News
Old Westbury sued for barring synagogue construction
3+ day, 14+ hour ago (429+ words) After nearly two decades of legal sparring, a town on Long Island has been ordered to pay a local Chabad center $19 million, settling claims that officials unlawfully blocked the construction of a synagogue on its rabbi's property. Rabbi Aaron Konikov…...
In the shadow of the Holocaust, survivors kept Passover alive in 1946
1+ week, 2+ day ago (1051+ words) Eighty years ago, as the spring of 1946 arrived across a shattered Europe still drenched in blood, the Jewish people prepared to celebrate Passover under circumstances almost beyond human comprehension. World War II had ended less than a year earlier. The…...
When miracles demand courage: A moral reading of Exodus for our time
1+ week, 2+ day ago (756+ words) There are moments in history when reality itself seems to fracture " when the familiar dissolves, and humanity is forced to confront the limits of fear, power, and hope. The story of the Exodus is on. It is often remembered as…...
Inviting Zohran Mamdani to a Seder undermines Jewish identity
1+ week, 3+ day ago (475+ words) The inclusion of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani in a Downtown Seder alongside Jewish and Israeli figures reflects a failure of judgment at a moment when clarity is essential. At a time of rising antisemitism and intensifying debates over…...
The Fort Sill Haggadah: A Seder for hundreds of soldiers
2+ week, 18+ hour ago (522+ words) In 1946, on the occasion of my first Seder, I was given the National Jewish Welfare Board Haggadah published during World War II. Known as the JWB Haggadah, it was used in all American military installations around the world. It was a…...
Columbia's Hillel director: What do we do about antisemitism on campus?
2+ week, 1+ day ago (519+ words) As the parent of a high-school junior and someone who has worked with Jewish college students almost my entire career, nearly all the conversations I have with other parents revolve around the college search process and - unfortunately - one question: "Is…...
Despite Iran war, 40 American, Canadian Jews make aliyah ahead of Passover
2+ week, 3+ day ago (472+ words) Forty North Americans became Israeli citizens on Wednesday, including 25 who landed at Ben Gurion Airport and 15 already in Israel who completed the process the same day, arriving just before Passover and in the middle of the ongoing war with Iran....
Yad Vashem Chairman meets with Pope Leo XIV to discuss Holocaust rememberance
2+ week, 4+ day ago (277+ words) Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan met with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Monday to discuss the importance of Holocaust remembrance and research, including its significance for the Catholic world. Dayan and the Pope raised the idea of potential…...
Parashat Vayikra: Mutual responsibility
3+ week, 1+ day ago (748+ words) This Shabbat, we begin reading the third book of the Torah, the Book of Vayikra, also known as Torat Kohanim (the priestly teaching). The opening portion deals primarily with the laws of the sacrifices that were brought to the Temple....
Parashat Shemot The continuity of the world
3+ mon, 2+ day ago (819+ words) The Book of Exodus opens with one of the central challenges of any people seeking to survive: establishing its existence and ensuring continuity. The Torah tells us that when the Israelites went down to Egypt, they numbered only 70 souls, but…...