NEW YORK CITY– The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust recently added a shofar, a ram’s horn that was hidden and clandestinely used in the Auschwitz concentration camp to its exhibition Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away The artifact was blown in Auschwitz 75 years ago and has never before been on display. It […]

By MARCY OSTER NEW YORK CITY (JTA) — The measles outbreak concentrated in Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods in New York City is considered over. There have been no new infections over the last two incubation periods, signaling the end of the outbreak, city health officials said Tuesday, Sept. 3, The Associated Press reported. This means that an emergency order mandating vaccines will […]

By BEN SALES NEW YORK CITY (JTA) – As he talks about the recent string of attacks on Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn, Yosef Rapaport points to a small scar above his right eye. It’s the remnant of an anti-Semitic attack he experienced 50 years ago as a teenager in Montreal. “For those of us who look very Jewish, this has […]

By BEN SALES NEW YORK CITY (JTA)–Forty Jews were arrested at a New York City protest against Amazon’s work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Sunday, Aug. 11, protest was one of more than 50 similar Jewish demonstrations that were held across the country to mark Tisha B’Av, the traditional Jewish day of mourning, in opposition to U.S. immigration policy. […]

By MARCY OSTER NEW YORK CITY (JTA) – A New York suburb with a large haredi Orthodox population has declared a state of emergency over a serious measles outbreak. Rockland County will prohibit unvaccinated minors under the age of 18 from going to public places, including school, shopping centers, business and synagogues. The prohibition, started Tuesday night, March 26, lasts […]

By BEN SALES NEW YORK CITY (JTA) – When New York state recently liberalized its abortion law, the Catholic Church and Southern Baptist Convention unsurprisingly released statements slamming the action. They were joined by two large Orthodox Jewish religious organizations: the Rabbinical Council of America and Agudath Israel of America. The RCA is the umbrella group for centrist Orthodox rabbis. Agudah […]

(JTA) — The Chasidic community of Kiryas Joel in New York has become what is said to be the first official haredi Orthodox town in the United States. Kiryas Joel, a village of over 20,000 Yiddish-speaking Jews, became the town of Palm Tree on Jan. 1 when it officially split from the Town of Monroe located in upstate Orange County, […]

The Albany Times Union DOTHAN, Ala. – She was already going to be late to the church, where once again she would try to explain her religion, even though it seemed like most people in her town never really get it. And now the latkes are burning. Lisa Priddle wonders why she is trying so hard, why she is prepping […]

NEW YORK (JTA) – An item that belonged to Marilyn Monroe is being put up for auction and it’s not quite what you’d expect. Next month, one lucky fan of the late actress will be able to acquire a Jewish prayer book, or siddur, that she owned. The cream-colored book, which was published in 1922, is being sold at an auction by J. Greenstein […]

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo recently announced that Colson Whitehead has been named New York’s 12th State author and that Alicia Ostriker has been named New York’s 11th State poet. Whitehead, novelist, journalist, memoirist, and nonfiction writer will receive the New York State Edith Wharton Citation of Merit for Fiction Writers; and Ostriker will receive the New York State Walt Whitman […]