Author: Sara Wood

WASHINGTON (JTA) — In a statement congratulating Benjamin Netanyahu on the swearing in of his new government, President Joe Biden reminded his “friend for decades” of the U.S. administration’s commitment to a two-state solution, something that Netanyahu has effectively abandoned. Biden also emphasized a key concern for Netanyahu, reports that Iran is about to become […]

(JTA) — For Jewish sports fans, 2022 was a year of very high highs and particularly low lows. The fall was dominated by an antisemitism scandal involving Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving, who shared a link to an antisemitic film on Twitter and initially refused to apologize. Irving was suspended for eight games and brought […]

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Jamie Raskin, the Jewish Maryland Democrat who has been a lead investigator of former President Donald Trump’s alleged responsibility for the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, announced he has a serious but curable form of cancer. “After several days of tests, I have been diagnosed with Diffuse Large […]

(JTA) — George Santos’ first Hanukkah party with the Republican Jewish Coalition will be his last. The group says it will not host Santos at any future events after the congressman-elect lied to RJC officials and to the public about being Jewish and the descendant of people who escaped the Holocaust. Santos participated in an […]

(JTA) — More than 330 American rabbis, including some who occupy prominent roles in major cities, are pledging to block members of the Religious Zionist bloc in Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government from speaking at their synagogues and will lobby to keep them from speaking in their communities. An open letter now circulating says they will […]

(JTA) — When The New York Times reported earlier this week that virtually the entire resume of George Santos, recently elected as a Republican congressman from Long Island, appeared to be a fabrication, it left untouched one detail: his claim to Jewish heritage. On his website, Santos said his maternal grandparents were refugees from the […]

(JTA) — The congregational arm of Reconstructionist Judaism has endorsed reparations for Black Americans, approving a resolution that calls for “ongoing learning,” “deep reflection” and “teshuvah,” or repentance.  But the resolution approved by Reconstructionist congregations earlier this month does not mention financial compensation for those who have been harmed by American slavery and its lasting effects.  […]

WASHINGTON (JTA) — During a closely-watched press conference with Ukraine’s Jewish president, Volodymr Zelensky, President Joe Biden brought up the Hanukkah story, comparing Ukraine’s struggle against Russia to the Maccabees’ uprising. “Tonight is the fourth night of Hanukkah,” Biden said Wednesday standing next to Zelensky, who was on a last-minute visit to Washington to speak […]

(JTA) — Mat Ishbia, a billionaire mortgage lender who in high school was named Jewish athlete of the year by his hometown Jewish newspaper, has reportedly reached a $4 billion agreement to purchase the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury. Ishbia is buying the teams from Robert Sarver, who cited his Jewish identity when […]

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Two mezuzahs at the vice president’s residence. A custom-built menorah for the White House. A Biden grandson in Hanukkah pajamas. The Biden administration’s celebration of Hanukkah this year was suffused with grief over reports of burgeoning antisemitism but leavened with words, rites and symbols meant to assure American Jews that this was […]