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Massive trove of prewar Jewish artifacts unearthed by construction workers in Poland
(JTA) — Construction workers renovating an old tenement house in Lodz, Poland, unearthed a surprising find: an untouched cache of hundreds of Jewish artifacts believed to have been hidden in advance of the Nazi occupation of the city.
The trove — which included menorahs, kiddush and ritual washing cups and items from everyday life, all wrapped carefully in newspaper — was buried next to a building just beyond the ghetto in which Lodz’s Jews were imprisoned during the Holocaust. Only about 10,000 Lodz Jews survived until the end of the war, out of a prewar population of about 230,000.
“A find like this comes along once in a decade,” Adam Pustelnik, the vice mayor of Lodz, said in a tweet.
https://twitter.com/AdamPustelnik/status/1610655035712757763
“The discovery is remarkable, especially the quantity. These are extremely valuable, historic items that testify to the history of the inhabitants of this building,” said Agnieszka Kowalewska-Wójcik, director of the Board of Municipal Investments in Łódź, according to Polish media. She said the artifacts are being transferred to the city’s archaeological museum, adding, “I hope a special, generally accessible exhibition will be prepared.”
Before World War II, Lodz, one of Poland’s major industrial centers, was one of the largest Jewish communities in Europe, numbering over 230,000 or 31% of the city. Almost all of them were killed by the Nazis during their occupation of the city from 1939 to 1945.
“For us archaeologists, such unusual finds are a challenge, but also a great joy. I don’t remember the last time such treasures were unearthed in Łódź.” said Bartłomiej Gwóźdź, a local archaeologist. “At the moment, each item is carefully cleaned so that nothing is damaged, broken or destroyed.”
Two of the discovered menorahs were lit during Hanukkah celebrations this year by Lodz’s Jewish community, whose offices happen to be on the other side of the block from the building on Północna street, where the trove was discovered.
The trove is not the first notable Jewish relic to be unearthed in Lodz. In 2018, workers excavating a building that was inside the Jewish ghetto uncovered what researchers concluded was a bloody prayer shawl that had been left behind during a 1940 pogrom, when the Nazis attacked Jews who had gathered to pray on Yom Kippur.
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Israel Estimates US Blockade of Strait of Hormuz to Slash Iran Oil Exports by 80%
A vessel at the Strait of Hormuz, off the coast of Oman’s Musandam province, April 12, 2026. Photo: REUTERS
As Iran struggles to rebuild damaged military and energy infrastructure amid the current ceasefire, Israel estimates that a US naval blockade of Iranian ports will slash the regime’s oil exports by roughly 80 percent, nearly severing one of Tehran’s last remaining economic lifelines.
According to Israeli security assessments, the US closure of the Strait of Hormuz — a critical global energy chokepoint through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes — triggered an immediate and dramatic collapse in Iran’s revenue that will lead to a loss of more than $1 billion a month, Walla reported.
US President Donald Trump has claimed the regime is losing about $500 million a day as a result of the blockade. Some experts, such as Miad Maleki of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank, have put the figure at roughly $450 million lost in daily economic activity for Iran.
Regardless of the specific amount, given that energy exports remain the backbone of the regime’s economy, what is left of oil revenues now amounts to little more than a fragile lifeline keeping Tehran temporarily afloat as financial pressure continues to mount.
Even with the naval blockade in place, Iranian authorities have managed to maintain a limited flow of exports by transporting oil from inland production fields to the Gulf of Oman through the multi-billion-dollar Gura–Jask pipeline, an overland route that moves roughly 300,000 barrels per day to global markets.
Israeli officials assess that the blockade and resultant shortfall for Tehran could set off a chain reaction of disruptions, including the shutdown of entire segments of the oil industry.
They also point to severe damage across Iran’s petrochemical and defense sectors, which together have cost an estimated 100,000 jobs at multiple levels, arguing that the cumulative impact is pushing the Iranian regime into a corner.
After repeated efforts to bring Iran back to the negotiating table, the Trump administration escalated pressure on Tehran earlier this month by imposing a naval blockade on vessels entering or leaving Iranian ports through the Strait of Hormuz, aiming to force a deal that would bring an end to the conflict.
Since the start of the war earlier this year, Iran has used control over the Strait of Hormuz as a major source of leverage, militarizing the waterway and sharply restricting maritime traffic through one of the world’s most critical shipping corridors.
Iran has also signaled it intends to maintain control over the strategic shipping lane even after the war ends, potentially imposing transit fees framed as compensation for wartime damage.
After Trump extended the ceasefire indefinitely on Tuesday to allow for renewed diplomatic efforts, it now remains to be seen whether Iran will agree to return to negotiations, as questions persist over whether both sides can bridge widening differences to restart talks.
According to The New York Times, US officials previously proposed a 20-year halt to Iranian uranium enrichment, which Iranian negotiators countered with a five-year suspension that Washington rejected. The White House has also reportedly insisted that Iran dismantle major enrichment sites and surrender more than 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium.
Even as the regime faces one of its most severe economic crises in decades, Iranian authorities have continued pouring billions into rebuilding military and nuclear infrastructure and supporting regional proxy forces, prioritizing strategic confrontation with Israel over urgent domestic needs such as the country’s worsening water crisis.
The regime has spent billions of dollars supporting its terrorist proxies across the Middle East and operations abroad, with the Quds Force, Iran’s elite paramilitary unit, funneling funds to the Lebanese group Hezbollah, in defiance of international sanctions.
According to the US Treasury Department, Iran provided more than $100 million per month to Hezbollah in 2025, with $1 billion representing only a portion of Tehran’s overall support for the terrorist group, using a “shadow financial system” to transfer funds to Lebanon.
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VIDEO: A creative way to make Yiddish come alive in the classroom
לעסלי טערנער, אַ גראַדויִר־סטודענטקע אין פּראָפֿ׳ אַנאַ שטערנשיסעס קלאַס בײַם טאָראָנטאָ־אוניווערסיטעט, האַלט בײַם פֿאַרענדיקן אַ מאַגיסטער אין ייִדיש־לימודים. זי האַלט, אַז זי — און אַנדערע ייִדיש־סטודענטן — קענען העלפֿן אױפֿהאַלטן די ייִדישע שפּראַך דורכן שאַפֿן נײַע ווערק אין ייִדיש.
מיט פֿינף יאָר צוריק האָט זי אָנגעהױבן שרײַבן און אינסצענירן ליאַלקע־שפּילן אױף ייִדיש. דאָס איז געװען דער אָנהײב פֿון אַ סעריע אויפֿפֿירונגען, ניצנדיק צוויי ליאַלקעס: אַ הײַפֿיש וואָס הייסט הײַפֿישעלע, און אַ פּיפּערנאָטער. יעדן זומער פֿירט זי אויף אַ ליאַלקע־שפּיל אויף דער „ייִדיש־וואָך“, אין איינעם מיטן שיקאַגער ייִדישיסט אַבֿי פֿריד.
לעצטנס האָט טערנער און אַ צווייטער סטודענט, גריים מײַערס, אויפֿגעפֿירט אַ נײַ־געשאַפֿענע ליאַלקע־שפּיל אין שטערנשיסעס קלאַס, פֿילמירט דורך צוויי אַנדערע סטודענטקעס מרים באָרדען און אליזה אַוטען. די פֿאָרשטעלונג, „הײַפֿישעלע און פּיפּערנאָטער קומען קײן ניו יאָרק“, האָט אַזאַ סיפּור־המעשׂה:
הײַפֿישעלע און פּיפּערנאָטער פֿאַרלאָזן זײער שטעטעלע און פֿאָרן קײן ניו־יאָרק, כּדי פּיפּערנאָטער זאָל קענען ממשיך זײַן זײַן קאַריערע ווי אַן אַקטיאָר. דאָס יאָר איז 1916 און די באַרימטע אַקטריסע בעסי טאָמאַשעפֿסקי פֿירט אָן מיט איר אײגענער טעאַטער־טרופּע. זי האָט נאָר װאָס געהאַט אַרױסגעגעבן איר לעבנס געשיכטע.
בעסי מוז אָבער קאָנקורירן מיט איר אומגעטרײַען מאַן, דעם באַרימטן אַקטיאָר באָריס טאָמאַשעפֿסקי, וואָס האָט אויך אַ טעאַטער־טרופּע. באַשליסט זי צו געבן פּיפּערנאָטער אַ ראָלע אין אַ ייִדישער איבערזעצונג פֿון שייקספּירס פּיעסע „האַמלעט“, וווּ זי אַליין שפּילט די הויפּטראָלע.
דאָס וואָס טערנער שרײַבט און פֿירט אויף ליאַלקע־שפּילן ווי אַ טייל פֿונעם ייִדיש־קלאַס קאָן טאַקע דינען ווי אַ מוסטער פֿאַר לערער און סטודענטן פֿון ייִדיש־קורסן איבער דער וועלט. ערשטנס, העלפֿט עס פֿאַרבעסערן די שפּראַך־פֿעיִקייטן פֿונעם מחבר, די ליאַלקע־שפּילער און די צוקוקערס. צווייטנס, קען עס אַרײַנברענגען אַ היימישע, חבֿרישע שטימונג אינעם ייִדיש־קלאַס.
— שׂרה־רחל שעכטער
The post VIDEO: A creative way to make Yiddish come alive in the classroom appeared first on The Forward.
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Israel Competes in World Cheerleading Championships for First Time Ever
Israeli national flags flutter near office towers at a business park also housing high tech companies, at Ofer Park in Petah Tikva, Israel, Aug. 27, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Israel is competing for the first time ever in the 2026 ICU World Cheerleading Championships.
The competition begins on Wednesday, which is also Israel’s Independence Day.
The ISCU, the official cheerleading organization in Israel that is supported by EL AL Airlines, made the announcement and posted footage on Instagram of the athletes and their final rehearsal before flying to the US for the competition, which will take place until Friday in Orlando, Florida. Ludmila Yasinskaya-Demari is the president of the Israel Cheer Union.
“Today, on Israel’s Independence Day, the Israeli cheerleading team has the honor of competing on the world stage,” the ISCU wrote in an Instagram post. “It’s a very moving and meaningful moment for us to represent Israel on such an important day — with pride, strength, and love for our country. Thank you to EL AL for supporting us in this way. There’s something symbolic and special about flying and competing with Israel’s national airline. From Israel to the world — the Israeli team is ready.”
The championship is being held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex at Disney World, and is organized by the International Cheer Union, the official world governing body for cheerleading. Israel is a member of the European Cheer Union and the International Cheer Union. It will compete in the POM category and in two doubles pairs competitions.
Team USA is after its ninth, consecutive co-ed premier world title at the World Cheerleading Championships. The US has won gold since 2021 and also won the competition from 2016 through 2019. The competition was not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2015, the US came in second place behind Team Chinese Taipei. The US is also the defending champion in the All Girl Premier category.