By BEN HARRIS Within 24 hours of the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Judith Cohen’s cellphone was ringing incessantly with offers of help from around the world. A psychiatrist who specializes in the treatment of trauma and grief in children and adolescents, Cohen is one of the developers of Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, a therapeutic model […]

DC Report By Douglas Bloomfield A toxic United States president and scandal-riddled Israeli prime minister seem to be doing their best to diminish their respective nations’ status in the world, and in the process are widening the gulf between Israel and American Jews. In Washington, the latest sordid chapter was the removal of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who got the […]

NEW YORK CITY (JTA) — A hand-crocheted yarmulke that once belonged to Frank Sinatra sold at auction for nearly $10,000. The black kippah, with musical notes and “Frank” decorating its border, was auctioned off by Sotheby’s on Dec. 6 in New York City as part its sale of items belonging to the estate of the singer’s late wife, Barbara. The […]

By BEN SALES NEW YORK CITY (JTA) – The largest baking company in the United States will be removing kosher certification from nearly all of its bread and rolls. Bimbo Bakeries USA confirmed to JTA that it will be removing the certification. The company produces brands including Arnold, Sara Lee, Stroehmann, Freihofer’s and others. Two of its major brands, Entenmann’s and Thomas, will […]

By RON KAMPEAS WASHINGTON (JTA) – Jared Kushner, the presidential son-in-law and adviser, rarely speaks in public. No surprise, then, that a rare appearance on cable news TV was with a friendly network, Fox News, with a friendly interviewer, Sean Hannity. Kushner seemingly said little about the Israeli-Palestinian peace deal he hopes to strike, but in reading between the lines, some […]

By RON KAMPEAS WASHINGTON (JTA) – Donald Trump presents as an anti-Barack Obama, boasting about how much of his predecessor’s work, from the courts to immigration to medical care to the Iran deal, he has undone. Trump, naturally, mentioned undoing the Iran deal at both of his Chanukah parties on Thursday, Dec. 6. But in that “both” lies a concession […]

DC Report By Douglas Bloomfield George H. W. Bush was the first and last presidential candidate endorsed by AIPAC. It started with a handwritten note from Tom Dine, AIPAC’s executive director, to Rep. Jack Kemp (New York), chairman of the Republican Platform Committee at the 1988 GOP convention in New Orleans. “This is the most pro-Israel platform of any party,” Dine […]

NEW YORK CITY (JTA) — A 70-year-old worshipper who was critically injured in the shooting attack last month at the Tree of Life synagogue building has beenreleased from a Pittsburgh hospital. Daniel Leger went from the hospital to its rehabilitation facility, from where he was discharged on Monday, Nov.  26, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported. His discharge came on the day of […]

NEW YORK CITY (JTA) — Ivanka Trump said “there is no equivalency” between her use of a private e-mail account and that of Hillary Clinton, who challenged her father for the presidency. Trump told ABC News in an interview that her e-mails were archived as required by law and contained no classified information. The Washington Post reported recently that Trump sent hundreds […]

By BEN SALES NEW YORK CITY (JTA) – After a mass shooting in a heavily Jewish area shocked the nation, Rabbi Yakov Saacks felt like his Long Island congregation was at risk. So the rabbi installed 17 cameras on the synagogue’s exterior that can zoom in to read numbers on license plates, as well as indoor cameras at each entrance. He […]