Tagged Coronavirus

New York Jewish Week is putting print edition on hiatus
July 7, 2020 / Marcy Oster JTA

(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 »

Brazil’s president has COVID-19 and the country is a coronavirus hot spot. Here’s how Rio Jews are adapting to the pandemic.

An aerial view of Flamengo Park in Rio de Janeiro, July 5, 2020. (Buda Mendes/Getty Images)
July 7, 2020 / Marcus M. Gilban JTA

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 »

Rabbi Sara Metz eager to engage as new Anshei Israel leader
June 26, 2020 / Phyllis Braun, AJP Executive Editor
Rabbi Sara Metz

Rabbi Sara Metz will be only the fourth rabbi to lead Congregation Anshei Israel in its 90-year history when she takes up the reins July 1. “That’s so very exciting,” she says, acknowledging it is also challenging. “The community, and rightfully so, holds Rabbi Eisen in such high esteem.… Read more »

COC, J partner to house program for those with developmental disabilities

Kendall, with his advocate Barb Otrovsky, made a boat that won a recent Taglit regatta. (Courtesy Congregation Or Chadash)
June 26, 2020 /

Khylie Gardner, communications director at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, says that when the Jewish community comes together, “something amazing happens. Our collective values guide us to uplift one another, helping us to create relationships that are deeply cherished and that work for the good of our entire community… Read more »

For the few Jewish camps that are opening despite risks, finding willing families hasn’t been hard

The ropes course at Camp Modin, which has seen immense interest from parents since announcing last month that it was opening this summer. (Courtesy of Camp Modin)
June 24, 2020 / Ben Sales JTA

(JTA) — This week, as he prepares to open Camp Modin and administer coronavirus tests to its hundreds of campers and staff, Howard Salzberg is still fielding 50 calls a day from parents who want to send their kids. That’s because Modin, a small, unaffiliated Jewish camp in Maine,… Read more »

Here’s how Jewish schools found creative ways to maintain community during COVID lockdown

Yeshivat Noam, a Modern Orthodox school in Paramus, N.J., organized a graduation float that visited students' homes so that members of the class of 2020 could celebrate safely amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Courtesy of Yeshivat Noam)
June 23, 2020 / Sara Ivry JTA

As soon as it became clear in March that COVID-19 would force school closures around the country, Jewish day school administrators faced a conundrum that went beyond the question of how to continue educating students. The challenge: how to maintain a sense of community at a time when everyone… Read more »

Amid a national reckoning over race, Jews are embracing Juneteenth

Marchers in the 48th Annual Juneteenth Day Festival in Milwaukee, Wisc., June 19, 2019. (Dylan Buell/Getty Images for VIBE)
June 18, 2020 / Josefin Dolsten, Philissa Cramer JTA

(JTA) — After the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic this spring delayed the launch of the website for TribeHerald, a new media company for Jews of color, founders Yitz Jordan and Rabbi Shais Rishon settled on a perfect alternative: the evening of June 18. After all, it would be… Read more »

NYC playgrounds will open next week, ending protests by Orthodox Jews who have demanded access

Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein and New York City Councilman Kalman Yeger at Brooklyn's Dome Playground, June 16, 2020. (Benjamin Kanter)
June 18, 2020 / Shira Hanau JTA

(JTA) – Just days after Orthodox lawmakers cut the chains off New York City playgrounds in defiance of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s orders, the mayor announced Thursday morning that playgrounds will reopen in the city starting Monday. The decision comes as the city moves into its second phase of… Read more »

Auschwitz memorial and museum will reopen to visitors on July 1
June 17, 2020 / Marcy Oster JTA

(JTA) — The Auschwitz Memorial and the site of the former Nazi camp will reopen to visitors on July 1. The memorial and museum said it will open for guided tours and individual entry beginning on that date. Reservations must be made online. It closed to visitors in mid-March… Read more »

Some New York City yeshivas are operating in the shadows

Orthodox children watch as protesters march through Brooklyn, June 3, 2020. Some yeshivas have provided instructions for parents to bring their children back to yeshiva three months after schools closed due to the pandemic. (Angela Weiss/Getty Images)
June 17, 2020 / Shira Hanau JTA

(JTA) – As Orthodox lawmakers were brazenly cutting the locks off a New York City playground on Tuesday morning, Orthodox children were settling in for a school day just nine blocks away. The classes at Yeshiva K’tana Torah Vodaath in Brooklyn were the first held in the school building… Read more »