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.
When president-elect Donald Trump named Steve Bannon, the controversial media figure behind the alt-right website Breitbart News Network, as his “senior strategist” — major Jewish groups raised the alarm. The Anti-Defamation League condemned the move, saying Bannon’s website was home to racists and fostered hatred against Jews. But to his Jewish defenders — which include…
This election has taken a toll on everyone. Each week seems to bring new revelations and scandals. Stressful, yes. Scary? Maybe. And taxing on our spiritual lives? Gary Shaffer worried that was the case. Shaffer leads weekly classes in Mussar, a 19th century Jewish spiritual practice focused on ethics at one of Brooklyn’s largest Reform…
In the wake of Donald Trump’s presidential win, some of the white nationalists who rallied around the Trump campaign are seeking elected office. “I think this will be inevitable, and I think that Trump will have encouraged this,” Jared Taylor, head of the white nationalist website American Renaissance, told Talking Points Memo, “our people will…
Donald Trump’s victory in this week’s presidential elections was celebrated by a new generation of white nationalists. In the days after Trump’s win, this cohort — mostly young and male — consider what comes next for their movement and dream of building their own “white ethno-state.” The so-called “alternative right” is a diverse movement, ranging…
Thousands gathered across the country to march, shut down roadways and shout slogans against the election of Donald Trump as president. Some carried signs reading: “Jews Reject Trump.” Members of activist Jewish groups were in the streets in New York, California and Oregon, protesting a president-elect they fear has fueled the flames of racism and…
On the heels of Donald Trump’s victory in the November 8 presidential election, the young white nationalists who rallied around the Republican candidate celebrated his victory as their own and contemplated the next step for the volatile political movement they call the “alt-right.” “Hope is finally making a comeback,” Richard Spencer, a prominent white nationalist…
At polling sites in the Orthodox enclave of Borough Park in Brooklyn, many Hasidic Jews expressed support for Donald Trump. On the way to vote after praying at synagouge, they paused to praise the Republican candidate for his controversial immigration plans and enthusiastic support of Israel. Others railed against his opponent Hillary Clinton. “I like…
Since the beginning of the school year, the fifth-graders in Karen Hidalgo’s class at Austin Jewish Academy in Texas have been troubled by the mean-spiritedness of the presidential election. “I feel like at Jewish days schools when we talk about morals and ethics, our current candidates haven’t been wonderful role models in those areas,” said…
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