Jesse Orine -

Jewish school educators cancel trip to Italy after Italian education program required participants to denounce ‘genocide’ in Gaza

October 14, 2026October 14, 2026Jesse Orine

Educators from Jewish schools across the U.S. canceled a study trip to Reggio Emilia, Italy, over whether the hosts would require participants to formally distance themselves from Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank. The controversy has drawn accusations of antisemitism from Jewish educators and from Italian Jewish community leaders. It has also sparked […]

Two deaths in Manchester synagogue attack last year will be probed through public inquiry, Britain says

October 13, 2026October 13, 2026Jesse Orine

The deaths of two Jewish men in an attack on a synagogue in Manchester last year will be examined through a public inquiry, the British home secretary announced on Monday, a necessary step to include sensitive information in the investigation. Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby were killed during the attack on Yom Kippur on Oct. […]

Louise Nevelson designed a work of art and of worship. Now, as its congregation downsizes, it is seeking a museum home.

October 13, 2026October 13, 2026Jesse Orine

Louise Nevelson, the storied American sculptor, created “The White Flame of the Six Million,” a 50-foot-long, 11-foot-high bimah sculpture incorporating a Torah ark and serving as a Holocaust memorial, for Temple Beth-El in Great Neck, New York, where it has remained for more than 50 years. Now, due to demographic change in suburban Long Island, […]

Recorded anti-Jewish hate crimes rise 10% in England and Wales

October 12, 2026October 12, 2026Jesse Orine

Hate crimes targeting Jewish people in England and Wales rose by 10% in the year ended in March, according to the latest data released by the British government. Police-reported hate crime — including crime influenced by other factors such as race and sexual orientation — overall increased by 7% compared with the previous year, according […]

YIVO studied a living Yiddish culture. What happened when that world was nearly destroyed?

October 11, 2026October 11, 2026Jesse Orine

When YIVO was founded in Vilna in 1925, its mission was to study a living people. The Yidisher Visnshaftlekher Institut was meant to be a national university for Jews scattered across Eastern Europe and, increasingly, the world. Its scholars studied Yiddish language and literature, but also Jewish sociology, psychology, history and contemporary life. YIVO was […]

Protesters in Toronto: ‘We will honor all our martyrs’ after 3 years of Gaza war

October 10, 2026October 12, 2026Jesse Orine

TORONTO – Hundreds of protesters marched through Toronto’s downtown core via Yonge Street Saturday afternoon, chanting more loudly as additional people joined the demonstration. “We will honor all our martyrs, all our children, sons and daughters!” and “In my lifetime I will see Palestinians living free!” the crowd yelled in unison. Separated by metal barricades […]

Samin Nosrat, celebrity chef who signed BDS pledge, shares stage with Israeli chefs

October 9, 2026October 9, 2026Jesse Orine

(J. The Jewish News of Northern California via (JR)) When celebrity chef and Bay Area food ambassador Samin Nosrat appeared this week at San Francisco’s JCC alongside two Israeli chefs, it was nearly three years since she pledged not to buy or promote Israeli food. The Chez Panisse alum and author of 2017’s smash hit “Salt […]

Europe sees fragmented pro-Palestinian protests three years after Oct. 7

October 8, 2026October 8, 2026Jesse Orine

Pro-Palestinian protests commemorating the third anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israel were competing for attention with other domestic issues across Europe. Demonstrations of solidarity with Palestinians on Wednesday faced arrests or restrictions in Germany, Britain and the Netherlands. In France and Spain, they were overshadowed by mass protests over education and housing. Turnout […]

Chicago Jewish theater drops Naomi Ragen play, citing fears of repercussions for working with the Israeli writer

October 7, 2026October 7, 2026Jesse Orine

Naomi Ragen, the New York-born Israeli novelist and playwright known for her portrayals of Orthodox Jewish women in crisis, says the cancellation of a planned Chicago revival of one of her plays represents a “return to McCarthyism” in the American cultural scene. Ragen, 77, has revealed that plans by a Jewish arts company in Chicago […]

In Britain, ‘Jewish Greens’ chief mulls quitting party after ‘Zionism is Racism’ motion passes

October 6, 2026October 6, 2026Jesse Orine

The head of the Jewish Greens said she may leave the Green Party of England and Wales after it adopted a policy that defines Zionism as racism and calls for a single democratic state “in all of historic Palestine.” Vivien Lichtenstein, a 29-year member of the Greens who worked on Israeli-Palestinian peace initiatives since the […]