Category: Local

WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Joe Biden has set up an interagency task force to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia and has set as its first task coming up with a strategy to tackle antisemitism. “This strategy will raise understanding about antisemitism and the threat it poses to the Jewish community and all Americans, address antisemitic harassment […]

(JTA) — A Denver rabbi who promotes psychedelic use as part of spiritual practice will no longer face prosecution after Coloradans voted last month to legalize psilocybin, the chemical compound found in psychedelic mushrooms. Denver’s district attorney’s office announced last week that it was dropping charges against Ben Gorelick, the founder of  Sacred Tribe, a […]

Rachel “Ruchie” Freier was the first Hasidic woman to be elected a civil court judge in New York. That is just one of many accomplishments for this mother of six who blows away preconceived ideas about what religious Jews can accomplish in the secular world. Freier also formed B’Derech, a nonprofit that helps provide education […]

(JTA) — Former President Donald Trump said Jewish leaders “lack loyalty” and “should be ashamed of themselves,” his latest broadside against the American Jewish community, this time because of criticism of his dinner with two prominent antisemitic figures. “How quickly Jewish Leaders forgot that I was the best, by far, President for Israel,” Trump said […]

(JTA) — A Republican-led commission tasked with studying antisemitism in Virginia recommended a suite of actions, from improving Holocaust education to prohibiting Israel boycotts, while also referring to former President Donald Trump’s recent dinner with a pair of prominent antisemitic figures. The Virginia Commission to Combat Antisemitism, established by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, also […]

(JTA) — It was the kind of story that Tom Tugend loved to tell, except he lived it. He left Berlin, aged 13, on Adolf Hitler’s birthday, in 1939, driven out by the ideology reflected in the swastikas on the banners fluttering in the streets. Six years later, he was back in Germany as an […]

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Top Biden administration officials launched a roundtable on antisemitism on Wednesday by describing a “rising tide of antisemitism” and likening the atmosphere in the United States to that of Europe, where Jewish worship is held under lock and key. “Right now, there is an epidemic of hate facing our country,” said Douglas […]

(JTA) – A Michigan man who allegedly threatened and harassed congregants at a Detroit-area synagogue uttered antisemitic slurs at the magistrate who arraigned him on Monday. Meanwhile, the synagogue where the incident took place is planning events to help community members process both their trauma and their concern about how local police handled the incident. […]

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Lee Zeldin, the Republican Jewish congressman who mounted a stronger-than-expected but failed bid to be New York’s governor, says he has decided not to run to be the chairman of the Republican National Committee. But in a sign that he expects to have continued influence despite exiting Congress, Zeldin, who has been […]

WASHINGTON (JTA) — A bipartisan slate of 125 lawmakers from both chambers are calling on the Biden administration to adopt a “whole of government” policy to combating antisemitism. A letter sent Tuesday to President Joe Biden, spearheaded by the chairmen of congressional task forces for combating antisemitism, called for action from officials from an array […]