World News
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How Germany’s Holocaust remembrance culture kicked off a democratic crisis
WEIMAR, Thuringia, Germany — Walking through Weimar, Germany, the legacy of the Holocaust seems inescapable. Stolpersteine — German for “stumbling blocks” — are placed outside the homes of people killed during the Shoah, essential evidence of Erinnerungskultur, or memory culture, a national commitment to memorializing, and learning from, the Nazis’ atrocities. But this commitment is being…
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The rabbinic backlash against Zohran Mamdani isn’t about Mamdani at all
The sheer number of letters by rabbis circulating about Zohran Mamdani’s New York City mayoral campaign is “mind numbing,” a rabbi friend texted me earlier this week. There’s the public letter decrying Mamdani, the Democratic candidate, sponsored by The Jewish Majority, which as of this writing has 1,138 signatures from rabbis, cantors and rabbinical students.…
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How a curator and a rabbi joined forces to keep a piece of Boston’s Jewish history alive
The most striking artifact in the Judaica collection at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts isn’t from Yemen or Galicia, or any other far-flung Jewish community that’s long since dispersed; it’s from Chelsea, Massachusetts. The magnificent wooden Torah ark is just shy of 12 feet tall, and until 1999 it was the centerpiece of the Orange…
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A second rabbinic letter, arguing against Jewish rejections of Mamdani, enters the NYC mayor’s race
A second rabbinic letter about the New York City mayor’s race repudiating the first has drawn hundreds of signatures in the day since its launch. Titled “Jews for a Shared Future,” the new letter rejects the argument that the frontrunner in the race is unacceptable because of his opposition to Israel and contends that Jews…
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Alabama man arrested for allegedly planning attacks on synagogues
(JTA) — An Alabama man was arrested this week for allegedly planning attacks on synagogues in Alabama and surrounding states as well as public figures. Jeremy Wayne Shoemaker, 33, of Needham, Alabama, was arrested on Monday after the FBI and local agencies were alerted of “credible threats of violence” he made to local synagogues, the…
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Proposal to elevate Netanyahu’s son shatters fragile concord at World Zionist Congress
JERUSALEM — An early sign of moderation and compromise among the delegates here this week for the 39th World Zionist Congress appeared to shatter late Wednesday amid revelations that supporters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to install his son Yair in a key leadership role. The drama is roiling the high-stakes gathering that is often…
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A Saturday night in Portland, very close to the ICE building
ס׳איז געווען אַ שטילע נאַכט אין פּאָרטלאַנד, אָרעגאָן. מײַן חבֿר ברונאָ, אַ משפּחה־דאָקטער װאָס אַרבעט אויפֿן געביט פֿון עפֿנטלעכן געזונט פֿאַר דער שטאָט, האָט פּאַרקירט זײַן אױטאָ אין אַ טונקעלער גאַס אַ פּאָר בלאָקן פֿונעם „אײַס“־קאָמפּלעקס. „אײַס“ זענען די ראשי־תּיבֿות פֿון דער אַמעריקאַנער אימיגראַציע־אַגענטור, וואָס האָט זינט אָקטאָבער 2024 אַרעסטירט מער ווי 185,000 אומדאָקומענטירטע אימיגראַנטן.…
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Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist Attacks Israel During Democratic Primary Campaign for Governor
Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist speaks at a “Hands Off” protest at the Michigan Capitol in Lansing, Michigan, on April 5, 2025. Photo: Andrew Roth/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist has sparked backlash among the state’s Jewish community in recent weeks over his fierce condemnations of Israel while running in the…
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US-Backed Efforts Bring Longtime Foes Israel and Syria Closer to Security Pact
Members of Israeli security forces stand at the ceasefire line between the Golan Heights and Syria, July 16, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad Israel and Syria are reportedly in the final stages of months-long negotiations over a security agreement that could establish a joint Israeli, Syrian, and US presence at key strategic locations. Jerusalem and Damascus…
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Civil Rights Leader Alyza Lewin Joins Combat Antisemitism Movement
Alyza Lewin (center), constitutional lawyer and former president of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law. She was recently announced as Combat Antisemitism Movement’s (CAM) new President of US Affairs. Photo: Israel on Campus Coalition. Civil rights leader and constitutional lawyer Alyza Lewin will draw on her family legacy of Jewish resilience…
