Against the odds, the Turtles carry on.  The group, formed by Jewish singer-guitarists Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan in 1965, began helming a multi-band tour comprising ‘60s rock groups in 1984. It kicked up again in 2010 and has continued under the banner of the Happy Together Tour — “Happy Together” being the Turtles No. 1 hit from 1967.  This year’s 38-date tour — the Turtles alongside The Cowsills, Jay and the Americans, The Association, Joey Molland’s Badfinger and the Vogues — begins June 1 in Biloxi, Mississippi and runs through Sept. 2 in Puyallup, Washington. But the Turtles ..read more

This is a developing story. (JTA) — Five days after fending off a sweeping attack by Iran, Israel has struck back by bombing Iranian territory, according to several reports that cite an unnamed U.S. government source. The exact site of the strike early Friday morning Iranian time is unknown but explosions were reported in the area of Isfahan, a city with a major air force base. ABC also said there had reportedly been strikes in Iraq and Syria, where Iranian forces and proxies have a presence.  Fox News and CNN, also citing unnamed U.S. sources, reported that the strikes were “limited” in ..read more

דער דריטער סדר, וואָס איז אַ מאָל געווען אַזוי באַקאַנט אין די ניו־יאָרקער לינק-געשטימטע ייִדיש קרײַזן, האָט אַ שותּף אין מעלבורן. בײַ אונדז, אין ׳עק וועלט׳, האָט זיך אַנטוויקלט אַן אויסטראַלישע טראַדיציע פֿון פּראַווען אַ דריטן סדר זינגענדיק ניט נאָר די באַקאַנטע לידער ווי „זאָג מאַראַן“, נאָר אויך לידער וואָס זײַנען געשריבן געוואָרן אין מעלבורן פֿאַר דער היגער קהילה.  דער מחבר פֿון די לידער פֿאַרן דריטן סדר איז געווען דער פּויליש־געבוירענער קאָמפּאָזיטאָר ברוך קאַלושינער. ער האָט זיך באַזעצט אין דער שטאָט אין 1960 ..read more

(New York Jewish Week) – With a phalanx of police outside its gates and student protesters crowding the street, Columbia University erupted in unrest Thursday over the Israel-Hamas war. The mass demonstration at New York City’s Ivy League school and its aftermath represented an escalation after months of tensions over the war. On Wednesday morning, students awoke to an encampment of large green and white tents in two concentric circles covered a large portion of the campus’ central quad, opposite the library. A banner hung across several of them: “GAZA SOLIDARITY ENCAMPMENT,” it said. Another ..read more

וועגן איר גרויסן דורכפאל, איר מאַן האט זי פארראטן, ס׳איז איר געווען ביטער ווי די גאַל. נאכדערצו: מיט איר בעסטע פריינד, וואס איז געווען איר קאנפידאנט, געשפילט האט יענע ווי א ״שלום בית-מאכער״ גאָר בארוהיגט אירע זארגן [ווען זי האט געטראכט] ״אז עפעס גייט פאָר״ כ׳האב זייער געוואלט ליינען איר מעמואר פארשטיין וויאזוי זי האט זיך געהיילט פון אזא צער פארלוירענע צוטרוי – האט היימיש געשפירט, די טעם ווען איינער וויל אין רוקן אריינשטעכן א שפיז… די הקדמה האט אין מיר אנגעצינדן א פלאם וואס כ׳האב נישט געוואוסט איז אין מיר זי האט דערציילט ווי וויכטיג פאר יעדן באזונדער צו פארשרייבן אלץ וואס זיי האבן דורכגעלעבט — ..read more

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Police arrested the son of a prominent Washington D.C.-area rabbi after he allegedly got into an altercation with protesters outside the Israeli Embassy. Two witnesses quoted in a Secret Service police arrest sheet accused Ezra Weinblatt, a real estate agent and the son of Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt, who leads Congregation B’nai Tzedek in Potomac, Maryland, of pushing them on April 16 at around noon and breaking their sound equipment. Weinblatt told Secret Service police “what they [the protesters] were doing is illegal and annoying,” according to the arrest sheet, which was obt ..read more

Numerous authors have withdrawn from PEN America’s prestigious literary awards in protest of the organization’s response to the Israel-Hamas war — including nine out of the 10 long-listed for the Jean Stein Book Award for a work of “originality” and “impact.” The 10th writer is a Black poet named Camille T. Dungy, whose memoir about her garden, called Soil, is slated for publication in May.  So perhaps it is unsurprising that while many of the pro-Palestinian authors who pulled out of the PEN awards have been posting about the war, and their criticism of the organization’s response ..read more

(JTA) — When Aaron Moshe Shalman was recalled for another round of reserve duty in Israel’s army last month, he took to Facebook, seeking help for his 35-member paratrooper unit. “We are in dire need of equipment: tactical helmets, tactical uniforms, tactical boots (in all sizes), tactical eyeglasses, knee pads, leathermans, good gun straps, and decent tactical gloves,” Shalman wrote in Secret Jerusalem, a group with tens of thousands of English speakers. Many responded with offers to help. But the comments also devolved into a heated debate: Why, six months into war, are soldiers like Shalman ..read more

KYIV, Ukraine (JTA) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has met with Jewish leaders several times in the two years since war came to his country, but he had never met with Jewish teenagers until Thursday — when he joined students at a Kyiv Jewish school for their mock Passover seder. “Do you remember what the Passover holiday is all about?” one student from the Simcha School asked Zelenskyy, who is Jewish. “I think first of all it is about freedom,” he answered as another student poured a cup of Kedem grape juice, a loaded seder plate in view. “And freedom is probably the most sensitive ..read more

The risk-reward ratio for remaking a successful show for a new type of audience is seductive. Despite the long list of failures, it’s always easy to point at the massive cultural and financial successes of Friends (the white version of Living Single), American Idol (based on the British Pop Idol itself inspired by New Zealand’s Popstars) or The Office — the American show that recycled the UK scripts before finding its own feet in Scranton. So, especially given its simple, budget-friendly format of one setting and a limited cast of characters, it’s hardly surprising that the beloved, award-winn ..read more