By PENNY SCHWARTZ BOSTON (JTA) – Elias Rosenfeld’s phone rang on Thursday morning, June 18, hours after the United States Supreme Court blocked President Donald Trump from moving to deport him and hundreds of thousands of other young immigrants like him. Undocumented It was Rabbi Jonah Pesner, director of the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center, with whom Rosenfeld had worked […]

By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ NEW YORK CITY (JTA) – Austria is led by one of the country’s most remarkable politicians in recent decades: Sebastian Kurz, who was elected chancellor in 2017 at just 31 years old. Kurz is immediately striking for a world leader — he’s tall and boyishly handsome, with a mane of slicked-back hair. Since taking the reins, his […]

BY SHIRA HANAU NEW YORK CITY (JTA) – Even before the coronavirus pandemic hit the New York region in March, the Orthodox community was on edge. A surge in anti-Semitic incidents targeting visibly Orthodox Jews climaxed with an attack in which a man was killed by a machete at a Chanukah party in December. Then the virus hit, forcing the […]

DC Report By Douglas Bloomfield It’s been coming a long time, but it took on a new clarity in the Bronx two weeks ago. Rep. Eliot Engel, 73, a lackluster Democratic House member who rose to the top less by talent than by longevity, was soundly defeated for nomination for a 17th term by a relative unknown. Until then Engel was […]

By GABE FRIEDMAN NEW YORK CITY (JTA) – Since April, all eyes following the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were glued to July 1. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had negotiated the date into his government coalition deal with his rival Benny Gantz. On July 1, as stipulated in the agreement, Netanyahu could put the topic of annexing the West Bank — a […]

By MARCY OSTER JERUSALEM (JTA) – The discovery of 200,000-year-old fossils in a cave in northern Israel shows that the first humans migrated to Israel during the Ice Age, or 100,000 years earlier than previously believed. The findings were published in the Journal of Human Evolution by Lior Weissbrod of the Israel Antiquities Authority and Mina Weinstein-Evron of the Zinman […]

By ARIELLE KAPLAN This story originally appeared on Kveller. In the ultimate COVID-19 silver lining, the Broadway smash “Hamilton“ will soon be available to stream from the comfort of your quarantine couch. Huzzah! Originally set to hit theaters on in October 2021, it was an incredible coup by Disney+ to snag rights to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award-winning musical. Luckily for […]

By TOBY AXELROD BERLIN (JTA) – In May, a demolition crew tore down a building in the western German city of Gelsenkirchen. As the walls fell, a 110-year-old advertising mural on the adjacent brick wall was exposed. It read: “For suits and overcoats with a perfect fit, shop at Alexander.” The large Alexander family was Jewish and had moved to […]

ALBANY–Congregation Beth Emeth will hold its second live streamed medical program “From Peanuts to Poison Ivy”at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 7. The program, sponsored by The Renaissance Group (TRG) of the congregation, will feature a conversation between two Capital Region doctors: allergist Dr. Michael Katlan and dermatologist Dr. Joe Schwartz.. Schwartz will host the conversation and field questions from […]

By JOSH HASTEN (JNS) – Atop a nearly barren mountain ridge at the tip of southeastern Gush Etzion, with breathtaking views overlooking the Judean Desert and the Dead Sea, two American immigrants are building an oasis—a working organic farm and spiritual retreat center—with the hope of turning the site into a global tourist destination. Meet Ari Abramowitz and Jeremy Gimpel. […]