Even though the Jewish year doesn’t end and begin anew in a few days, it’s difficult not to feel a sense of closure when December 31 rolls around. It comes with the territory and besides, we are all eager to see this year come to an end.

(JTA) — If you would have asked me before Passover — as I packed matzah and other items for Jews preparing to experience their first Seder alone at home — whether we would need to rethink Hanukkah celebrations, I would have laughed you off. December felt a lifetime away and most of us assume…

    The photo was taken December 1, 1931. The text on the back reads:

(JTA) — Just before Thanksgiving, a 5-4 majority of the U.S. Supreme Court forbade the state of New York from enforcing 10- or 25-person occupancy limits on religious organizations in places where COVID-19 cases are at their highest. In the case of Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo…

This story originally appeared in Alma.

   It’s Thanksgiving week, which normally comes with a pretty standard set of rules. You plan an extensive menu that should include Turkey and pumpkin pie. There should also be cranberries, yams with marshmallows and something called ‘green bean casserole.’ Then you invite friends and family…

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(JTA) — Before I met him, I saw Benjamin McDowell’s name in the news. Inspired by Dylann Roof, the notorious shooter responsible for the Charleston church massacre, he planned an attack on a synagogue that was thwarted by FBI agents.

This article originally appeared in Alma.

(JTA) — Like many progressives in America, as soon as Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the Supreme Court Monday night, my social media feeds erupted with anger over the process and fear that her appointment could presage a rollback of marriage equality.

(JTA) — Two years ago, a gunman entered the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh with hate in his heart and bigotry in his soul. Beset by a false sense of grievance and an imagined threat, he murdered 11 peaceful souls at prayer, taking age-old anti-Semitism to its most vile conclusion. We w…

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   During the week leading up to the 2020 election, I need a distraction and so I find myself making etrog jam. As I carefully pull each seed from the etrog, it occurs to me how being in the kitchen ties me to generations of Jews. Every year, we baby that fruit for the duration of Sukkot, we…

This article originally appeared in The Nosher.

    Jews do not speak in a political monologue. Like so many misconceptions, putting Jews, a broad, cultural or religious identity, into a political box is wrong and approaching bigotry.

    Let’s face it: we’re not all so very nice to each other these days. After several years of hearing the word “partisan” a few times too often, we just can’t figure out how to get along anymore. And that pesky neighbor just put a political sign in his front yard for a candidate you  don’t …

(JTA) — It’s been seven months since we collectively adopted the term “social distance” to mean a specific geographic space between people. But those words took on a new meaning to me when I looked at my phone on Wednesday morning.

    It took most of Thursday morning to write 2/3 of an op-ed, which I subsequently threw in the garbage. I’m not even sure I remember what I wrote—that’s how boring and listless it was.

This piece originally appeared on Kveller.

Once again, well-funded casino operators want to change Nebraska’s constitution to allow casino gambling. The change would allow all forms of gambling across the state, from slot machines to online sports betting. And such a constitutional change immediately empowers Nebraska’s three tribes …

This article originally appeared in Kveller.

(JTA) — My father died two years ago, two days before Rosh Hashanah. My sister Laura, my aunt Judy and I had flown out to Palm Springs a few days before to be at his bedside. Along with my dad’s partner, Tony, we were with him when he passed.

(JTA) — I don’t need to remind you of all the reasons that 2020 has been an incredibly rough year. We could all use a fresh start, so it’s a good thing that Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is just around the corner, offering a chance for renewal and a new beginning.

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A few weeks ago the Omaha World Herald ran an excellent article written by one of their best reporters, Cindy Gonzalez, on the renovations undertaken by the Jewish Federation of Omaha at its complex in West Omaha on South 132nd Street.

This article originally appeared in Kveller.

WASHINGTON (JTA) — It has already begun. Leaks about “allies” warning Joe Biden about naming Kamala Harris as his running mate because she “had no remorse” for the gall of actually competing in the primaries. Or comments that Harris “rubs people the wrong way” but that Karen Bass doesn’t. Or…

    It was a confusing sight, at best: the August 1 rally in Berlin featured both people protesting against COVID-19 restrictions by comparing them to Nazi-rules, and actual neo-Nazis. Mask mandates, vaccines and  perceived government overreach are bad because it reminds people of Nazis. And…

When I found out that I belong to Generation Z instead of being a Millennial, I was shocked. At first, I thought, all the older generations’ criticisms about millennials don’t apply to me anymore! But then I noticed that people are already insulting my up-and-coming generation.

A pandemic, an election year, racial tensions, federal troops descending on cities, muggy hot weather and lots of anxiety for everyone to share: it sounds like the perfect time for a robust conspiracy to make the rounds.

NEW YORK (JTA) — On Friday afternoon, a few hours before Shabbat, I found myself scrolling through Twitter when I stumbled upon an anti-Semitic rant. 

This article is part of a collaboration between the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Kveller about pandemic parenting and school reopenings. 

PITTSBURGH (JTA) —  Before I was an offensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers, I was the son of a middle school teacher in Tacoma, Washington.

This story originally appeared on Alma.

    In 1928, Omaha Central High School played a basketball game against a school from St. Joseph, MO. The Missouri team refused to play against Black athletes. Central’s Black player was not allowed to play in the game.

A version of this article was originally published on TribeHerald and was reprinted with permission.

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SILVER SPRING, Md. (JTA) — In 1948, after the Holocaust, the right to asylum was recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to ensure that never again would anyone be trapped in their country of persecution.

NEW YORK (JTA) — Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Zach Banner posted a video late last week in response to Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson’s anti-Semitic screed against Jews. 

When NFL star DeSean Jackson posted several anti-Semitic quotes on social media, the backlash was pretty immediate. And so he removed them, apologized, etcetera, etcetera. Often, this is where it ends. We’re almost used to it by now-someone or some company uses the wrong words, we speak

Here are two responses to an incident of anti-Semitic vandalism — from a Jewish woman and a Muslim woman — in Birmingham, England. The first is from Karen E.H. Skinazi; the latter is from Salma Hamid.

So far, this has not exactly been a boring year. Don’t get me wrong; at the Press, we like excitement. One of the most attractive aspects of working here is that nothing ever really becomes routine, except for getting that paper out every week. It’s the one constant amidst a great number of …