Sam Kestenbaum is a contributing editor and former staff writer for the Forward. Before this, he worked for The New York Times and newsrooms in Sana, Ramallah and Beijing. Contact him at kestenbaum@forward.com and follow him on Twitter at @skestenbaum and on Instagram at @skestenbaum.
The international Jewish outreach group Kulanu is trumpeting their 2017 accomplishments, including organizing more than 150 Jewish conversions in Africa and Latin America. “This year, Kulanu teams traveled to Nicaragua in July and Côte d’Ivoire in December to help people who had been preparing for years to convert to Judaism,” the New York-based group wrote…
Orthodox Jewish rapper Moses Levi, better known as his stage name Shyne, announced the birth of a new child this week. In an Instagram post, Levi thanked the “Creator of the universe” for a safe delivery and revealed that his daughter is called Naomi, a biblical name from the book of Ruth. “Welcome our princess…
A doctor who performs medically assisted deaths is being accused of “sneaking in and killing someone” at an Orthodox Jewish nursing home in Canada. The Louis Brier Nursing Home in Vancouver has filed a complaint with the British Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons against Dr. Ellen Wiebe after she responded to 83-year-old Barry Hyman’s…
A group of American Jewish leaders sent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a letter Monday urging him to rethink plans to deport tens of thousands of African refugees — and to do the “Jewish thing” and recognize them as refugees “deserving protection.” “We are asking Israel to do the right thing, the Jewish thing, to be…
Ivanka Trump tweeted her support for the acceptance speech Oprah Winfrey gave during Sunday night’s Golden Globes — but received harsh criticism because Winfrey’s speech was seen as implicitly critical of the Trump administration. Just saw @Oprah’s empowering & inspiring speech at last night’s #GoldenGlobes. Let’s all come together, women & men, & say #TIMESUP!…
A substitute teacher at a Maryland girls school was fired for his involvement with a prominent white nationalist think tank in the “alt-right.” Greg Conte, a substitute teacher and sports coach at the Academy of the Holy Cross, was fired this past fall, but only this month did school officials send a letter explaining the…
Paula White, the megachurch pastor and spiritual adviser to President Trump, said the president’s evangelical council is planning to unveil a string of new “faith initiatives” in 2018. “We thought we did some things last year, boy, wait until this year,” White told the Christian Broadcasting Network. White told hosts David Brody and Jenna Browder…
This Rosh Hashana, Rabbi Adam Spilker delivered what he said was his strongest sermon ever as a spiritual leader. His congregation, a veteran Reform synagogue of more than 600 families in Minnesota, had recently signed on to a new campaign organized the Reform movement to ramp up political and social activism amidst the culture wars…
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