Category: Local

(JTA) — A man was taken into custody after authorities in Birmingham, Alabama, investigated a suspicious fire adjacent to a synagogue there on Friday. The fire, which came as Jews across the United States are on high alert, was determined not to be motivated by hatred against Jews, Rabbi Steven Henkin of Temple Beth-El told […]

(JTA) — Two Jewish Democrats who were believed to have a shot at open seats in the Tampa area lost Tuesday night as Florida overall shifted hard toward Republicans. Eric Lynn, a former Obama administration defense official with deep ties in the Tampa area Jewish community, lost Tuesday in the 13th District and Alan Cohn, […]

(JTA) — The overarching narrative from Tuesday night’s pivotal midterm election slate was clear by Wednesday morning: the Republican Party’s hopes of a sweeping red wave have been dashed. But how did the issues and candidates that Jewish Americans were watching most closely fare? Here are our initial insights from the first rounds of results. […]

(JTA) — Josh Shapiro, a Democrat who openly embraced his Jewish faith on the campaign trail and called his opponent out for his connections to antisemitic supporters, has won the state’s race for governor against the far-right Republican candidate Doug Mastriano. Shapiro, who is currently the state’s attorney general, launched his campaign with ads that […]

(JTA) — Rep. Elaine Luria, a moderate Democrat who cites her Jewishness and saw her profile grow as a member of the House committee overseeing the investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, lost her bid for reelection in a Virginia swing district. Luria, a former Navy commander, lost Tuesday in a close race to […]

(JTA) — Michael Bennet, the Democratic Colorado senator who cites his mother’s Holocaust experience as a key influence on his outlook, beat back a challenge from a moderate Republican. Bennet is among four Democrats with Jewish heritage running in statewide elections in the state. Jared Polis, the state’s first Jewish and openly gay Democratic governor, […]

(JTA) — Douglas Mastriano as Tevye would be an odd casting choice for a Republican candidate whose ties to a prominent antisemite have dogged his campaign. But Jaymie Bellet, who serenaded a crowd of Mastriano supporters on the last day of his bid to become Pennsylvania’s governor, suggested with her adaptation of a “Fiddler on […]

(JTA) — Students at one of Chicago’s most selective public high schools are calling for improved Holocaust education after a classmate goose-stepped across the stage of a Halloween costume contest while wearing a German military uniform. The principal of Jones College Prep, which draws high-performing students from across Chicago, has already been suspended over his […]

(JTA) — Around the time Rabbi Shmuley Boteach was endorsing Mehmet Oz for the Senate, calling the TV doctor a “great friend of Israel” last December, the candidate for the GOP nomination for an open U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania was hiring Boteach’s daughter as a consultant. That’s according to the daughter, Shterny Glick, whose […]

(JTA) — Former NBA star Amar’e Stoudemire first learned about the Black Hebrew Israelites, a movement whose core belief is that African Americans are the genealogical descendants of the ancient Israelites, as a teenager. After that discovery, he would start on a path of decades of research and learning that would lead to his eventual Orthodox […]