Yearly Archives 2020

This story originally appeared on Alma. “Your Hebrew name?” the head of the yeshiva asked, pencil and paper poised to take it down for my aliyah, the honor of reciting Torah blessings. It was my third week at his school, a place where I’d reluctantly agreed to study for… Read more »

This story originally appeared on Kveller. When Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis was sworn in to Washington’s Supreme Court earlier this month, she became the second Native American person to serve on a state Supreme Court. “This was never something I really planned on or expected to happen,” Montoya-Lewis tells Kveller… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — An Israeli Border Police officer was shot and wounded in an attack Thursday morning on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem hours after 12 Israeli soldiers were injured in an early morning car-ramming attack in the center of the city. Also Thursday, an Israeli soldier was injured… Read more »

LOS ANGELES (JTA) – Kirk Douglas, the legendary actor who portrayed legions of tough guys and embraced his Jewish heritage later in life, died at his home in Beverly Hills on Wednesday. He was 103. Over a career that spanned 87 films — including 73 big screen features and… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Two Palestinian Authority police officers were killed in West Bank clashes early Thursday morning with Israeli soldiers. They were hit by Israeli fire overnight after clashes erupted in the city of Jenin during the Israeli army’s demolition of the home of Ahmed Kunba, who was charged… Read more »

Kenneth Martin Greenfield, 87, died Jan. 23, 2020. Born on Feb. 25, 1932, Mr. Greenfield was raised and lived in New York City and New Jersey. He moved to Tucson in 2000. A corporate attorney for most of his professional life, he graduated from Columbia University Business School and… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign is now in overdrive, judging by the way he turned much of his State of the Union into a campaign pitch. “We are moving forward at a pace that was unimaginable just a short time ago, and we are never going… Read more »

(JTA) — Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook, is engaged nearly five years after the death of her husband. Sandberg will marry Tom Bernthal, the founder and CEO of the Los Angeles-based strategic consulting agency Kelton Global, People first reported, citing a Sandberg rep. The couple were… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — As evening descended on Jerusalem one Friday last month, 1,000 students gathered at the Western Wall for the traditional prayers to welcome the Jewish Sabbath. They joined the throngs who dance and sing at the holiest site in Judaism as Shabbat begins. When it was over,… Read more »

(JTA) — Tom Stoppard, the winner of multiple Tony Awards and an Oscar, and the author of plays such as “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” and “Travesties,” is often described as one of the best living playwrights. He’s not often described as Jewish, which he is, perhaps in part… Read more »

CHICAGO (JTA) — Some commentators have used the word “epidemic” to describe the recent spikes in anti-Semitism. They may not realize how correct they are. Twenty years ago, upon my return to the United States after serving as a senior infectious disease epidemiologist at the World Health Organization in… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — Get ready with the “yada yada” references, Jerry Seinfeld is coming out with another book about comedy. More than 25 years after he sold a million copies with “Seinlanguage,” the star of the megahit “Seinfeld” and “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” will present the best… Read more »

(JTA) — The first trailer for HBO’s adaptation of the Philip Roth novel “The Plot Against America” was released on Thursday. The series, co-created by David Simon and based on Roth’s 2004 novel of the same name, premieres on March 16. It stars John Turturro (as a rabbi), Winona… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Call it the deal of the century, the ultimate deal, the vision for peace: President Donald Trump and his Middle East team unveiled their long-awaited peace plan on Tuesday. My colleague Gabe Friedman runs down the highlights (you can also read all 181 pages here and judge… Read more »

(JTA) — A bag emblazoned with a Star of David containing soap and anti-Semitic literature was left outside an exhibition about the Holocaust. For many years after World War II, rumors persisted that the Nazis used Jewish bodies to produce soap. No evidence was found to support the claim.… Read more »

(JTA) — A boarding school in Britain said it will modify its logo following complaints that it references an anti-Semitic blood libel. Jeremy Wyld, headmaster of St. Hugh’s School in Woodhall Spa, situated some 130 miles north of London, told The Jewish Chronicle that a red dot hanging over… Read more »

(JTA) — Terrorists in the Gaza Strip launched rockets into Israel on Friday, the second straight day of rocket fire from the strip. Three rockets and three mortar rounds were launched into Israel on Friday. Israel’s Iron Dome defense system intercepted one of the mortar rounds, leaving the remaining two… Read more »

(JTA) —  More than 15% of respondents to a poll in Italy said the Holocaust never happened. The results are part of the annual Italy Report of the Eurispes published Thursday. The poll by the nongovernmental organization probes Italians’ views on a number of subjects, including the credibility of… Read more »

RAMALLAH, West Bank (JTA) — Standing outside the Al Siwadi juice shop, located near this Palestinian city’s central Al Manari Square downtown, a man named Maher complains about the recently released U.S. peace plan. Trump’s plan is designed to “give the rich Jews what they want,” Maher asserts as… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Palestinians in Gaza fired a mortar at southern Israel, setting off Code Red sirens. The mortar exploded in an open field near Kibbutz Kissufim, a Gaza border community, on Wednesday evening. It caused no injuries or damage, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Two other explosives… Read more »