Culture -

‘Why can’t I be the first?’ Orthodox baseball prospect Jacob Steinmetz on the history he hopes to make

July 16, 2021Mark Hershlag

(JTA) — If all goes well for Jacob Steinmetz, he could run into a kosher food problem in the near future. Steinmetz, a 17-year-old pitcher from suburban New York with a blazing fastball, made history on Monday as the first Orthodox Jewish baseball player to be drafted by a major league team. The Arizona Diamondbacks […]

‘My children are still religious’: More from our interview with Julia Haart of ‘My Unorthodox Life’

July 16, 2021Sara Wood

(JTA) — Julia Haart doesn’t want her son Aron to stop being Orthodox. On “My Unorthodox Life,” the new Netflix reality show about her family, Haart is shown encouraging the 14-year-old to give up the commitment he made at summer camp not to talk to girls at his new school. He says engaging with girls […]

Elie Kligman becomes second Orthodox baseball player drafted into the MLB in 2 days

July 13, 2021Sara Wood

Elie Kligman becomes second Orthodox baseball player drafted into the MLB in 2 days – Jewish Telegraphic Agency Skip to content Advertisement Advertisement

In a German city with 30 Jews, a restored Art Deco synagogue will house interfaith efforts

July 13, 2021Jesse Orine

(JTA) — For years after World War II, the once magnificent Goerlitz Synagogue in Germany housed a family with goats and pigs. The roof of the Art Deco building was crumbling; the government came close to demolishing the whole structure. But this week, that very synagogue — the only one in the state of Saxony […]

Baseball phenom Jacob Steinmetz becomes first known Orthodox player drafted into the MLB

July 12, 2021Mark Hershlag

Baseball phenom Jacob Steinmetz becomes first known Orthodox player drafted into the MLB – Jewish Telegraphic Agency Skip to content Advertisement Advertisement

Israeli surfer Anat Lelior’s unlikely path to the Tokyo Olympics

July 9, 2021Sara Wood

This article originally appeared on Alma. Anat Lelior’s first experience with surfing came at age 5. It was an inauspicious start to the sport that would become her career and, later this month, take her to the Tokyo Olympics. Her father, Yochai, lay on the back of the board with her at their local beach […]

Judaism in the COVID era: What will be lost, gained and changed?

July 9, 2021Sara Wood

This Q&A is adapted from one of eight mainstage conversations held at Z3 2020: Visions of a Shared Future, a virtual conference produced by The Z3 Project and the Oshman Family JCC of Palo Alto, California, aimed at reimagining Diaspora-Israel relations. Judaism has always been a social faith, centered on communal activity. However, the demands […]

Olympics-bound Team Israel has helped American baseball players get more in touch with their Jewish identities

July 9, 2021Arsen Mayer

(JTA) — In May, as the latest violent Israel-Gaza conflict heated up, Ty Kelly did something he could never do in any other professional baseball dugout: He turned to some teammates to learn more about the situation. Kelly, a 32-year-old currently playing for the Tacoma Rainiers in the Seattle Mariners’ minor league system, was in […]

Snakes at a kiddush: An Israeli museum is celebrating its baby pythons with a traditional ceremony

July 8, 2021Arsen Mayer

Snakes at a kiddush: An Israeli museum is celebrating its baby pythons with a traditional ceremony – Jewish Telegraphic Agency Skip to content Advertisement Advertisement

A one-of-a-kind biography of the woman behind the ‘All-of-a-Kind Family’ stories

July 7, 2021Sara Wood

(New York Jewish Week via JTA) — In Sydney Taylor’s 1951 book “All-of-a-Kind Family,” a young girl says to her sister, “You’ll have to make up with her when Yom Kippur comes.” The dialogue is revolutionary. Few novels of the time — let alone one aimed at a children’s audience — would make so natural a […]