The American diplomat Kurt Volker, a former State Department special representative to Ukraine and a former U.S. ambassador to NATO, arrived one recent morning for a solidarity visit to Chabad’s Mishpacha Children’s Home in Odessa. Accompanying the distinguished guest were Odessa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov and his deputy, Pavel Vugelman. Greeting the guests was Rabbi Avraham […]
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((JR)) — An independent comic book publisher that aims to promote diversity in comics is about to spotlight a historic new character: the Asian-Jewish Leah Ai Tian, AKA “The Last Jewish Daughter of Kaifeng.” The character is the brainchild of Fabrice Sapolsky, co-founder of the Queens, New York-based FairSquare Comics, which aims to “promote and […]
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(New York Jewish Week) — Aleeza Ben Shalom, star of the Netflix hit “Jewish Matchmaking,” stood in the middle of a tight circle of fans — both men and women, young and old — doling out dating advice. Maintaining the same warmth she displays on her TV show, Ben Shalom spoke to as many people […]
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((JR)) — A new Showtime series from the creators of “Fauda” chronicles the exploits of one of the Middle East’s most infamous terrorists and the joint CIA-Mossad operation that eventually led to his death. “Ghosts of Beirut,” a four-episode series that begins streaming for Showtime subscribers on Friday but premieres on air Sunday night, dramatizes […]
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(JR) — Austrian authorities are searching for two men suspected of blaring a recording of Hitler’s voice and a series of “Heil Hitler” and “Sieg Heil” chants on a public train for about 20 minutes on Sunday night. Vienna’s chief rabbi was on the train and told CNN that the recording started with “strange music, […]
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(JR) — London’s fire and rescue service gave a statement reminding Jewish congregations to keep holiday bonfires outdoors after the city’s Jewish News outlet shared video of a synagogue celebrating Lag B’Omer with an indoor fire last week. The video showed a fire raging inside Beis Medrash Beis Shmuel, a haredi Orthodox synagogue in Golders […]
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(JR) — Tunisia’s president met with the country’s chief rabbi and pledged to protect Tunisian Jews and their houses of worship on Wednesday, just over a week after a deadly synagogue shooting rattled the local Jewish community and raised questions about their security. Kais Saied had also drawn scrutiny over comments he made last weekend, […]
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(New York Jewish Week) — What happens to the places that are no more? To the people who have died? To the events that meant so much but cannot ever reoccur? Is there a way to bring the intangible power of vanished spaces into the physical world? On Friday, May 19, dancers, musicians, orators and […]
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((JR)) — Players of the video game “The Sims” can now bake a challah or dish up a bowl of matzo ball soup, after updates made by the game’s creator that are designed to increase Jewish representation. The new updates add traditional Jewish foods to the expansive menu available to users of “The Sims,” a […]
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((JR)) — A 1,100-year-old Hebrew Bible became the most expensive book ever sold Wednesday when it drew a price of $38.1 million at auction at Sotheby’s in New York City. The buyer of the item, known as the Codex Sassoon, was revealed to be the American fundraising group on behalf of ANU — Museum of […]
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