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‘I can’t picture myself without going to the temple’: LA teens mourn their synagogue’s destruction

January 12, 2025January 13, 2025Sara Wood

LOS ANGELES — The Shabbat service was in many ways standard fare: Hundreds of Jews gathered to light candles, sing prayers, rise for reflection and eat challah, together. But there was a big, and unexpected, difference this week for members of the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center: Instead of convening in their synagogue’s 80-year-old building, […]

Celebrating Shabbat in Los Angeles: Amid the fires, a still, small voice

January 11, 2025January 12, 2025Sara Wood

So many questions swirled in my head, like burning embers caught up in the wind, each one demanding urgent attention. Will the power be on at the shul, or will we need to accept one of the many kind invitations to join another synagogue for services? Should we pack the cars before heading out for […]

A synagogue that survived the Palisades fire has become a ‘refuge’ for many who lost their homes

January 10, 2025January 10, 2025Sara Wood

Two blocks away: a school reduced to ruins. Across the street: rubble. Under the door: ashes. And yet at Kehillat Israel, things look much the same as they did at the beginning of the week, before the fires. That’s what the clergy found when they reentered their synagogue’s building on Thursday in the wake of […]

A rabbi and his son were arrested for vandalizing a swastika mural. Are they heroes or hooligans?

January 10, 2025January 10, 2025Sara Wood

Zechariah Mehler wanted to see the swastika for himself. It was September, and Milwaukee was abuzz over a mural that had gone up on the side of a commercial building in the city’s sixth district. Painted on slabs of vinyl affixed to the brick, the mural — a large rectangle about the size of the […]

Jewish community springs into action as devastating Los Angeles-area fires widen

January 9, 2025January 9, 2025Sara Wood

Daniel Sher’s voice broke as he related the latest to members of his Pacific Palisades synagogue. Kehillat Israel had just sent a message saying that its building had so far survived the devastating Palisades Fire, but, the associate rabbi noted, so much had been lost. “I cannot begin to describe the feeling that I am […]

Trump taps Senate staffer as National Security Council’s Middle East director

January 8, 2025January 8, 2025Sara Wood

Eric Trager, a Republican Senate staffer and Egypt expert, is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Middle East advisor on the National Security Council, multiple news organizations reported. As senior director for the Middle East and North Africa, the top advisory role on Middle East issues, Trager would replace Brett McGurk, who has played a central […]

Pasadena synagogue burns down as fires rage across Southern California

January 8, 2025January 8, 2025Sara Wood

A synagogue with more than 100 years of history in Pasadena, California, burned down overnight as fires swept across parts of Southern California. The fate of a Chabad center about 40 miles away near the coast was unclear as a major fire flared in the Pacific Palisades, one of three different blazes destroying structures and […]

Massachusetts man arrested for antisemitic threats had Nazi flag, guns and ammo

January 7, 2025January 8, 2025Sara Wood

A Massachusetts man who was arrested on Saturday for threatening antisemitic violence had a gun, ammunition and a Nazi flag, police said. Local outlets reported that Matthew Scouras, 34, had allegedly threatened to rape Jewish women and called for people to be shot outside of synagogues. The FBI alerted police to the threat, and when […]

Dept. of Education opens Title VI antisemitism investigation at Sarah Lawrence College, where Hillel alleged atmosphere of intimidation

January 7, 2025January 7, 2025Sara Wood

The federal Department of Education is opening a Title VI antisemitism investigation into Sarah Lawrence College in response to a complaint from the campus Hillel chapter that the school fostered a hostile environment for Jewish students. The private liberal arts college in Westchester, New York failed to properly respond to harassment of Jewish students in […]

Investing firm to stop assessing human rights risk in ‘contiguous territorial disputes’ after scrutiny from pro-Israel groups

January 7, 2025January 9, 2025Sara Wood

When investors need help navigating business decisions in conflict zones they turn to specialized firms that are supposed to help them keep clear of human rights abuses. But one of the biggest firms offering advice on environmental, social, and governance issues recently announced that when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it will no longer […]