Tagged JTA

When politics gets in the way of Jewish giving

Jewish Voice for Peace members at the Jewish United Fund of Chicago protest donor-advised funds from JUF going to groups that have been deemed Islamophobic, March 24, 2017. (Inbal Palombo)

NEW YORK (JTA) — Lisa Greer didn’t think twice when she used her cellphone to donate to IfNotNow, a Jewish organization that protests Israel’s West Bank occupation. Greer and her husband, Joshua, had given millions to progressive Jewish and Israel causes, and she sits on the board of the… Read more »

Richard Gere on channeling his ‘inner schlub’ in ‘Norman’

Richard Gere stars as Norman Oppenheimer in "Norman." (Niko Tavernise/Sony Pictures Classics)

(JTA) — Richard Gere is sexy, suave, tough. He’s been the star of a constellation of films, from “American Gigolo” to “Pretty Woman,” “An Officer and a Gentleman” to “Primal Fear.” At 67, the onetime People magazine Sexiest Man of the Year (1999) still has the looks and charm… Read more »

French Jews imagine life under President Marine Le Pen

French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen speaks in Henin-Beaumont, France, Dec. 6, 2015. (Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images)

PARIS (JTA) — Like many Jews in France, Ludwig Fineltain is hoping against hope that Marine Le Pen will not be elected president of the country five weeks from now. At the moment, the head of the far-right National Front party is leading in the polls with 26 percent… Read more »

Feeling sad is ‘new normal’ in Trump’s America, therapists say

Jewish mental health professionals say there has been an unprecedented rise in anxiety, stress and sadness since Donald Trump was elected president. (Lior Zaltzman)

(JTA) — The text messages started pouring in at 6:30 a.m. as Tracey Rubenstein was getting her kids ready for school. By the end of the day the Boca Raton, Florida-based social worker had spoken to most of her clients, either in person or via text. They were shocked, disappointment, sad and scared.… Read more »

New immigrants’ soccer team hopes to beat Israel at its own game

Ricardo Horvath, manager of the Inter Aliyah soccer club, holds up a team jersey following a victory over Beitar Jaffa in Tel Aviv, March 17, 2017. (Andrew Tobin)

TEL AVIV (JTA) – “Vamos!” “Pass it!” “Ladrao!” For most of the match on a local field Friday, the Inter Aliyah Club soccer players speak a variety of languages. But when the ball hits the back of the opposing team’s net, they join in soccer’s universal victory cry: “Goooal!” Inter… Read more »

AIPAC 2017 preview: Seeking a bipartisan spirit in an extremely polarized capital

The crowd at last year's AIPAC conference at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., listen to Hillary Clinton speak, March 21, 2016. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Maintaining Iran sanctions, crushing BDS and ensuring aid to Israel are high on the agenda, of course. But the overarching message at this year’s conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee is, if you want a break from polarization, come join us. “This is an unprecedented… Read more »

Groundbreaking TV comedy introduces Israelis to their Ethiopian neighbors

The cast of “Nebsu,” the first Israeli prime-time show to feature a black actor in a lead role. (Reset)

TEL AVIV (JTA) – Last week, Israelis for the first time saw a black lead character on a homegrown, primetime television show. “Nebsu,” a half-hour comedy, focuses on an Ethiopian man who is married to an Ashkenazi Jewish woman. Misunderstanding ensues. “There is definitely a lot of cultural confusion in the… Read more »

In bid to defeat Le Pen, French right-wing candidate cozies up to Jews

Francois Fillon (center) shakes hands with CRIF President Francis Kalifat in Paris, March 14, 2017. (Courtesy of CRIF)

PARIS (JTA) — Even to his supporters, France’s center-right presidential hopeful Francois Fillon is a flawed candidate. Dogged by corruption scandals Fillon, who represents The Republicans party of former President Nicolas Sarkozy, was indicted Tuesday for allegedly funneling public funds illicitly to his children and wife. Fillon, a career… Read more »

Team Israel baseball gear a home run with kvelling American Jewish fans

Cody Decker of Team Israel holds team mascot the Mensch on a Bench after the World Baseball Classic game against the Netherlands in Seoul, South Korea, March 9, 2017. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

TEL AVIV (JTA) — A couple weeks ago, Adam Atkins didn’t know Israel had a baseball team. But since the squad started winning games last week in the World Baseball Classic, he has become a fan. Atkins and his friends wanted team caps, but were frustrated to discover they were… Read more »

Trump the change agent looks positively traditional on Mideast peace

President Donald Trump attends a meeting on health care in the White House, March 13, 2017. (Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Trump administration rhetoric about Israeli-Palestinian peace is typical of a president who would make everything great: President Donald Trump is going to bring about a “historic” deal, the White House has said, one that would “reverberate positively throughout the region and the world.” What isn’t typical, at… Read more »

In Turkey-Netherlands row, a foreboding sign for Jews

Protesters outside the Dutch consulate in Istanbul after the Turkish foreign minister was refused entry into the Netherlands, March 12, 2017. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (JTA) — The thousands of people who gathered outside the Turkish consulate of this port city on Saturday patiently waited for hours, chatting with friends and relatives. Waving Turkish flags, they had gathered on a chilly evening to listen to a Cabinet minister from Turkey arguing in… Read more »

How Purim is a call to leadership

Abigail Pogrebin (Lorin Klaris)

(JTA) — Purim is a dark story marked by a crazy party. I’m still unsure why a close brush with extermination became, in the Middle Ages, an opportunity for costumes and farce, but there you have it. It’s the fifth century BCE, about a hundred years after the First… Read more »

At Las Vegas confab, Republican Jews gingerly find reasons to celebrate Trump’s presidency

Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership meeting at The Venetian Las Vegas, Feb. 24, 2017. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

LAS VEGAS (JTA) – Republican Jews have President Donald Trump to thank for their party’s renewed dominance of Washington politics. So what do they think of him? Marlyn Appelbaum paused to contemplate the question at the opening of the Republican Jewish Coalition’s confab at the Venetian resort hotel here Friday evening. Then she… Read more »

‘Rebuilding’ efforts overshadow Jewish issues in DNC election

Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota at a town hall meeting at the Church of the New Covenant-Baptist in Detroit, Dec. 22, 2016. (Sarah Rice/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The race to lead the Democratic National Committee is nothing if not granular. Among the leading candidates Tom Perez, the former labor secretary, says “every ZIP code counts.” Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, touts his “50 plus” states strategy. Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn.,… Read more »

Meet the Jewish couple leading the Trump resistance

Ezra Levin and Leah Greenberg founded the anti-Trump group Indivisible with other former congressional staffers. (Courtesy of Greenberg)

NEW YORK (JTA) — The group at the forefront of “resisting the Trump agenda” started in the middle of December with a single document circulated among friends. One that was “poorly formatted” and “full of typos,” in the words of one of its authors, Leah Greenberg. As of this week,… Read more »

‘Holocaust tourism’ is probed in a compelling documentary

A scene from "Austerlitz," a documentary that chronicles the tourist experience in two former concentration camps. (Courtesy of Austerlitz/Loznitsa)

NEW YORK (JTA) — How do people behave when they visit a concentration camp or a Holocaust memorial? Do they act as if there are in place of reverence or mourning? Or do they behave as crowds do at any tourist attraction — taking selfies, goofing around, snacking and drinking… Read more »

ANALYSIS Bannon and the Jews: A conditional kind of love

President Donald Trump, left, and Stephen Bannon at the swearing-in of senior staff at the White House, Jan. 22, 2017. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

(JTA) — Reports that White House Svengali Steve Bannon once referred to the American Jewish community as enablers of Islamist jihad revived accusations that the former Breitbart News publisher is an anti-Semite. On its face the accusation, like the oft-repeated charge that Breitbart itself is an anti-Semitic news site,… Read more »

Reform movement’s challenge: Protesting Trump and remaining inclusive

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the Union for Reform Judaism president, speaks at the movement's biennial conference in Orlando, Fla., Nov. 7, 2015. (URJ)

NEW YORK (JTA) — Reform Jewish leaders largely oppose President Donald Trump’s policies — and they haven’t been shy about saying so since his election. They’ve marched in the streets by the thousands. They’ve protested at airports. And last week, some were arrested in front of a Trump hotel… Read more »