JERUSALEM (JTA) — The National Library of Israel has created an archive to document the impact of the coronavirus on Jewish communities around the world. The Jewish Community COVID-19 Archive will be made up of “ephemera items” — materials not generally intended for long-term preservation. Such items often help… Read more »
News
Alfred Landecker Foundation providing emergency funding for Holocaust survivors affected by COVID-19
(JTA) — The Alfred Landecker Foundation has created a fund to provide emergency support for Holocaust survivors affected by COVID-19. The 1 million euro ($1.12 million) fund is meant to support elderly survivors who are vulnerable to the coronavirus and who are suffering from the effects of self-isolation. The… Read more »
Hundreds attend funeral of religious leader in central Israel, flouting Health Ministry directives
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Hundreds of members of Israel’s haredi Orthodox community attended the funeral of a religious leader despite government restrictions on the number of people who can participate in such ceremonies due to the coronavirus crisis. About 400 mourners gathered in the central Israeli city of Bnei Brak… Read more »
The coronavirus hasn’t stopped immigration to Israel
Israeli travelers enjoy a celebratory arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, March 23, 2020. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Aviva Karoly, an attorney originally from Queens, New York, and her husband, Tzvi, were raised in religious Zionist homes and always dreamed of living in Israel. In preparation, the couple had sent their 6-year old son Adi to a Hebrew-speaking preschool. They also put off purchasing… Read more »
Benjamin Netanyahu’s rival just agreed to stop fighting and join him. Here’s why.
Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz seen during election campaign in Ramat Gan on February 25.
After 99 percent of votes counted, right-wing bloc led by Likud's Benjamin Netanyahu obtained 58 seats but 3 are missing to get a clear majority.
Israeli PM Netanyahu says today that Gantz is 'linking up with terrorists' supporters' alluding at possible union with Arab Alliance Joint List.
On Wednesday, March 4, 2020, in Jerusalem, Israel. (Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(JTA) — One of the crazier weeks in Israeli politics in recent memory ended on a fittingly dramatic note: Benny Gantz, the former army chief who came close to unseating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in three straight elections, laid down his proverbial arms. Gantz will join a so-called unity… Read more »
For Italian Jews, the ‘smell of death’ is all around
A cyclist protecting himself from the coronavirus passes in front of a synagogue in Turin, Italy, March 18, 2020. (Stefano Guidi/Getty Images)
(JTA) — At least twice a day, Micol Naccache breaks down in tears over what the coronavirus is doing to her city of Milan and its Jewish community. A high school teacher and mother of two, Naccache describes herself as “an optimistic person.” But she is struggling to stay… Read more »
Robert Levinson’s family says the former FBI agent missing since 2007 died in Iranian custody
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Robert Levinson, the Jewish-American former FBI agent missing since 2007, has died in Iranian custody, his family said. Iran has claimed over the years that the regime did not know his whereabouts. On Wednesday, the family posted the “devastating” news “with aching hearts” on Twitter on… Read more »
Benny Gantz takes Knesset speaker post as his prime minister hopes break down
JERUSALEM (JTA) — As his Blue and White party was on the verge of breaking up, its leader, Benny Gantz, was elected speaker of the Israeli Knesset on Thursday evening. Gantz has been tasked with forming a coalition government following elections earlier this month, Israel’s third vote in less… Read more »
The Bonds of Life: Remembering those we lost to COVID-19
We’re creating space to mourn Jews who are lost to the coronavirus at a time when Jewish mourning practices are nearly impossible to observe. If you’ve lost someone dear to you, we invite you to share their story with us using this form. Maurice Berger, 63, was a noted… Read more »
What Jewish groups want to see in Congress’ $2 trillion pandemic spending bill
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 20: Socially distanced apart, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) attend a meeting with a select group of Senate Republicans, Senate Democrats, and Trump administration officials in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill March 20, 2020 in Washington, DC. The small group of lawmakers and officials are in negotiations about the phase 3 coronavirus stimulus bill, which leaders say they hope to have passed by Monday. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The White House has come to an agreement with Democrats and Republicans on a $2 trillion stimulus package, the biggest in U.S. history, in response to the major economic downturn triggered by the coronavirus. The Senate approved the package, 96-0, at midnight Wednesday. It could undergo… Read more »
Israel’s Supreme Court orders Knesset speaker to reconvene parliament and schedule vote on his replacement
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein must reconvene the parliament and schedule a vote on naming his replacement, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled Monday. The decision by an extended five-judge panel gives Edelstein until Wednesday to schedule the vote. He was expected to respond to the Supreme Court directive… Read more »
First Israeli coronavirus fatality, a Holocaust survivor, is buried with social distancing
(JTA) — Arie Even, the first Israeli to die from the coronavirus, was buried in the dead of night with mourners standing six feet apart and funeral workers wearing Hazmat gear. Even, 88, a native of Hungary who survived the Holocaust, was a retired Israeli diplomat. He died Friday… Read more »
Last surviving German recognized by Yad Vashem as righteous gentile for Holocaust heroism dies
(JTA) — The last surviving German recognized as a righteous gentile for saving Jews during the Holocaust died on Monday. Gertrud Steinl, who was recognized by Yad Vashem in 1979 as a Righteous Among the Nations, died a day before her 98th birthday. Steinl’s death was confirmed to the… Read more »
‘Painful and deep’: Jewish nonprofits face dire economic prospects during and after coronavirus
The main entrance of the Staenberg-Loup Jewish Community Center in Denver, July 27, 2018. At the time, the center had staved off financial worries thanks to a newly formed nonprofit that bought its property and infused it with cash to wipe out $14.3 million in debt. (Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
NEW YORK (JTA) — Some 38,000 people work at Jewish community centers across North America, staffing preschools, camps, gyms, classes, activities for seniors and more. Because of the coronavirus crisis, a lot of them are going to lose their jobs. “The cuts are going to be painful and deep,”… Read more »
The real reasons coronavirus is spreading in my Hasidic community
JERUSALEM (JTA) — A vicious rumor has been making the rounds: Hasidim are neglecting to take the coronavirus pandemic seriously because we are selfish. But as someone born and bred in the Satmar community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, who now lives in Jerusalem and writes for Yiddish publications, I… Read more »
Hosts of at least 2 Jewish weddings arrested in Lakewood, N.J., for violating coronavirus rules
(JTA) — Police in Lakewood, New Jersey, have arrested at least two Jewish men for hosting weddings with more than 50 people present, in violation of state rules designed to curb the spread of the coronavirus. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy last week banned gatherings of more than 50… Read more »
Trump nominates conservative think tank chief and DC Jewish leader as ambassador to Japan
WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Donald Trump nominated Kenneth Weinstein, a prominent Jewish conservative thinker, to be ambassador to Japan. Weinstein is the president of the Hudson Institute, a conservative Washington, D.C., think tank. He also has been deeply involved in the Washington-area Jewish community. In his writings, he focuses… Read more »
Jewish Brazilian cosmetics magnate donates 1.7 tons of gel alcohol to fight coronavirus
RIO DE JANEIRO (JTA) — A Brazilian cosmetics giant owned by the billionaire son of Holocaust survivors donated 1.7 tons of gel alcohol, which can be used as hand sanitizer, to help the city where it is headquartered fight the coronavirus. The donation to Curitiba’s municipal health department was… Read more »
Why Jewish communities are keeping mikvahs open amid the coronavirus outbreak — for now
Women's mikvahs in Israel, like this one in the settlement of Alon Shvut, are still open. (Gershon Elinson/Flash90)
NEW YORK (JTA) — When the rabbis of New Jersey’s suburban Bergen County took the bold step of shutting down almost all facets of communal Jewish life last week, they left the doors of one institution open: the women’s mikvah, or ritual bath. That pattern has been repeated in… Read more »
I’m a pediatrician who sees kids with coronavirus every day. It’s changed my whole way of life.
Health care providers wear protective equipment, like gloves, but some still get the coronavirus. (Getty Images)
NEW YORK (JTA) — I am a pediatrician who for 15 years has practiced in a medical office in the heart of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. We serve the local Hasidic community and see a variety of other patients from Brooklyn, the Lower East Side and Queens. When the coronavirus emerged… Read more »
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