Jesse Orine - Page 149 of 210

Moldovan oligarch, wanted at home in billion-dollar scandal, backs Russian interests from a haven in Israel

April 19, 2023April 25, 2023Jesse Orine

CHISINAU, Moldova (JTA) — Perched on a sofa somewhere in Israel, fugitive Moldovan-Jewish businessman-turned-politician Ilan Shor is seen in a video from last month speaking to his supporters back home. His message is, by his standards, relatively mild. “Maia, you really are Hitler,” he says, addressing Moldova’s pro-European president, Maia Sandu. “Whether you like it […]

Barcelona synagogue defaced with anti-Israel graffiti

April 18, 2023April 18, 2023Jesse Orine

(JTA) — The Great Synagogue of Barcelona was hit with anti-Israel graffiti ahead of Yom Hashoah, or Israel’s Holocaust remembrance day. The graffiti found on Monday read: “Free Palestine from the river to the sea. Solidarity with the Palestinian people.” Vandals also left letters nearby that said Israel commits “genocide against the Palestinian people” and […]

UK’s Liberal and Reform movements merge as Progressive Judaism

April 18, 2023April 18, 2023Jesse Orine

(JTA) — In a major development for British Jewry, the United Kingdom’s Liberal and Reform Jewish movements are joining to create a unified Progressive Judaism movement after working separately for more than 120 years. The historic project, a culmination of decades of discussions and rapprochement, is to be led by the Reform movement’s newly-appointed CEO, […]

Evan Gershkovich, Judy Blume among 10 Jews on Time’s 2023 ‘Most Influential’ list

April 14, 2023April 14, 2023Jesse Orine

(JTA) — The journalist who was arrested in Russia last month and the Biden administration’s antisemitism envoy are among the 10 Jewish members of Time magazine’s “100 most influential people of 2023.” The magazine’s annual list, released Thursday, includes politicians, business titans, artists and innovators from around the world, from President Joe Biden to a […]

‘How Saba Kept Singing,’ Holocaust doc produced by Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, to air on PBS for Yom Hashoah

April 14, 2023April 14, 2023Jesse Orine

(JTA) — Hillary and Chelsea Clinton have produced a documentary about a Holocaust survivor that will debut on PBS on Tuesday, timed to Yom Hashoah, or Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day. “How Saba Kept Singing” tells the story of David Wisnia, a cantor who survived the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp for nearly three years, helped in part […]

NBA star Domantas Sabonis’ wife says he is converting to Judaism

April 14, 2023April 14, 2023Jesse Orine

(JTA via J. The Jewish News of Northern California) — When the Sacramento Kings face the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the NBA playoffs starting this weekend, they will be led by their Lithuanian-American — and soon-to-be-Jewish — center, Domantas Sabonis. The 26-year-old All-Star is in the process of converting to Judaism, […]

Swiss historical drama ‘Labyrinth of Peace’ shatters the myth of Switzerland’s neutrality in WWII

April 14, 2023April 14, 2023Jesse Orine

It’s Switzerland in 1945 and the war has just ended. A group of deeply traumatized, ragged-looking Jewish teenagers recently liberated from Buchenwald have been sent to live in a former Swiss school building. A young Swiss woman named Klara cares for them, while her new husband, Johann, runs her family’s textile business, whose success is […]

Israeli soccer star Manor Solomon is making waves as a rare Jew in the English Premier League

April 12, 2023April 12, 2023Jesse Orine

(JTA) — For decades, Jewish players have been increasingly rare in English professional soccer. Since 1992, only one British-born Jew has appeared in the Premier League, the country’s top tier and arguably the best soccer league in the world. But this year, an Israeli has been turning heads with his play in the league, to […]

I tried a ‘Mrs. Maisel’ pastrami martini. Unlike Midge, I’m speechless.

April 11, 2023April 11, 2023Jesse Orine

(New York Jewish Week) — The martini kit arrives in a bright pink box. Nestled among strings of hot pink confetti are two martini glasses and a shaker, two olives, toothpicks, two single-serving bottles of gin and vermouth, pastrami oil and pastrami spices. What’s that? Pastrami? Martini? Together? Yes, you read it right. The “Maisel […]

‘Death to the Jews’ chants heard at Berlin pro-Palestinian rally

April 11, 2023April 11, 2023Jesse Orine

(JTA) — Berlin police are investigating a pro-Palestinian rally where demonstrators allegedly chanted “Death to the Jews” and “Death to Israel,” phrases that if verified could be criminal offenses under Germany’s strict post-World War II hate speech laws. Hundreds of people showed up in the Kreuzberg and Neukölln neighborhoods on Saturday at a rally organized […]