Jewish History

Zionist professionals teach others to become forward-looking professionals

Our purpose cannot be limited to creating meaningful experiences or strengthening our own institution. We must also foster the relationships, confidence, and sense of shared responsibility that enable people to shape Jewish life for themselves and others. (Betzy Lynch)

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California, Israel, Jewish History, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food

Firebomber of pro-Israel rally pleads guilty in federal court

With his guilty plea, he admitted to these hate crimes that intentionally targeted victims based on their religion or national origin. In addition to his prior state court sentence of life without parole plus over 2,100 years in prison, he will be sentenced on these federal charges in January 2027. (Jonathan Lev and David Paul]

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Antisemitism, Israel, Jewish History, Middle East, Obituaries & memorials, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

ADL, Reed Smith, file civil rights complaint alleging Jewish girl, 14, was subjected to persistent antisemitism in Arizona school

The complaint states that the district knew about the harassment the first time it was reported, yet responded with dismissiveness and delay, rather than promptly and effectively addressing the incidents. Student A’s teacher allegedly told her the slurs were not his problem, and administrators allegedly refused to call her parents because staff were “too busy.” (Press Release)

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Antisemitism, Holocaust, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Press Release, USA

Israel should permit voting by mail for expatriates

More than a half-million expats are believed to live in America, a great many of them residing in New York and California. Both states have grown more liberal and Democratic in recent decades. If Israeli expats could vote by absentee ballot, wanna bet how that would have affected Tuesday’s election? [Bruce S. Ticker]

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Bruce Ticker, California, Israel, Jewish History, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

The right to be a refugee

My parents were orthodox Jews and adhered to the set of ancient laws and customs that characterize Jews all over the world. Such precepts as ‘thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal’ and ‘thou shalt not bear false witness,’ which also form the basis of Western society, came naturally to them, along with ‘love thy neighbor as thyself.’ This mindset and general attitude fitted in well with the wider non-Jewish society that was England at that time, namely, during and after the Second World War. (Dorothea Shefer-Vanson)

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food

‘Zaidy’s Band’ starts as a family quest but concludes as a survey of Canadian Jewish servicemen’s WWII experiences

For journalist Aron Heller, the search for his grandfather’s World War II history began with a mystery within his own family. Mickey Heller, affectionately known as Zaidy, had served four years in the Royal Canadian Air Force, including two years as a navigator in Bomber Command in Europe. Yet despite his grandson’s curiosity, Mickey rarely spoke about his military service. (Cailin Acosta)

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Cailin Acosta, International, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food, USA

A beautiful homecoming and an unexpected encounter

I found I was sitting next to a woman who admitted she was part of the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and related groups who blockaded access to dorms, dining halls and classrooms for Jewish students and anyone who failed to “correctly answer the question “Are you Zionist or anti-Zionist?” (Barrett Holman Leak)

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Antisemitism, Barrett Holman Leak, Israel, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Middle East, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, USA

Israel should find a way to bring Arabs into a coalition

NIF and our partners have always believed in Jewish-Arab partnership as the only way possible. We’ve worked for years to support the organizations and activists who persisted in the essential work of building trust, training leaders, and engaging more citizens in democratic life. [Mickey Gitzin and Shira Ben Sasson]

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Israel, Jewish History, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food

‘Betrayal of the Jews,’ accurate video summary of Britain’s broken promises

So-called legal documents regarding nation-building are not worth the paper they are printed on. What counts is the strength and determination of the people to bring about a state of their own. The Jews had those qualities and the grit to go forward with enough fortitude to win independence. [Steve Kramer]

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Israel, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Steve Kramer

ADL, AEN decry American Studies Association’s anti-Zionist conference agenda

Sessions titled “Dezionizing the U.S. University,” “Zionism Is Racism: Introducing the Critical Zionism Studies Syllabus,” “Against Zionist and White Nationalist Attacks on the Academy,” and “Resisting Zionism: Anticolonial Feminist Pedagogy and Practice” are particularly troubling. Collectively, they portray Zionism as racist, dangerous, or an ideology to be dismantled, with little apparent opportunity for competing perspectives. (Press Release)

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Antisemitism, Israel, Jewish History, Press Release, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

AJC leadership meets in the Vatican with Pope Leo

During the papal audience, the delegation presented Pope Leo with Honoring a Sacred Relationship, artwork commissioned by AJC and created by Rabbi Matthew Berkowitz, Izzy Pludwinski, and Yair Medina in Jerusalem. The piece depicts a powerful excerpt from Nostra Aetate—the 1965 Vatican declaration that revolutionized Catholic-Jewish relations by rejecting antisemitism, affirming Judaism’s eternal covenant with God, and building new bridges of understanding—in both the original Latin and the official Hebrew translation… (Press Release)

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International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Press Release, USA

Examples of the Jewish Folk Song Society’s output to be played Oct. 29 at the JCC

Engel’s music and that of five of his fellow composers in the Jewish Folk Song Society (JFSS) will be heard, as well as the music of one of the Russian teachers who inspired the group, Nicholas Rimsky-Korsakov. In addition, we will hear the music of Mieczyslaw Weinberg, a Holocaust-era Polish-born Jewish composer, who settled in the Soviet Union. [Eileen Wingard]

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Eileen Wingard, International, Israel, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA