By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER The current month of Iyyar (alef-yod-yod-resh; sometimes written “Iyar” – alef-yod-resh) is the only month in which we count the Omer every single day, as counting began at the second Seder – in the middle of Nisan – and concludes just days into Sivan.  Thus, we uniquely spend all of Iyyar anticipating  Shavuot, celebrating God’s gift of the Torah. Iyyar is said to be a time of physical, emotional, and spiritual healing: see Exodus 15:26, “Ani Adonai Rofecha – I am the Lord, your Healer” (initial letters: alef-yod-resh). In Iyyar we gratefully remember the ..read more

By RON KAMPEAS (JTA) — The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to elevate the status of the Palestine delegation, a mostly symbolic action that nonetheless underscored Israel’s isolation as its war with Hamas enters its seventh month. Delegates at work at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. (UN Photo/Manuel Elias) The resolution, introduced by the United Arab Emirates, passed Friday 143-9 with 25 abstentions, the U.N. news site reported. The votes against included Israel and the United States. The action is mostly symbolic: Full membership status can only be bes ..read more

The following statement was crafted and issued jointly by the South Central Region of the Anti-Defamation League and Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans on Friday, May 10: We support free speech, but stand firmly against speech that stokes hatred and threatens the physical and psychological wellbeing of community members. At a time when antisemitism is surging across the country, Jewish college students are facing an increasingly hostile environment. And while groups like Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) claim to fight against antisemitism, they often partner with and provide platforms for u ..read more

By SHIRA LI BARTOV (JTA) — Israeli singer Eden Golan advanced to Eurovision’s final on Thursday night, hours after thousands of people protested her inclusion in the contest while Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza continues. Eden Golan. (Photo by Jens Büttner/picture alliance via Getty Images)) In Malmö, the Swedish port city hosting the 68th Eurovision Song Contest, Golan’s performance of her song “Hurricane” received a mix of boos and cheers during Thursday’s semifinal, though the booing was heavily muffled for at-home viewers in the TV broadcast. One man waving a Palestinian flag in the ..read more

©2024 Feintooner (All rights reserved) The post NO-GO-tiations appeared first on Crescent City Jewish News ..read more

By JACKIE HAJDENBERG (JTA) — Cornell University president Martha E. Pollack will step down from her position next month, the third Ivy League leader to announce her resignation amid fierce campus debate surrounding antisemitism and protests over the Israel-Hamas war.  Cornell University President Martha Pollack. (Kenneth C. Zirkel/Wikimedia) In an email sent to the Cornell community, Pollack cited the “enormous, unexpected challenges” posed by the war and incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia. She emphasized that the decision to retire from the position was her own. “Local and worl ..read more

By SHIRA LI BARTOV (JTA) — As the 68th Eurovision Song Contest kicks into full gear, organizers who insist the event is “non-political” are fighting a crescendo of protests over Israel’s participation amid the ongoing war in Gaza. Eden Golan from Israel performs the song “Hurricane” on the stage of the Eurovision Song Contest during rehearsals for the second semifinal in the Malmö Arena, May 8, 2024. (Jens Büttner/picture alliance via Getty Images) The European Broadcasting Union, which organizes the global competition held in the Swedish city of Malmö this year, has tirelessly pushed one sl ..read more

By ANDREW LAPIN (JTA) — For two hours, members of Congress questioned three major public school leaders about allegations of student antisemitism — and took them to task for not doing more to counter it.  David Banks, chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, speaks during a hearing with subcommittee members of the House Education and the Workforce Committee looking into cases of antisemitism in K-12 schools. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) The three heads of K-12 school systems — in New York City, Berkeley, California and Montgomery County, Maryland, outside Washington, D ..read more

By JACKIE HAJDENBERG (New York Jewish Week via JTA) — More than 400 Jewish students at Columbia University have signed an open letter defending their support for Israel and decrying harassment they’ve faced surrounding the school’s pro-Palestinian encampment. A Columbia student wraps tefillin, while in the background, a pro-Palestinian encampment enters its third day. (Jackie Hajdenberg) The letter also addresses two groups that, signatories say, have purported to speak for them: their anti-Zionist Jewish peers, and pro-Israel alumni who have come to the school to protest. “We are here, writ ..read more

By RON KAMPEAS WASHINGTON (JTA) — A former Republican congressman in Indiana who is a longtime critic of Israel failed in his bid to return to the House of Representatives after the Republican Jewish Coalition and AIPAC mounted an effort to support his opponent. Rep. John N. Hostettler, an Indiana Republican, during the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness hearing at the U.S. Capitol campus, March 25, 2003, (Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images) Election returns in Indiana’s 8th district on Tuesday night showed state Senator Mark Messmer, the RJC’s favored candidat ..read more