Stewart Ain, an award-winning veteran journalist, covers the Jewish community. Follow him on Twitter @AinStewart or email [email protected].
Stewart Ain
By Stewart Ain
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News Jewish youth group gets swept into vaccine mandate debate
The mandate from the headquarters of Conservative Judaism’s youth movement is clear: the unvaccinated can’t participate in national and regional events. But that requirement conflicts with anti-mandate laws of a dozen states, including Florida, Texas and Georgia. The result for hundreds of United Synagogue Youth staff and teens caught in the middle ranges from confusion…
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News Appeals court rules for Jewish prisoners: Let them eat cheesecake
Jewish inmates who request cheesecake for Shavuot must get it. That’s what a three-judge federal appeals court panel unanimously ruled last week in a lawsuit filed by two Jewish prisoners who held that the vegan meals the Michigan Department of Corrections served them did not fulfill their kosher dietary needs. Cheesecake was not in the…
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Fast Forward Jewish security group opens national command center in Chicago
Following a spike in antisemitic threats, the Secure Community Network, which coordinates security for Jewish institutions nationwide, has opened a state-of-the-art command center in Chicago to monitor antisemitic threats. “We heard the message loud and clear – more needs to be done to protect the Jewish community,” said Michael Masters, national director and CEO of…
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News Florida dentist treats Holocaust survivors for free
George Bodrogi, an 86-year-old Holocaust survivor from Boynton Beach, Fl., bit into an unpitted cherry three years ago and broke one of his front teeth. He lived with the pain for more than four months before he went to see a dentist As he feared, the dentist suggested an involved and expensive treatment plan that…
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Fast Forward $10 million plus $15 million = one of the largest gifts ever to an American synagogue
A New York philanthropist is giving $10 million to New York’s Temple Emanu-El to enhance its outreach to unaffiliated Jewish families and young Jewish professionals. That’s on top of the $15 million John H. Streicker gave to the Reform synagogue in 2016. Together, the gifts approach the level of some of the heftiest gifts ever…
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News Synagogues scramble as Delta throws a wrench into High Holiday planning
Earlier this summer, Rabbi Joe Hample began writing a High Holiday sermon he can no longer deliver. The theme was “thank God the pandemic is receding,’” said Hample, who leads Tree of Life in Morgantown, West Virginia. “And now the pandemic is bouncing back so I have to change the sermon. I’m torn between panic…
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News An unveiling without a headstone? A shortage challenges grieving families
Funerals during the pandemic are tough enough, with many bereaved families unable to invite more than a handful of relatives for fear of spreading COVID-19. But now, a new obstacle challenges mourners: a national shortage of headstones. Jewish families who held small funerals were hoping to have more normal unveilings a year later. But now…
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News What Jewish New Yorkers need to know about Kathy Hochul, who will replace Cuomo as governor
(JTA) — (New York Jewish Week via JTA) — Kathy Hochul, who will succeed Andrew Cuomo as governor of New York, is no stranger to the New York Jewish community. Cuomo resigned Tuesday, a week after a state investigation concluded that he sexually harassed 11 women. He had faced intense pressure to step aside, including…
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Fast Forward Why neo-Nazis marched in Ohio this weekend, and almost every weekend in the US
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Opinion The group behind Project 2025 has a plan to protect Jews. It will do the opposite.
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Opinion Just about every interpretation of Trump’s narrow election victory is wrong
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News Texas schools want to add Queen Esther to the curriculum. Here’s why Jews (and many Christians) are opposed.
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Opinion Israel’s boycott of Haaretz is straight out of the authoritarian playbook
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Fast Forward Killing of Israeli rabbi in UAE could strengthen ties between Israel and Arab neighbors, experts say
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Opinion Despair is not a strategy. Here are 4 things those mourning the election results can do right now.
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Fast Forward Jared Kushner donates $1 million to Chabad of United Arab Emirates after rabbi murdered
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