World News
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As ‘Parade’ opens on Broadway, star Ben Platt takes a trip to Leo Frank’s Brooklyn
(New York Jewish Week) — The singer and actor Ben Platt spends most of his time these days on West 45th Street in Manhattan, where he performs eight times a week as Leo Frank, a Jewish man who was lynched by a Georgia mob in 1915. But he took a detour on a recent afternoon…
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Holocaust novel by Jodi Picoult removed as Florida school district purges libraries to comply with state law
(JTA) – A Holocaust-themed novel by bestselling author Jodi Picoult was among dozens of books removed from a South Florida school district library’s circulation last month, in the latest example of books with Jewish themes getting swept up amid a larger conservative-led effort to police potentially inappropriate material in classrooms. “The Storyteller” was removed from…
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David Strathairn plays historic Holocaust witness Jan Karski in PBS’s ‘Remember This’
(JTA) — As a Roman Catholic in Warsaw during World War II, Jan Karski could easily have ignored the horrors unfolding behind the walls of the Jewish ghetto. Instead, as a member of the Polish Resistance, he donned a yellow Star of David and infiltrated the Warsaw Ghetto to report on what was happening to…
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Regulators shutter bank co-founded by Jewish donor Scott Shay
(JTA) — Following the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, federal regulators have shuttered Signature Bank, whose chairman, Scott Shay, is a major donor to Jewish causes. The New York-based bank was closed on Sunday, two days after Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse, stoking panic in the markets and assurances from President Joe Biden on Monday that…
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BBC briefly suspends prominent sportscaster who likened British immigration policy to the Holocaust
(JTA) — The BBC announced Monday that it would return top sports broadcaster Gary Lineker to the air Saturday after the network briefly suspended the soccer host for a tweet comparing a British policy to Nazi Germany’s. Britain announced a new immigration package last week that includes an agreement with France on a new migrant…
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A new dance club in Williamsburg is bringing Tel Aviv party culture to Brooklyn
(New York Jewish Week) — On a recent Saturday at Silo, a new dance club in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, an aerialist was dangling above the crowd, doing flips on a hula hoop in front of hundreds of people, while hypnotic house music boomed through the venue’s world-class sound system. It was 1 a.m. and the party…
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How one special Pink Day helps save and support cancer patients
When Rachel Wojnilower was an undergraduate at American University in Washington, D.C., she did all kinds of activities with her Jewish sorority, Alpha Epsilon Phi. Now 36, Wojnilower has let most of them fade from memory. But in retrospect, one in particular stands out. That’s because about five years after graduating, Wojnilower got married and…
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Far-right Israeli minister urges loyalty as his US visit draws protests, boycotts and arrests
WASHINGTON (JTA) — For more than a week, American Jewish groups have debated how and whether to welcome Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, as he visits Washington, D.C. On Sunday night, that debate culminated in protests, arrests, boycotts — and a speech by Smotrich urging American Jews to remain loyal to the Jewish state. …
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‘Fabelmans’ flops at the Oscars, but Hollywood’s Jewish history gets a nod
(JTA) – With seven nominations for his most personal film ever, this could have been Steven Spielberg’s biggest year at the Academy Awards. But the hot-dog fingers had other plans. “The Fabelmans,” the director’s highly personal dramatization of his Jewish upbringing, didn’t win a single one of the Oscars it was nominated for Sunday night.…
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Team Israel beats Nicaragua 3-1 after thrilling comeback in World Baseball Classic opener
MIAMI (JTA) — It was a familiar narrative: Israel, ever the underdog, was down and running out of time. Then, just when it seemed hopeless, they pulled off a thrilling comeback. It wasn’t Purim, or Passover, or even Hanukkah. It was Team Israel’s opening game in the World Baseball Classic. Israeli-American pitcher Dean Kremer, a…
