News

(Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle via JTA) — Just two days after Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson posted an anti-Semitic message he attributed to Adolf Hitler on social media, Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Zach Banner came to the defense of the Jewish community. In a series of tweets and videos,… Read more »

The Arizona Department of Revenue reminds taxpayers that tax scam artists do not take a summer break when it comes to identity theft. Thieves use tactics including card-skimming devices, access through unsecured Wi-Fi, stealing mail, hacking email accounts, phishing schemes or using false pretenses. ADOR has prepared a checklist… Read more »

(JTA) — Actor and television host Nick Cannon offered his “most deepest and sincere apologies” to the Jewish community for  the “hurtful and divisive words” he used in an episode of his podcast. “They reinforced the worst stereotypes of a proud and magnificent people and I feel ashamed of… Read more »

(JTA) — Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has returned home after being hospitalized with a suspected infection. Ginsburg, 87, is “is home and doing well,” a court spokeswoman said on Wednesday, CNN reported. Ginsburg was hospitalized at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore on Tuesday after “experiencing fever and… Read more »

(JTA) — A Jewish day camp in suburban Dallas has closed after at least two campers and two counselors tested positive for COVID-19. The closing of Gan Israel of Plano, Texas, on Tuesday night serves as a cautionary tale as schools look to reopen this fall. The camp, which… Read more »

This story originally appeared on Alma. Jaivet Ealom is the only known person to have ever escaped the notoriously brutal Australian-run refugee detention center on Manus Island. As a Rohingyan refugee fleeing Myanmar’s campaign of genocide, Jaivet found himself imprisoned on the remote island near Papua New Guinea for three… Read more »

(JTA) — If you want to pray with a minyan at Beth Sholom Congregation in Potomac, Maryland, the synagogue has a page on its website that guides you through the process. At the top is a helpful video in which the Orthodox synagogue’s two rabbis describe the procedures the… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The tens of thousands of Jewish pilgrims who travel each year to Ukraine for a Rosh Hashanah rite will have to make different plans for September. The Ukrainian government has barred the trip to Uman, where the revelers mark the Jewish New Year at the burial… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Police arrested a man suspected of turning the water blood red in a fountain in a square in Israel named for Donald Trump. The Hebrew words for “Annexation will cost us in blood” also were found painted in red on the ground at the site in… Read more »

(JTA) — The municipal council of Moissac sometimes calls its placid French town overlooking the Tarn River, near Toulouse, “the city of the Righteous Among the Nations.” It’s a reference to how hundreds of locals during the Holocaust helped resistance activists rescue about 500 Jewish children — an occurrence that… Read more »

(JTA) — Former professional football player Geoff Schwartz wasn’t surprised when he heard about Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson’s anti-Semitic Instagram posts. “I just thought to myself it’s ignorance — someone who has no idea whatsoever what anti-Semitism is, why his quote could be hurtful to Jews, or… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — An LGBTQ rights group has named a longtime Israel advocate as its leader amid increasing criticism of the Jewish state from the left. A Wider Bridge announced the appointment of Ethan Felson, formerly executive director of the Israel Action Network, on Monday. The network is  the… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel could see a sharp increase in immigration over the next few years spurred on by the coronavirus crisis, two groups involved with arranging immigration to the country claim. The chairman of the Jewish Agency — a nonprofit focused on bolstering Israel-Diaspora ties and immigration to… Read more »

(JTA) – A last-ditch effort by Orthodox Jews in New York to clear the way for overnight camps this summer fell short Monday as a federal judge declined to intervene against Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s decision to keep the camps closed. The judge was responding to a lawsuit brought last… Read more »

(JTA) — The New York Jewish Week said it will put its print edition on hiatus as it transitions to a “digital-first model.” The last print edition of the nearly 150-year-old weekly — at least for now — is scheduled for July 31, according to an announcement published Tuesday… Read more »

RIO DE JANEIRO (JTA) — The bombshell news on Tuesday was ironic for some — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, one of the world leaders who has most staunchly downplayed the potential of the coronavirus pandemic, had contracted the virus. Despite his ardent support of Israel, Bolsonaro’s tempered rhetoric on… Read more »

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Jewish Louisville Community via JTA) — After winning a special election in the state’s 26th district last week, Karen Berg will become the only Jewish member of the Kentucky state legislature. “I’m very excited; I’m humbled; I’m ready to get to work,” said Berg, who will serve… Read more »

BERLIN (JTA) — There were approximately 30,000 Jews in the city of Frankfurt before World War II, making it the largest community in Germany. By the time the U.S. military occupied the city in 1945, there were only about 100 left. “Jewish life was destroyed,” said Tobias Freimuller, author… Read more »

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(JTA) — The Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles will distribute $8.5 million in funds for COVID-19 relief to support nonprofit organizations, both Jewish and non-Jewish, representing its entire grantmaking for 2020. Formally titled the COVID-19 Response Grants, the program’s first phase will focus on providing immediate relief to… Read more »