Pondering the state of American Jewry
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 …
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 …
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 …
Large numbers of health care workers in California, Texas, Ohio, and New York City are refusing to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, citing nervousness about the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine. They are also concerned about the way politics played a part in the development of the vaccine. Texas nurses say they are “vaccine …
Israel and the United Arab Emirates are reportedly collaborating on putting an end, once and for all, to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA). According to the report in French newspaper Le Monde, the two countries have been working on the issue since normalization between them was announced, back in August. The …
Chanuka is a time of light and miracles, so perhaps it should be no surprise that archaeologists just found a 2000-year-old lantern from the Hasmonean period in the City of David, in Jerusalem. The candle holder, preserved in its entirety, dates back to the Second Temple era. According to Israel Hayom, Antiquities Authority Director of …
Biden’s fractured foot has been in the news, and the presumptive president elect offered up a few more details in a recent interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper. Biden, it seems, had just gotten out of the shower when his dog came up to him, dropping a ball at his feet, wanting to play. “The little …
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 …
Everyone already knows that the organization known as the Jewish Voice for Peace is neither Jewish nor a voice for peace. The name is a smokescreen for anti-Israel and antisemitic agitation for which this organization is (in)famous. But now, the JVP has topped even itself with an event featuring a panel on antisemitism led by …