World News

(JTA) — A charter school in Manhattan that taught Hebrew to a diverse population of students will close at the end of the school year. Families with children enrolled at the school learned in February that Harlem Hebrew Language Academy Charter School would close at the end of the academic year in June, and the…

This article was sent as a newsletter. Sign up for our weekly Jewish sports newsletter here.  Good afternoon! It’s a big day for Jewish baseball players and fans.  The Chicago Cubs have called up top prospect Matt Mervis, a power-hitting first baseman who represented Israel in this year’s World Baseball Classic. Mervis, who hit 36…

(New York Jewish Week) — Before eulogizing their friend on Thursday night, Beth Weiss draped a rainbow flag with a Jewish star over the podium. It was a potent symbol of the twin identities that Weiss and others who knew Herschel Siegel said he had struggled to reconcile, particularly as a student and 2021 graduate…

(New York Jewish Week) — After stops in London, Tel Aviv and other locales, the world’s oldest nearly complete Hebrew Bible will be on view in New York City beginning on Sunday. Known as the Codex Sassoon, the book — which was written by a single Jewish scribe on 400 pages of parchment about 1,100…

(New York Jewish Week) — Though she grew up in Israel, Tamar Bloch’s childhood was a mishmash of cultures. With a Moroccan mother and Brazilian father, Bloch often heard Portuguese and Arabic alongside Hebrew, and felt connected with the music from all three cultures. It wasn’t until she was in her early 20s, however, that…

(JTA) — After watching “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret” with one of my grandchildren, I’m very concerned that the thousands of tweens and teens who watch the movie will accept, as true, its very negative message about religion in general, and interfaith marriage in particular. The movie is based on a book Judy…

MELBOURNE (JTA) — Jews in Australia have seen their community prosper in many areas, from business to the arts to the highest levels of government. But there is one arena that Aussie Jews have not featured prominently in: Australia’s biggest sport, Australian Rules Football (AFL). AFL, referred to colloquially as “footy,” is a uniquely Aussie…

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Ben Cardin’s love letter to Maryland, the state he has represented in the U.S. Senate since 2007, was also a love letter to his family’s Jewish values. In a video that Cardin released this week to announce his retirement from the Senate, he reminisced about the 56 years he has spent representing…

(JTA) — Jonathan Omer-Man, a rabbi and pioneer in Jewish meditation whose meeting with the Dalai Lama in 1990 was described in Rodger Kamenetz’s best-selling book “The Jew in the Lotus,” died on Tuesday. He was 89. Omer-Man was part of a delegation of Jews, including rabbis of various denominations, who went to Dharamshala, India…

(New York Jewish Week) — This summer, New Yorkers will have the opportunity to hear their favorite Yiddish songs under the stars — and sing along at the same time. “New York Sings Yiddish,” a free concert of Yiddish music featuring The Klezmatics and more, will be performed in Central Park on June 14 at…