World News
-
DC’s new Jewish museum highlights Jews who shaped the nation’s capital, from a Confederate spy to RBG
WASHINGTON (JTA) – Washington, D.C.’s new Jewish museum features at least two notorious women from history. One is Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the first Jewish woman to serve as a Supreme Court justice, who was dubbed “Notorious RBG” late in her life by a cluster of fans. When the Capital Jewish Museum opens next week, it…
-
New York Rep. Mike Lawler seeks to halt CUNY funding after ‘hate speech’
(New York Jewish Week) — Amid ongoing debate over a recent commencement speech at the City University of New York’s law school that included harsh criticism of Israel, Republican Rep. Mike Lawler has introduced legislation that would rescind federal funding from colleges that promote antisemitism. Lawler, who represents New York’s 17th congressional district, introduced the…
-
Julie Benko, ‘Funny Girl’ standby star, to join Broadway cast of Barry Manilow’s ‘Harmony’
(New York Jewish Week) – Broadway actress Julie Benko won’t be out of a job when “Funny Girl,” in which she plays the Jewish performer Fanny Brice, closes in September. Instead, Benko, 34, will join the cast of Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman’s forthcoming Broadway musical “Harmony,” which is set to begin previews Oct. 18…
-
Citing industry changes, Kosherfest, oldest kosher food fair, announces its end
(JTA) — After more than three decades, an annual trade show of kosher foods that saw the evolution of the cuisine in America grow from gefilte fish and pastrami to “facon,” gluten-free cookies and CBD gum is no more. “Exhibitors feel Kosherfest has run its course,” the company that organized the two-day event, Diversified Business…
-
TikTok star Montana Tucker follows Holocaust series by emceeing embassy event for Israel’s 75th anniversary
(JTA) — TikTok star Montana Tucker, who documented a family trip to Auschwitz last year for her millions of followers, will emcee the Israeli embassy in Washington’s event celebrating Israel’s 75th anniversary. The 30-year-old actress and singer is best known for her short dance videos, which often include celebrities. She has over 9 million TikTok…
-
Israeli drama film ‘Concerned Citizen’ tackles gentrification and race issues in Tel Aviv
(JTA) — The Israeli satirical drama film “Concerned Citizen” opens with the sacrosanct rituals of a bourgeois Tel Aviv life: a robot vacuum slides gracefully across the floor; lush house plants are watered; vegetables are blended into green juice. The score from the Bellini opera “Norma” plays in the background. Then a car alarm rudely interrupts…
-
The Jewish calendar reminds us where we’ve been — and what’s next
This story originally appeared on My Jewish Learning. (JTA) — The Shavuot holiday that we observed last month commemorates two different kinds of harvests. Originally an agricultural festival, Shavuot marked the culmination of the wheat harvest in the ancient land of Israel. Only later did the rabbis layer on the receiving of the Torah to the holiday. Just as we…
-
Barcelona mayor who severed ties with Tel Aviv loses election
MADRID (JTA) — Ada Colau, Barcelona’s left-wing mayor who made headlines for breaking off the city’s long-standing relationship with Tel Aviv, was unseated in Sunday’s municipal elections after eight years in power. She was defeated by Xavier Trias, the right-wing candidate from the Junts party, a former mayor who Colau had previously unseated in 2015.…
-
Reversing course, Arkansas pays $500 to Jewish doctor who refused to pledge not to boycott Israel
(JTA) – The state of Arkansas has paid $500 it had promised to a Jewish doctor, after withholding the payment for months because of the doctor’s refusal to sign a pledge promising not to boycott Israel. The payment came after public pressure on the state to process the payment. The doctor, a longtime pro-Palestinian activist,…
-
These 12 Jewish feminist trailblazers, all over 80, had dinner together last night
(New York Jewish Week) — On Wednesday evening at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in Midtown, hundreds of New York’s leading philanthropists, healthcare executives and businesspeople gathered for the New Jewish Home’s “Eight over Eighty” gala — an annual event put on by the senior healthcare and rehabilitation agency that honors extraordinary New Yorkers over the age of…
