A defunct synagogue, reminder of a once-proud community, collapses in Pennsylvania’s coal region

An abandoned synagogue in Pennsylvania’s coal region, which until the early 2000s had served Jewish residents of Mahanoy City for more than 80 years, collapsed late Thursday night, officials and neighbors told the local media. Emergency crews responded to reports of falling walls and scattered debris at the former Beth Israel Synagogue, a brick building […]

Continue Reading

In 92NY talk, Bret Stephens urges ‘dismantling’ ADL and investing more in Jewish identity

In a speech that described antisemites as an “axis of the perfidious, the despotic, the hypocritical, the cynical, the deranged and the incurably stupid,” Bret Stephens asserted that supporters of the Anti-Defamation League and other Jewish defense groups should largely abandon their current strategy for combating antisemitism and instead redirect their resources toward strengthening Jewish […]

Continue Reading

Argentina’s chief Sephardic rabbi reaffirms century-old ban on local conversions, sparking backlash

BUENOS AIRES — Argentina’s Sephardic chief rabbi reaffirmed a 100-year-old ruling that conversion may not be performed in Argentina and is considered valid only if carried out in Israel. Representatives of non-Orthodox movements reacted angrily, asking why the ruling was issued now and saying it would essentially subject Argentinian converts to the tight hold that […]

Continue Reading

Peter Beinart, Elliot Cosgrove and other Jewish leaders face off over the future of liberal Zionism

For decades, liberal Zionism served the American Jewish majority as the ideological bridge between democratic and Jewish values: Support for Israel was based in, and justified by, a commitment to Jewish self-determination anchored in democracy, and animated by the promise of peace with the Palestinians.  On Tuesday night in Manhattan, a group of prominent rabbis […]

Continue Reading