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Rabbi among dozens arrested in faith leaders’ anti-ICE protest in Minnesota

January 23, 2026January 23, 2026Sara Wood

At least one local rabbi was arrested Friday in Minneapolis as hundreds of faith leaders from around the country gathered to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in the Twin Cities. Rabbi Emma Kippley-Ogman, the Jewish and interfaith chaplain at Macalester College in St. Paul, was briefly detained by police alongside leaders of other faiths […]

Facing backlash after accusing Israel of genocide, Scott Wiener steps down as Calif. Jewish Caucus co-chair

January 23, 2026January 23, 2026Sara Wood

Scott Wiener, the California lawmaker who earlier this month announced that he believed Israel had committed “genocide” in Gaza, is stepping down as a leader of the state legislature’s Jewish caucus. Wiener, a state senator from San Francisco, has been a co-chair of the caucus since 2023. He is currently running for Congress. In a […]

OneTable reimagines Shabbat dinner program amid layoffs and funding downturn

January 22, 2026January 22, 2026Sara Wood

When the Shabbat-dinner nonprofit OneTable slashed a quarter of its staff last month, it wasn’t only because of a budget crisis. It’s true that fundraising was way down. But the group was also responding to what it sees as important shifts in how Jews gather, citing its growing sense that Gen Z is less likely […]

From Alfred Dreyfus to Josh Shapiro: How the ‘dual loyalty’ charge shadows Jewish public life

January 22, 2026January 22, 2026Sara Wood

When Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro wrote in his new memoir that Kamala Harris’ vice-presidential vetting team asked whether he had ever been a “double agent” for Israel, many Jewish leaders heard something painfully familiar. “These questions were classic antisemitism,” Deborah Lipstadt, the former U.S. special envoy on antisemitism, wrote on X, a view shared by, […]

Andrew Tate insists he wasn’t really singing Ye’s ‘Heil Hitler.’ Others who were with him are doubling down.

January 21, 2026January 22, 2026Sara Wood

A group of far-right influencers caught on tape singing along to the Ye song “Heil Hitler” has been split on how to respond to the allegations of antisemitism that have followed. “Manosphere” brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate have distanced themselves from the footage, though not from the influencer who was filmed performing a Nazi salute. […]

Invoking Torah, Jews are mobilizing against ICE in Minnesota

January 21, 2026January 24, 2026Sara Wood

The Hebrews’ flight from Egypt is on a lot of Jewish minds right now, as the annual cycle of Torah readings has reached the Book of Exodus. But for many Jewish leaders in Minnesota, the ancient story has particular resonance. With Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents descending on the Twin Cities in search of undocumented […]

San Diego Jewish groups decry disinvitation of rabbi from MLK Day event over ‘concerns about potential disruption related to Zionism’

January 21, 2026January 21, 2026Sara Wood

The organizers of a Martin Luther King Day event in San Diego have come under fire from local Jewish groups after a rabbi said he was disinvited from speaking at the event due to his “connection to Israel.” Rabbi Hanan Leberman, the leader of the Conservative Tifereth Israel Synagogue in San Diego, had initially been […]

Nick Fuentes, Andrew Tate and other right-wing influencers filmed singing Ye’s ‘Heil Hitler’ at Miami nightclub

January 20, 2026January 20, 2026Sara Wood

A Miami nightclub has apologized and says it fired multiple workers after a large group of far-right influencers, including Nick Fuentes and Andrew Tate, were filmed singing along to Ye’s “Heil Hitler” there on Saturday night. The footage circulated over the weekend, igniting criticism of Vendome, a Miami Beach hotspot, for hosting the figures who […]

Jewish leaders express outrage after Josh Shapiro reveals that Kamala Harris team asked if he’d been ‘Israeli agent’

January 20, 2026January 20, 2026Sara Wood

Jewish groups responded with outrage on Sunday amid revelations that Josh Shapiro, the Jewish governor of Pennsylvania, says he was pressed intensely about his relationship to Israel when being considered as Kamala Harris’ running mate in 2024. Shapiro writes that Harris’ vetting team asked him if he had ever been “a double agent” for Israel […]

‘We are not made of wood and paper’: Jackson synagogue marks first Shabbat after arson

January 18, 2026January 18, 2026Sara Wood

JACKSON, Mississippi — The emotion was palpable in the pews Friday night at Beth Israel Congregation’s first Shabbat service since its synagogue was targeted by an arsonist last week. “We will not only survive, we will thrive,” the congregation’s student rabbi and spiritual leader, Benjamin Russell, told his community. He was draped in the only […]