News

An Orthodox Jew is running for Jeremy Corbyn’s Parliament seat. He’ll need a miracle.

Yosef David says his Brexit Party is a "safe and friendly place" for Jews despite racism allegations. (Courtesy of David)

(JTA) — As an observant Jew, Yosef David was taught to believe in miracles. That’s a good thing since David, a social worker from London, is going to need one to succeed in his new mission: unseating Jeremy Corbyn from Parliament in the general election on Dec. 12. David… Read more »

5 Jewish things to know about Deval Patrick

Deval Patrick speaking at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual conference in Washington, D.C., March 5, 2018. (Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

(JTA) — The crowded field of Democratic 2020 hopefuls has welcomed another latecomer to the fray: Deval Patrick, the former Massachusetts governor. On Thursday, Patrick released an announcement video that recalled the struggles he faced growing up on Chicago’s South Side and said he wanted to make the American… Read more »

Labour’s anti-Semitism problem is an election issue for non-Jews, too

British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks at the University of Lancaster, Nov. 15, 2019. (Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)

(JTA) – Just like the Democratic Party in the U.S., Britain’s liberal Labour Party usually counts on star power for a boost. Ahead of the upcoming Dec. 12 general election, for instance, Labour has scooped up endorsements from major celebrities such as former Oasis lead singer Liam Gallagher, pop… Read more »

As the children of survivors, the Rohingya genocide reminds us of the Holocaust

Rohingya refugees are seen on the second anniversary of the Rohingya crisis in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Aug. 25, 2019(Allison Joyce/Getty Images)

(JTA) —  She was 16 years old and alone in a refugee camp in a foreign country when we met her. Sobbing, she told us how she hoped that her brother might be somewhere in this camp, “camp number 18.”  She had heard that he might be alive — if… Read more »

These Jews made Time magazine’s new list of ‘rising stars’

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MAY 01: Beanie Feldstein arrives the '2019 Billboard Music Awards' at MGM Grand Arena on May 01, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Daniel Torok/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

(JTA) — Time magazine is building on its list of the most influential people of the year by releasing a list of “rising stars,” or what it calls the Time 100 Next. The list features what the publication says is an increasing number of influential people who aren’t establishment… Read more »

In Ukraine, aid for needy Jews comes with a catch

Alina Feoktistova at the Tikva Jewish education complex in Odessa, Ukraine, Nov. 2, 2019. (Cnaan Liphshiz)

ODESSA, Ukraine (JTA) — Alina Feoktistova always knew she was Jewish, but the first time she sought contact with the community was to see if it could pay her tuition. Feoktistova’s family couldn’t afford to send her to college, but the local Jewish community provides an alternative in the… Read more »

Holocaust rescuer gets a surprise 100th birthday party in Poland

Jozef Walaszczyk was taken by an Italian sports car to his centenary birthday party in Warsaw, Poland, Nov. 14, 2019. (From the Depths)

(JTA) — The day after he turned 100, Jozef Walaszczyk prepared to attend yet another Holocaust commemoration ceremony in his native Warsaw. Walaszczyk is Poland’s oldest living Righteous Among the Nations – a title given by Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust museum to non-Jews who risked their lives to save… Read more »

Israel and Gaza terror groups reach cease-fire

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A cease-fire went into effect between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, as well as other terrorist groups in Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that the cease-fire went into effect at 4 a.m. Thursday, and Egyptian negotiators said it would begin at 5:30 a.m. Several rockets… Read more »

Brazilian-born Holocaust survivor has bar mitzvah at age 91

RIO DE JANEIRO (JTA) – At 91, Holocaust survivor Andor Stern no longer fears the Nazis who imprisoned him in Auschwitz. Living in his native Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest metro area of nearly 25 million, what scares him today are burglars – his modest house has been broken into… Read more »

Quentin Tarantino and Israeli wife Daniella Pick rent home in Tel Aviv

JERUSALEM (JTA) — U.S. filmmaker Quentin Tarantino and his Israeli wife, actress, and model Daniella Pick, are renting a home in Tel Aviv. The home in an affluent neighborhood in the northern part of the city rents for nearly $23,000 a month, the Israeli business daily Globes reported. It is… Read more »

NASA renames cosmic body after nicknaming it with term used by Nazis

(JTA) — NASA has renamed the most distant object ever explored by a spacecraft after it was criticized for calling it by a name with Nazi connotations. It will now be called Arrokoth, which means “sky” in the Native American Powhatan language. The trans-Neptunian object’s official designation is 2014… Read more »

Haim, Jack Black and more record songs for a Hanukkah album

(JTA) — Adam Sandler is finally getting some competition in the Hanukkah music world. Haim, Jack Black, the Flaming Lips, Yo La Tengo and other prominent artists have recorded songs for a Hanukkah album titled “Hanukkah+,” the record label Verve Forecast has announced. The album is out Nov. 22 and also features contributions from folk… Read more »

In Veterans Day address, Trump told story of American who defied Nazi command to identify Jewish soldiers

Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds refused a Nazi command to identify Jewish American soldiers. (Yad Vashem)

NEW YORK (JTA) — President Donald Trump told the story of an Army sergeant who defied a Nazi command to identify which of his fellow American soldiers were Jewish. During his Veterans Day speech Monday in New York, Trump told the story of Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds, Military.com reported. Edmonds, who… Read more »

Ruth Bader Ginsburg misses courtroom arguments due to illness

(JTA) — Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg missed courtroom arguments on Wednesday due to illness. She was not on the bench for oral arguments in two cases, NBC News reported. Chief Justice John Roberts announced from the bench that Ginsburg was “indisposed due to illness.” A court spokesman… Read more »

Jewish institutions and tourists warned of terror attack in India

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Intelligence agencies in India have warned Israel that Jewish institutions and Jewish tourists are under threat of terror attacks in the country. Terrorist organizations in India associated with the global jihad movement plan to attack Jewish and Israeli targets, including synagogues in Kerala, in the country’s… Read more »