National

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Letters signed by senators and U.S. House of Representatives from both parties urge Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to protect Israelis from International Criminal Court prosecution. The letters, which have strong backing from the prominent Israel lobby AIPAC, note the recent ICC decision to accept “Palestine”… Read more »

(JTA) — You can have one of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s Super Bowl rings while helping those in need facing food insecurity during the coronavirus pandemic. But it’s gonna cost you. Kraft is putting his Super Bowl LI championship ring up for auction to raise money for… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The U.S. Senate unanimously approved $10 million in funding for Holocaust education in American schools. The vote Wednesday approving the Never Again Education Act, coming after overwhelming approval for the same bill in the House of Representatives in January, sends the bill to President Donald Trump,… Read more »

Updated 5.21.20: The Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A. is working with the Department of Veterans Affairs to address the issue of Nazi symbols on three graves in military cemeteries. JWV wants the gravestones with swastikas and inscriptions that reference the Fuhrer removed from public view and replaced with… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Dr. Anthony Fauci, who directs infectious disease research for the federal government, advised Orthodox Jews to phase in communal prayer as local governments lift coronavirus pandemic restrictions. “The kind of social interactions which is the core of the beauty of your culture has unfortunately led to… Read more »

(JTA) — Renee Godinez had completed nearly all the steps to becoming Jewish before the coronavirus pandemic descended earlier this spring. She had studied extensively with Rabbi Rick Winer of Temple Beth Israel in Fresno, California, and adopted Jewish practices in her life. All that was missing was a… Read more »

(JTA) — The road to reopening for houses of worship has been paved in a handful of states, even as the coronavirus pandemic continues to kill more than 1,500 Americans a day. But synagogues in the Republican-led states that are relaxing some restrictions — including Georgia, Texas and South… Read more »

(JTA) — Joe Biden told supporters that he would leave the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem if he is elected president. Speaking to New England supporters at a virtual fundraiser from his Delaware home, the presumptive Democratic nominee responded to a reporter’s question that the embassy “should not have been… Read more »

(JTA) — President Donald Trump reiterated his rejection of anti-Semitic bigotry and hate attacks in a proclamation for Jewish American Heritage Month. “Tragically, Jewish men, women, and children continue to face anti-Semitic discrimination, persecution, and violence today, and Jewish institutions and places of worship remain targets of vandalism and… Read more »

(JTA) — Dozens of Jewish organizations and Jewish leaders are unhappy with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, and they let him know about it in an open letter. The letter released Wednesday accused de Blasio of “scapegoating” the Jewish community in response to a large Hasidic funeral… Read more »

(JTA) — The state of Utah has suspended the use of a service to help first responders and law enforcement after learning that the founder of the company providing the technology has a white supremacist past and was involved in a 1990 synagogue shooting. Damien Patton, CEO of Banjo,… Read more »

This is a developing story.  (JTA) — Nearly all Reform Jewish summer camps, and at least one Conservative camp, will remain closed for the 2020 summer due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency has learned. The landmark decision, made Thursday afternoon, will affect 15 Reform overnight… Read more »

(JTA) — The financially strapped National Museum of American Jewish History has furloughed about two-thirds of its staff without pay. The Philadelphia museum, which is affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution, closed on March 13 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The staff had already taken pay cuts in an effort… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — New York State paid $69 million to an Israeli-American entrepreneur for ventilators he never delivered. Last month, the state paid Yaron Oren-Pines $47,656 per ventilator for 1,450 ventilators, three times the normal asking price, BuzzFeed reported Wednesday. The state suspended its usual checks of contractors as… Read more »

(JTA) – The change was clear as soon as New York City’s stay-at-home order went into effect: Calls to the domestic violence department at the city’s leading Jewish poverty nonprofit departed from their regular pattern. Women used to call during the day while at work or while their abusers… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Secure Community Network, the security consultancy for U.S. Jewish organizations, has set up a task force to prepare Jewish institutions to face the threats that might come when the coronavirus pandemic recedes and doors reopen. “Individuals and groups have been identified that are seeking to exploit… Read more »

(JTA) – Two days after New York City’s mayor called out “the Jewish community” when vowing to crack down on gatherings, city police intervened in another funeral in a Jewish neighborhood, resulting in a tense scene and at least one arrest. A video shared on Whatsapp showed a chaotic… Read more »

More than 45,000 women and children spend each Mother’s Day in domestic violence shelters. At this unprecedented time in the U.S., many women who have escaped abuse for the safety of shelters now find themselves stuck in place, unable to move forward with rebuilding their lives. Jewish Women International’s Flower… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — Rabbi Jennie Rosenn has spent most of her career working on Jewish social justice causes. Until recently, however, there was one issue that didn’t resonate as strong. “The environment was something that I knew was important, but I wasn’t passionate in my kishkes about… Read more »

(JTA) — Anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and Holocaust imagery continue to be mainstays at anti-lockdown protests against governors and in state capitols. A placard at an anti-lockdown protest held Saturday in Columbus, Ohio, in front of the state capitol bore the image of the body of a rat standing on… Read more »