Posts By Lauren Bookwalter

(JTA) — Kansas City Chiefs lineman Mitchell Schwartz does more than start for perhaps the best offense in the NFL. The 6-5, 320-pound tackle is a star at his position and has been for much of his eight-year career since turning pro following a standout career at the University… Read more »

(JTA) — Red paint was found on the facade of a synagogue in Finland in what some fear may have been an anti-Semitic incident. The speckles and blotches of paint were found on the synagogue of Turku, which is situated 70 miles west of the capital Helsinki, on Sunday,… Read more »

BERLIN (JTA) – Researchers released a photo album with images of the Sobibor death camp, including what may be the face of the late convicted war criminal John Demjanjuk. The album, presented to the public at the Topography of Terror museum in Berlin on Monday, comes from the estate… Read more »

This article originally appeared on Alma. I was never the best tennis player. Nor was I particularly good at soccer, basketball or any other sport my parents signed me up for. Still, I stuck with tennis through my junior year of high school, when I was unceremoniously cut from the… Read more »

(JTA) — Anti-Jewish graffiti was discovered in multiple locations in Italy as the country observed International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan 27. On Monday night, the words “die dirty Jew” were discovered outside the home of Maria Bigliani, 65, in Turin. “It is a terrible message, especially on Holocaust… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The timeline is growing hazy for an Israeli Cabinet vote on annexing Jewish settlements in the West Bank, one day after U.S. President Donald Trump revealed a peace plan endorsing the move. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday after Trump unveiled the plan at the… Read more »

(JTA) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has pardoned Naama Issachar, an Israeli-American backpacker who was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison for drug smuggling. The Russian news agency Interfax News reported Wednesday that Putin had issued the pardon. Issachar, 26, had been returning from India to Israel by way… Read more »

(JTA) — French President Emmanuel Macron is under fire from top members of the judiciary after criticizing a court decision not to have a trial for a Jewish woman’s killer. During a visit last week to Israel last week, Macron took issue with the Paris Appeals Court decision in… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Facebook is not planning to fact check statements made by Israeli politicians on the social network during upcoming national elections. After extensive discussion of the issue, Facebook determined that fact-checking politicians’ statements is tantamount to censorship, Jessica Zucker, a product policy manager, told Israeli reporters on… Read more »

(JTA) — Despite a rise in anti-Semitic violence in recent years, the proportion of Americans holding “intensely” anti-Semitic views remains small, according to a new poll. The poll, conducted by the Anti-Defamation League and published Wednesday, asked 11 questions of U.S. adults regarding traditional anti-Semitic stereotypes, using a protocol the… Read more »

(JTA) — A picture book about the founder of the National Yiddish Book Center and a debut graphic novel of a gripping Holocaust story are among the gold medal winners of this year’s Sydney Taylor Book Awards for Jewish children’s books. Leslea Newman, the author of 70 books, including… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Early Friday afternoon, I received a call inviting me to the White House to participate in a same-day signing ceremony for legislation authorizing $375 million in Homeland Security grants to help protect synagogues, churches, mosques and other places of worship. I replied that while I would… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Islamic State said it will focus its new attacks on Israel. The terror group, also known as ISIS, issued a 37-minute audio message on Monday by its spokesman, Abu Hamza al-Quraishi, the AFP news agency reported. Speaking on behalf of ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi,… Read more »

(JTA) — A psychiatrist has found Monsey stabber Grafton Thomas to be incompetent to stand trial on attempted murder and federal hate-crimes charges. Defense attorney Michael Sussman has asked a federal judge to hold a competency evaluation for his client. Thomas, 37, was arrested following the Dec. 28 attack… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved $10 million over five years to fund Holocaust education in American schools. The vote Monday was timed for International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz Nazi camp. The money will be administered… Read more »

SAO PAULO, Brazil (JTA) — The governor of Brazil’s largest state called the Holocaust “humankind’s day of shame” at the official ceremony to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day in Latin America’s largest nation. “It’s not only about remembering the 6 million Jews who were murdered, but also all others… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A painting by Jewish modernist Marc Chagall sold at auction for $130,000, the lowest estimated bid suggested by the auction house. The buyer, from Tel Aviv, wishes to remain anonymous, a spokesman for the Tiroche Auction House in Herzliya told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. The artwork,… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s attorney general filed the indictment on charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery against Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday hours after the prime minister withdrew his request for parliamentary immunity. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit filed the charges in three corruption cases against Netanyahu in Jerusalem… Read more »

(JTA) — Fran Drescher, the star of the 1990s sitcom “The Nanny,” says she loves her gay former husband, but some of her needs are met by a “friend with benefits.” The twice-divorced Jewish actress spilt with Peter Marc Jacobson in 1999 after more than 20 years of marriage.… Read more »

(JTA) — Morocco’s king has inaugurated a $1.5 million center dedicated to Jewish culture in the city of Essaouira. Last week, King Mohammed VI attended the inauguration for Bayt Dakira, which means House of Memory in Arabic. The port city was formerly home to a large population of Jews,… Read more »