USA

Playing Shylock, playing Saul Rubinek: It’s all in the telling

Rubinek’s scheduled performance on March 25 at The Museum of Jewish Heritage in Lower Manhattan should prove memorable. He will read from All in the Telling; show clips from his documentary film, So Many Miracles, about his 1986 trip with his parents to Poland to reunite with the farmers who hid them for two and a half years during the Holocaust; and hold a discussion with Professor Annette Insdorf, who teaches film at Columbia. [Susie Rosenbluth)

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Antisemitism, Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, News Media, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Why are the media and mob so anti-Israel? 

That there is a huge bias against Israel is beyond argument. It is backed by data but also obvious: a Western style democracy with full rule of law is painted as a “genocide” state by the great uneducated, and often unwashed, from the campus to street demos, to riots and in all types of media. [David Anderson]

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International, Israel, Jewish History, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

The global resurgence of the ‘Jewish Question’

After World War II, it seemed that an answer to the Jewish question had been found: the creation of the State of Israel and the positive attitude of Western civilization towards the Jewish people in its diaspora. [Alex Gordon]

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Alex Gordon, Antisemitism, Holocaust, International, Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Opinion, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

‘The Optimist’: Troubled teenager brings out Holocaust survivor’s hidden story

An independent film, The Optimist, opens on Wednesday, March 11, in over 700 theaters nationwide.  It tells the story of Theresienstadt-and- Auschwitz survivor Herbert Heller (Stephen Lang) recounting his Holocaust experiences after 60 years of keeping silent. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Federation mission to India ‘refreshing’ and broadening

For two weeks, we were transported into a place more “foreign” than anywhere else I have visited, yet every encounter was positive, welcoming, and gracious. Through our modern Western lens, we kept asking about antisemitism, historically or today. It simply isn’t there, and I cannot express how refreshing that was to hear. [Heidi Gantwerk]

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Antisemitism, Heidi Gantwerk, International, Israel, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Opinion, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food, USA

Family of Roddie Edmonds presented Congressional Medal of Honor for protecting Jewish POWs from Nazis

Edmonds was the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer in a German POW camp. Over 1275 American POWs, captured during the Battle of the Bulge, were held there. [Jerry Klinger]

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Holocaust, International, Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Rabbi Dr. Andrea Weiss, former Provost of HUC, dies at 60

Rabbi Dr. Andrea Weiss passed away on March 3, 2026—the day of Purim—at her home in Lower Merion, Pennsylvania, following a year-long battle with cancer. Her passing on a holiday defined by courage and the “reversal of fate” mirrors her own life’s work of transforming the rabbinate. [Barrett Holman Leak]

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Barrett Holman Leak, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

OU answers ‘Kosher for Passover’ questions

NEW YORK (Press release) — On any given day, Rabbi Zvi Nussbaum, the rabbinic coordinator responsible for managing OU Kosher’s year-round consumer hotline, fields about 150 kashrus-related phone calls. With less than a month until Pesach — OU Kosher’s busiest season — that number will double in the coming weeks, as Yom Tov-based shaylos stream

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Jewish Religion, Travel and Food, USA

Gubernatorial debate ignores important context for antisemitism

Today much of the hostility Jews, especially Jewish students on campuses, encounter is expressed through the language of anti-Zionism. Students are frequently targeted not simply as Jews but as “Zionists,” and the protests and slogans surrounding Israel have become one of the primary ways hostility toward Jewish identity now appears on campuses and in public life. A student may not be called a “dirty Jew,” but a “dirty Zionist.” The rhetoric has changed. The hostility has not. [Karen Klein]

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California, Israel, Jewish Religion, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA