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Monty Python’s Terry Jones cut a ‘Nazi Jew’ scene from the classic comedy ‘Life of Brian’

Graham Chapman, left, and Terry Jones in a scene from Monty Python's "Life Of Brian," which debuted in 1979. (Warner Brothers/Getty Images)
January 23, 2020 / Gabe Friedman, JTA

(JTA) — Terry Jones, one of the core members of the Monty Python comedy troupe, died Tuesday night at 77. He had been suffering from dementia. In addition to starring in numerous Python productions, the beloved comedian directed some of the group’s biggest films, including “Monty Python and the… Read more »

The Israeli left is dead. Can Jewish and Arab cooperation save it?

At left, Joint Arab List members present their party list to the election committee at the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, Jan. 15, 2020. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90); at right, Labor Party leader Amir Peretz and Meretz leader Nitzan Horowitz are seen at a meeting of the Labor-Gesher and Meretz parties list in Tel Aviv, Jan. 20, 2020. (Flash 90)
January 23, 2020 / Abe Silberstein, JTA

(JTA) — Two center-left parties in Israel merged their electoral lists last week ahead of a submission deadline for the March 2 election. Labor, the “founding party” of Israel, will run with Meretz, a left-wing party long committed to ending the occupation and establishing a Palestinian state. This reluctant… Read more »

Pelosi-led congressional delegation visits Krakow Jewish center
January 23, 2020 / Katarzyna Markusz, JTA

WARSAW, Poland (JTA)  — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the Jewish community center in Krakow along with a congressional delegation and received honorary membership. The bipartisan delegation led by Pelosi visited JCC Krakow on Tuesday after visiting the site of the former Auschwitz Nazi camp and touring the Auschwitz… Read more »

Most American adults don’t know 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust, survey finds

Jews wearing Star of David badges in the Lodz Ghetto in Poland. (Jewish Chronicle/Heritage Images/Getty Images)
January 23, 2020 / Ben Sales, JTA

(JTA) — Half of American adults are unaware of basic facts regarding Nazism and the Holocaust, including the number of Jews who were killed and how Nazis came to power. Those are some of the findings of a new study by the Pew Research Center released on Tuesday, about… Read more »

With Holocaust summit in Jerusalem, Israel gets dragged into Europe’s memory wars

An aerial view of the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum in Jerusalem, Dec. 17, 2019. Dozens of world leaders are set to converge there for a commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. (Moshe Shai/Flash90)
January 23, 2020 / Sam Sokol, JTA

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A major gathering of world leaders in Jerusalem meant to highlight the world’s determination to learn the lessons of the Holocaust has become mired in controversy even before it has started, dragging Israel into a battle over history debates still raging in Europe three-quarters of a… Read more »

IT’s Claassen to play Dr. Ruth on stage
January 22, 2020 /

Susan Claassen will star in the Invisible Theatre’s production of “Becoming Dr. Ruth,” a one-woman show by Mark St. Germain, which will run Feb. 11-23. “It is a privilege and awesome responsibility to portray this amazing and iconic woman who has been a Jewish ‘She-ro’ to so many including… Read more »

Despite warnings, the far right was a no-show at Richmond pro-gun rally. So a Jewish food festival went on as planned.

Thousands of pro-gun rights protesters assembled outside the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, Jan. 20, 2020. (Ron Kampeas)
January 21, 2020 / Ron Kampeas, JTA

RICHMOND, Va. (JTA) — Hedy Lapkin’s boyfriend wanted to attend the pro-gun rally in this capital city, but she had reservations. “My boyfriend has a lot of guns,” Lapkin, 79, said of her 83-year-old boyfriend. “He said, ‘You want to go to the rally?’ I said, ‘Are you out… Read more »

Israel’s parliament schedules immunity hearings for Netanyahu
January 21, 2020 / Marcy Oster, JTA

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested immunity in the three corruption cases against him — and now the Knesset will discuss. The Israeli parliament’s Arrangements Committee said on Tuesday that the House Committee will begin immunity hearings on Jan. 30, though a House Committee has yet to… Read more »

Employees become owners at Chicago’s beloved kosher barbecue restaurant

Bryan Gryka, the chef and general manager of Milt's Barbeque for the Perplexed, will now be a controlling owner of the kosher restaurant. (Courtesy of Gryka)
January 21, 2020 / Yvette Alt Miller, JTA

CHICAGO (JTA) — A group of longtime employees is taking ownership of Milt’s Barbecue for the Perplexed, the popular kosher restaurant here that has been donating its profits to support local charities for seven years. Within months of opening in 2013, Milt’s menu of home-smoked meats and barbecue dishes… Read more »

Ukraine’s Jewish president heaps praise on Israel in pre-visit interview

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attends a ceremony welcoming Ukrainians who were freed by pro-Russian rebels during a prisoner exchange at the Boryspil Airport outside Kyiv, Dec. 29, 2019. (Sergei Chuzavkov/AFP via Getty Images)
January 21, 2020 / Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA

(JTA) — President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine extolled Israelis as a “united, strong, powerful” and “unique” people in his first interview for an Israeli publication. The Times of Israel published the interview with the Jewish Zelensky on Sunday ahead of his arrival in Israel to attend the World Holocaust… Read more »

Benny Gantz says he will annex Jordan Valley after elections
January 21, 2020 / Marcy Oster, JTA

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Benny Gantz said that following national elections in March, he will work to establish Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley “in coordination with the international community.” “We would like to reiterate that the Jordan Valley serves as the eastern border of the State of Israel in… Read more »

Young boys identified as the vandals of Jewish cemetery in Slovakia
January 21, 2020 / Marcy Oster, JTA

(JTA) — Children caused the vandalism of a Jewish cemetery in Slovakia, in which at least 20 headstones were damaged, not extremists as was originally suspected. The gravestones were pushed over, causing some to crack, in mid-December in the northern town of Rajec. Police in the Zilina Region announced… Read more »

Jewish cemetery in Bulgaria vandalized
January 21, 2020 / Marcy Oster, JTA

(JTA) — A Jewish cemetery in northeastern Bulgaria was vandalized. Gravestones were pushed over and broken, and a fence around the cemetery was damaged, the Sofia Globe reported Thursday. Shoumen was home to a Jewish community during centuries of Ottoman rule. The Jewish cemetery in Shoumen dates from the… Read more »

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