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How Jewish New York is spending Martin Luther King Day this year
(New York Jewish Week) – This weekend honors the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Jewish communities around the city are using the opportunity to discuss Judaism’s relationship with social justice and the African-American community, and to organize volunteering events.
The New York Jewish Week has gathered a list of Jewish community events surrounding MLK Day, which is observed as a national holiday on Monday, Jan. 16:
Shabbat dinner and volunteering with Repair the World
Repair the World, a national Jewish volunteer movement framed around the pursuit of justice and tikkun olam, is organizing a number of events around the city this weekend. Join them for Shabbat dinners centered around social change in Manhattan and Brooklyn, or volunteer packing hygiene kits for asylum seekers, painting community murals, preparing meals and rebuilding community gardens and compost systems. Find all Repair the World MLK Weekend Shabbat and volunteer opportunities here.
Annual interfaith celebration Shabbat at Temple Emanu-El
Temple Emanu-El is celebrating an interfaith Kabbalat Shabbat on Friday, Jan. 13. For the fourth year in a row, the synagogue welcomes the Rev. Gary V. Simpson and the congregation of The Concord Baptist Church of Christ. Simpson will deliver a sermon alongside Senior Rabbi Joshua Davidson. The event will be in person and live streamed on the Temple Emanu-El website and Facebook page starting at 6:00 p.m.
Kabbalat Shabbat and interfaith services in Brooklyn with Congregation Beth Elohim
Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope will host an MLK Kabbalat Shabbat featuring testimonies from four participants of the congregation’s adult civil rights group who recently traveled to the South to learn about the country’s legacy of racism. The event will also be livestreamed starting at 6:30 p.m.; a Shabbat dinner will follow for those who attend in person. Find more information here.
At 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 15, a cohort from CBE will also attend a special “In His Words” service at Antioch Baptist Church in Bed-Stuy (826 Greene Ave.). The service will feature excerpts from King’s speeches.
Cinematters Annual Film Festival
Taking place throughout the weekend at Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, the film festival presents three films in honor of Martin Luther King Day that explore themes of inequality, injustice and social responsibility: “Stranger at the Gate” (Jan. 16 at 4:00 p.m.), “Black Mothers Love & Resist” (Jan. 16 at 5:30 p.m.) and “Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life” (Jan. 18 at 7:00 p.m.). The films will be followed by Q&As with directors and producers of the movies. Learn more about the film festival here.
“Warriors Don’t Cry” theater production
On Sunday, Jan. 15, at 1:00 p.m., the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan will stage “Warriors Don’t Cry,” a play inspired by Melba Pattillo Beals’ memoir of the same name. Appropriate for ages 6-12, the play centers around a high school student named Ya Girl who learns about Beals’ battle to integrate Little Rock Central High School as a member of The Little Rock Nine in 1957.
The production is a collaboration between The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts and TheaterWorksUSA and is a part of the Books That Changed My Life Festival at the JCC. Tickets are $10. Find more information here.
An afternoon of learning about volunteering and social justice
UJA-Federation of New York will host “In Service of All: An Afternoon of MLK Learning,” a virtual event on Sunday, Jan. 15, at 4:00 p.m. After a keynote address from Ruth Messinger, global ambassador of American Jewish World Service, breakout sessions and interactive workshops will address questions like, “What does service look like right now? How can volunteerism bring people of all backgrounds together? What do Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Jewish texts have to say about changing the world?” Register for the free program here.
Additional volunteer opportunities with UJA
UJA has a helpful guide to the many volunteer opportunities taking place throughout the city on Sunday and Monday, from assembling care packages to organizing meal and grocery drives to donating blood. Take a look here.
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The post How Jewish New York is spending Martin Luther King Day this year appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Pope Leo Says Those Who Wage War Are Thieves Stealing Away Our Peaceful Future
Pope Leo XIV looks on as he meets with Catholic religious education teachers attending a national meeting organised by the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI), in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, April 25, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Yara Nardi
Pope Leo on Sunday described those who wage wars and appropriate the earth’s resources as thieves who rob the world of a peaceful future, issuing a warning about the use of nuclear power on the anniversary of the Chernobyl reactor accident.
Ukraine is commemorating the 40th anniversary of the world’s worst nuclear disaster on Sunday amid lingering fears that Russia’s four-year-old war could spark a repeat of the tragedy.
In his weekly address after the Angelus prayer, the Pontiff said the Chernobyl accident had left a mark on humankind’s collective conscience.
“It remains a warning over the use of ever more powerful technologies,” the Pope, who has just returned from a 10-day tour across four African nations, said.
“I hope that at all decision-making levels, wisdom and responsibility always prevail, so that atomic power can always be used to support life and peace,” he added.
Commenting on the Gospel of the day, which contained the metaphor of a sheep thief, Pope Leo said thieves came under many appearances, listing as examples “superficial lifestyles driven by consumerism,” prejudices and wrong ideas.
“And let’s not forget also those thieves who, by plundering the earth’s resources, by fighting bloody wars or feeding evil in whichever form, are simply taking away from all of us the chance of a future of peace and serenity,” he added.
Leo, the first US pontiff, has attracted the ire of President Donald Trump after becoming more outspoken against war and despotism.
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UK’s Starmer and Trump Discuss ‘Urgent Need’ to Restore Shipping in Strait of Hormuz
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump (not pictured) hold a bilateral meeting at Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, Britain, July 28, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump discussed the urgent need to get shipping moving again in the Strait of Hormuz during a call on Sunday, a Downing Street spokesperson said.
“The leaders discussed the urgent need to get shipping moving again in the Strait of Hormuz, given the severe consequences for the global economy and cost of living for people in the UK and globally,” the spokesperson for Starmer’s office said in a statement.
“The prime minister shared the latest progress on his joint initiative with President (Emmanuel) Macron to restore freedom of navigation,” the spokesperson added.
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Palestinian Leader’s Loyalists Win Local Elections, Including Some Seats in Gaza
A Palestinian man votes during the municipal election at a polling station in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip April 25, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Loyalists of President Mahmoud Abbas won most races in Palestinian municipal elections, election officials said on Sunday, in a vote that for the first time in nearly two decades included a city in the Gaza Strip run by rival Hamas.
Saturday’s ballot marked the first elections of any kind in Gaza since 2006 and the first Palestinian polls since the Gaza war began more than two years ago with Hamas’ cross‑border attack on southern Israel.
Abbas’ West Bank–based Palestinian Authority (PA) said the inclusion of the Gaza city Deir al‑Balah, which suffered less damage than other areas of the coastal territory during the war, was intended to show that Gaza was an inseparable part of a future Palestinian state.
The elections, in which voter turnout was low, had been held “at a highly sensitive moment amid complex challenges and exceptional circumstances,” Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said as results were announced on Sunday.
But they represented “an important first step in a broader national process aimed at strengthening democratic life … and ultimately achieving the unity of the homeland,” he said.
POSSIBLE INDICATOR OF HAMAS SUPPORT
Hamas, which ousted the PA from Gaza in 2007, did not formally nominate candidates in Gaza and boycotted the race in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Fatah’s victory was widely expected.
But some candidates on one of the Deir al-Balah lists were widely seen by residents and analysts as aligned with the movement, making the vote a potential indicator of support for the Islamist group.
Preliminary results showed that the list, known as Deir al‑Balah Brings Us Together, won only two of the 15 seats contested in Gaza.
The Nahdat Deir al‑Balah list, backed by Abbas’ Fatah party and the Western-backed PA, secured six seats. The remaining seats were won by two other Gaza-based groups, Future of Deir al‑Balah and Peace and Building, not affiliated with either faction.
Abbas loyalists swept the election in the West Bank, running unchallenged in many seats.
Fatah spokesperson Abdul Fattah Dawla noted that turnout was close to that for the last municipal elections in the West Bank, in 2022, praising voters for participating despite ongoing violence by Israel.
“By electing figures linked to Fatah, voters appear to be seeking unrestricted international support for municipal governance and a gradual political shift that could extend beyond the local level,” said Palestinian political analyst Reham Ouda.
The recent war has left much of Gaza reduced to rubble, with many residents displaced and focused on survival. Israel has continued conducting strikes despite an October ceasefire.
In Gaza, voter turnout reached just 23 percent, while in the West Bank it was 56 percent, according to Chairman of the Central Elections Commission Rami al‑Hamdallah.
Al‑Hamdallah said some of the ballot boxes and voting equipment did not make it into the enclave because of Israeli security restrictions, though those challenges were overcome.
Hamas’ Gaza spokesperson, Hazem Qassem, downplayed the significance of the election results, saying that they had no impact on wider national issues.