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The deadliest act of antisemitism on American soil is remembered in a new exhibit
(New York Jewish Week) — At first glance, the prayer book is one that’s found at countless Conservative synagogues across the country: Siddur Sim Shalom, which was published in 1985 by the Rabbinical Assembly.
But the chewed-up appearance of the book’s left corner tells a different story: This siddur was grazed by a bullet during the Oct. 27, 2018 mass shooting at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue. That day, 11 Jewish worshippers from three congregations were killed during prayer services — the deadliest act of antisemitism on American soil.
The book is one of 22 objects on view at a new exhibition at the Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. The exhibit chronicles the long history of American antisemitism before and after Pittsburgh, from the 1915 lynching of Leo Frank, a Jew who was wrongly convicted of murder, to the firebombing last June at a pro-Israel demonstration in Boulder, Colorado, where at least seven people were injured and one later died.
“Lessons from the Tree of Life: Lighting the Path Forward” is part of a series of exhibits, events and installations at the museum marking three terrible anniversaries: the Tree of Life shooting in Pittsburgh, the Oct. 7 invasion of Israel by Hamas and Kristallnacht, the Nazi-led pogrom of Nov. 9, 1938.
“We decided that at this point in time that [an exhibit on Pittsburgh] would be an important thing to do,” Jack Kliger, CEO of the Museum of Jewish Heritage told the New York Jewish Week. “And, obviously, the events going on both here and around the world are so timely, and important in a very elemental way. [It’s] a time for us to have hope.”
He added, “But we cannot have hope without remembering and understanding who we are, where we came from, and the history of the events, particularly in the 20th century.”
The Pittsburgh exhibit was created by the Museum of Jewish Heritage, Tree of Life — a new memorial that’s rising at the site of the Pittsburgh shooting — and the Rauh Jewish History Program and Archives at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh.
Other items on view include a hand-painted commemorative plate with the Pittsburgh Steelers’ logo, a Star of David and the phrase “stronger than hate”; a painting of children’s television star and Pittsburgh native Fred Rogers, in tears in front of the Tree of Life logo; and notes written on miniature ribbon scrolls, penned by members of Temple Beth Orr in Coral Gables, Florida — a synagogue whose community was deeply affected by the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
The exhibit opened on Sunday, Oct. 5, which is also the day that many Jews around the world commemorated the second anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion of Israel. (This year, Oct. 7 falls on the first day of the festival holiday of Sukkot, and many Jewish institutions — including the museum — will be closed.) “Lessons from the Tree of Life” will be on view in New York through Nov. 9 — the 87th anniversary of Kristallnacht, when Nazi-led mobs torched synagogues, looted Jewish-owned shops and arrested Jews.
The confluence of all three harrowing anniversaries means it’s a busy time for the museum. As such, a parallel exhibit also opened on Sunday: “Maintaining Memory,” a reflection space where visitors are invited to a rotunda where a ner tamid (eternal flame) in the shape of a menorah, crafted in Romania in 1930, is lit.
“All of this is designed to remember and honor those who were lost as well as those who survived,” Kliger added, referring to the victims of Oct. 7, the Tree of Life shooting and Kristallnacht. “And the story of survival is very important in all three instances.”
The exhibits are part of “a commemorative series of events and installations in the museum,” said Kliger. Such events include three days of Oct. 7-related programming, including a screening of the film “Torn,” about the battle over the “Kidnapped” posters on New York City’s streets, and a conversation about uprooting antisemitism with Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs,; Atlantic writer Yair Rosenberg, and Carole Zawatsky, CEO of the Tree of Life museum.
“We’ve always committed ourselves to covering 20th century Jewish life before, during and since the Holocaust,“ Kliger said. “The Holocaust was not a meteor that hit the Earth by itself. It happened in the context of events that happened before, and sadly, events that continue to happen, but that we continue to fight to make sure that ‘never again’ has a meaning.”
For more information about the exhibits and events at The Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust (36 Battery Place), click here.
The post The deadliest act of antisemitism on American soil is remembered in a new exhibit appeared first on The Forward.
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Tucker’s Ideas About Jews Come from Darkest Corners of the Internet, Says Huckabee After Combative Interview
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on during the day he visits the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – In a combative interview with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, right-wing firebrand Tucker Carlson made a host of contentious and often demonstrably false claims that quickly went viral online. Huckabee, who repeatedly challenged the former Fox News star during the interview, subsequently made a long post on X, identifying a pattern of bad-faith arguments, distortions and conspiracies in Carlson’s rhetorical style.
Huckabee pointed out his words were not accorded by Carlson the same degree of attention and curiosity the anchor evinced toward such unsavory characters as “the little Nazi sympathizer Nick Fuentes or the guy who thought Hitler was the good guy and Churchill the bad guy.”
“What I wasn’t anticipating was a lengthy series of questions where he seemed to be insinuating that the Jews of today aren’t really same people as the Jews of the Bible,” Huckabee wrote, adding that Tucker’s obsession with conspiracies regarding the provenance of Ashkenazi Jews obscured the fact that most Israeli Jews were refugees from the Arab and Muslim world.
The idea that Ashkenazi Jews are an Asiatic tribe who invented a false ancestry “gained traction in the 80’s and 90’s with David Duke and other Klansmen and neo-Nazis,” Huckabee wrote. “It has really caught fire in recent years on the Internet and social media, mostly from some of the most overt antisemites and Jew haters you can find.”
Carlson branded Israel “probably the most violent country on earth” and cited the false claim that Israel President Isaac Herzog had visited the infamous island of the late, disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“The current president of Israel, whom I know you know, apparently was at ‘pedo island.’ That’s what it says,” Carlson said, citing a debunked claim made by The Times reporter Gabrielle Weiniger. “Still-living, high-level Israeli officials are directly implicated in Epstein’s life, if not his crimes, so I think you’d be following this.”
Another misleading claim made by Carlson was that there were more Christians in Qatar than in Israel.
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Pezeshkian Says Iran Will Not Bow to Pressure Amid US Nuclear Talks
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit 2025, in Tianjin, China, September 1, 2025. Iran’s Presidential website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that his country would not bow its head to pressure from world powers amid nuclear talks with the United States.
“World powers are lining up to force us to bow our heads… but we will not bow our heads despite all the problems that they are creating for us,” Pezeshkian said in a speech carried live by state TV.
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Italy’s RAI Apologizes after Latest Gaffe Targets Israeli Bobsleigh Team
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics – Bobsleigh – 4-man Heat 1 – Cortina Sliding Centre, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – February 21, 2026. Adam Edelman of Israel, Menachem Chen of Israel, Uri Zisman of Israel, Omer Katz of Israel in action during Heat 1. Photo: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
Italy’s state broadcaster RAI was forced to apologize to the Jewish community on Saturday after an off‑air remark advising its producers to “avoid” the Israeli crew was broadcast before coverage of the Four-Man bobsleigh event at the Winter Olympics.
The head of RAI’s sports division had already resigned earlier in the week after his error-ridden commentary at the Milano Cortina 2026 opening ceremony two weeks ago triggered a revolt among its journalists.
On Saturday, viewers heard “Let’s avoid crew number 21, which is the Israeli one” and then “no, because …” before the sound was cut off.
RAI CEO Giampaolo Rossi said the incident represented a “serious” breach of the principles of impartiality, respect and inclusion that should guide the public broadcaster.
He added that RAI had opened an internal inquiry to swiftly determine any responsibility and any potential disciplinary procedures.
In a separate statement RAI’s board of directors condemned the remark as “unacceptable.”
The board apologized to the Jewish community, the athletes involved and all viewers who felt offended.
RAI is the country’s largest media organization and operates national television, radio and digital news services.
The union representing RAI journalists, Usigrai, had said Paolo Petrecca’s opening ceremony commentary had dealt “a serious blow” to the company’s credibility.
His missteps included misidentifying venues and public figures, and making comments about national teams that were widely criticized.