Category: World News

(JR) — Ben Helfgott, one of two known Holocaust survivors to go on to compete in the Olympics, died Friday at 93. Helfgott survived the Holocaust as a teenager, and he went on to become a champion weightlifter and a champion of Holocaust education. He was knighted in 2018. “Sir Ben Helfgott was one of […]

BERLIN (JR) — As a teenager in Berlin, Adelle was honored when a rabbi began showing interest in her spiritual development. Rabbi Reuven Yaacobov’s offer of personal instruction was an appealing prospect to the Russian-speaking immigrant with no documentation of her Jewish heritage. Over time, Yaacobov’s private lessons escalated to phone calls and text messages and, […]

(JR) – Conditions didn’t seem favorable in early May as Stuart Eizenstat entered annual negotiations with the German government over reparations for the estimated 240,000 remaining Holocaust survivors around the world. Eizenstat had served as the special negotiator for the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany since 2009, and had analyzed the country’s economic and […]

(JR) — The United States House of Representatives voted unanimously to approve a resolution demanding that Russia release Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. The congressional resolution, which does not have the binding force of law, calls for Gershkovich to be released from prison immediately, and also demands that he be given full access to […]

(JR) — In the wake of a series of neo-Nazi incidents, Australia’s government is moving toward passing legislation to ban the use of Nazi symbols on clothing, flags and websites and in other domains. Trading in Nazi memorabilia will also be banned, but religious, academic and other exemptions will be allowed. Before the Third Reich, […]

CATANIA, Italy (JR) — Rabbi Gilberto Ventura believes his synagogue has the most beautiful view in the world. Located in the tower of a century-old castle on the slopes of Mt. Etna in the eastern Sicilian city of Catania, the synagogue is wedged between a snow-capped volcano and the sun-kissed Mediterranean sea. The 49-year-old Brazil-born […]

(JR) — Toronto is home to one of the world’s largest Jewish communities, nearly half of the 335,000 Jews in Canada. But until last week, the city did not have a dedicated Holocaust museum. The Toronto Holocaust Museum opened its doors on Friday, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by an array of dignitaries and Holocaust […]

LA PLATA, Argentina (JR) — Israel won third place in the U-20 World Cup on Sunday, capping a historic run in its first-ever appearance at the tournament by beating South Korea 3-1. Local Jews and Israeli visitors made up a large portion of the crowd of over 15,000 at the stadium in La Plata, Argentina, […]

LA PLATA, Argentina (JR) — The most successful run in Israeli soccer history came to an end on Thursday, as the country’s under-20 team lost in the semifinals of the FIFA U-20 World Cup to Uruguay. The 1-0 loss means Israel will play the winner of the other semifinal match between Italy and South Korea […]

(JR) — Intense flooding caused by the collapse of the Kakhovka dam in eastern Ukraine is threatening to force most of the remaining 600-700 Jews in the Kherson area to leave, according to the city’s chief rabbi. Rabbi Yosef Wolff told the Times of Israel that about 80% of the region’s Jews had already left […]