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They were denied Jewish weddings in the Soviet Union. So these 3 couples just got married again.
BOSTON (JTA) – Veiled brides holding white bouquets; a gold-colored chuppah; the signing of ketubahs, Jewish marriage contracts; lively Jewish music wafting through a social hall as guests danced the hora.
It had all the telltale signs of a traditional Jewish wedding. But the three couples were already married — and had been for a collective total of 125 years.
The event on Wednesday was an opportunity for three Ukraine-born couples to have the Jewish ceremonies they could not have when they first wed, when Jewish practice was forbidden under communism in their country.
“It was my dream for many, many years and dreams come true,” said Elisheva Furman, who first married her husband Fishel in Ukraine 50 years ago.
Held by Shaloh House, a Chabad Lubavitch organization in Boston that serves Jews from the former Soviet Union, the event was also an opportunity for Chabad rabbinical students to practice officiating at Jewish weddings.
Shaloh House launched a rabbinical training institute in 2021, after Rabbi Shlomo Noginski, an educator at the school, was stabbed eight times outside the building in a vicious attack that jolted Boston and especially its Jewish community.
“This wedding ceremony is a victory of love and kindness over oppression and hate,” said Rabbi Dan Rodkin, director of Shaloh House, in a statement. “It is a testament to the strength of the Jewish people and the resilience of these Soviet-born couples, who want to celebrate their union in accordance with their faith and heritage.”
Rodkin himself grew up in Russia. The Chabad movement, which is especially strong in the former Soviet Union, where it was born, has sought to reach Jews from the region whose practices and connection to Judaism were attenuated by living under communism. Shaloh House offers a school, synagogue and community center all focused on Boston’s substantial community of Russian-speaking emigres.
Growing up, despite antisemitic repression, Elisheva and Fishel Furman both said their families maintained a strong Jewish identity and privately observed Jewish holidays. But “it was dangerous” to show their faith in public, said Elisheva, the grandmother of four. So when they got married, they did so only in a civil ceremony.
A couple prepares to step on a glass, a symbol in Jewish weddings, after their Jewish ceremony in Boston, Feb. 7, 2023. (Photo by Igor Klimov)
Their religious ceremony and the two others that took place Wednesday, individualized for each couple, stretched for more than four hours and featured a festive meal and desserts including traditional Ukrainian and Russian foods.
The event took place in the lead-up to the one-year anniversary on Feb. 24, of Russia’s invasion into the couples’ homeland that is under ruthless bombardment that is devastating Ukraine.
Rimma Linkova, who’s been married to Alexander Linkov for 40 years, and one was of the other couples being married, has a cousin still in Ukraine. They talk regularly, she said.
“It’s almost one year of the war and it’s still not ended. It’s very difficult. It’s dying for no reason.” Linkov said.
The third couple was Sofya Hannah and Gedalia Gulnik, who used their Hebrew names.
Yelena Gulnik said she was thrilled to see her parents have a Jewish wedding, something she said her father was initially hesitant to do after so many years of marriage. The mother of three, whose kids attend Shaloh House’s day school, was born in Odessa and came in 1994 with her parents to Boston when she was 12 years old.
“My parents never had a chuppah, they never had a religious ceremony. They were not familiar with many religious Jewish traditions,” Gulnik said. “But it was an amazing opportunity. I don’t think they would have ever done this if Rabbi Rodkin hadn’t offered.”
Being at a wedding for her grandparents is “a little weird since you don’t see it every day,” Yelena’s oldest daughter said. “But it’s certainly exciting.”
Among the attendees were New England Patriots Jewish owner Robert Kraft, and his wife, Dana Blumberg, who themselves were married in November. Kraft, whose Campaign to Fight Antisemitism philanthropy launched in 2019, made a $250,000 donation following the attack on Noginski that helped start the rabbinic program.
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft dances at a wedding ceremony for Ukrainian couples who did not have Jewish weddings in their native country, Boston, Feb. 7, 2023. Rabbi Shlomo Noginski is on his left. (Photo by Igor Klimov)
“When I saw Rabbi Noginksi getting stabbed in my hometown of Boston, it hurt me,” Kraft told JTA at the wedding.
“This hit close to home, which was shocking to me,” he elaborated in an email response to a question. “It’s an important reminder that antisemitism and hate happens everywhere, even in a community like ours.”
“Since the attack, I have been moved by how Rabbi Noginski has used this horrible incident as an opportunity to raise awareness of the prevalence of antisemitism and the need to stand up to all acts of hatred,” Kraft wrote. “He is a real hero, who not only saved lives that day, but continues to use his experience to educate others.”
Noginski’s personal story has struck a chord for many. As a young man growing up in St. Petersburg, he and his mother experienced antisemitism, eventually leading them to move to Israel. He and his wife, who at the time of the attack had only recently arrived in Boston, have 12 children.
He has added his voice beyond Boston, speaking in Hebrew at a Washington D.C. rally on antisemitism in July 2021, less than two weeks after the attack. His alleged attacker was arrested but has not yet been tried.
But while the attack was in the background at the wedding event, it was not the main focus as the families celebrated together.
“The wedding has enormous meaning,” said Dmitry Linkov about his parents’ ceremony.
He was 5 when his family left Kyiv and settled in Boston. They lived secular lives when he and his younger sister was growing up, he said, but he and his wife, active in Chabad in Chestnut Hill, now embrace more religious practice and observe Shabbat and keep a kosher home.
“What my parents have done tonight will be passed on for generations. It’s a blessing for our future generations,” Dmitry Linkov told JTA.
He hopes the Jewish wedding ceremony inspires other Jews from the former Soviet Union who fled persecution.
“They are celebrating for a nation,” he said. “It’s pretty amazing.”
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At a synagogue meeting about how to beat Mamdani, Sliwa faces calls to exit NYC mayor’s race
NEW YORK CITY — More than 100 people gathered Sunday morning in the basement of Fifth Avenue Synagogue, a Modern Orthodox congregation on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, to discuss one thing: how to stop Zohran Mamdani’s march to City Hall.
“Fifth Avenue Synagogue invites you to attend a parlor meeting to discuss DEFEATING MAMDANI PLAN B,” the invitation read.
Synagogue president Jacob Gold had invited Mamdani’s two competitors in New York City’s mayor’s race, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa, to join the event. Only Sliwa RSVPed yes, speaking to the group before taking questions from the mix of members and guests of the synagogue.
Over coffee and bagels with egg salad, attendees voiced their appreciation for the Guardian Angels founder, who was wearing his signature red beret — but their overwhelming message was one that he did not want to hear.
“We all love you, we want you to win,” said synagogue president Jacob Gold, who was standing by Sliwa at the podium. “But you’re at 15%, and Cuomo’s at what percent? And Mamdani’s at what percent?”
No one answered, but everyone knew the numbers: Cuomo netted 28% of the vote in the latest poll, which was also the first to show Mamdani crossing the 50% threshold.
“Let’s cut to the chase — you want me to drop out,” Sliwa interjected.
“No!” Gold replied. “I want you to merge with Cuomo.”
Many others in the room joined Gold in yelling out “No” in unison. But a smattering of voices told Sliwa he had sized the situation up correctly.
A number of attendees spoke up during the Q&A period, pleading their case that Sliwa, who is polling third, should team up with former Gov. Andrew Cuomo against Mamdani.
“Merge!” attendees blurted out at various points, as well as “Unite!” One suggested Sliwa could take a position in Cuomo’s administration. Another posited that Sliwa could take over as mayor once Cuomo runs for president of the United States in a couple years.
But Sliwa has resisted calls to drop out before and did so again during the synagogue meeting. “It’s not happening,” he said.
The pleas to unite with Cuomo did not necessarily reflect loyalty to the former governor, whom Gold said might visit the synagogue next week: The phrase “Plug your nose and vote Cuomo” was uttered more than once. Instead, they came as part of an attempt to overcome a sizable lead by Mamdani, the Queens state lawmaker whose harshly critical views on Israel and democratic socialist politics are anathema to many in Orthodox Jewish communities.
“He’s an antisemite, period!” one man yelled out.
Once Sliwa left after concluding his Q&A, other speakers took to the podium including Hank Sheinkopf, a veteran political consultant; former Lieutenant Governor Betsy McCaughey, who’s behind an anti-Mamdani independent expenditure committee called Save NYC; and Jason Meister, a former Trump advisor who’s heading Defend NYC, a super PAC aimed at thwarting Mamdani’s campaign.
They emphasized the importance of a major get-out-the-vote effort, citing their belief that Mamdani could still be beaten if voter turnout reached 45%. McCaughey distributed leaflets about Mamdani’s support for a law that she said could cause voters against him if they were aware.
“He’s the only candidate who backs rigorous enforcement of Local Law 97, which will force one million Homeowners like you to foot the enormous cost of converting oil or natural gas heat to electric heat throughout your building,” part of the leaflet reads, with “DO NOT VOTE FOR MAMDANI” in big red letters.
Sheinkopf urged attendees to combat the presence of Mamdani’s tens of thousands of volunteers by campaigning against him.
“The only thing that matters here is communicating with people and getting in the street. The rest of it is nonsense,” Sheinkopf said. “Sure as we’re in this room, I need your help to hit those doors and get in the street and get on those phones. Because if we do, we have the potential to win this thing.”
Ultimately, however, the biggest push from the attendees themselves was their attempt to talk Sliwa into a coalition with Cuomo.
“Everybody’s talking about it privately,” said Daria Fane, an attendee who is not a member of Fifth Avenue Synagogue, but frequently attends services there and at other Upper East Side congregations.
“We sit around the dinner table talking about it — where’s New York City going, and what are we going to be able to do?” Fane said in an interview following the event. “And one of the little truisms that always comes up is that Curtis Sliwa should drop out. If it’s just a two-way race, Cuomo would have a better chance of winning.”
She added, “We’ve had this conversation since before Eric Adams dropped out.”
During the Q&A, a woman who said she was wearing a red hat in support of Sliwa asked that he not “put down Cuomo” in the next debate, as he had done in Thursday’s. “You need to both go against Mamdani — Mam-dummy,” she said, getting some laughs with a derisive nickname.
But Sliwa did not entertain the idea of a coalition with Cuomo, and doubled down on his criticisms of the former governor.
“I was raised in America — one man, one woman, one vote,” Sliwa said. “I never heard of one man, one woman, and the rest of you drop out.”
“Andrew Cuomo needs to get out on the campaign trail. He’s spending all of his time trying to get me to drop out. It’s not happening. I’m out there to get my vote out,” he said, which was met with more shouts of “Unite!”
“But then you’re going to be a spoiler!” someone in the crowd said, which drew some boos.
“You guys would make the best government ever,” an attendee chimed in, appealing to the idea that they “unite” rather than using the term “drop out.”
Sliwa did not hold back from criticizing Cuomo, skewering him for signing cashless bail legislation reform as governor. He also came out hard against Mamdani, telling attendees that they must convince their Mamdani-supporting “children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren that they are committing a shanda,” the Yiddish term for “shame.”
Sliwa did defend Mamdani, however, when an angered attendee recalled when Mamdani asked Cuomo during the debate if he’d ever visited a mosque.
“Cuomo should’ve said, ‘Have you ever been in a synagogue?’” she said.
A mix of cheers and chatter erupted; Sliwa shook his head. “Excuse me — he has been in a synagogue,” he said, correcting the record.
Mamdani attended a mayoral candidates forum in the spring at B’nai Jeshurun, a non-denominational synagogue on the Upper West Side, as well as High Holiday services at the progressive Brooklyn congregation Kolot Chayeinu and the “God-optional experimental Jewish community” Lab/Shul. Last weekend Mamdani spoke at Congregation Beth Elohim, the biggest Reform synagogue in Brooklyn.
Even with Sliwa not budging on his position, speakers including McCaughey and Defend NYC’s Meister said a major voter turnout could swing the election against Mamdani. With the election on Nov. 4, however, time is not on their side, leaving some attendees wondering if it’s too little, too late.
“I don’t know,” said Monique Silberman, a member of Fifth Avenue Synagogue. “It’s last-minute — this whole thing is last-minute.”
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US Says It Hit Colombian Rebel Vessel as Trump Calls Petro ‘Illegal Drug Leader’
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on US President Donald Trump’s budget request for the Department of Defense, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
US forces attacked a vessel associated with a Colombian leftist rebel group, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Sunday, the same day President Donald Trump called Colombian President Gustavo Petro an “illegal drug leader” and said payments to the South American nation would cease.
Trump‘s comments marked a new low in relations between Bogota and Washington, which have frayed since Trump returned to office in January and since his administration launched a series of strikes on vessels allegedly transporting drugs in the Caribbean.
Hegseth wrote on X that the Pentagon had destroyed a vessel and killed three people on Friday “in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” which includes the Caribbean.
He said the ship was affiliated with the leftist rebel group National Liberation Army and was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, without offering evidence to back the claim.
The Pentagon said it had nothing to add beyond Hegseth’s initial post.
COLOMBIA CONDEMNS TRUMP‘S REMARKS
Colombia’s Foreign Ministry condemned Trump‘s remarks as offensive and a direct threat to its sovereignty, and vowed to seek international support in defense of Petro and the country’s autonomy.
“These accusations represent an extremely serious act and undermine the dignity of the president of Colombians,” it said in a statement.
The post from Hegseth came hours after Trump lambasted Petro on social media and said the United States would stop large-scale payments and subsidies to Colombia.
“President Gustavo Petro, of Colombia, is an illegal drug leader strongly encouraging the massive production of drugs, in big and small fields, all over Colombia,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“The purpose of this drug production is the sale of massive amounts of product into the United States, causing death, destruction, and havoc,” Trump wrote.
Reuters could not immediately establish which payments Trump was referring to. Colombia was once among the largest recipients of US aid in the Western Hemisphere, but the flow of money was suddenly curtailed this year by the shuttering of USAID, the US government’s humanitarian assistance arm.
The US State Department referred questions to the White House, which did not immediately respond to a query.
FRAUGHT RELATIONS
Last month the United States revoked Petro’s visa after he joined a pro-Palestinian demonstration in New York and urged US soldiers to disobey Trump‘s orders.
The US administration’s deadly strikes on boats in the Caribbean have also outraged Colombians. Many legal experts and human rights activists have condemned the extraordinary series of military actions, with Amnesty International describing it as murder on the high seas.
Earlier this month, Petro said one of the strikes hit a Colombian vessel, an allegation the Trump administration denied.
Petro condemned the most recent bombing, saying the boat belonged to a “humble family,” not the National Liberation Army. He also hit back at Trump‘s remarks.
“Mr. Trump, Colombia has never been rude to the United States… but you are rude and ignorant to Colombia,” Petro responded on X. “Since I am not a businessman, I am even less a drug trafficker. There is no greed in my heart.”
Colombia is fighting its own longstanding drug problems. Last year, Petro pledged to tame coca-growing regions in the country with massive social and military intervention, but the strategy has brought little success.
In September, Trump designated countries such as Afghanistan, Bolivia, Burma, Colombia and Venezuela among those the United States believes to have “failed demonstrably” in upholding counter-narcotics agreements during the past year.
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Trump Urged Zelensky to Cut a Deal with Putin or Risk Facing Destruction, FT Reports
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meets with U.S. President Donald Trump (not pictured) over lunch in the Cabinet Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
US President Donald Trump urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to accept Russia’s terms for ending the war between Russia and Ukraine in a White House meeting on Friday, warning that President Vladimir Putin threatened to “destroy” Ukraine if it didn’t comply, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.
During the meeting, Trump insisted Zelensky surrender the entire eastern Donbas region to Russia, repeatedly echoing talking points the Russian president had made in their call a day earlier, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Ukraine ultimately managed to swing Trump back to endorsing a freeze of the current front lines, the FT said. Trump said after the meeting that the two sides should stop the war at the battle line; Zelensky said that was an important point.
The White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the FT report.
Zelensky arrived at the White House on Friday looking for weapons to keep fighting his country’s war, but met an American president who appeared more intent on brokering a peace deal.
In Thursday’s call with Trump, Putin had offered some small areas of the two southern frontline regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in exchange for the much larger parts of the Donbas now under Ukrainian control, the FT report added.
That is less than his original 2024 demand for Kyiv to cede the entirety of Donbas plus Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south, an area of nearly 20,000 square km.
Zelensky’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside business hours on whether Trump had pressured Zelensky to accept peace on Russia’s terms.
Trump and Putin agreed on Thursday to hold a second summit on the war in Ukraine within the next two weeks, provisionally in Budapest, following an August 15 meeting in Alaska that failed to produce a breakthrough.