Pondering the state of American Jewry
According to the latest FBI statistics, Jews are the target in 58 percent of all religiously motivated hate crimes in the United States. This is despite the fact that Jews comprise only two percent of the population of America. While the 2020 numbers are grim, the percentage of antisemitic hate crimes has actually dipped in …
Jacob Steinmetz, a 17-year-old Orthodox Jew from Long Island, is expected to be chosen in the Major League Baseball draft this Sunday. Steinmetz already won a scholarship to Fordham University and is 181 in his draft class. But can he make it in the big leagues as a Shomer Shabbos, Shomer Kashrus Yid? A graduate …
A bullet was fired into the window of Brooklyn synagogue Khal Zichron Mordechai on Shabbos afternoon (June 26, 2021). It was just before 3 PM, too late for Shacharis, and too early for Mincha, so thank God, no one was hurt. But it was scary to see the bullet hole in the window, and not …
Yair Lapid, the new alternate prime minister and head of Israel’s Foreign Ministry revealed his upcoming agenda in a handover ceremony on Monday. Lapid described his intention to focus on fixing the relationship between Israel and Diaspora Jewry. He mentioned the various streams of American Jewry: Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox, suggesting that all are of …
The Tree of Life massacre was a terrible thing: a tragedy of mammoth proportions. Not only did the entire city of Pittsburgh support the Jewish community after the horrific event, but the world took note and tried to help, however they could. That means money—lots of money—flowed into the coffers of the synagogue, which had …
New York Congressman Lee Zeldin, a Republican from Long Island, NY, on Thursday announced his intention to run for governor of New York in 2022. Zeldin, speaking of current governor, Democrat Andrew Cuomo, who has served in the position for the past decade, said, it’s time for Cuomo to “immediately exit stage left.” Cuomo has …
A Columbus, Ohio man has been charged with a hate crime in a federal district court after harassing his Jewish neighbors. The 65-year-old man, Douglas G. Schifer, came before US District Magistrate Judge Elizabeth A. Preston Deavers on a misdemeanor count of criminal interference with right to fair housing, carrying a potential sentence of up …
Abdullah “Dulla Mulla,” a Yemeni YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok star, visited a kosher grocery in a suburb of Detroit and badgered shoppers, sticking his phone in their faces and asking them to read what it says. The photo they were shown depicted a PA flag emblazoned with the words “Free Palestine.” Dulla Mulla recorded the reactions …
Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski, who came from a long line of multiple Hasidic dynasties, has died, aged 90, of COVID-19. The famed Pittsburgh psychiatrist was considered a leading authority on addiction, and authored more than 60 books. Twerski, who never lost his strong Milwaukee accent, though he lived in Pittsburgh for many years, was …
A couple and their four young children, ages 1 to 8, were out together on the Upper West Side of New York, browsing the windows of a Barnes and Noble bookstore, just minding their own business, when they were confronted by an antisemite. Interestingly, the male half of the couple was the editor of the …