Author: Sara Wood

(JTA) — Zachary Ottenstein didn’t expect to bond with his dad over chess and classic rock during his trip home from Florida at the end of Passover. But when Ottenstein switched his phone on after the holiday ended last night, it blew up: Fort Lauderdale was flooded and flights out of the airport — including […]

This article was produced as part of JTA’s Teen Journalism Fellowship, a program that works with Jewish teens around the world to report on issues that affect their lives. (JTA) — Jordy Levy, 18, remembers sitting at the table with his family, enjoying a relaxed Shabbat dinner at his Atlanta home during the pandemic. There was […]

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Jack Teixeira, the National Guard airman arrested on charges of leaking a large trove of U.S. intelligence documents, reportedly recorded himself making antisemitic and racist slurs before opening fire on a target. The Washington Post first reported the video of the antisemitic rant, which was shared with members of the chat group […]

WASHINGTON (JTA) — It’s official: The mayor of the U.S. capital wants Washingtonians to celebrate the end of Passover with a traditional North African Jewish party. In a proclamation set to be signed this weekend, Mayor Muriel Bowser will be urging her constituents to celebrate Mimouna, a feast that marks the end of the holiday […]

(JTA) — “If you want to know about my brother, Jack Ruby, you should talk to Hillel Silverman. He was our rabbi in Dallas for 10 years before President Kennedy’s assassination, and he knew Jack very well.”  It was 1976, and I had convinced Eva Rubenstein Grant — a loud woman with an even louder […]

(JTA) — Abby Meyers, a Maccabiah Games gold medalist and former University of Maryland basketball star, was selected 11th overall by the Dallas Wings in the first round of the WNBA Draft on Monday night. Meyers, who was involved with Jewish life on campus, helped her squad make the Elite 8 at this year’s NCAA […]

(JTA) – A collection of Nazi memorabilia on display at the home of Republican megadonor Harlan Crow has come under renewed scrutiny following revelations that Crow lavished Clarence Thomas with expensive, unreported gifts. Crow has for more than two decades treated Thomas, the conservative Supreme Court justice, to complimentary vacations and private jet and yacht […]

(JTA) — The man charged with setting fire to a synagogue in Austin, Texas, in 2021 has pleaded guilty to two federal charges, including the destruction of religious property, a hate crime. The board of directors at Congregation Beth Israel endorsed the plea deal, telling members that the agreement had no bearing on Franklin Barrett […]

WASHINGTON (JTA) — For Rotem Yerushalmi, a professional campus pro-Israel advocate, what stood out during a recent visit to the Museum of the Palestinian People was an exhibit showcasing different villages’ ceremonial dress. She strolled past references to the Nakba, which means “catastrophe” and denotes the dispersion of Palestinians during Israel’s War of Independence. And […]

(JTA) – Little more than a week after it dismissed allegations of antisemitism against one of its professors, George Washington University will face a federal investigation over the same allegations. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights will open an investigation into a federal discrimination complaint brought against the university by the pro-Israel […]