News
Rabbi Rolando Matalon's retirement marks the end of an era for B'nai Jeshurun " and for liberal Judaism
7+ hour, 34+ min ago (1766+ words) The rabbi who helped reinvent synagogue life in New York says the next generation of Jewish leaders needs to "rediscover" what binds Jews together. Over 40 years, Rabbi Rolando Matalon helped turn B'nai Jeshurun into one of the most influential synagogues…...
North Americans are most likely to move to Israel in the summer. Here's why.
3+ day, 23+ hour ago (928+ words) A recent aliyah party in New Jersey sends off some 450 new immigrants in style. At first glance, the recent celebration outside a northern New Jersey synagogue looked a lot like a bar or bat mitzvah party. Dance music blared from…...
In Britain, a Jewish Culture Month aims to move the conversation beyond Oct. 7
4+ day, 23+ hour ago (767+ words) Organizers said the inaugural festival was meant to showcase British Jewish life beyond antisemitism, Israel and the war in Gaza. In the almost three years since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas invasion of Israel, Great Britain has seen "a relentless focus on…...
What a 30-year-old fight over God can teach Reform Judaism about ordaining anti-Zionists
5+ day, 21+ hour ago (823+ words) Anti-Zionists belong in our pews but not in our pulpits, writes the senior rabbi of Temple Beth El in Charlotte, North Carolina. Twenty years ago this summer, I began writing my rabbinical thesis about a controversy that tested the boundaries…...
This rabbi made history in the civil rights era. I had to tell his story.
1+ week, 1+ day ago (1059+ words) The author is the co-writer and producer of a one-man play about Allen Secher, the last surviving rabbi from a pivotal protest in June 1964. Given this honorable heritage it's perhaps surprising to discover that following a series of firebombings, shootings,…...
Cara Trager, beloved Queens Jewish communal leader and lifetime journalist, dies at 71
1+ week, 3+ day ago (1086+ words) There was nobody more pro-Israel, and a bigger Zionist, than her," Trager's husband, Michael, said. Standing before hundreds of mourners last month, Rabbi David Wise held up a T-shirt with the words Proud American, Proud Zionist." It was the shirt…...
A century-old Jerusalem photo album sparks search for forgotten images of the Western Wall
1+ week, 4+ day ago (289+ words) David Freedman said he knew he had "struck gold" when he found the album, which had been untouched for decades. "I realized in disbelief I was looking at extraordinary images of Jerusalem," he said. The request comes ahead of a…...
Zionism was never a single concept. We should be grateful to JFNA's survey for the reminder.
4+ mon, 1+ week ago (541+ words) A Jew can believe in a Jewish, democratic state and still doubt whether contemporary Zionism advances both of those commitments, writes a scholar of European Jewish intellectual history. Only about one-third of American Jews are Zionists, according to a recent…...
Judaism's Conservative movement apologizes for decades of discouraging intermarriage, signals new approach
6+ mon, 2+ day ago (994+ words) A new report embraces engagement with interfaith families while leaving the ban on clergy officiation in place. The Conservative movement, one of the major Jewish denominations, is formally apologizing for decades of discouraging intermarriage and committing itself to a new…...
Avila Chevalier attended Oct. 8 pro-Palestinian rally that Mamdani and Lander condemned
2+ week, 1+ day ago (693+ words) Plus, all NY-7 Democratic primary candidates say that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians. Darializa Avila Chevalier, who is running for Congress against Rep. Adriano Espaillat in Upper Manhattan, joined a pro-Palestinian rally that was widely criticized by New York…...