World News
-
Trump’s antisemitism envoy says US will bar World Cup attendees tied to antisemitism abroad
(JTA) — Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, the U.S. special envoy for monitoring and combating antisemitism, said this week that the United States will bar individuals from attending the World Cup who are accused of fostering antisemitism in their home countries. “The president and the secretary of state have made it perfectly clear that people who want…
-
Prince Harry, Meghan Markle meet with survivors of Bondi Beach Hanukkah shooting in Sydney
(JTA) — Meghan Markle appeared to fight back tears as she listened to Jessica Chapnik Kahn describe shielding her young daughter as gunmen fired on the Hanukkah celebration they were attending in Sydney. Chapnik Kahn told Markle about her experience during the shooting as Markle and her husband, Prince Harry, visited Bondi Beach as part…
-
French appeals court rejects antisemitism charge in poisoning of Jewish family by nanny
(JTA) — A French appeals court ruled on Wednesday that a nanny from Algeria who was convicted of poisoning the Jewish family she worked for was not motivated by antisemitism. The decision by the Versailles Court of Appeal comes months after the nanny, identified as Leïla Y., 42, was sentenced to two and a half…
-
Israeli ambassador meets with France’s Marine Le Pen, extending outreach to Europe’s far-right
(JTA) — Israeli Ambassador to France Joshua Zarka held a meeting on Wednesday with far-right French leader Marine Le Pen, marking the latest instance in a recent trend of Israeli outreach to Europe’s nationalist right. The meeting, which was not publicly announced by either leader, was confirmed by the Israeli embassy to the French outlet…
-
Italian opposition leader Elly Schlein, whose father is Jewish, backs Giorgia Meloni in Trump split over Israel
(JTA) — Until this week, Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, was allies with Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu and adversaries with Elly Schlein, Italy’s opposition leader. Now, Meloni is at odds with Trump and Netanyahu, her fellow conservatives in the United States and Israel, and getting a boost from Schlein, a liberal whose father…
-
Our pioneering Reform synagogue has shrunk, but remains as vibrant as ever
To the editors: As President of Temple Beth-El of Great Neck, I read Lauren Hakimi’s recent article “A pioneering Reform synagogue makes way for a booming Iranian Jewish community,” with both appreciation and concern. While the piece captures certain facts, it presents our congregation primarily through the lens of decline and demographic change. In doing…
-
Alabama is forcing the Ten Commandments into my children’s classrooms. As a rabbi, I’m horrified
As of this month, many public schools in Alabama are required to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms, libraries, lunchrooms and all other common spaces. Proponents of Senate Bill 99, signed into law by Gov. Kay Iven on April 10, have claimed that these enforced displays are historical, educational and religiously neutral. As an Alabama…
-
Who’s responsible for deadly antisemitism? Everyone will hate the answer
Twenty Jews outside of the state of Israel were murdered for being Jewish in antisemitic attacks across three continents in 2025, the highest death toll among diaspora Jews in more than 30 years. In every country surveyed, antisemitic incidents of all kinds — including beatings, vandalism, threats and online harassment — remain dozens of percentage…
-
Stumbling across Jewish history in a vintage store
I have never lived alone. I’ve never even lived with only my partner, at least not for all that long. We’ve always had roommates. And that means we’ve always had roommates’ stuff. Honestly, I’ve loved this. I mean, I’ve had my issues with individual roommates, ranging from minor nits to major clashes. But generally, I…
-
Remembering Siskel and Ebert’s great debate: Mel Brooks or Woody Allen?

Of the great debates in film history, a few dominate. How much of Citizen Kane did Orson Welles really write? Is the auteur a film’s true author? And, the one that will never be resolved, can we separate the art from the artist? In 1980, Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert devoted an episode of their…
