Roger W. Koops American Institute for Economic Research 2020 is a year when many things besides people have died, or at least placed on indefinite life support. Music and most arts and culture (at least audience-based), education, a person’s livelihood, social trust and interaction, common sense and common decency, debate, and we can include responsible journalism to the list. In […]

By CARIN M. SMILK (JNS) – This was supposed to be a celebratory week—the week that parents everywhere could finally relax a little, breathe in and feel that their children are learning again. While it looks very different, it’s still something—and something, as they say, is better than nothing. Yet, the first-day photos didn’t look right. (The fact that the […]

By JONATHAN S. TOBIN (JNS) – For some of us, it seems like it happened yesterday. For others, the 9/11 attacks are ancient history or just a meme about an event that doesn’t resonate with their concerns. It’s been 19 years since the 9/11 attacks and, as many of us feared, the commemorations of this trauma are beginning to seem […]

By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ NEW YORK CITY (JTA) – On the border of Belarus and Ukraine, Avremi Vitman tried to shake off the morning chill as he prayed earlier this week. Vitman was hungry and uncomfortable after yet another night sleeping in his coat, two weeks after arriving in Belarus en route, he hoped, to Uman, the Ukrainian city that is […]

By STEPHEN SILVER NEW YORK CITY (JTA) – From Hank Greenberg to Sandy Koufax to Alex Bregman, Jews and baseball go way back, to the 19th century. It’s not just players and fans — the participation even extends to the role of official baseball historian of Major League Baseball. The first man to hold the title, the legendary Chicago sportswriter […]

By BEN HARRIS NEW YORK CITY (JTA) – One morning last week, Henry Rosenthal got in his van and headed north from his home in Washington state toward Canada. Though it’s been closed to inessential travel for months due to coronavirus restrictions, Rosenthal breezed across the border, where he’s familiar to the guards. He then drove about 24 miles across […]

By SHIRA HANAU NEW YORK CITY (JTA) – Fears about a second wave of coronavirus cases in New York City’s Orthodox communities appear to be coming to pass, with the proportion of tests turning up cases of the disease more than four times the citywide rate in one heavily Orthodox neighborhood in newly released data from late August. Meanwhile, rising […]

By MARCY OSTER NEW YORK CITY (JTA) – Israel passed a grim milestone over the weekend as its tally of coronavirus deaths exceeded 1,000. The country currently has the highest rate of new infections per capita in the world, with an average of 199.3 new cases a day per 1 million residents for the week ending Sept. 2, according to […]

By BEN HARRIS NEW YORK CITY (JTA) – In the last academic year, Syracuse Hebrew Day School had a grand total of 34 students enrolled in grades K-6, down from a high-water mark of 165 students decades ago. The 60-year-old school in central New York, the only Jewish day school for 75 miles, has seen its fortunes sink along with […]

(JNS) – Israel’s ministerial coronavirus Cabinet has approved a new plan to tackle the pandemic. Crafted by Coronavirus Project Coordinator Ronni Gamzu, the “traffic light” plan, which imposes COVID-19 restrictions on different areas based on their risk levels, is scheduled to go into effect on Sept. 6, Israel’s Channel 12 News reported. According to the report, every area in the country will […]