hitler in a legislative session Wednesday as an example of somebody who overcame poverty and achieved fame. Arguing in favor of a bill that targets unhoused people camping on public property, State Sen. Frank Niceley glossed over the Nazi leader’s genocidal legacy. While an ABC News affiliate…
James Mackler has been thinking a lot about certain words from the Talmud during his long-shot run for U.S. Senate in Tennessee: “In a place where there are no worthy people, strive to be a worthy person.” They were especially prescient on Monday, after a weekend of nationwide protests against racism and police misconduct sparked…
Editor’s Note: This story ran in 2014 as part of the Forward’s “Our Promised Lands” series. We’re re-revisiting it today in honor of what would have been Elvis Presley’s 85th birthdayt. In the summer of 1954, Elvis Presley released his first single. He had one problem: He couldn’t play it. The aspiring 19-year-old singer was…
(JTA) — A rock in the center of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville that students paint with inspirational messages was painted over with a message accusing Jews of being behind the 9-11 attack. The graffiti painted on The Rock on Wednesday night read, “Jews did 9-11. Google: Dancing Israelis.” The message that was painted over by…
(JTA) — David Kustoff, running for re-election in Tennessee’s 8th Congressional District, has three things in his favor: incumbency, a solid Republican district and President Donald Trump’s endorsement. Kustoff is not taking anything for granted, though: Ahead of the Republican primary on Thursday, he is facing a challenger, George Flinn, who has spent more than…
Shabbat services are resuming at a major U.S. Army base after they were suspended due to the firing of its longtime volunteer Jewish service leader, organizers say. Shabbat services at Fort Campbell had been formally suspended after the head chaplains on the base fired longtime leader Jeannette Mize in February. But a source on the…
The Jews on the country’s second-largest military base haven’t had a rabbi for years. Until very recently, though, they had Jeanette Mize. She and her family led services and cooked holiday meals there. Because of her, the Jews of Fort Campbell, the Army base that straddles the Kentucky-Tennessee border, didn’t have to drive 60 miles…
(JTA) — Rabbi Rafael Grossman, who founded and expanded Jewish institutions in the American South, has died. Grossman died April 12 in Jerusalem. He was 84. He served as a pulpit rabbi at Baron Hirsch Congregation, an Orthodox synagogue in Memphis, Tennessee, for nearly three decades, according to an announcement from the congregation. Grossman was…
