(INTERVIEW) For the first time since 2009, the New York Yankees have made it to the World Series, where they will play an erstwhile favorite team of New York Jews, the Los Angeles Dodgers, formerly of Brooklyn. The fabled New York history of America’s pastime deserves another look as the Yankees and Dodgers face off in the 2024 World Series, a bicoastal series that will showcase the best of baseball.
Read MoreThe election is not only coming on the heels of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, but nine days after the sixth anniversary of the Tree of Life massacre, where a gunman murdered 11 Jews. The election has further divided the community, with disagreements over Israel’s response and whether former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris is best suited to handle the fallout.
Read More(ANALYSIS) One year ago, on the last day of the celebratory Feast of Sukkot, the unthinkable happened, and a living hell was unleashed on Israel. That was Oct. 7, a day that will live in infamy in the decades to come, a day that has still not ended for the hostages and the families of the victims.
Read MoreAmerican Jews think Vice President Kamala Harris would handle the Israel-Hamas war better than former President Donald Trump by a wide margin — 54% to 36% — according to a new poll, but most also see Trump as more supportive of Israelis. The poll found that 65% of U.S. Jews think Trump only or mostly supports Israelis over Palestinians, while 42% believe Harris offers “equal support to both.”
Read MoreWithout any physical distinction from their neighbors and without any open religious congregations of their own, many Jews in Zimbabwe couldn’t resist the lure of joining mainstream society in which they lived. This assimilation trend by younger members of the Lemba community prompted soul searching by some, resulting in a decision to retrace the way back to their original Jewish faith.
Read More(OPINION) I am neither a political pundit nor a pollster. And I am simply raising questions rather than making assertions, let alone dogmatic assertions. What if Trump wins the national election and taking Pennsylvania was a key to that victory? (Again, this is not a prediction; these are questions). What if choosing Gov. Shapiro for Vice President would have secured Pennsylvania for Harris? And what if he was not chosen because of anti-Israel, anti-Jewish sentiments?
Read More(ANALYSIS) To discover that Christopher Columbus, long whispered to have Jewish heritage, had markers of Sephardic DNA is to me about as monumental as learning the Earth is round circa 1492. In other words, it’s a belated conclusion that should effectively change little about how we understand the world today — even if some would have it otherwise.
Read MoreTo understand why Jews love the New York Mets so much requires a Talmudic understanding of New York City history, sports history and Jewish psychology. It’s also about the DNA of baseball and Brooklyn in the 1950s; being called “amazin’” when you’re actually the worst team around, and disappointing fans so often that reveling in your losses becomes a badge of honor.
Read MoreThe website, AtoneNet, posted the responses — no names attached — for public perusal, and before Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, published a pamphlet compiling them. Printed out and tucked inside a holiday prayer book, the community’s confessions gave the liturgy — and the act of repentance — a 21st-century refresh and personalized feel.
Read MoreHank Greenberg was also Jewish, and he is often called America’s first Jewish sports superstar. As Greenberg wrote in his autobiography, that was not an easy honor to bear. Greenberg played during a time of rising antisemitism, and the cruel taunts he suffered from players and fans lasted throughout his career. Here's a look back at the man known as the "The Hebrew Hammer."
Read MoreThe Israel-Hamas war has dominated public debate, influenced elections and seeped into every aspect of life for a year. And people have learned to succinctly display their position through various visual cues, whether on T-shirts or placards held at marches. Not all of these are new. The keffiyeh and Palestinian flag have long been mainstays in protests, as have the Star of David and Israel’s colors. Over the past year, however, new symbols have also emerged to show solidarity.
Read MoreIsrael’s plan to rebuild is focused on returning residents to the Gaza border region, so one group has been trying to fundraise $25 million for the move together to a new location, a plan that relies on American Jewish donors who have so far been wary of funding an unconventional project that some other Nir Oz residents have denounced as a betrayal.
Read More(OPINION) When I moved to Israel, I couldn’t have foreseen the horror that would unfold less than two months later, when Hamas terrorists stormed the southern border, massacred 1,200 citizens, and took 251 others hostage on Oct. 7. In all the years I spent dreaming of my aliyah — the return to the homeland described in Jewish texts — I never accounted for the country being thrust into national disarray.
Read MoreLev Kreitman has seen plenty of trauma. He was at the Nova festival on Oct. 7, when it was attacked by Hamas. Then, as a reserve soldier, he was sent into Gaza. On Tuesday, when two gunmen opened fire in Tel Aviv near his home, Kreitman leapt into action, shooting one of them. At least seven people were killed in the attack, which took place at a light rail station in Jaffa, in the south of the city.
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Iran launched a barrage of missiles at Israel Tuesday, inflicting no serious casualties, Israeli officials reported. But as missiles rained down on Tel Aviv, two men killed at least six people in a terror attack at the light rail station in nearby Jaffa.
Read More(REVIEW) Presented as an offbeat rom-com, “Between the Temples” contains a depth of feeling and personal reflection that’s admirable. It’s a must-see for many reasons, and only one of them is its central romance. It’s also a hilarious misadventure, a reflection on life and relationships and the beautiful journey two people take to rediscovering faith.
Read More(OPINION) There is a Talmudic dictum that states, “If someone comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first.” This is part of a discussion of the laws of self-defense, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cited it with reference to the targeted killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Read More(OPINION) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a good speaker with a very good case: Israel is under attack by Iranian-backed terrorists whom the world community is rather guilty of appeasing. If he had stuck to that message in his Friday address to the United Nations General Assembly and gone on to project some humanity and vision, it might have been a more effective speech.
Read MoreThe pager attack that killed at least a dozen people and injured thousands in Lebanon is the latest high-tech subterfuge in a long history of covert ops attributed to Israel.
Read MoreA new picture book is telling the story of a girl who takes her Jewish faith into her own hands, one swing of a plastic white ball at a time. “Ping-Pong Shabbat” recounts the true story of Estee Ackerman, a Modern Orthodox ping pong sensation from Long Island. At 11, Ackerman refused to play the final round of the U.S. National Ping Pong Championships because the match landed on Shabbat.
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