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Rubio, in Israel-heavy confirmation hearing, says US should revoke visas for ‘a supporter of Hamas’

January 15, 2025January 15, 2025Sara Wood

In a Senate confirmation hearing that often turned to discussion of Israel, Marco Rubio voiced his view that the United States should revoke the visas of any “supporter of Hamas” in the country. The Florida GOP senator, who is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of state, also used his Wednesday hearing to back an […]

Deborah Lipstadt, exiting as US antisemitism envoy, is hoping for the best under Trump

January 14, 2025January 15, 2025Sara Wood

WASHINGTON — In her last week in office, Deborah Lipstadt, whom President Joe Biden charged with fighting antisemitism around the world, expressed doubt as to whether the incoming Trump administration will be up to the challenge. “I certainly hope so — I don’t know,” said Lipstadt, during her final roundtable with the Jewish press at […]

Pete Hegseth, in Senate confirmation hearing, blames Oct. 7 on US withdrawal from Afghanistan

January 14, 2025January 14, 2025Sara Wood

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, said in his Senate confirmation hearing that the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in Israel were the direct result of President Biden’s 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan. Elsewhere in his contentious hearing, he said he supported Israel “destroying and killing every last member of Hamas,” and defended […]

Jewish groups pushed Meta to crack down on hate speech. Now, the company is reversing course.

January 13, 2025January 13, 2025Sara Wood

Six months ago, Jewish groups celebrated a policy win when Meta banned the use of “Zionist” as a coded slur against Jews and Israel. Now, the same organizations are condemning the company for dramatically loosening restrictions on speech across its social media platforms. “It is mind-blowing how one of the most profitable companies in the […]

The Learning Leader: Orchestrating Organizational and Personal Change

January 13, 2025January 13, 2025Sara Wood

In 1972, I was a counselor-in-training at Herzl Camp in Webster, Wisconsin. If you also found your Jewish essence, your neshama, your soulfulness, at camp, this memory might resonate. One steamy midwestern August afternoon, a charismatic and beloved senior staff person tapped me on the shoulder and directed me to teach the camp song to […]

‘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 […]