Author: Sara Wood

((JEWISH REVIEW)) — The request for rainbow-frosted cupcakes came from a repeat customer — a local synagogue that had relied on the West Orange Bake Shop to make kosher desserts for its special events. But this year, bakery co-owner Yitzy Mittel decided to decline the order. He couldn’t bring himself to produce the Pride-themed goods. […]

TEL AVIV ((JEWISH REVIEW)) — Bar Shelly is hoping that the fourth time’s the charm when it comes to gaining entry into the United States. The 24-year-old first applied for a visa in 2019, shortly after his release from the Israeli military. He tried again in 2021 and 2022 and was refused each time. People […]

((JEWISH REVIEW)) — It was still winter when the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs learned that its June conference would share space at a hotel with an unexpected guest: a conservative “parents’ rights” group that is driving book bans across the United States. Among the books pulled from classrooms at the behest of Moms for […]

((JEWISH REVIEW)) — The CEO of Kars4Kids, the Jewish charity with a catchy advertising jingle, is challenging New York state’s concealed carry law in court — claiming that it leaves children vulnerable to antisemitic attacks.  Eliohu Mintz, who heads Kars4Kids, is also the CEO of Oorah, a Jewish outreach nonprofit funded by Kars4Kids that runs […]

((JEWISH REVIEW)) — Brandeis University’s president has apologized to the school’s Orthodox Jewish student group for a university ad that called the school “anything but Orthodox.” The two-page spread, which appeared in The New York Times Magazine last week, drew the ire of Orthodox Jews and others on social media, who called it offensive.  Days […]

WASHINGTON ((JEWISH REVIEW)) — The Israeli ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog, who represents the most right-wing government in the country’s history, called for a stand against “intolerance and bigotry” targeting the LGBTQ community in the United States and Israel. “We must also recognize the many challenges that remain, and actively take a stand […]

WASHINGTON ((JEWISH REVIEW)) — The Biden administration rejoined the the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, reversing at the Trump administration’s decision in 2017 to pull out of the organization over its anti-Israel bias. The Biden administration had sought reentry in part because China is becoming preeminent in the organization at a time when […]

WASHINGTON ((JEWISH REVIEW)) — Harvard’s 20th-century antisemitic Jewish quotas were a key part of the Supreme Court’s decision to gut affirmative action on Thursday, as the winning litigant and two conservative justices cited them in the landmark case. The 6-3 decision Thursday, authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, bars universities from using race as an […]

((JEWISH REVIEW)) — On March 23, Michael Neuman was in the middle of an obstacle course for NBC’s sports reality competition show “American Ninja Warrior.” The show features grueling challenges such as rope swings, pole vaults and climbing walls, all with one rule: you can’t fall. He looked over at the sidelines of the course at […]

(New York Jewish Week) — At the first-ever “Kosherpalooza” — a kosher food festival geared toward consumers  — savvy attendees knew best to strategize: First, sample everything on the “dairy” side of the convention center (lattes, ice cream, cheeses, pasta, fresh goat and sheep’s milk), and then cross over to the “meat” side, where steak tartare, […]