Local -

The first and second Jewish mayors of Providence, Rhode Island, just had a shared bar mitzvah

March 20, 2026March 21, 2026Sara Wood

It is not every day a sitting mayor celebrates his bar mitzvah. But last Saturday, as more than 700 people packed the pews at Temple Beth-El in Providence, Rhode Island, that’s exactly what unfolded. At the center of the ceremony at the Reform synagogue on the East Side of Providence was the city’s mayor, Brett […]

In antisemitism settlement, UC Berkeley agrees bans on Zionists ‘can violate university rules’

March 20, 2026March 21, 2026Sara Wood

The University of California, Berkeley said bans on Zionists “can violate university rules” and the bylaws of any student groups barring their inclusion must be rescinded, as part of a new settlement agreement in an antisemitism lawsuit. The university further agreed to pay $1 million to the Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, a […]

Temple Israel’s photographer shares story behind haunting photos of attack aftermath

March 19, 2026March 19, 2026Sara Wood

Four days after an attacker drove a car filled with explosives into her synagogue, Rabbi Jen Lader called a trusted photographer. Emily Iris Elconin took what would become the first official photos of the aftermath of the attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan. On Thursday morning, one week after the attack, the synagogue […]

Threatening messages, and an arrest, bring antisemitism close to home for a New York rabbi

March 19, 2026March 20, 2026Sara Wood

Rabbi Matt Cutler was wrapping up a local TV interview last Thursday when a text from State Police came through: The man who had been posting antisemitic threats against him online was about to be arrested. The notice was timely for Cutler, the leader of the Reform synagogue Congregation Gates of Heaven in Schenectady, New […]

U of Florida College Republicans, caught making Nazi salutes, sue school for disbanding chapter

March 18, 2026March 18, 2026Sara Wood

Another group for young Republicans is in hot water over revelations that its members have engaged in antisemitic activity. The University of Florida disbanded its College Republicans chapter over the weekend following social media posts in which two members reportedly made Nazi salutes, among other actions. In response, the group sued the university, accusing administrators […]

Jan. 6 protester Jake Lang renounced his Judaism to court the far right. It isn’t working.

March 18, 2026March 18, 2026Sara Wood

Jake Lang has burned a copy of the Talmud, performed a Nazi salute outside AIPAC’s headquarters and repeatedly declared that “Christ is King.” But those antisemitic displays have not earned him an in with his fellow far-right personalities. Instead, after Lang’s anti-Muslim rally in New York City earlier this month was derailed by bomb-throwing counterprotesters, […]

Americans now view Israel more negatively than positively, poll finds

March 17, 2026March 19, 2026Sara Wood

American voters now view Israel more negatively than positively, according to a new poll by NBC News that adds to a growing body of surveys demonstrating eroding support for the country in recent years. The poll, published on Monday by NBC News, found that among registered American voters today, 39% view Israel negatively while 32% […]

Maryland man who sent threatening letters to Jewish institutions sentenced to 3 years in prison

March 17, 2026March 17, 2026Sara Wood

A Maryland man who sent more than 40 threatening letters to Jewish institutions, including the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia, was sentenced to three years in prison Monday. Clift Seferlis, 55, of Garrett Park, Maryland, was sentenced to 37 months in prison and three years of supervised release as well as […]

Leqaa Kordia, the last Palestinian Columbia protester still in ICE detention, has been released

March 17, 2026March 17, 2026Sara Wood

Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian woman and the last person still detained in the Trump administration’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus protests last spring, was released from ICE custody on Monday. Kordia’s release came weeks after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani petitioned President Donald Trump in person on her behalf. Mamdani celebrated the development in a […]

After attacks, Jewish security watchdogs warn of ‘most elevated and complex threat environment’ in recent history

March 13, 2026March 14, 2026Sara Wood

A string of recent synagogue attacks across North America and Europe has left security officials sounding the alarm bells. “We are in the midst of the most elevated and complex threat environment the Jewish community and this country has seen in modern history,” said Kerry Sleeper, chief of threat management and information sharing for the […]