(JTA) — More than 30 countries sat out the United Nations commemoration of the 2001 Durban conference, notorious among Jewish groups for devolving into antisemitism and virulent anti-Israel activism. “Thank you for your withdrawal from the 20th anniversary event of the UN’s Durban Conference,” Israel’s foreign ministry tweeted on Wednesday as country delegations, already in […]
Continue Reading
In this image, the narrow galaxy gracefully curling around its spherical companion is an incredible illustration of a genuinely odd and extremely rare event. Credit:ESA/Hubble & NASA, S. Jha / L. Shatz An image ESA/Hubble published in 2020, showed the largest and one of the most complete Einstein rings ever discovered, dubbed the “Molten Ring” […]
Continue Reading
(JTA) — A translator for a Nazi death squad died at home in Ontario at the age of 97, ending a decades-long effort to deport him from Canada for his role in the murders of tens of thousands of Jews. Helmut Oberlander, who was born in Ukraine in 1924, had long said that he was […]
Continue Reading
(JTA) — Showtime is producing a limited series on the late Jewish comedy legend Joan Rivers, and its lead actress should not come as a surprise. Kathryn Hahn, the non-Jewish star known for playing a rabbi on the very Jewish series “Transparent” among other Jewish roles, will portray Rivers, who died in 2014 after complications […]
Continue Reading
(JTA) — Ukraine’s parliament has passed a law stating that “antisemitism and its manifestations are banned” in that country. The law, which passed on Wednesday thanks to a majority of 283 lawmakers out of 450, is unusual in that it also proscribes antisemitic sentiment as illegal. Most countries with laws against antisemitism, such as Germany, […]
Continue Reading
(JTA) — A Jewish aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky survived an assassination attempt near Kyiv on Wednesday. Several shots were fired at the car of Sergey Nachmanovich Shefir, a former television producer whom Zelensky appointed as his top aide. Shefir was not injured but his driver was hit by three bullets in his leg […]
Continue Reading
AFTER SIX Palestinian detainees escaped the maximum-security prison of Gilboa in northern Israel on September 6th, mass euphoria reverberated across the occupied Palestinian territories. Celebrations erupted in the West Bank cities of Jenin and Hebron as well as in Gaza: People on the street waved flags and handed out sweets while drivers honked their horns […]
Continue Reading
Don’t chew with your mouth open. Keep your elbows off the tables. Don’t begin eating until everyone’s been served. Every community has its guidelines for proper manners. Today’s daf takes a breather from detailing halakhic requirements to consider some of these softer rules in rabbinic life. Here is how the rabbis come to the discussion: A mishnah […]
Continue Reading
