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The Ripped Bodice, Brooklyn’s new romance-only bookstore, reflects the values of the Jewish sisters who own it
(New York Jewish Week) — Just a few minutes after entering The Ripped Bodice, a new romance bookstore in Park Slope, Rose Cohen, a woman in her early 20s, already had two books in hand.
Armed with a list of coveted romance books on her iPhone notes app, Cohen, who lives an hour outside the city, had dragged her best friend Emma on the train all the way into Brooklyn to visit the borough’s newest bookstore, with its bubblegum pink exterior, walls and ceilings decorated in an impressive display of classic romance novels — and of course rows and rows of her favorite genre.
A huge romance fan, she already knew The Ripped Bodice would have all the books she was looking for; she had been following The Ripped Bodice’s evolution at its first location in Los Angeles for years and was eager to visit the Brooklyn store on Thursday afternoon, as she wasn’t able to make it for opening weekend earlier this month.
The Ripped Bodice, a bookstore that only sells the one genre, is owned by Jewish sisters Leah and Bea Koch. They opened the first location in Culver City, California, in 2016 with funds from a Kickstarter campaign. Seven years later, the business was successful enough for them to make the leap to the East Coast.
“We ship all over the country and outside of California, the most common place we were shipping to was New York,” Leah Koch said. Plus, New York is home both to family — the sisters’ father, stepmother, brother, sister-in-law and nephews all live in Brooklyn — and to the historical center of the publishing industry.
After living in Los Angeles for the last 12 years, Leah, 31, has relocated to New York to run the Brooklyn location while her sister Bea, 33, will stay behind and helm the flagship. Having to split up after working together for nearly a decade “is my least favorite part” of opening the Brooklyn store, said Leah, but Bea has already been back and forth several times to help get the store open and has more trips planned in the near future. On the flip side, Leah said, being based in New York opens the door for some of her favorite activities — including seeing Broadway shows and celebrating Shabbat and Jewish holidays with her family.
Originally from Chicago, the sisters were raised in what they described as a culturally Jewish household. Growing up, “my parents had such an emphasis on education and reading and books,” Leah Koch said. “I think that was directly influenced by their understanding of Judaism as a culture that values education, curiosity and questioning.”
As business owners, those Jewish values and traditions influence the way the Koch sisters run their stores. During the holiday season in Los Angeles, they host an annual drive for menstrual products called “Eight Crazy Nights of Tamponukkah.” They also raised money for abortion clinics in Mississippi.
“I’m not very religious, so my value system is how I interpret Judaism and I don’t believe in the separation of my personal values and my business,” Leah Koch said. “My business is a way for me to put those values into practice — we are able to contribute to causes that we care about and that are directly related to what we sell.” If those more progressive stances might alienate customers, she said, “I don’t really care.”
When it opened, The Ripped Bodice was touted as the country’s first romance-only bookstore.
“The number of people who are crazy enough to want to open a brick-and-mortar bookstore is really small. Within that, the number of people who want to focus only on one genre is even smaller,” Koch said.
But since, several others have opened amid a boom in romance sales among younger readers, driven in part by TikTok’s #BookTok.
Koch said she has been drawn to romance her whole life — at first because “the weight and importance that was put on ordinary people’s emotional lives,” and later on, because it offered a respite. “It’s a genre of hope and joy,” she said. “When life gets bleak, I continue to find comfort in a guaranteed happy ending.”
Jean Meltzer, a romance author whose characters and stories are Jewish, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in 2021 that she had turned to the genre as an antidote to most storytelling about Jews.
“I wanted to write a book for Jews where the heroes were sexy, where the men were strong, where the women were beautiful, where they got their happy ending,” said Meltzer, whose third book, “Kissing Kosher,” comes out this month. “I wrote this book primarily for myself, but it was really out of a desire to sort of just create a different type of Jewish story.”
Meltzer’s books are featured at The Ripped Bodice, and Koch said she thought the author was right that romance can be meaningful for Jewish readers. “It’s true for so many different types of people, but Jews specifically,” she said. “[Romance novels] are particularly valuable for people who very rarely see themselves portrayed like that.”
The walls of the store are decorated with open romance novels and pictures of the sisters and their family throughout their lives. (Julia Gergely)
At 1,900 square feet, The Ripped Bodice bookstore has plenty of room to carry all the Jewish romance novels. Cohen suggested “Weather Girl” by Rachel Lynn Solomon. Koch mentioned Meltzer and Stacy Agdern, who write contemporary romance, along with Felicia Grossman, who writes Jewish historical romance set during the Regency period in England.
Along with Jewish romance, they carry stories dealing with all kinds of religion, disability, race, gender and sexuality, as well as some nonfiction about women’s health and sexuality from traditional and indie publishers. They even carry self-published books. “If it exists, we will find it,” Koch said.
The store also sells original merchandise, greeting cards and homemade tea blends named after tropes of the genre — such as an Earl Grey called “There’s Only One Bed” and a lemon ginger named “Can You Zip Me Up?”
Business is already booming in Brooklyn, Koch said. She wasn’t shocked at how many people showed up for the opening, which she guessed was over 1,000. But she said it’s been a welcome surprise at how many have come in the weeks since — on Thursday afternoon, dozens of customers rotated through.
And at least for Cohen, the store has lived up to the hype. “It’s everything and more,” she said.
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The post The Ripped Bodice, Brooklyn’s new romance-only bookstore, reflects the values of the Jewish sisters who own it appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire
Explosions send smoke into the air in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, July 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
The spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing said on Friday that while the Palestinian terrorist group favors reaching an interim truce in the Gaza war, if such an agreement is not reached in current negotiations it could revert to insisting on a full package deal to end the conflict.
Hamas has previously offered to release all the hostages held in Gaza and conclude a permanent ceasefire agreement, and Israel has refused, Abu Ubaida added in a televised speech.
Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have hosted more than 10 days of talks on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day truce in the war.
Israeli officials were not immediately available for comment on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on a call he had with Pope Leo on Friday that Israel‘s efforts to secure a hostage release deal and 60-day ceasefire “have so far not been reciprocated by Hamas.”
As part of the potential deal, 10 hostages held in Gaza would be returned along with the bodies of 18 others, spread out over 60 days. In exchange, Israel would release a number of detained Palestinians.
“If the enemy remains obstinate and evades this round as it has done every time before, we cannot guarantee a return to partial deals or the proposal of the 10 captives,” said Abu Ubaida.
Disputes remain over maps of Israeli army withdrawals, aid delivery mechanisms into Gaza, and guarantees that any eventual truce would lead to ending the war, said two Hamas officials who spoke to Reuters on Friday.
The officials said the talks have not reached a breakthrough on the issues under discussion.
Hamas says any agreement must lead to ending the war, while Netanyahu says the war will only end once Hamas is disarmed and its leaders expelled from Gaza.
Almost 1,650 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed as a result of the conflict, including 1,200 killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel, according to Israeli tallies. Over 250 hostages were kidnapped during Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught.
Israel responded with an ongoing military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.
The post Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel
People hold images of the victims of the 1994 bombing attack on the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) community center, marking the 30th anniversary of the attack, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Irina Dambrauskas
Iran on Friday marked the 31st anniversary of the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires by slamming Argentina for what it called “baseless” accusations over Tehran’s alleged role in the terrorist attack and accusing Israel of politicizing the atrocity to influence the investigation and judicial process.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the anniversary of Argentina’s deadliest terrorist attack, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 300.
“While completely rejecting the accusations against Iranian citizens, the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns attempts by certain Argentine factions to pressure the judiciary into issuing baseless charges and politically motivated rulings,” the statement read.
“Reaffirming that the charges against its citizens are unfounded, the Islamic Republic of Iran insists on restoring their reputation and calls for an end to this staged legal proceeding,” it continued.
Last month, a federal judge in Argentina ordered the trial in absentia of 10 Iranian and Lebanese nationals suspected of orchestrating the attack in Buenos Aires.
The ten suspects set to stand trial include former Iranian and Lebanese ministers and diplomats, all of whom are subject to international arrest warrants issued by Argentina for their alleged roles in the terrorist attack.
In its statement on Friday, Iran also accused Israel of influencing the investigation to advance a political campaign against the Islamist regime in Tehran, claiming the case has been used to serve Israeli interests and hinder efforts to uncover the truth.
“From the outset, elements and entities linked to the Zionist regime [Israel] exploited this suspicious explosion, pushing the investigation down a false and misleading path, among whose consequences was to disrupt the long‑standing relations between the people of Iran and Argentina,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.
“Clear, undeniable evidence now shows the Zionist regime and its affiliates exerting influence on the Argentine judiciary to frame Iranian nationals,” the statement continued.
In April, lead prosecutor Sebastián Basso — who took over the case after the 2015 murder of his predecessor, Alberto Nisman — requested that federal Judge Daniel Rafecas issue national and international arrest warrants for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over his alleged involvement in the attack.
Since 2006, Argentine authorities have sought the arrest of eight Iranians — including former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who died in 2017 — yet more than three decades after the deadly bombing, all suspects remain still at large.
In a post on X, the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA), the country’s Jewish umbrella organization, released a statement commemorating the 31st anniversary of the bombing.
“It was a brutal attack on Argentina, its democracy, and its rule of law,” the group said. “At DAIA, we continue to demand truth and justice — because impunity is painful, and memory is a commitment to both the present and the future.”
31 años del atentado a la AMIA – DAIA. 31 años sin justicia.
El 18 de julio de 1994, un atentado terrorista dejó 85 personas muertas y más de 300 heridas. Fue un ataque brutal contra la Argentina, su democracia y su Estado de derecho.
Desde la DAIA, seguimos exigiendo verdad y… pic.twitter.com/kV2ReGNTIk
— DAIA (@DAIAArgentina) July 18, 2025
Despite Argentina’s longstanding belief that Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah terrorist group carried out the devastating attack at Iran’s request, the 1994 bombing has never been claimed or officially solved.
Meanwhile, Tehran has consistently denied any involvement and refused to arrest or extradite any suspects.
To this day, the decades-long investigation into the terrorist attack has been plagued by allegations of witness tampering, evidence manipulation, cover-ups, and annulled trials.
In 2006, former prosecutor Nisman formally charged Iran for orchestrating the attack and Hezbollah for carrying it out.
Nine years later, he accused former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner — currently under house arrest on corruption charges — of attempting to cover up the crime and block efforts to extradite the suspects behind the AMIA atrocity in return for Iranian oil.
Nisman was killed later that year, and to this day, both his case and murder remain unresolved and under ongoing investigation.
The alleged cover-up was reportedly formalized through the memorandum of understanding signed in 2013 between Kirchner’s government and Iranian authorities, with the stated goal of cooperating to investigate the AMIA bombing.
The post Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns
Murad Adailah, the head of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood, attends an interview with Reuters in Amman, Jordan, Sept. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Jehad Shelbak
The Muslim Brotherhood, one of the Arab world’s oldest and most influential Islamist movements, has been implicated in a wide-ranging network of illegal financial activities in Jordan and abroad, according to a new investigative report.
Investigations conducted by Jordanian authorities — along with evidence gathered from seized materials — revealed that the Muslim Brotherhood raised tens of millions of Jordanian dinars through various illegal activities, the Jordan news agency (Petra) reported this week.
With operations intensifying over the past eight years, the report showed that the group’s complex financial network was funded through various sources, including illegal donations, profits from investments in Jordan and abroad, and monthly fees paid by members inside and outside the country.
The report also indicated that the Muslim Brotherhood has taken advantage of the war in Gaza to raise donations illegally.
Out of all donations meant for Gaza, the group provided no information on where the funds came from, how much was collected, or how they were distributed, and failed to work with any international or relief organizations to manage the transfers properly.
Rather, the investigations revealed that the Islamist network used illicit financial mechanisms to transfer funds abroad.
According to Jordanian authorities, the group gathered more than JD 30 million (around $42 million) over recent years.
With funds transferred to several Arab, regional, and foreign countries, part of the money was allegedly used to finance domestic political campaigns in 2024, as well as illegal activities and cells.
In April, Jordan outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s most vocal opposition group, and confiscated its assets after members of the Islamist movement were found to be linked to a sabotage plot.
The movement’s political arm in Jordan, the Islamic Action Front, became the largest political grouping in parliament after elections last September, although most seats are still held by supporters of the government.
Opponents of the group, which is banned in most Arab countries, label it a terrorist organization. However, the movement claims it renounced violence decades ago and now promotes its Islamist agenda through peaceful means.
The post Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns first appeared on Algemeiner.com.