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Meet the woman who built a home for Latin Jewish youth in Miami
This article was produced as part of JTA’s Teen Journalism Fellowship, a program that works with Jewish teens around the world to report on issues that affect their lives.
MIAMI (JTA) —After spending her early childhood in Venezuela, it was not always easy for Gabriella Koenig to feel connected to the Jewish community she grew up around in Miami.
“When I moved from Venezuela, I had to leave behind the whole community and my friends. Living in a new place, it was difficult to meet and connect with other Latin Jewish friends. That is until I found La Casa,” said Koenig, 14. “La Casa has allowed me to connect with other Latin Jewish teenagers and has inspired me to learn Torah and grow to a higher spiritual level.”
La Casa is the first Latino chapter of the Orthodox youth group National Conference of Synagogue Youth in the United States. The person responsible for building this community for Koeing and other Latino Jews in Miami is Lea Bekhar.
When Bekhar moved to Miami from Panama at the age of 29 to start working for NCSY, she had one goal in mind: to make a home for the large population of Latin American Jewish teenagers in the Miami-Dade area through La Casa.
“There were no classes for teens, everything available in the area was for young professionals — 20 and up,” Bekhar said. She noticed that the few programs that were available for teens were often tailored for those who did not keep Shabbat, having meetings every Saturday. With this in mind she began running her own events for all teens.
Each Thursday after school, La Casa hosts events mean to be both community-building and educational. The meetings include a meal, religious education and an activity — which ranges from movies to discussions to games — to end the night. There isn’t a physical building; instead, each week a teenager from the group opens their home for the gathering.
Although aimed towards the Latino audience, La Casa is open for all teenagers seeking religious studies, guidance and community. And while the staff and institution is Orthodox, the organization serves Jewish kids from many backgrounds. About 40% of individuals in attendance don’t observe Shabbat or keep kosher and about 1% are not Latino, according to La Casa membership data.
“The slogan is ‘a home for your soul.’ It’s a place where they know there is no judgment, they could ask all the questions and they could find a community of like-minded people that they’re going to feel safe to open up,” Bekhar, 31, said.
Her goals for La Casa stem from her own teenage experience in Panama.
“When I was a teenager, I found that the one thing that kept me grounded was that aspect of faith,” Bekhar said. “And that’s what I want [here]. I want them to thrive for meaning in their life and to find a Jewish family, outside of their nuclear family.”
After teaching Judaic studies at the high school level in Panama for two years and through her previous work in NCSY, Bekhar learned to recognize an engaged community in which members are eager to attend and participate in events and programs. Yet, upon her arrival to the Miami-Dade area she saw first-hand the lack of opportunities for engagement, specifically for Latino teens. The Jewish Latino teens she met that were part of other religious groups didn’t seem to actually enjoy the youth community. La Casa marked a shift in engagement and provided an opportunity which teenagers were excited to participate in, she said.
“I never thought I would see so many kids go to an optional, after-school shiur [Torah lesson] on a Thursday night. Bringing all of us together, from both religious and non-religious backgrounds, La Casa provided us an opportunity to bond and still enjoy some words of Torah,” one teen participant, Jaime Mizrahi, said. “I look forward to the La Casa events throughout the week to be able to enjoy myself with my friends while still learning. In fact, even when I have already studied Torah throughout the day, I still go to La Casa because it is a nice environment to be in.”
Creating an engaged community did not come easy, and Bekhar had to do much research before beginning her mission.
“Every community is different. This is a community of Latin Jews, so it was important to recognize the community in Miami as Latino and treat it as such,” Bekhar said. In one of her first updates to her bosses prior to the September kickoff event, Bekhar recognized that the Latino population mostly lives in the Aventura and Bal Harbor area, and “they are divided into communities according to where they came from.” Some differences she noticed were that “Argentinians are less open about religion” while “Mexicans and Colombians are more open but aren’t part of the same community.”
Bekhar was able to use this knowledge to better target her audience.
“I have had to really mold the program to my audience. Many of the kids who regularly attend are second generation Latinos, so although their parents relate to their Latin origin, many of the kids not so much,” said Bekhar. “The Latin group is very different to their American counterparts culturally. Parents want them to connect not only to their religion, but to their Latin roots.”
Bekhar also incorporated program ideas from the Latin communities in Chile and Argentina.
“Programming made for American teens tends to have a very educational base, ours is more rooted in community,” Bekhar said. “The content is always very morally oriented and is centered on character development.”
One of the biggest hurdles for her was distrust from parents in the community. New and unknown, she had to create “an open relationship with all [the] mothers” in order for them to “feel comfortable voicing any concern.” Her approach worked.
“Since meeting Lea and becoming familiar with La Casa I’ve been impressed with her incredible personality and her ability to connect not only with young people, but with people of all ages. She’s a kind and empathetic young woman who will change the future of many Jewish souls,” said Anat Garzo, a mother to a La Casa teen and former board member of the Jewish Community Services Latin Committee.
Despite troubles she faced at first, Bekhar persevered and in the six months she’s been building La Casa, she grew participation to 120 teens.
One of those teens is Sofia Wengrowsky, a second-generation Mexican teenager. She recognizes the influence La Casa has on all aspects of her life.
“La Casa has allowed me to grow as an individual and has given me the opportunity to open a door to other young teenagers who are looking to grow in Judaism,” Wengrowsky, 17, said. “I leave every activity being able to learn something of impact.”
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The post Meet the woman who built a home for Latin Jewish youth in Miami appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Israel, US condemn Belgium over planned prosecutions tied to Jewish circumcisions
(JTA) — A diplomatic spat erupted on Wednesday after Belgian prosecutors moved to charge two Jewish men tied to ritual circumcisions, prompting Israeli and U.S. officials to accuse Belgium of targeting Jews for practicing their faith.
Gideon Saar, Israel’s minister of foreign affairs, lit into the country in a post on X Wednesday morning, calling the indictments a “scarlet letter on Belgian society.”
“With this act Belgium joins a short and shameful list, together with Ireland, of countries that use criminal law to prosecute Jews for practicing Judaism,” Saar wrote, later calling circumcision a “cornerstone of Jewish faith” and urging the Belgian government to “act immediately and to find a solution.”
Saar’s condemnation was quickly joined by the U.S. ambassador to Belgium, Bill White, who had previously called on Belgium to drop the “ridiculous and antisemitic” investigation of mohels in February.
“This is a shameful stain on Belgium,” White wrote in a post on X. “The prosecution of these religious figures (mohels), one of whom is American, is WRONG and won’t be tolerated. Belgium will be thought of now as anti Semitic by world. Until this is resolved – there is no way around it.”
White, a President Donald Trump appointee who faced criticism for amplifying social media posts by a far-right Belgian political activist convicted of racism and Holocaust denial, added that the “Trump Administration condemns this judicial action” and called on the Belgian government to “work with the Jewish leaders and communities to find a certification solution immediately.”
The condemnation by White and Saar comes after the Antwerp Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that it intends to prosecute two Jewish men on charges related to performing circumcisions, a practice that is required by law to be performed by licensed medical professionals in Belgium.
Last year, Belgian authorities raided multiple sites, including two in Antwerp’s Jewish Quarter, at the beginning of an investigation into illegal circumcisions. Investigators also requested lists of children who had recently been circumcised, according to VRT NWS, the Flemish public broadcaster.
But the sharp criticism by the two leaders was later dismissed by Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot, who wrote in a reply to White’s post that it was “inappropriate to publicly criticize a country and tarnish its image simply because you disagree with judicial proceedings.”
“I recall that the proceedings in question were initiated by representatives of the Jewish community themselves,” Prévot continued. “To portray those as a country’s desire to undermine the religious freedom of Jews is defamatory. This freedom has never been called into question and never will be in our country. Our Constitution protects it. And it is not for an ambassador to dictate the government’s agenda.”
In response to Saar’s post, Prévot wrote, “Enough with these caricatures.”
“Since you yourself recently urged against conducting diplomacy via Twitter, I suggest that we discuss all these issues during a meeting in Israel at a time that suits you best, in order to put an end to any misinterpretations,” Prévot continued.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Israel, US condemn Belgium over planned prosecutions tied to Jewish circumcisions appeared first on The Forward.
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Rutgers disinvites commencement speaker over tweet claiming Israelis ‘train dogs to sexually assault prisoners’
(JTA) — Administrators at Rutgers University have canceled a commencement speaker scheduled for next week, citing an “inflammatory claim” the speaker tweeted about Israel.
Rami Elghandour, a Rutgers alumnus and a producer of an Oscar-nominated docudrama about a Palestinian girl who died in Gaza, was set to deliver the speech at the university’s School of Engineering on May 15. But the university, New Jersey’s public flagship, rescinded the invitation on Wednesday.
The Associated Press was the first to report that Elghandour’s invitation had been rescinded and that the university said social media posts about Israel were the cause.
To the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, a university representative specifically cited an April 20 tweet by Elghandour that accuses Israel of genocide and says the Israelis are “running dungeons where they train dogs to sexually assault prisoners.”
The tweet was a response to a post from California Rep. Ro Khanna advocating for cutting U.S. aid to Israel, which was itself a response to a post by AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby that has become a bogeyman in U.S. politics. The unsubstantiated claim that Israel trains dogs to assault prisoners has circulated widely in recent weeks among some pro-Palestinian activists.
“The Rutgers School of Engineering was recently informed that some graduating students would not attend their graduation ceremony due to concerns about the invited speaker’s social media posts, including one that shared an inflammatory claim,” Dory Devlin, a representative for Rutgers University, told JTA in an email. “After discussing these concerns with the speaker, the School of Engineering has rescinded the convocation speaker invitation to Rami Elghandour.”
Elghandour, who owns a biotech company and was an executive producer for the award-winning documentary “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” declined through a spokesperson to respond to a JTA request for comment. The spokesperson pointed to his statement on social media, where he disparaged the school’s decision.
“After a ‘few’ students complained about my selection as speaker because of my social media advocacy for Palestine, Rutgers has canceled my speech,” Elghandour wrote. “They decided that the feelings of a handful of students who said that my social media posts ‘opposed their beliefs’, were more important than the experience of the entire graduating class, the reputation of the school, the dignity and belonging of Arab and Muslim students, and the First Amendment.”
In addition to executive-producing “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” Elghandour was also a producer on the film “American Doctor,” about three physicians — including a Palestinian and a Jew — who traveled to Gaza to aid civilians there.
Rutgers University Hillel, the campus Jewish group that also engages students around Israel, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rutgers settled a federal civil rights investigation into its handling of antisemitism in January 2025. It agreed to update its anti-discrimination policies as investigators were poised to find that the school did not protect Jewish students from antisemitism in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.
The incident adds to a string of dustups over Israel at commencements this year and in the past. The University of Michigan’s president apologized after faculty senate chair Derek Peterson praised pro-Palestinian student protesters during his speech on Saturday; Elghandour shared several posts in defense of Peterson’s speech.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Rutgers disinvites commencement speaker over tweet claiming Israelis ‘train dogs to sexually assault prisoners’ appeared first on The Forward.
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London Police Set Up Specialist Jewish Protection Team
A police officer stands at the scene, after a man was arrested following a stabbing incident in the Golders Green area, which is home to a large Jewish population, in London, Britain, April 29, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Hannah McKay
British police are setting up a new team of 100 officers including counter terrorism specialists to help protect Jewish communities across London after a series of antisemitic attacks including the stabbing of two men.
The plan announced on Wednesday for a dedicated protection team comes as officers announced more arrests for antisemitism, including detaining a 35-year-old man on Saturday after rocks were thrown at an ambulance belonging to the Jewish community.
London‘s top police boss Mark Rowley said Jewish communities were facing “sustained threats” from hostile state actors as well as extreme right-wing groups, elements of the extreme left, and Islamist terrorists.
Detectives are examining whether the arson incidents have possible Iranian links, after British security officials warned that Iran was using criminal proxies to carry out hostile activity.
Since late March, there have been a number of high-profile arson attacks with four Jewish ambulances burned and synagogues targeted. Last week, two Jewish men were also stabbed. Both victims survived the attack.
Over the past four weeks, police said they had arrested around 50 people for antisemitic hate crimes and charged eight individuals. On top of that, 28 arrests have been made as part of investigations alongside counter terrorism policing for arson and other serious incidents.
“This new team will be primarily focused on protecting the Jewish community, which faces some of the highest levels of hate crime alongside significant terrorist and hostile state threats,” said a statement from London‘s Metropolitan Police force.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer convened a meeting on Monday with business, health and cultural leaders aimed at trying to tackle antisemitism.