Every year around the time of Purim, churches and synagogues around the world dive back into the book of Esther, where we hear of a courageous young Jewish woman in exile saving her people, who were put in danger because of her uncle’s unbending integrity in the face of pagan tyranny. But is that story really what we read–or merely what we’ve read *into* this unique book of the Bible?
TEL AVIV – Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday blasted presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders over his “shocking” declaration during Tuesday’s Democratic debate that he would consider moving the U.S. embassy from Jerusalem back to Tel Aviv if he won the elections.
TEL AVIV – A Republican Jewish group has announced its intention to air an anti-Bernie Sanders ad during the next Democratic debate on Tuesday describing a vote in favor of the presidential hopeful as “insane.”
Hungarian European Parliamentarian Balázs Hidvéghi declared this week that “radical Muslim antisemitism” is on the rise in Europe thanks to massive illegal immigration.
JERUSALEM – An animated video mimicking real-life murders by Palestinian terrorists is making the rounds on a social network popular with children, watchdog Palestinian Media Watch reported.
A German appellate court ruled Tuesday a 13th-Century antisemitic carving may remain on the wall of a church in Wittenberg, rejecting a plea by a local Jewish man to have it removed.
On January 13, 2020, Breitbart News reported a surge in gun permits among New York’s Jewish community and now the evidence suggests permits are growing among the New Jersey Jewish faithful as well.
OSWIECIM, Poland — Survivors of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp gathered Monday for commemorations marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the camp, using the testimony of survivors to warn about the signs of rising anti-Semitism and hatred in the world today.
TEL AVIV – U.S. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and other leading political figures around the world shared what has been dubbed a “blood libel” in which the drowning of a seven-year-old Arab child in Jerusalem was falsely attributed to “a herd of violent Israeli settlers.”
TEL AVIV – Ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drew a comparison between the Holocaust and Iran’s nuclear program.
BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hungary’s Jewish community on Sunday commemorated the 75th anniversary of the liberation by Soviet troops of the Budapest ghetto, where over 70,000 Jews were confined near the end of World War II.
The head of Italy’s leading political party said in an interview Sunday that the recent surge in antisemitism in Europe is primarily the consequence of the mass immigration of Muslims on the continent.
ALEXANDRIA, Egypt — Egypt reopened a historic synagogue on Friday in the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria after a yearslong government renovation.
The suspect in the brutal attack at a rabbi’s home during a Hanukkah celebration on Saturday night has suffered from a long history of mental illness but has no known history of antisemitism, a family statement issued Monday outlines.
TEL AVIV – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday condemned the “vicious attack” at a Hanukkah lighting ceremony in upstate New York, the previous night , in which a machete-wielding assailant stabbed at least five people.
A Hanukkah celebration in a New York suburb turned into horror Saturday night after a man entered and began stabbing people, witnesses say. Five victims were taken to nearby hospitals, according to police.
Flooding at Beirut’s only Jewish cemetery has swept away entire graves after heavy rainfall hit the Lebanese capital.
TEL AVIV – President Donald Trump’s executive order last week targeting anti-Semitism is a “game-changer,” the U.S.’ special envoy for combating anti-Semitism Elan Carr told a crowd in Tel Aviv Tuesday night.
TEL AVIV – Three Jewish Israelis have been indicted for praying at Judaism’s holiest site, the Temple Mount compound in Jerusalem, violating a ban on Jewish prayer at the holy site.
TEL AVIV – New Jersey officials have released videos with messages of support for the Jewish community days after a deadly shooting at a kosher supermarket claimed the lives of four people.
Beverly Hills police are investigating the vandalism of a synagogue Saturday after an employee arrived at the place of worship to discover an open door, overturned furniture and damage to several relics.
One of Germany’s richest families, which owns Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Pret A Manger and other international brands, is giving millions to support Holocaust survivors as it seeks to atone for its use of forced laborers during the Nazi era and its enthusiastic support of Adolf Hitler, The Associated Press has learned.
TEL AVIV – An anti-Israel aid worker for a Catholic organization who has accused Israel supporters of “vastly inflating” anti-Semitism will receive an award for peace at Belgium’s main Holocaust memorial museum, sparking fury from Jewish leaders.
Wednesday, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) reacted to President Donald Trump’s plan to sign an executive order directing federal agencies to apply Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to Jews, banning discrimination against them based on “race, color, or national origin.”
TEL AVIV – World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder announced that he was pledging $25 million of his own money to launch a new organization aimed at rooting out antisemitism in American politics, the New York Times reported Monday.
Amazon has withdrawn a range of “Christmas ornaments” displaying images of a former Nazi concentration camp vendors had listed on its website.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has backed an electoral intervention by Britain’s chief rabbi by saying the country should be alert to the unease felt by many Jews at the prospect of a left-wing Labour government led by Jeremy Corbyn.
The Chief Rabbi in the United Kingdom made an unprecedented intervention in the upcoming general election, saying on Monday the far-left Labour Party Leader, Jeremy Corbyn, is ‘unfit for office’ over his handling of anti-Semitism allegations.
The Hungarian government has granted the Unified Hungarian Jewish Congregation (EMIH) special status in the country, giving it official recognition “in the highest category.”
ROME — Leaders of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths signed a joint declaration in the Vatican Monday condemning euthanasia and assisted suicide as “inherently” evil acts that should be prohibited.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his shock and anger at Wednesday’s synagogue attack in Germany, leading a host of Israeli politicians condemning the antisemitic murders.
Tens of thousands of worshipers flocked to the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Monday night and Tuesday morning for penitential prayers ahead of Yom Kippur, which begins Tuesday evening.
Outspoken veteran Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge said she is “disappointed” to be facing a party reselection contest in her east London constituency.
The University of North Carolina (UNC) is disputing the Trump administration’s claim that its joint Middle Eastern studies program with Duke University lacks balance, focusing on the “positive aspects of Islam” while having an “absolute absence” of a similar focus on the positive aspects of Christianity and Judaism.
Berlin was the last place Helga Melmed had expected to see again. She was 14 when the Nazis forced her and her family onto a train from their home in the German capital to the Jewish ghetto in Lodz, Poland, in 1941.
A violent attack on a group of Israeli students in a Warsaw nightclub has been condemned by Poland’s foreign ministry.
TEL AVIV – The Lithuanian Jewish community on Tuesday announced that it was shuttering its doors, and that of Vilnius’s only synagogue, in the face of antisemitic threats and incitement by right-wing nationalists.
The Manischewitz Co., a name synonymous with kosher food and wine, has announced its plans to sell its entire kosher business to NJ-based Kenover Marketing Corp., another industry leader.
Antisemitic incidents have spiked across the UK over the first six month of this year, a report released Thursday revealed.
Republican opposition to antisemitism is a political ploy to glean money from Jewish donors, said Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) at a “Jewish Democratic summer conference.”
