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How Jewish studies scholars navigated Jewish law and fire-code rules to save Hanukkah at their conference
(JTA) — The email landed like a batch of soggy latkes last week: Hanukkah candle-lighting would not be permitted at the annual conference of the Association for Jewish Studies.
“We recognize the sacrifice many of you will make to attend the conference during the holiday of Chanukah. We apologize that the conference hotel will not allow us to light candles in a separate room, as we have done in the past,” the professional group for Jewish studies scholars said in a message to its members, of whom approximately 1,200 are expected at this week’s convening in Boston.
Thus began a MacGyver-like scramble by some of the country’s leading Jewish studies scholars to hack a Hanukkah solution that would comply with both halacha, Jewish law, and the Sheraton Boston’s interpretation of Massachusetts fire code.
At first, the scholarly group directed conference-goers to details about a Hanukkah celebration at a nearby synagogue where menorahs could be lit, at least on the first night of the holiday Sunday. But that was little consolation for those whose personal practice of Judaism is rooted in traditional Jew law — which says the Hanukkah menorah must be lit in the place one eats and sleeps.
Some conference attendees said they would rely on Jewish law’s provision for travelers, which says someone on the road can be considered as having fulfilled the commandment to ignite a Hanukkah light if his family at home does so. But not everyone at the conference has a family, and even some who do were unsatisfied with that option.
Electric menorahs offered another possibility. After all, such devices are frequently found in hotels and other public spaces, and they’re what Chabad, the Orthodox denomination, uses in its famous public Hanukkah celebrations, this year scheduled for more than 15,000 locations around the world. But not everyone owns one, and at any rate, the use of oil wicks or, in the last few centuries, wax candles that offer a similar experience is considered preferable, according to some interpreters of Jewish law.
On Facebook and over email, anger was expressed. Impractical suggestions for the conference to relocate were made. And fear mounted that some conference-goers would smuggle in contraband menorahs and light them in their hotel rooms.
“You can’t stop people from breaking the rules, and it’s certainly much less safe to have that than something being watched,” Joshua Shanes, a historian at the College of Charleston who was part of the behind-the-scenes scramble, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Finally, on Friday morning, with some scholars already Boston-bound, Laura Arnold Leibman, a professor at Reed College and a member of the AJS board, announced a solution.
“We were able to negotiate with the hotel what I am referring to as the ‘Kaplan-Shanes compr[om]ise’ this morning that should allow for a halachic solution to the candle lighting situation (see details below), and I was able to get a beautiful hanukkiah this morning from the Israel Bookstore in Brookline that will meet the fire code,” she wrote on Facebook, to plaudits from association members.
Under the plan, a single Hanukkah lamp can be lit, under supervision, at the hotel. But each candle must be contained within a glass enclosure with at least 2 inches of space above the flame — so Leibman bought glass votives used to hold yahrzeit memorial candles, as well as a massive menorah to which they could be affixed.
“This was the only Hanukkiah I could find in Brookline large enough to handle them [and] will clean them up before Sunday and glue them down for safety to the inserts,” Leibman wrote alongside pictures of the brass menorah on her hotel windowsill.
That solved the problem of the flames themselves. But what of the obligation to light, which under traditional Jewish law each household must fulfill individually?
Enter the “Kaplan” of the compromise: Lawrence Kaplan, a professor of Judaic and rabbinic philosophy at McGill University who is perhaps best known for compiling and editing the teachings of Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik of the philosophy of Maimonides, the 12th-century Jewish philosopher.
Kaplan wrote on Facebook that he had consulted Rabbi Daniel Fridman, the rabbi of the Teaneck Jewish Center and the top rabbi at the Torah Academy of Bergen County, for a way to have a single conference-goer fulfill the mitzvah of lighting a Hanukkah lamp on behalf of others. He learned that a contribution of a penny (or more) could enable someone to buy into the mitzvah — so a bowl for coins will sit aside the jerry-rigged menorah.
“I really l appreciate the effort and expense to which you went,” Kaplan wrote on Liebman’s Facebook post. “It was easy for me to suggest the idea but it was you who transformed it into a reality.”
Now, the discussion has shifted to whether contributions in excess of a penny can be turned into donations to the Association for Jewish Studies — and what can be done to prevent such a snafu in the future. Next year’s conference in San Francisco starts after the holiday ends, and the 2024 conference will be online-only. But in 2025, the first day of the conference again corresponds with the first night of Hanukkah.
Shanes and Liebman both indicated that they expected the right to light candles to be written into the contract with any future conference host, marking a return to the old custom of having conference-goers light candles on their own schedule.
“At least for this year,” Shanes said, “we’re all coming together. It’s a silver lining I suppose.”
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The post How Jewish studies scholars navigated Jewish law and fire-code rules to save Hanukkah at their conference appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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The Guardian Clarifies ‘Misunderstanding’ About ‘Antisemitic’ Opinion Piece Targeting Israeli-Founded Bakery
April 4, 2025, London, England, United Kingdom: Exterior view of a Gail’s bakery in Covent Garden. Photo: ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect
The Guardian edited an opinion piece on Tuesday about a popular Israeli-founded bakery in the United Kingdom after the column was widely criticized for claiming that the store’s location near a Palestinian bakery was an “an act of heavy-handed high street aggression.”
The opinion piece was originally published on Saturday and mentioned Gail’s Bakery, which was founded by British-Israeli baker Gail Mejia in the 1990s and turned into a café chain with the help of Israeli entrepreneur Ran Avidan.
Gail’s now has almost 200 locations across the UK, and neither Mejia nor Avidan are still involved in the business. Gail’s largest shareholder is the American venture capital firm Bain Capital, which invests in Israeli defense and cybersecurity companies. The firm signed an open letter in support of Israel after Hamas’s invasion of the Jewish state on Oct. 7, 2023, but Gail’s has repeatedly stated that it has no ties to any foreign entity or government outside of the UK.
A newly opened branch of Gail’s in London’s Archway area had its windows smashed twice within a week of opening, and the store was vandalized with graffiti that read “Free Gaza,” “reject corporate Zionism,” and “Boycott Gail’s Funds Israeli Tech.”” An anti-Israel demonstration also took place at the same Gail’s location, according to reports. No arrests have been made for the vandalisms.
The Guardian opinion piece originally published on Saturday by the publication’s columnist Jonathan Liew is titled, “A corner of north London where food has become a battleground in the Israel-Gaza war.” It claimed Gail’s “very presence” in the Archway neighborhood near a Palestinian cafe called Cafe Metro was “symbolic” of “heavy-handed high-street aggression.” The accusation was made in a paragraph that said Bain Capital “invests heavily” in Israeli security companies.
“Campaigners point out that its parent company, Bain Capital, invests heavily in military technology, including Israeli security companies,” the piece previously read. “And so even though Gail’s describes itself as ‘a British business with no specific connections to any country or government outside the UK’, its very presence 20 meters away from a small independent Palestinian café feels quietly symbolic, an act of heavy-handed high-street aggression.”
On Tuesday, the claim about Gail’s “heavy-handed high street aggression” was moved in the article and now follows accusations about the bakery “accelerating gentrification and squeezing out smaller outlets.” The article also now says that Gail’s is acting just “like the multinationals that landed before it.” The mention about Bain Capital and Gail’s having “no specific connections to any country or government outside of the UK” has been moved to its own paragraph.
Liew also wrote that Cafe Metro was “a marker of the Palestinian identity that Israel’s bombs and snipers are so intent on erasing” and described Gail’s as a “predator” in the neighborhood. Those references have not been edited or removed from the article.
Jonathan Liew’s opinion piece for The Guardian before it was edited. Photo: Screenshot
Jonathan Liew’s opinion piece for The Guardian after edits were made on March 17. Photo: Screenshot
A note from the editor, posted at the end of the article, explained that the reference to Gail’s new location in London mimicking “an act of heavy-handed high street aggression” has been “repositioned to clarify it meant to refer to the described fears about the chain’s impact on small traders.” The note also tried to clarify the notion among critics that the article mitigated the recent acts of vandalism targeting Gail’s.
“A comment contrasting activism that is capable of influencing global events with ‘small acts of petty symbolism,’ which was not intended to minimize local vandalism but rather to suggest its misdirected futility, has been removed to avoid misunderstanding,” it said. Editors also removed from the article its introduction, which read: “A smashed window here, a provocative sticker there. In an age when protest feels increasingly meaningless, it’s no wonder that acts of petty symbolism are on the rise.”
Before the changes were made, the article had been accused of perpetuating antisemitism and was heavily criticized by Jewish groups, pro-Israel activists, politicians, radio hosts, Gail Bakery’s chief executive Tom Molnar, and journalists, including Jewish staff members at The Guardian. Gail’s supporters claimed the article inappropriately targeted the bakery chain because it happened to open a branch in close proximity to a Palestinian cafe.
The article has also been accused of attempting to justify the vandalism it has faced recently.
The British charity Campaign Against Antisemitism said the piece was “encouraging anti-Israeli sentiment among its readers,” while the UK’s Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch called the article “antisemitic,” “utterly ridiculous,” and “appalling.” The media-monitoring organization CAMERA UK said the column was “downplaying the campaign of intimidation against a Jewish-linked business while presenting activists in a sympathetic light.”
Alex Gandler, the spokesperson for Israel’s Embassy in the UK, said the piece was “an astonishing exercise in bigotry disguised as moral commentary.”
“Beneath its surface lies a familiar and ugly trope: the re-packaging of antisemitic prejudice in fashionable political language … the insinuation that Jewish success or presence represents some form of encroachment by powerful ‘global’ forces,” he added. “For a newspaper that presents itself as a guardian of liberal values, publishing such rhetoric is deeply disappointing. Opinion pages should encourage debate and scrutiny. They should not revive centuries-old stereotypes under the guise of social commentary. This piece should never have been written, and it certainly should never have been published.”
The Board of Deputies of British Jews said: “It is not acceptable to relate to the opening of a bakery as an act of ‘aggression’ … Most people will find this article, seeped in tropes and innuendos, as deeply insidious, and will want to know why The Guardian thinks an op-ed seemingly justifying tensions between communities has a place on its pages.”
A pro-Israel protest was also held outside The Guardian headquarters in London on Wednesday in response to the offensive opinion piece.
The edits to the article were insufficient for many observers, including Camera UK. “So, it was all just a silly ‘misunderstanding,’” it posted on X. “No apology. Nothing to see here. And, certainly, NO antisemitism.”
“That is not how you correct this travesty of an ‘opinion,” Gandler wrote on X. “Correction in hindsight, after this failure should be a complete withdrawal, not a rewriting of history.”
Tom Molnar, the bakery chain’s chief executive, responded to the article on Monday.
“We live in a democracy that welcomes different opinions, but we will not accept hate and intimidation in our bakeries,” he said, as reported by The Times. “We are a neighborhood bakery that is on a mission to feed more people, better. We are firm believers that a healthy high street is a diverse one made up of many different businesses, from many different backgrounds, each playing its part. We want to serve the best possible food to our communities, and the vandalism we experienced in Archway serves as a distraction from doing just that.”
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WikiLeaks: From Classified Database to an Anti-Israel Propaganda Platform
WikiLeaks Julian Assange in an interview with Fox News. Photo: Screenshot.
Founded in 2006 as a platform for leaked documents exposing war, espionage, and corruption, WikiLeaks built its reputation on radical transparency.
Despite the controversy surrounding its publication of classified material, the organization gained global recognition, winning numerous awards and becoming best known for releasing documents related to the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Today, its X account tells a very different story.
With more than 5.6 million followers, WikiLeaks has increasingly become a hub for anti-Israel conspiracy theories — content that bears little resemblance to its original mission of publishing classified material.
Rather than exposing new information, the account now appears to construct narratives about Israel and the Jewish people using documents that are neither classified nor newly revealed, amplified through carefully timed posts.
The pattern is clear. Two months into Israel’s war with Hamas, WikiLeaks resurfaced a document it first published in 2010 claiming that an “Israeli intelligence chief encouraged Hamas’ takeover of the Gaza Strip” — a framing that shifts blame for the conflict onto Israel.
Since the start of 2026, the account has posted 15 times (excluding replies). Of those, 11 focused entirely on Israel or the Jewish people.
Its most recent example is particularly telling. WikiLeaks “leaked” a document dated July 21, 1947, written by US President Harry S. Truman, which includes derogatory remarks about Jews.
What the account failed to mention is that the document was made public in 2003 and is therefore not a leak. Nor did it provide the broader historical context, including Truman’s decision to recognize the State of Israel immediately after its founding.
Instead, the post highlights a willingness to promote inflammatory material to an audience primed to accept it. In doing so, WikiLeaks helps sustain an online echo chamber where misleading anti-Israel narratives circulate with little scrutiny.
This dynamic is amplified by high-profile activists such as Shaun King and Susan Abulhawa, who readily repeat and disseminate such claims to large audiences, transforming misleading posts into widely shared talking points.
The trend is not new. In October 2025, WikiLeaks helped spread the false claim that pro-Israel influencers were being paid $7,000 per post to “increase global influence.” Yet the documents cited provided no evidence for such payments or any breakdown of how funds were allocated.
WikiLeaks’ fixation on Israel is not limited to its social media output. Its founder, Julian Assange, has his own record of anti-Israel activism, raising further questions about the organization’s impartiality.
In 2012, Assange launched The Julian Assange Show, produced by the Russian state-controlled network RT. His first guest was Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, whom Assange allowed to portray Israel as an “illegal state” while framing media coverage as a “war” against Hezbollah.
Assange’s activism has also been taken to the streets. More recently, in August 2025, Assange was seen leading a pro-Palestinian protest in Sydney that featured flags of terrorist organizations and imagery of their leaders.
If WikiLeaks was founded to expose censored information in the public interest, its current trajectory raises serious questions about its purpose. Rather than prioritizing transparency, the organization now appears increasingly focused on amplifying anti-Israel narratives detached from its original mission.
With a platform reaching millions – and bolstered by influential amplifiers – misleading claims are circulated and legitimized with little scrutiny. What emerges is not a commitment to truth, but an ecosystem in which information is selectively curated to reinforce an anti-Israel worldview.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
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Argentine Jewish Community Commemorates Deadly Israeli Embassy Bombing as Justice Remains Elusive, 34 Years Later
A display of posters at the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, highlighting the plight of hostages seized by Hamas. Photo: Reuters/Añeli Pablo
Argentina’s Jewish community on Tuesday marked the 34th anniversary of the devastating bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, a brutal attack that still casts a long shadow of unresolved grief and unanswered questions.
On March 17, 1992, a truck bomb exploded outside the embassy, ripping through the building and killing 29 people while injuring more than 240 others in one of Argentina’s deadliest terror attacks.
The blast was widely attributed to operatives linked to the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah with support from Tehran, though no one has ever been brought to justice for the tragedy.
A 34 años del atentado contra la Embajada de Israel en Buenos Aires, recordamos a las 29 víctimas asesinadas el 17 de marzo de 1992 y rendimos homenaje a todos los afectados por este brutal acto terrorista.
Esclarecer este ataque sigue siendo un deber irrenunciable de nuestra… pic.twitter.com/OXTUuTiL8w
— Casa Rosada (@CasaRosada) March 17, 2026
Just two years later, the country was shaken by another horrific attack when a bomb destroyed the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish community center, killing 85 people and injuring over 300 others.
More than three decades on, those responsible for either atrocity have yet to be brought to justice, leaving survivors and families still searching for accountability.
On Tuesday, the Israeli Embassy in Argentina hosted a remembrance ceremony where officials, including Argentine President Javier Milei, gathered to mark the anniversary, pay respects to the victims, and call for justice that has long been delayed.
“There can be no truce against terrorism. Iran despises life and seeks to destroy freedom,” Milei said during a speech at the ceremony.
“Argentina is Israel’s ally, and we are bound by the same values,” he continued.
The Argentine leader also reaffirmed his steadfast support for the United States and Israel in the ongoing war with Iran, describing it as a critical turning point and highlighting his dedication to international cooperation.
The Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA), the country’s Jewish umbrella organization, also paid respect to the victims while emphasizing the community’s enduring strength and unity.
“Memory is not just remembrance: it is a collective responsibility to build a society without impunity, where terrorism has no place,” DAIA wrote in a post on X.
A 34 años del atentado perpetrado contra la Embajada de Israel en Argentina, acompañamos un nuevo acto de memoria, recogimiento y compromiso.
Recordamos a las víctimas, abrazamos a sus familias y renovamos el pedido de justicia, que sigue siendo una deuda pendiente.
La memoria… pic.twitter.com/NhZZrUT71c
— DAIA (@DAIAArgentina) March 17, 2026
In 2024, Argentina’s second-highest court ruled that the 1994 attack in Buenos Aires was “organized, planned, financed, and executed under the direction of the authorities of the Islamic State of Iran, within the framework of Islamic Jihad.”
Argentine authorities concluded that the terror attack was carried out by Hezbollah terrorists acting on what they described as “a political and strategic design” orchestrated by Iran.
The court additionally ruled that Iran was also responsible for the truck bombing of the Israeli embassy.
Argentine investigators concluded that the 1992 bombing was likely carried out in retaliation for then-President Carlos Menem’s cancellation of three agreements with Iran involving nuclear equipment and technology.
Despite Argentina’s longstanding belief that Hezbollah 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 has refused to arrest or extradite any suspects.
Earlier this month, the lead prosecutor in the case requested the indictment of 10 Iranian and Lebanese nationals suspected of involvement in the deadly attack.
Among those named was Ahmad Vahidi, who was recently appointed the new head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an Iranian military force and internationally designated terrorist organization.
He replaced Mohammad Pakpour, who was killed during the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran, which has resulted in the death of several high-ranking officials.
In 1994, Vahidi commanded the IRGC’s Quds Force, which is responsible for managing Iran’s proxies and terrorist operations abroad.
Despite Interpol issuing red notices for their arrest, neither Iran nor Lebanon has handed over any suspects, allowing them to remain beyond the reach of Argentine authorities.
For the first time, Argentina has now ordered that suspects be tried in absentia following a legal change in March that removed the requirement for defendants to be physically present in court.