Local -

Jewish schools — and their families — poised for windfall under new federal tax-credit program

July 9, 2025July 11, 2025Sara Wood

A sweeping new school choice subsidy and the first of its kind at the federal level is now law, after President Donald Trump signed his tax and spending package known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill” last week. The $1,700 federal tax credit to support private school tuition delivers a long-sought victory to Orthodox Jewish […]

Report: Trump administration boasted of Jewish endorsements it did not receive for nominee with white supremacist ties

July 9, 2025July 12, 2025Sara Wood

Last week, following a request to defend the controversial senior federal watchdog appointee Paul Ingrassia, the Trump administration told CNN that he had the “support of many Jewish groups.” But after CNN reached out to the Jewish groups mentioned in the administration’s response, many said that they had never heard of him — though some […]

Jewish Democrats in Congress raise concerns about Zohran Mamdani’s anti-Israel positions

July 9, 2025July 12, 2025Sara Wood

Some Jewish Democrats in Congress, including the prominent House member Debbie Wasserman Schultz, are coming out to condemn Zohran Mamdani for his record of anti-Israel stances just weeks after prominent Jewish Democrats in New York endorsed the upstart mayoral candidate. Mamdani, a state assemblyman who shocked the political system by winning New York’s Democratic primary […]

IRS says religious institutions may endorse candidates, undoing a longstanding ban

July 8, 2025July 8, 2025Sara Wood

Rabbis and other clergy members in the United States may endorse candidates from the pulpit without jeopardizing their house of worship’s tax-exempt status, the Internal Revenue Service has decreed. The policy change reverses a ban on endorsing or opposing candidates by religious organizations known as the Johnson Amendment, enacted in the 1950s. The IRS made […]

Critics have an even more controversial nickname for ICE’s Everglades detention facility: ‘Alligator Auschwitz’

July 7, 2025July 7, 2025Sara Wood

President Trump and Florida Gov. Rick DeSantis had a giddy name for the temporary ICE facility they built quickly on an airstrip in the Florida Everglades: “Alligator Alcatraz.” “We’re going to teach them how to run away from an alligator if they escape prison,” Trump boasted July 1 as he toured the detention facility for […]

After flood in Texas devastates local camps, Jewish camps express grief and condolences

July 7, 2025July 8, 2025Sara Wood

Jewish camps and camping leaders are joining a chorus of condolences after a flash flood in Kerr County, Texas, killed dozens of children and counselors at a summer camp there. “In the Jewish community, we know the power of camp. We know it as a sacred space where children find their voice, counselors discover their […]

Barnard settles lawsuit by Jewish and Israeli students, agrees to a litany of measures to address antisemitism

July 7, 2025July 8, 2025Sara Wood

Barnard College settled a lawsuit Monday filed by Jewish and Israeli students alleging that the school had failed to address antisemitism on its campus. The settlement of the lawsuit, which was filed by StandWithUs Center for Legal Justice, Students Against Antisemitism, Inc. and Barnard Jewish and Israeli student plaintiffs, includes a laundry list of measures […]

He wrote the book on American Jewish history. Stepping back from teaching, Jonathan Sarna says he has plenty of chapters still to go.

July 6, 2025July 6, 2025Sara Wood

Journalists I know joke that the only Jewish historian they ever need to call is Jonathan Sarna. Jews and the Civil War? Sarna knows where the bodies are buried. Need a quote about Jews and bagels? Sarna will give you one with everything. The history of American Jewish prayer? Amen. That Sarna is quoted on […]

Trump says he didn’t know antisemitic history of ‘Shylock’ when he criticized bankers using the term

July 4, 2025July 4, 2025Sara Wood

After facing criticism, President Donald Trump said he was unaware that the term “Shylock” was widely considered antisemitic when he used it to describe unscrupulous bankers during a rally Thursday in Iowa. Trump was touting the benefits of the Republican omnibus legislation that had just passed. “No death tax. No estate tax,” he said. “No […]

Most NYers deterred by Zohran Mamdani’s BDS support, but 1 in 3 see it as a boon, poll shows

July 4, 2025July 5, 2025Sara Wood

Half of registered voters in New York City say knowing that Zohran Mamdani supports boycotting Israel and has declined to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada” makes them less likely to vote for him in November’s mayoral election. But a third said knowing Mamdani’s positions on the two issues made them more likely to vote […]