Pondering the state of American Jewry
A New York Times account of a Baghdad conference on peace between Israel and Iraq was filled with inaccuracies, to the point of offending Jewish history. The article describes the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 that led to a schism between Iraq and Iraqi Jews. The most infamous pogrom in Iraq targeting the Jewish …
A survey by Alums for Campus Fairness, found that 27 percent of Jewish students reported having been the target of in-person offensive or threatening antisemitic comments from a faculty member or school employee. Another 30 percent said they knew someone who had experienced such comments. Three horrifying examples from a long list provided by popular …
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 …
Even though Israel has had remarkable success with its vaccination program against COVID-19, the State Department placed Israel—along with the UK—at level 4 on its no-fly list due to its claim that Israel has a “very high level” of COVID-19 infections. This, despite the fact that Israel has closed all but one of its coronavirus …
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 …
Facebook removed over 78,000 profiles on Facebook and Instagram, claiming they had shared QAnon content and other “militarized social movement” content, from August 2020 and onward. A Facebook update issued January 19 said as follows: “We continue to strengthen our enforcement by identifying additional militarized social movements, new terms associated with QAnon and how people …
A new poll just published, finds that 45% of adults in the United Kingdom hold antisemitic views. According to the Jewish Chronicle, “Forty-five percent of those questioned agreed with at least one of six antisemitic tropes that was put to them by a team from YouGov and King’s College London.” Respondents were asked if they …
Joe Biden, presumptive president-elect, broke his foot while playing with his dog, add injury to insult. Why insult? Because it’s become a sport to make fun of Biden’s speech issues (which are legion, and which suggest brain injury and dementia), and broken foot is one more sign of frailty and aging. Compare this to the …
Tree of Life was a surprising attack, but now it seems Jews are attacked weekly, and sometimes daily. The latest antisemitic attacks are on a rabbi in San Diego, just outside his synagogue on October 10, and five days later, a man dressed in “Orthodox garb” in Williamsburg. It certainly isn’t helping the situation when …
With Israel contemplating a new lockdown until after the High Holidays, it has been reported that Jerusalem’s Great Synagogue will be closed for the first time ever since opening its doors in 1958. The lockdown, it is hoped, will lower the number of coronavirus victims, as the numbers of those sick with the virus in …