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Jewish marriage rites are robust. Now a rabbi is innovating rituals for Jews who divorce.
(J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) — For Lyssa Jaye, throwing the wood chips into the Tuolumne River felt in many ways familiar to the tashlich ritual performed on Rosh Hashanah. But rather than casting off her sins, she was tossing away feelings: shame, resentment, anger.
They were the emotions that had taken residence inside Jaye since her divorce eight years ago, along with a sense of failure. And she had come to a Jewish retreat to rid herself of them.
“I’ve been carrying around these feelings for years now,” Jaye said. “I have a completely different life now, and I needed to let them go.”
Jaye was taking part in Divorce & Discovery: A Jewish Healing Retreat, the first-ever gathering in a series conceived by Rabbi Deborah Newbrun as part of her training, held this month at Camp Tawonga in the Bay Area.
One of the requirements at the Pluralistic Rabbinical Seminary, where Newbrun was ordained last year in the first graduating class, “was that each of us had to do an innovation, or something that didn’t exist before,” she said.
Newbrun, who directed Camp Tawonga for more than two decades, has been recognized for innovative programming for such achievements as initiating Tawonga’s LGBT family camp and founding its wilderness department. She even won a prestigious 2018 Covenant Award for Jewish educators. But as she started thinking about how to fulfill the seminary requirement, her first thought was, “I don’t have any ideas left in me.”
Then she began reflecting back on her divorce years earlier. She remembered how she had approached numerous rabbis and colleagues in search of Jewish support around the grief she felt. And how they all came up empty-handed.
That’s when she realized: “I can put together something meaningful and helpful for people going through divorce.”
From the moment participants arrived at Camp Tawonga near Yosemite, they knew this would be no ordinary Jewish retreat. At the opening event, all of the facilitators, several clergy members and a therapist shared their own divorce stories, “to set the standard and normalize vulnerability, transparent sharing and establish that we all know what it’s like to have a marriage end,” Newbrun said.
Most participants were from the Bay Area, with a handful from farther afield. They were in different life stages, from those in their 30s dealing with custody battles over young children, to empty nesters in their 60s. Some had separated from their partners years ago, while others had gone their separate ways more recently. Some split amicably; a good many did not. But all had come up against a lack of Jewish resources or support when navigating this major life passage.
Rabbi Deborah Newbrun, the founder of Divorce and Discovery at the recent weekend. (Photo/Margot Yecies)
Jaye said she left no stone unturned in seeking out support, an experience Newbrun said she heard echoed by many participants. Jaye attended a retreat at a local meditation center. She read self-help books. She joined a support group for divorcees. She went to therapy.
And while they all helped in different ways, none was specifically Jewish.
“I knew I needed some kind of spiritual way forward,” she said. “I needed to do this in my own language, with my own people.”
Even though the retreat came nearly a decade years after Jaye’s divorce, “it was profound. It felt like coming home, and that this is what I needed all along. This model could be extremely powerful. The rituals we did could be taught in rabbinical schools or to Jewish educators so it’s not just ‘sign this get and goodbye,’” she said, referring to the Jewish divorce document.
Rather than create new rituals, Newbrun and her facilitators took familiar Jewish rituals and retooled them.
The tashlich ritual, led by Newbrun and Maggid Jhos Singer, had a call-and-response portion, and participants also could call out what they personally wanted to cast off. “One person ‘tashliched’ their wedding ring into the river and felt it was such a perfect place to let it go!” said Newbrun.
An optional immersion in the Tuolumne River followed. Jaye, who years ago went to the mikvah alone, with only the attendant there for support, said there was no comparison with how much more healing it felt performing the ritual in community.
A session on sitting shiva for one’s marriage, led by Rabbi Sue Reinhold, allowed participants to share and mourn the loss of what they missed most about being married. That resonated for Robyn Lieberman, who does not attend synagogue services but went to every session at the retreat on innovating Jewish rituals.
“I did need to mourn what I’m losing,” said Lieberman, who had been married to an Israeli. “We had a very public, open house around Jewish religion, and a constant Israeli identity, which fulfilled my Jewish needs.”
Rabbi Jennie Chabon of Congregation B’nai Tikvah in Walnut Creek reflected on how much time she has spent with couples preparing for their wedding day, both in premarital counseling and in planning the event, and on how many marriage-related topics are covered in rabbinical school.
“And when it comes to divorce? Nothing,” Chabon said. “We’re all out here on our own trying to figure out how to wander through it.”
She was tasked with creating a havdalah ceremony with a divorce theme, in which she reimagined the wine, spices and flame typically used to mark a division between Shabbat and the rest of the week.
“There’s a fire that burns within each of us, and that flame doesn’t go out,” said Chabon, 47. “When you’re married for a long time, your identity, energy and spirit is so woven into that of another.” Her ritual was meant to affirm that “you are on fire just as you are, and you’re a blessing as an individual in the world. You don’t need a partnership or family to be whole.”
Even the Shabbat Torah service was on theme.
Rabbi Jennie Chabon reads from the Torah during a service at the Divorce and Discovery retreat. (Photo/Margot Yecies)
Rather than focusing on Noah’s emergence from the ark after the flood, Chabon spoke about a lesser-known section of the week’s Torah portion, in which Noah builds a fire and offers a sacrifice to God. But if the entire earth was drenched from the flood, Chabon asked, what did he burn?
“The answer is he must have burned the ark,” Chabon said in recalling her talk at the retreat. “What does that mean for people going through this incredibly painful and tender time in their lives, when what was once a safe container and secure and protected them, they have to burn it down in order to start life anew?
“This is a perfect rebirth metaphor. But what’s being birthed is a new self and a new identity in the world as a single person,” Chabon said. “You have to release and let go of what was to make room for the blessing for who you’re going to become.”
At a ritual “hackathon” workshop presented by Newbrun, participants suggested standing during Kaddish at synagogue to mourn their marriages, and offering their children a Friday night blessing that they are whole whether they are at either parent’s home.
Not all of the sessions centered on Jewish ritual. In a session on the Japanese art of kintsugi, or mending broken pottery, attendees made vessels whose cracks they fixed with putty, symbolizing that beauty can be found in imperfection. Many danced in a Saturday-night silent disco.
Everyone was assigned to a small group, or havurah, that they met with daily, so they could establish deeper connections within the larger cohort.
“To have gone through some of these practices was very meaningful to me,” said Lieberman. “It’s not like I put a seal on my marriage and wrapped it up in a bow and put it behind me, but it was a nice catharsis for completing a transition that I’ve been very thoughtful about.”
Newbrun aims to recreate the retreat in communities around the country. Both Jaye and Lieberman said they found value in being in community with people “who get it,” without the judgment they often face.
“I was a little skeptical that all I’d have in common with people was that we were Jewish and divorced, and that that wouldn’t be enough for me to form a relationship,” said Lieberman. “But having the willingness to talk about it and explore it did open up a lot of very vulnerable conversations. The expert facilitation really made us think about the fact that divorce is not about your paper [certificate], it’s about reexamining the direction of your life and who you want to be.”
A version of this piece originally ran in J. The Jewish News of Northern California, and is reprinted with permission.
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DePaul University Denounces Antisemitic Harassment, Targeting of Jewish Students
Students walk into the student center on the campus of DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois, US, Oct. 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jim Vondruska
DePaul University in Chicago has denounced an antisemitic incident which took place near its grounds last Wednesday, with President Robert Manuel saying he is “outraged.”
According to the university, a group of its students, as well as others from Loyola College and Roosevelt University, were harassed at the local Olive & Oak Café during a regular outing hosted by Hillel and the Jewish United Fund. During a verbal onslaught, the perpetrators demanded that the students leave for being Jewish while a JUF staff member was subject to battery, according to a description of the incident told by the Chicago Police Department.
“While this incident occurred off campus, I am outraged that our students were targeted and harassed because of their Jewish identity,” Manuel said in a statement on Monday. “These actions are inexcusable. DePaul University condemns antisemitism in all its forms and will continue to stand firm in doing so, in line with our Catholic, Vincentian values.”
He continued, “We are working to determine whether any of the offenders are affiliated with DePaul community, and we will take swift, consistent action if any violations of university policy are identified … Acts of hate and violence has no place at DePaul — or anywhere. Our commitment to foster a campus environment rooted in dignity, care, and respect for all remains unwavering.”
Last Wednesday’s incident is not the first time Jewish DePaul students have been subject to alleged battery and discrimination.
In November 2024, two Jewish students participating in a pro-Israel demonstration at DePaul University were “brutally” assaulted by two ruffians who concealed their identities with masks. At least one of the men, Adam Erkan, involved in the assault has since pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery. According to court documents, he approached the victims, Max Long and Michael Kaminsky, in a ski mask while shouting antisemitic epithets and statements. He then attacked both students, fracturing Kaminsky’s wrist and inflicting a brain injury on Long, whom he pummeled into an unconscious state.
Law enforcement identified Erkan, who absconded to another location in a car, after his father came forward to confirm that it was his visage which surveillance cameras captured near the scene of the crime. According to multiple reports, the assailant avoided severer criminal penalties by agreeing to plead guilty to lesser offenses than the felony hate crime counts with which he was originally charged.
His accomplice, described as a man in his age group, remained at large as of late last year.
“One attacker has now admitted guilt for brutally assaulting two Jewish students at DePaul University. That is a step toward justice, but it is nowhere near enough,” The Lawfare Project, a Jewish civil rights advocacy group which represented the Jewish students throughout the criminal proceedings, said in a statement responding to the plea deal. “The second attacker remains at large, and Max and Michael continue to experience ongoing threats. We demand — and fully expect — his swift arrest and prosecution to ensure justice for these students and for the Jewish community harmed by this antisemitic hate crime.”
Antisemitic incidents on US college campuses have exploded nationwide since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel.
The 2025-2026 academic year has seen a continuation of that pattern.
Earlier this month, a non-student graffitied Nazi insignia on the campus of Northwestern University. The Schutzstaffel (SS) symbol representing the notorious paramilitary group under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Germany was spray-painted on Northwestern’s campus in Evanston, Illinois. The SS played a central role in the Nazis’ systematic killing of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust.
In January, a right-wing influencer and University of Miami student upbraided her Jewish peers in a tirade in which she denounced them as “disgusting” while accusing rabbis of eating infants.
“Christianity, which says love everyone, meanwhile your Bible says eating someone who is a non-Jew is like eating with an animal. That’s what the Talmud says,” the social media influencer, Kaylee Mahony, yelled at members of Students Supporting Israel (SSI) who had a table at a campus fair held at the University of Miami. “That’s what these people follow.”
She continued, “They think that if you are not a Jew you are an animal. That’s the Talmud. That’s the Talmud.”
The Talmud, a key source of Jewish law, tradition, and theology, is often misrepresented by antisemitic agitators in an effort to malign the Jewish people and their religion.
Mahony can also be heard in video of the incident responding to one of the SSI members, saying, “Because you’re disgusting. It’s disgusting.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Satellite Images Show Iran Repairing and Fortifying Sites Amid US Tensions
A satellite image shows un‑buried tunnel entrances at Isfahan nuclear complex, in Isfahan, Iran, Nov. 11, 2024. Photo: Vantor/Handout via REUTERS
Satellite images show that Iran has recently built a concrete shield over a new facility at a sensitive military site and covered it in soil, experts say, advancing work at a location reportedly bombed by Israel in 2024 amid tensions with the US.
Images also show that Iran has buried tunnel entrances at a nuclear site bombed by the US during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran last year, fortified tunnel entrances near another, and has repaired missile bases struck in the conflict.
They offer a glimpse of Iranian activities at some of the sites at the center of tensions with Israel and the US, as Washington seeks to negotiate a deal with Tehran on its nuclear program while threatening military action if talks fail.
Here are some images showing the changes:
PARCHIN MILITARY COMPLEX
Some 30 km (20 miles) southeast of Tehran, the Parchin complex is one of Iran‘s most sensitive military sites. Western intelligence has suggested Tehran carried out tests relevant to nuclear bomb detonations there more than two decades ago.
Iran has always denied seeking atomic weapons.
Israel reportedly struck Parchin in October 2024.
Satellite imagery taken before and after that attack shows extensive damage to a rectangular building at Parchin, and apparent reconstruction in images from Nov. 6, 2024.
Imagery from Oct. 12, 2025, shows development at the site, with the skeleton of a new structure visible and two smaller structures adjacent to it. Progress is apparent in imagery from Nov. 14, with what appears to be a metallic roof covering the large structure.
But imagery from Dec. 13 shows the facility partly covered. By Feb. 16, it cannot be seen at all, hidden by what experts say is a concrete structure.
The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), in a Jan. 22 analysis of satellite imagery, pointed to progress in the construction of a “concrete sarcophagus” around a newly built facility at the site, which it identified as Taleghan 2.
ISIS reported in November that imagery showed “ongoing construction and the presence of what appears to resemble a long, cylindrical chamber, maybe a high-explosives containment vessel, likely measuring approximately 36 meters long and 12 meters in diameter placed inside a building.”
“High-explosive containment vessels are critical to the development of nuclear weapons,” ISIS added, “but can also be used in many other conventional weapons development processes.”
William Goodhind, a forensic imagery analyst with Contested Ground, said the roof had a similar hue to the surrounding area, adding: “It has most likely been covered with dirt to obscure the concrete color.”
ISIS founder David Albright wrote on X: “Stalling the negotiations has its benefits: Over the last two to three weeks, Iran has been busy burying the new Taleghan 2 facility … More soil is available and the facility may soon become a fully unrecognizable bunker, providing significant protection from aerial strikes.”
TUNNEL ENTRANCES BURIED AT ISFAHAN NUCLEAR COMPLEX
The Isfahan complex is one of three Iranian uranium-enrichment plants bombed by the United States in June.
In addition to facilities that are part of the nuclear fuel cycle, Isfahan includes an underground area where diplomats say much of Iran‘s enriched uranium has been stored.
Satellite images taken in late January showed new efforts to bury two tunnel entrances at the complex, ISIS reported on Jan. 29. In a Feb. 9 update, ISIS said a third entrance had also been backfilled with soil, meaning all entrances to the tunnel complex were now “completely buried.”
A Feb. 10 image shows all three tunnels buried, Goodhind said.
ISIS reported on Feb. 9 that “backfilling the tunnel entrances would help dampen any potential airstrike and also make ground access in a special forces raid to seize or destroy any highly enriched uranium that may be housed inside difficult.”
TUNNEL ENTRANCES FORTIFIED AT COMPLEX NEAR NATANZ SITE
ISIS has reported that satellite images point to ongoing efforts since Feb. 10 to “harden and defensively strengthen” two entrances to a tunnel complex under a mountain some 2 km (1.2 miles) from Natanz – the site that holds Iran‘s other two uranium enrichment plants.
Imagery shows “ongoing activity throughout the complex related to this effort, involving the movement of numerous vehicles, including dump trucks, cement mixers, and other heavy equipment,” ISIS wrote.
Iran‘s plans for the facility, called Pickaxe Mountain, are unclear, ISIS said.
SHIRAZ SOUTH MISSILE BASE
About 10 km (6 miles) south of Shiraz in southern Iran, this is one of 25 primary bases capable of launching medium-range ballistic missiles, according to Alma Research and Education Center, an Israeli organization. Alma assessed the site had suffered light, above-ground damage in last year’s war.
A comparison of images taken on July 3, 2025 and Jan. 30 shows reconstruction and clearance efforts at the main logistics and likely command compound at the base, Goodhind said.
“The key takeaway is that the compound has yet to return to its full operational capacity from prior to the airstrikes.”
QOM MISSILE BASE
Some 40 km north of the city of Qom, this base suffered moderate above-ground damage, according to Alma.
A comparison of images taken between July 16, 2025, and Feb. 1 shows a new roof over a damaged building. The roof repairs appear to have begun on Nov. 17 and were most likely complete 10 days later, Goodhind said.
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Epstein Tried to Build Web of Powerful Ties Across Middle East, Documents Show
Late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem are seen in this undated handout image from the Epstein estate released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee in Washington, DC, US, on Dec. 18, 2025. Photo: House Oversight Committee Democrats/Handout via REUTERS
The departure of the chief executive of Dubai port giant DP World is the biggest fallout in the Middle East from US Department of Justice documents which show that disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein tried to build a powerful network of political figures and business leaders across the region.
DP World announced on Friday that Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem had resigned as chief executive and chair. The decision to act was taken after Bin Sulayem’s name appeared in the Epstein files, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters, and as his relationship with the late convicted sex offender faced increasing scrutiny.
In their correspondence, Bin Sulayem discussed sexual relationships with women with whom Epstein helped him connect. In an email dated Nov. 9, 2007, Bin Sulayem told Epstein he had met one such woman in New York, whom he does not name and with whom he said he did not have sex.
“Yes after several attempts for several months we managed to meet in NY,” he wrote, adding that there was a misunderstanding because “she wanted some BUSINESS! while i only wanted some PUSSYNESS!”
Dubai’s ruler on Friday also issued a decree appointing a new chairman for Dubai’s Ports, Customs, and Free Zone Corporation, one of several roles Bin Sulayem held.
Reuters was able to independently review only some of the Epstein files relating to Bin Sulayem and was unable to ascertain what specifically led to his departure from DP World although the sources said, without providing further details, that it was related to the files.
Bin Sulayem did not respond to Reuters requests for comment on his departure. DP World declined to comment.
COOKING TOGETHER
In one email exchange, Epstein described Bin Sulayem as funny, trustworthy, and a foodie. Epstein went on to say that Bin Sulayem, a Muslim, does not drink and prays five times a day.
An undated photograph that appears in an email and is publicly available shows Epstein cooking with Bin Sulayem and the two of them looking relaxed together. The full name of the person it was sent to by Epstein is not provided.
Bin Sulayem has not publicly commented on Epstein‘s description or the emails about his relationship with him.
Being named in the file is not evidence of criminal activity. But after members of the US Congress said Bin Sulayem’s name appeared in files released by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), he faced renewed questions from some of DP World’s financial backers over his past interactions.
Bin Sulayem did not respond publicly to those concerns.
The UK development finance agency, British International Investment, and Canada’s second-largest pension fund said last week they would suspend all new investment with DP World over Bin Sulayem’s alleged ties to Epstein.
“We are shocked by the allegations emerging in the Epstein files regarding Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem,” said a spokesperson for BII, without saying which allegations he was referring to. “In light of the allegations, we will not be making any new investments with DP World until the required actions have been taken by the company.”
Canadian pension fund La Caisse said it was “pausing additional capital deployment alongside the company” until DP World clarified the situation and took “the necessary actions.”
In a statement after Friday’s leadership changes at DP World, BII welcomed DP World’s decision and said it looked forward to continuing “our partnership to advance the development of key African trading ports,” La Caisse said “the company took the appropriate measures” and that it would “move quickly to work with DP World’s new leadership to continue our partnership on port projects around the world.”
Bin Sulayem did not immediately respond when asked by Reuters to comment on the actions taken by BII and La Caisse. DP World declined comment.
NETWORK OF CONTACTS
The large cache of documents released by the DOJ, including text messages and emails, also shows the Middle East was no exception to Epstein‘s efforts to use his wealth to build relationships with prominent people in politics, finance, academia, and business around the world.
Reuters was unable to ascertain how successful Epstein was in seeking to influence his contacts in the Middle East, and whether his advice was heeded.
The DOJ documents reviewed by Reuters show Epstein tried to advise Qatari business leaders and political figures during the 2017-21 blockade of Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt over accusations that Doha failed to curb ties with Iran and supported terrorism, which Qatar denied.
In exchanges with a Qatari businessman and ruling family member Sheikh Jabor Yousuf Jassim Al Thani, Epstein urged Qatar to “stop kicking and arguing … let the heat come down a bit.” He said “the current Qatar team is very weak” and “FM is not experienced and it shows.”
Qatar’s foreign minister at the time was Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who now serves as both foreign minister and prime minister. Sheikh Mohammed has not commented publicly on Epstein‘s portrayal of him. Asked about the exchange, Qatar’s International Media Office, which handles media requests for the prime minister, declined to comment.
There was no response to a Reuters request for comment emailed to three companies in Qatar that Sheikh Jabor is listed as chairman of, or to a text message sent to an individual who, according to the files released by the DOJ, works in Sheikh Jabor’s office.
Epstein urged Doha to forge links with Israel to stay in the good graces of Donald Trump, who was then in his first term as US president. He suggested the Gulf state either move towards recognizing Israel or pledge $1 billion to a fund for terrorism victims. Ultimately, Qatar stuck to its independent course. In 2021, the blockading countries restored ties with Doha, and ties between the Trump administration and Qatar are now strong.
DISCUSSION OF SAUDI ARAMCO IPO
Epstein discussed Saudi Aramco’s initial public offering in dozens of email exchanges. In one exchange dated Sept. 10, 2016, with a person named as Aziza Alahmadi, and with former Norwegian diplomat Terje Roed-Larson copied in, Epstein warned that Aramco going public could expose Saudi Arabia to lawsuits and asset seizures. Saudi Aramco declined to comment on these emails.
Alahmadi could not be reached for comment, and Reuters was unable to establish her role, if any, in Epstein‘s activities.
In an email dated Oct. 16, 2017, and also sent to Alahmadi, Epstein suggested selling China an option to buy a $100-billion stake in Aramco rather than pursuing a traditional IPO, saying it would provide liquidity while limiting exposure to public markets.
Saudi Aramco declined to comment to Reuters on the emails. Roed-Larsen did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by email via his lawyer.
Epstein’s reach also extended to Egypt, the documents released by the DOJ show. Some emails show a request from a family member of Hosni Mubarak – the wife of his son Gamal Mubarak – that was passed on to Epstein asking for help in 2011, following the former president’s ouster and subsequent legal troubles. They did not say what kind of assistance was sought and Reuters was unable to establish whether Epstein had tried to intercede on the family’s behalf.
Reuters emailed a request for comment to one lawyer and sent a text message to another, both of whom represented Gamal Mubarak. There was no immediate response.