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Tensions flare in Crown Heights as extremist group targets ‘zionist white supremacists’ over 1991 incident

August 20, 2025August 20, 2025Sara Wood

Around 20 masked activists stood on a street corner Tuesday night in Crown Heights, distributing fliers accusing “zionist white supremacists” of murdering a child whose accidental death sparked antisemitic violence in the neighborhood in 1991. Their audience featured both counter-protesters drawn from the Chabad Lubavitch movement they targeted and security officials charged with keeping the […]

Mass. man sentenced to 26 months in prison for threatening local synagogues, Israeli consulate

August 19, 2025August 19, 2025Sara Wood

A Massachusetts man was sentenced to over two years in prison Thursday for threatening to bomb two local synagogues and to kill Jewish children, the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Massachusetts has announced. John M. Reardon, 60, was arrested in January 2024 for the series of threatening calls, including one voicemail left for Congregation […]

New US Postal Service stamp honors Holocaust survivor and humanitarian Elie Wiesel

August 19, 2025August 20, 2025Sara Wood

The United States Postal Service announced a new series of stamps honoring Nobel Peace Prize winner and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. Wiesel, who died in 2016 at the age of 87, is the 18th person to be honored in the USPS’ Distinguished Americans stamp series. “The 18th stamp in the Distinguished Americans series honors humanitarian […]

Ohio man admits to federal hate crime for antisemitic attack on Jewish students at Ohio State

August 18, 2025August 18, 2025Sara Wood

An Ohio man pleaded guilty on Friday to a federal hate crime for assaulting two Jewish students at the Ohio State University in November 2023 after asking if they were Jewish. The Justice Department announced Friday that Timur Mamatov, 20, of Tipp City, Ohio, had pleaded guilty to violating the Hate Crimes Prevention Act for […]

House Minority Whip Katherine Clark calls war in Gaza a ‘genocide’ — then walks it back

August 18, 2025August 19, 2025Sara Wood

House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, a member of the Democratic leadership team, last week became the highest-ranking member of Congress to characterize the war in Gaza as a “genocide.” But she then walked the comments back on Monday amid a backlash, saying, “I want to be clear that I am not accusing Israel of genocide.” […]

US suspends Gaza visas after Laura Loomer criticizes admission of children for medical care

August 18, 2025August 18, 2025Sara Wood

The Department of State has halted a program meant to allow Gazan children who require medical care to receive it in the United States. Laura Loomer, a Jewish provocateur who holds considerable sway in the Trump administration despite holding no official role, took credit for the move, announced on Saturday. A day before, Loomer had […]

Pete Buttigieg shifts tone on Israel following backlash over supportive comments

August 15, 2025August 15, 2025Sara Wood

Pete Buttigieg said he would support halting U.S. arms sales to Israel and U.S. recognition of a Palestinian state, in a dramatic about-face following backlash over a podcast interview where he expressed cautious support for Israel. The dramatic shift for the 43-year-old former transportation secretary, who is seen as a possible contender for president in […]

Homeland Security accused of tweeting antisemitic dog whistles

August 14, 2025August 14, 2025Sara Wood

Over the weekend, the Department of Homeland Security’s X account appeared to reference an antisemitic dog whistle. And it wasn’t the first time that happened this summer. “Which way, American man?” the department’s official page posted Sunday, over a political cartoon from 1936 called “Uncle Sam at the Crossroads.” The post, a recruitment ad for […]

Putting God on the class list: How Jewish educators are getting their students to think about God

August 13, 2025August 13, 2025Sara Wood

It’s not easy getting teens to think about God. Even if they go to Jewish day school. When one Jewish educational organization asked day school students in middle school and high school several years ago to respond to the question, “What percentage of your time in Judaic studies do you spend talking explicitly about God?”, […]

Julie Sandorf, who invested in Jewish ‘social capital,’ to step down as head of Charles Revson Foundation

August 13, 2025August 13, 2025Sara Wood

In the 18 years that Julie Sandorf has served as its president, the Charles H. Revson Foundation has launched and supported initiatives in Israel that she admits are hard to categorize. There’s the fellowship for young Israelis interested in urban planning. An effort to expand civic service — an alternative to military service — to […]