Thursday, January 22, 2026
Hasidic Dean Twerski of Hofstra Law Wins At JITC’s 2nd Jewish Media Awards
At JITC's 2nd Jewish Media Awards, we were proud to honor Hasidic Jew Professor Aaron D. Twerski with a Jewish Media All-Star Award.
A leading legal scholar and educator, Professor Aaron Twerski is the Irwin and Jill Cohen Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School, a former dean at Hofstra University School of Law, and one of the most influential voices in tort law today.
In his acceptance speech, he spoke candidly about breaking stereotypes — challenging assumptions about what Orthodox Jews look like, how they think, and where they belong.
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Brooklyn judge allows Hasidic school principal’s discrimination case to proceed against NYC Department of Education
A longtime New York City school principal's lawsuit alleging religious discrimination will partially move forward after a federal judge ruled that parts of her case against the Department of Education (DOE) can proceed to trial.
U.S. District Judge Brian M. Cogan issued the decision in Gahfi v. New York City Department of Education et al., granting in part and denying in part the defendants' motion for summary judgment. The plaintiff, Hadar Gahfi, who practices Hasidic Judaism, alleges that DOE officials discriminated against her because of her faith and retaliated against her following a workplace injury.
Gahfi has worked for DOE for more than 25 years, including 15 years as assistant principal of P.S. 191 in Brooklyn's District 17. In 2018, she was promoted to principal and began a mandatory probationary period under New York education law. During her tenure, Gahfi claims that DOE failed to replace her former assistant principal position, leaving her without necessary administrative support.
The dispute escalated after Gahfi sustained an injury at work and later applied for paid leave under the city's Line of Duty Injury (LODI) policy. Community Superintendent Shenean Lindsay, a named defendant, denied the request, citing Gahfi's failure to report the injury within 24 hours as required by policy. Instead, Gahfi was placed on unpaid leave and forced to use hundreds of accrued vacation days to maintain her salary.
While on leave, Gahfi received two letters from Lindsay extending her probationary period by one year, citing concerns about her leadership effectiveness. Gahfi contends that these actions were discriminatory and retaliatory, linked to her religious identity and medical condition.
Judge Cogan previously dismissed some of Gahfi's claims, including her federal hostile work environment and state retaliation allegations. However, in the latest ruling, he found that sufficient factual disputes remain for a jury to consider on certain discrimination and retaliation counts under federal and state civil rights laws.
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Tuesday, January 20, 2026
The Hasidic chicken man of Crown Heights
The chicken coop is located about 300 feet from Lubavitcher World Headquarters in Brooklyn. It's part of The Crown Heights Homestead, which, according to Google Maps, is "permanently closed,"
Don't believe everything you read on the Internet. The Hasidic homestead was very much in operation when I visited on a recent frigid weekday afternoon. Emerging from the Kingston Avenue subway station, I walked over to the four-story building that is home to Daniel Yeroshalmi and his family. Yeroshalmi, 21, is a member of Chabad.
He showed me the 20 hens he keeps in his cement backyard and I watched as he retrieved a single egg from the chicken coop he built.
"I got a lot more eggs when they were younger," Yeroshalmi told me. "But as they get older they lay a lot less."
Built from bookshelves Yeroshalmi salvaged from a yeshiva renovation, the chicken coop is a demonstration of his tech chops, which extend into video production, social media and security surveillance. The insulated coop has an automatic door that goes up in the morning and down at night.
As I stood next to him and marveled at the chickens scurrying about, I felt my foot sink into something mushy. It turned out to be a huge piece of squash that had been left on the ground for the chickens to eat.
A local yeshiva donates squash and other produce that he feeds to the flock.
"Whatever they have that's going bad, they give to me," Yeroshalmi explained.
The urban homesteader also composts the yeshiva donations, as evidenced by a huge pile of eggplants and cucumbers decomposing in his yard. At the base of the compost pile on the day I visited were several esrogim, the yellow citron used during the holiday of Sukot.
"A lot of Crown Heights people don't know what compost is. They just wonder why I'm piling up vegetables in my front yard," he said.
His homestead may be Hasidic but the soil is too acidic to grow corn and wheat. Yeroshalmi tried.
He did grow 10-foot tall sunflowers. And his garden has yielded tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers, a veritable Israeli salad. There are cherry and fig trees, some of which were propagated from the branches of fig trees his family brought to America from Iran over the years. One of the fig trees is a variety known as the Chicago Cold Hardy Fig, but Yeroshalmi, who davens three times a day, is following the commandment known as orlah that forbids consuming a tree's fruit during the first three years.
Yeroshalmi's quest to make green things flourish in this Kings County soil started early. A 2012 Google Maps photo shows him planting radishes in the front lawn when he was seven.
"I think there's more of a connection between Judaism and plants than people think about," he told me.
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Monday, January 19, 2026
Antisemitic abuse hurled at Jewish teens as ute chases boys through St Kilda East
A group of Jewish teenagers were forced to flee through the streets of St Kilda East after a white ute allegedly pursued them while its occupants shouted Nazi slogans and threats.
The confrontation unfolded about 9.50pm on Monday near the intersection of Glen Eira Road and Hotham Street, a short distance from the Adass Israel Synagogue, which was firebombed just over a year ago.
CCTV footage shows the boys waiting to cross the road as a white ute pulls up nearby.
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Thursday, January 15, 2026
Senior Hasidic Rabbis Join Search for Missing Boy
Intense searches continue for a missing teenager from the Boyan Hasidic community, two days after he disappeared while immersing in a stream. This morning, senior figures from the Boyan Hasidus, ranging from prominent leaders to community members, joined the efforts alongside the boy's parents and extended family, all hoping for positive news.
"Where is Moisehle??" this question echoes through the community as the search enters its third day. Moishele went to immerse in a stream near Modi'in Illin and was swept away by flash floods.
After two days filled with fervent prayers and personal commitments to good deeds, the atmosphere remains tense but hopeful. Rescue forces have been combing the area nonstop, and today saw a significant reinforcement: Boyan Hasidic activists, from the most senior to the youngest, united with the distraught parents and all family members in the field operations.
Community leaders have called on the public to intensify prayers for Moshe ben Reizel, emphasizing unity and faith in the face of this ordeal.
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Tuesday, January 13, 2026
Pennsylvania man pleads guilty to threatening to kill Jewish official
A Pittsburgh-area man pleaded guilty on Monday in U.S. District Court to making an antisemitic threat against a local public official.
Edward Arthur Owens Jr., 30, of Elizabeth, Pa., admitted to making a threat to injure a local public official and making false statements to government agents, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Owens used a social media app to tell the unnamed official that he should "go back to Israel or better yet, exterminate yourself and save us the trouble."
The message also said, "We will not stop until your kind is nonexistent" and used the phrase "109 countries." The Justice Department said the latter was used by antisemites to claim that Jews have been expelled from 109 countries and to call for their continued expulsion.
In an interview with the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle following Owens' arrest, the unnamed official cited the murder of two Israeli embassy employees in Washington, D.C., following an American Jewish Committee event.
"Public discourse needs to change, because threats of violence are not acceptable in our society," the official said. "Who wants to live in a country where people want to execute each other? And it's happening, like at that AJC event—the perpetrator wanted to kill Jews. And, you know, he was successful. Who wants to live in a society where that happens?"
The false statement charge stemmed from Owens telling FBI agents that his mother had his guns and that he didn't know where they were, nor could he get them. In fact, he had a pistol with him in his car, the Justice Department said.
Sentencing was scheduled for April 13. Owens faces a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 or both.
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Jewish MP banned from visiting Bristol school to avoid angering teachers, fellow lawmaker says
An anti-Israel campaign to prevent a pro-Israel Labour Parliament Member from visiting a school was revisited with outrage at the Sunday Jewish Labour Movement Conference, when MP Steve Reed related that a Jewish MP had been banned from visiting the institution to avoid angering teachers.
Reed said during a panel that he had a "colleague who is Jewish" who had been "refused permission to visit a school in his own constituency in case his presence inflames the teachers."
"That is an absolute outrage that that could have possibly ever happened, and they will be called in, and they will be held to account for doing that because you cannot have people with those kinds of attitudes teaching our children," said Reed.
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Woman arrested for attacking Jewish father in Brooklyn, threatening to kill his children
A 35-year-old woman was charged with four hate crimes and a series of additional offenses after allegedly attacking an Orthodox Jewish father in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood while shouting antisemitic threats at him and his family. The incident occurred on Friday night at approximately 11:20 p.m., when the father was walking with his wife and their four young children, ranging in age from six months to six years.
According to the indictment and police reports, the suspect, Ishaara Summers, began following the family while shouting statements such as "I'm going to kill all the Jews," "I will strangle your children," and "Tonight your children die." After a foot chase that lasted several minutes, the suspect attacked the father and struck him in the head and chest, causing pain and swelling.
The 26-year-old father told local media outlets that he initially tried to ignore the shouting, but the threats intensified as the woman approached him and his children. He said that at one point, he felt genuine danger to his family's safety and decided to confront her verbally to distance her. Shortly afterward, he was struck. "When she said she was going to strangle my children, I was genuinely afraid," he said.
The family, which belongs to the Orthodox community, made their way back home during Shabbat. Police forces were called to the scene, and the suspect was arrested shortly after the attack. The New York Police Department stated that she was charged with assault, attempted assault, aggravated harassment, making threats, endangering the welfare of a minor, and four counts of hate crimes.
At a hearing in Brooklyn Criminal Court, Summers denied all charges against her. The prosecution requested that she be held on $50,000 bail, but the judge ordered her release under restrictive conditions without financial bail.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez's office stated, "This is a shocking attack against a Jewish family walking home. Every person in this city should be able to practice their faith safely, and this kind of antisemitic violence will not be tolerated in Brooklyn. The defendant is charged with hate crimes, and we will pursue full accountability."
The incident joins a series of cases of antisemitic violence and threats in New York. According to recent data released by the city's police department, Jews were the target of more than half of the reported hate crimes in the city in 2025, more than all other groups combined.
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Monday, January 12, 2026
NYC Jews line up for Israeli bakery after employees’ charges of ‘genocide support’
Sabrina Naimark, a Jewish Panamanian living in Manhattan, had been a longtime fan of the city's Israeli-owned Breads Bakery chain when she saw news that employees were rebelling against its ownership.
Some of the company's workers voted to unionize this week, and among their demands was that Breads halt its "support of genocide," citing offenses such as partaking in a Jewish food festival.
Naimark's brother used to work for Breads and she adores its babkah and labneh, she said. When she saw a call in the Jewish community to support the bakery after the employees' accusations, she headed to the chain's Upper West Side branch with an Israeli flag on her shoulders.
"Because of October 7th, there's a family that has been created and every single time we come with our flags to help companies that are being boycotted, to counter protests and celebrate Jewish pride," Naimark said. "It's a reminder that we're always going to be here, stronger together."
Naimark was one of hundreds in line on Friday afternoon to support Breads as the city's Jewish community rallied behind the beloved bakery. The line stretched the length of the block on Broadway, with customers wearing stickers that said "Zionist," chatting, and holding Israeli flags.
The crowd gathered in response to a call from Shai Davidai, a Jewish community activist who came to prominence with his harsh criticism of antisemitism at Columbia University, where he was a professor until he resigned in July.
Davidai circulated his call to gather at the Upper West Side location on Friday afternoon online, saying, "We need to show Jewish businesses that we have their backs." The initiative was part of a project Davidai is launching called Here I Am, he said.
"It's just nonviolent, peaceful activism. Everyone here basically came and said, 'Here I am. There's a problem, I got the call, and here I am to help solve it,'" Davidai told The Times of Israel, calling the union demands a "dangerous precedent" and an attack on Jews and Israelis.
"We came as a community, not just to support them financially, but to show them that the Jewish and the Zionist community is here," he said. "Zionism is normal. We're not these evil warmongers like we've been portrayed and only if we all come out of hiding together, that's how we're able to do that."
"No hate, no anger, no arguments, just a show of solidarity and support," he said.
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Thursday, January 08, 2026
Before Israel’s recognition, two Chabad emissaries carried out a quiet mission in Somaliland
Several weeks before Somaliland made headlines following Israel's historic recognition, two Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidim from Miami were already there on an unusual mission: printing an ancient Jewish text. Attorney Mendy Lieberman and businessman Yanki Rubin, members of the Chabad community in Florida, traveled to the African territory not to tour, seek business opportunities or join an official delegation, but to print the Tanya, a foundational Hasidic work.
In an interview with the Chabad newspaper Kfar Chabad, they said this was part of an unconventional personal mission: entering countries considered sensitive or hostile to Israel and attempting to print the Tanya there. They have done so in Iraq, Kuwait, Somaliland and South Sudan.
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Wednesday, January 07, 2026
BBC apologizes for purging Holocaust story of references to Jews
Britain's national broadcaster issued a clarification this week after the outlet faced criticism for airing a Christmas special on the Holocaust-era evacuation of Jewish children from Europe that removed all references to Jews.
On December 26th, the BBC show The Repair Shop aired a special segment devoted to the Kindertransport, the evacuation of some 10,000 children, nearly all of them Jewish, from Nazi-controlled territory in 1938 and 1939.
The segment centered on a 19th-century cello which had been damaged by the Nazis, and was brought to Britain aboard a Kindertransport convoy.
Shortly before the convoy's departure, Nazi guards smashed the cello, which remained damaged until it was repaired for the segment.
Critics pointed out, however, that nowhere in the segment was it mentioned that the children evacuated to Britain during the Kindertransport were Jews fleeing Nazi persecution, or that the owner of the cello, Martin Landau, who fled to Britain at age 14, was Jewish.
Despite 16 minutes of the hour-long program being dedicated to the cello's history and the context of the Kindertransport, the BBC segment made no mention of Jews, and reportedly purged a reference to the word "Jew" made by actress Helen Mirren, who presented the cello to the show's repair team.
According to a report by the London-based Jewish Chronicle, Mirren's reference to Jews was edited out of the aired version of the segment.
Amid a backlash over the purging of any reference to Jews, the BBC issued a clarification to the episode's iPlayer page, noting that "the Kindertransport was the organized evacuation of approximately 10,000 children, the majority of whom were Jewish."
Despite this, however, the BBC's official website still does not note the Jewish nature of the story or Landau's Jewish heritage.
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Tuesday, January 06, 2026
Torah, work and the IDF: the Hasidic sect embracing modern Israeli life
One by one, striking booths were set up, each showcasing the work of business owners from the Karlin Hasidic community. A carpenter who builds ornate Torah arks, a printer who manufactures shtreimels and many others not necessarily tied to Jewish tradition, real estate developers, mortgage advisors, massage therapists, dessert table stylists and more.
This was the scene at the Karlin Hasidic sect's massive employment fair at Jerusalem's International Convention Center, intended to introduce community members to the range of services offered by fellow Hasidim and to encourage business connections within the sect. Attendees, all dressed in identical Hasidic garb, strolled between booths, mingling and engaging in conversation, almost all, notably, with smartphones in hand and no effort to hide them.
"The Rebbe told me to have one," said Yitzhak, a 22-year-old man operating one of the more impressive booths. "In a lot of Hasidic or Haredi communities, people carry a 'kosher' phone just to get their kids into school, but they also secretly have a smartphone for work. That's not how we do things. The Rebbe said, 'If you need it for work, have it, and don't put on a show.'"
He added that many community members use filtered smartphones without access to typical apps, reflecting a grounded, realistic approach. "He understood people already have them, so better to use them mindfully and with supervision, rather than hiding it while everyone knows anyway."
It's a refreshingly pragmatic, even innovative stance, especially coming from the leader of one of the most rooted and widely recognized Hasidic sects. Karlin's Shabbat melodies are the soundtrack of many religious homes, and the movement is considered a longstanding Hasidic brand. But under its current leader, Rabbi Baruch Meir Shochet, the sect is undergoing notable change.
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"You won't see politics here," Yitzhak added. "Our Rebbe isn't officially part of Agudat Yisrael anymore and doesn't attend the Council of Torah Sages. If anything, he's closely connected with Bezalel Smotrich, but also with Haredi Knesset members and politicians from non-religious parties. There's no directive on who to vote for, some vote Haredi, some vote religious Zionist."
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Friday, January 02, 2026
Mamdani deletes social media posts about Israel, Jew-hatred from mayoral account
Mark Goldfeder, director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, wrote to Zohran Mamdani on the latter's inauguration day as mayor of New York City, informing him that he was violating city records law by deleting posts from his predecessor about Israel and about Jew-hatred.
"At a moment of unprecedented antisemitic intimidation, violence and exclusion in the city, the decision to erase official statements affirming the safety and protection of Jews is not merely tone-deaf; it is shameful," Goldfeder wrote on Jan. 1.
After the official mayoral account transitioned from Mamdani's predecessor, Eric Adams, screenshots circulated showing Mamdani's name appearing over Adams-era posts supporting Israel and condemning antisemitism. These posts were later deleted from the account.
Goldfeder noted that posts from the mayor's official social media account "are not personal commentary, they are official city records," adding that, under New York law, "public records may not be destroyed or otherwise disposed of except pursuant to an approved records-retention schedule."
He called on the mayor to affirm the city's commitment "to protecting Jewish New Yorkers, not as a favor, but as a fundamental obligation of office."
"Your first days in office will define your administration," Goldfeder wrote. "This is not how that definition should begin."
U.S. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon wrote in response to Goldfeder's letter that the attorney general's office "will be extremely vigilant as to any and all violations of religious liberties in NYC."
"We will investigate, sue and indict as needed," she stated.
Along with the deletions, one of Mamdani's first actions in office was to revoke all executive orders issued since Sept. 26, 2024, which included the city's formal adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism and an order barring the city from participating in boycotts of Israel.
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Thursday, January 01, 2026
Gaza-Wounded IDF Reservist Rabbi Assaulted in Jaffa Street Attack
A rabbi from the Hesder Yeshiva in Jaffa, Nataniel Avitan, was assaulted on Yefet Street when an Arab assailant allegedly punched him in the face, knocked him to the ground, cursed him, and fled while shouting "Allahu Akbar," according to the yeshiva and local reports.
The rabbi filed a police complaint and was treated in light condition before being taken to Ichilov Hospital. Police say they launched searches to locate the suspect and are examining the circumstances, as the yeshiva demands immediate action to restore security for Jewish residents in Jaffa. The rabbi is an active reservist who was recently wounded in Gaza.
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Wednesday, December 31, 2025
The Book Tanya Was Printed In Somaliland
On 19 Kislev a truly historic event took place in Somaliland: the Tanya, the foundational work of Chabad Hasidism, was printed there for the first time.
This event was part of the Rebbe King Moshiach's global initiative to have the Tanya printed in every corner of the world — even in the most remote places, seemingly far removed from Jewish life.
The choice of 19 Kislev is no coincidence. This day commemorates the release of the Alter Rebbe from imprisonment and is considered the spiritual source of the spread of Hasidism throughout the world. The printing of the Tanya in Somaliland on this date underscores the connection between the liberation of Hasidic teachings and their actual spread to the farthest reaches of the globe.
It is noteworthy that just two weeks after this event, Israel officially recognized Somaliland. In the Hasidic view, such coincidences are not accidental: the spread of the inner light of the Torah in a new place prepares the ground for changes in material reality as well. The appearance of the Tanya in Somaliland became a spiritual prologue to its international recognition.
The world is gradually filling with the light of Hasidism, bringing closer the time when the earth will be filled with the knowledge of G-d, as the sea is covered with waters, with the coming of the righteous Moshiach — immediately and in our time.
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Monday, December 29, 2025
The Belz rebbetzin's surprising message
Rebbetzin Sarah Rokach, wife of the Belzer Rebbe, recently published an exceptional letter of blessing addressed to the women of the Belz hasidic community, urging them to strengthen their commitment to modesty, particularly in changing their head covering from a wig to a scarf.
"I come to bless you," she wrote, "that anyone who accepts upon herself to switch from a wig to a scarf will merit, G-d willing, salvation in all matters of help and healing, with blessings of children, long life, and abundant sustenance, with all the interpretations."
Rokach also added many more blessings for those who strengthen themselves, including "success in all matters, health in every part of the body, abundant and prosperous livelihood, and much Jewish joy" from their children.
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Thursday, December 25, 2025
Rabbi's Car Firebombed in Melbourne
The Jewish community left shaken after a Rabbi's car was targeted by a firebombing in Melbourne.
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Wednesday, December 24, 2025
British police drop case against Bob Vylan for ‘Death to the IDF’ chant, sparking outrage from Jewish groups
British police ended an investigation into the British punk band Bob Vylan, months after the rap duo led thousands of Glastonbury music festival attendees in chants of "Death, death to the IDF."
"We have concluded, after reviewing all the evidence, that it does not meet the criminal threshold outlined by the CPS for any person to be prosecuted," wrote Avon and Somerset Police in a statement Tuesday. "No further action will be taken on the basis there is insufficient evidence for there to be a realistic prospect of conviction."
Following the rap duo's incendiary chant at Glastonbury, the pair were condemned Jewish leaders in the United Kingdom, and had their U.S. visas revoked by the State Department. In October, one of the band's members, Bobby Vylan, doubled down on the anti-Israel chant in an interview with documentarian Louis Theroux.
"Simply because there is a high threshold for criminal conviction should in no way minimise the concerns raised by many sectors of society around the nature of the comments made," the police statement continued.
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Tuesday, December 23, 2025
Man arrested for assault on Jews in New York City subway
A suspect was arrested on Thursday for assaulting Jews on a New York City subway earlier this week in an incident caught on video.
Xeryus Mack, from Brooklyn, was charged with attempted assault, menacing and attempted harassment, the NYPD said.
Mack, 28, was arrested on Thursday afternoon in northwest Brooklyn.
In footage of the Monday night incident, two men approach a group of Hasidic men, hurl insults at them, grab a Jewish man's neck and threaten to kill him.
The incident took place Monday at around 8:40 p.m. on a southbound 3 train near the Nostrand Avenue station in Brooklyn. There were no injuries, the NYPD said.
A man identified as Xeryus Mack has been arrested three other times in the past year for charges including intent to damage property, burglary, trespassing, larceny, resisting arrest, assault and harassment, court records showed.
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Monday, December 22, 2025
Federal judge allows lawsuit by Hasidic sex-abuse whistleblower against NYC to proceed
A federal judge in Brooklyn has denied a bid by New York City and the estate of former Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes to throw out a civil-rights lawsuit brought by Hasidic sex-abuse whistleblower Sam Kellner, clearing the way for a jury to hear claims that top prosecutors helped engineer his arrest to benefit a convicted child molester.
The 82-page ruling, by Judge Nina R. Morrison of the Eastern District of New York, is significant, as it effectively strips both the district attorney and the city of the legal immunity they would normally enjoy. Typically, absolute immunity protects prosecutors from civil suits over decisions about whether and how to bring criminal charges, while qualified immunity shields government officials from paying damages unless they violate clearly established legal rights.
"Justice for Sam has been a slow train coming. That train is now about to arrive," said Niall MacGiollabhui, Kellner's attorney, in a statement to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
The long saga leading to the judge's decision began in 2008, when Kellner, a Borough Park resident, defied communal norms and reported his son's sexual abuse by a prominent community member, Baruch Lebovits, to secular authorities. Working closely with a detective in the NYPD's Special Victims Unit, Kellner helped locate and bring forward other alleged victims of Lebovits. His cooperation ultimately helped lead to Lebovits' 2010 conviction on multiple counts involving another boy, identified as Y.R.
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Thursday, December 18, 2025
‘I’ll kill you’: NYPD investigating attack on Hasidic Jews on subway
The NYPD said Tuesday that officers were investigating an attack on Hasidic Jews on a New York City subway car in the US, in an incident captured on video.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said the incident was being investigated as a hate crime.
In the footage from Monday, which has circulated on social media, two men approach a group of Hasidic men and begin hurling insults at them.
One of the Jewish men then appears to step in between the two aggressors and the other Jewish men, at which point the assailants turn on him and threaten to "teach [him] a lesson," before one grabs him by the neck.
"The fuck you doing?" the attacker can be heard demanding of the Jewish man as he pushes him backwards. "I'll kill you!"
"I'll kill one of [you]," the attacker says again, before letting go of the man's neck.
Several people can be heard shouting in the background for the men to "chill" and "calm down," but nobody takes any other steps to stop them.
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Monday, December 15, 2025
After the synagogue was burned, holy books were buried
Hundreds of sacred Jewish books that were damaged and burned in a fire at the historic Sadigora Hasidic synagogue in Ukraine were laid to rest this week in a special burial ceremony held in the city.
The blaze erupted last week at the synagogue known as the "Kloiz Kadisha," a 200-year-old structure that served for generations as a central spiritual hub of Hasidic life. Initial findings raised suspicions that the fire was the result of an antisemitic arson attack.
An emergency delegation led by the Rebbe of Sedigora, Rabbi Mordechai Shalom Yosef Friedman, arrived at the site following the fire. Together with members of the local Hasidic community, the remains of burned Torah scrolls and other holy books were gathered and buried near the synagogue, in a solemn ceremony accompanied by prayers and supplications.
"These scenes are reminiscent of the Holocaust," participants in the ceremony said.
Moshe Kreiz, a Jewish resident who lives nearby, described the devastation. "The arsonist did not steal the charity box, which was full of money. His only goal was to harm us," he said. "He came to carry out a pogrom. Everything is completely burned. The synagogue will have to be rebuilt from scratch."
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Thursday, December 11, 2025
Threats Against Jewish Academics Raise Alarms at City, University of London
The recent return of Israeli hostages and the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas has offered a brief glimmer of relief to Jewish students across UK campuses. But the recent disruptions to learning and calls for violence on the City, University of London's campus reminds us that the battle is far from over.
As reported by British media, masked thugs stormed into Professor Michael Ben-Gad's lecture and sought to create a threatening and hostile environment in order to pressure the university into taking action against him. A member of the security team at the event independently verified that one of the protesters threatened to chop off the professor's head.
Despite being employed by the university since 2007, the professor has only recently been targeted by the non-university affiliated group, 'City Action for Palestine'.
The intruders claimed Ben-Gad was 'part of the genocide in Gaza' and chanted slogans including the infamous' From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free'. This phrase has been widely condemned since October 7th as grossly antisemitic and calls for Israel's destruction. The phrase denies the right to self determination for Jewish people and does a disservice to all those in the region who seek peace.
The most concerning element of this saga is their justification. The masked thugs deemed him a 'terrorist', because he was a soldier as a young man in the early 1980s, earned an academic degree at one Israeli university and taught at another. Due to the many existential threats that Israel has faced since its inception and continues to this day, national and/or military service is mandatory for all citizens. By their definition, every single Israeli adult "deserves" to be murdered in cold blood and threatened in public. This is not a legitimate moral position; it is a precursor to another genocide of Jews.
Ben-Gad is not the only victim of these vicious campaigns at City, University of London. Prof Sir Anthony Finkelstein was also targeted by the same group despite not having any direct ties to any Israeli institutions. In his case, the stated reason was that he oversees the institution's multi-million pound investments in Israeli companies and happens to be Jewish. What an interesting coincidence.
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Tuesday, December 09, 2025
Nanny charged with trying to poison French Jewish family
French prosecutors have indicted a 42-year-old Algerian woman for allegedly trying to poison the Jewish family that had employed her, Le Parisien newspaper reported on Monday.
The defendant is scheduled to appear before a judge in Nanterre near Paris on Tuesday for actions attributed to her in January 2024, and which were allegedly motivated by Jew-hatred, according to the report.
The defendant, identified only as "Leila Y" in the French media, had worked for the family in Paris for two months under a false Belgian identity. In fact, she was under orders to leave France, a measure often employed against those found to have overstayed their visa permit. The family had three children, then aged 2, 5 and 7.
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Monday, December 08, 2025
Prominent Belz hasid travels for granddaughter's wedding and passes away
Rabbi Benzion Rabinowitz, a prominent Belzer hasid in Jerusalem, died over Shabbat (the Sabbath) at a US hospital.
He was 87.
Rabbi Rabinowitz arrived in the US last week for his granddaughter's wedding, which took place on Tuesday in Williamsburg. On the night of the wedding, he began feeling unwell, and after dancing the traditional "Mitzvah Tanz" dance with the bride, he went to rest.
On Friday night, he was hospitalized after contracting a virus and passed away the following morning, during the week of the "sheva brachot" celebrations.
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Wednesday, December 03, 2025
NYC principal denies request for Holocaust survivor to speak at school
A Brooklyn middle school principal denied a parent's request to have a Holocaust survivor speak to students about antisemitism — saying the victim's pro-Israel views are not appropriate for a public school.
MS 447 Principal Arin Rusch wrote to the parent Nov. 18 claiming Nazi labor camp survivor Sami Steigmann's opinions would not be "right" for the Boerum Hill school.
"In looking at his website material, I also don't think that Sami's presentation is right for our public school setting, given his messages around Israel and Palestine," Rusch claimed.
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Sunday, November 30, 2025
Fire damages historic Sadigura synagogue in Chernivtsi
The Jewish community of Chernivtsi, Ukraine, was shaken on Thursday evening after a man set fire to the famed Sadigura synagogue known as the "Kloiz Kadisha," causing significant damage to one of the most important buildings in the world of Hasidism.
According to local community reports, the suspect, described by community representatives as a mentally unstable man, entered the synagogue in the Sadigura (Sadhora) neighbourhood when the guard briefly stepped away from the gate. He is alleged to have started a fire inside the building before police, who were called to the scene, arrived and arrested him.
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Tuesday, November 25, 2025
Ultra-Orthodox Brooklyn man who abused child may see 103-year sentence reduced
Nechemya Weberman, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man from Brooklyn, could be set free from prison after being sentenced to 103 years for child molestation following a court hearing set to take place next month, The New York Times reported on Saturday.
According to the NYT, the court hearing next month will decide if his sentence will be shortened.
Weberman was sentenced in 2012 in a case that brought to light sexual abuse in the local ultra-Orthodox community, and, according to the report, he was handed the longest sentence for sexually abusing a child in the hasidic community.
Five years later, in 2017, Eric Gonzalez was elected as Brooklyn's district attorney. Gonzalez believed the sentence that Weberman received was too long and supported a shorter one.
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Tuesday, November 18, 2025
Virginia school reaches settlement after expelling Jewish students who reported antisemitic bullying
A Fairfax County, Virginia, private school agreed to overhaul its policies, undergo five years of external monitoring, and issue a public apology after expelling three Jewish siblings whose family reported severe antisemitic bullying.
The Nysmith School in Herndon will also pay the family nearly $150,000 to cover attorneys fees and other costs associated with the incident as part of a settlement.
The settlement, announced Tuesday by the Virginia Attorney General's Office, follows a discrimination complaint alleging the Nysmith School ignored escalating harassment, and then removed the victims from the school entirely.
Jeffrey Lang with the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, oversaw the case.
Lang said the family's ordeal began when one of their sixth-grade daughters, age 11, became the target of a group of students who he said repeatedly harassed the girl because she is Jewish.
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Monday, November 17, 2025
German auction house calls off ‘shameless’ sale of concentration camp artifacts
An auction house in Germany canceled the sale of hundreds of items that belonged to Holocaust victims a day before it was set to take place.
The Felzmann auction house planned to offer 623 artifacts, including letters from concentration camps and documents detailing Nazi crimes, in the western German city of Neuss on Monday. After outcry from a Holocaust survivor group, the auction was canceled on Sunday and its listing disappeared from the house's website by Sunday afternoon.
The auction was canceled shortly after being condemned by the International Auschwitz Committee, a group of survivors based in Berlin. The group's executive vice president, Christoph Heubner, called the sale a "cynical and shameless undertaking" that left survivors "outraged and speechless."
"Their history and the suffering of all those persecuted and murdered by the Nazis is being exploited for commercial gain," Heubner said in a statement on Saturday. He demanded the auction house cancel its event, saying the contents "belong to the families of the victims" and "should be displayed in museums or memorial exhibitions."
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Thursday, November 13, 2025
Competition from Maxi's kosher aisle worries Hasidic community grocer
A few doors down from Lipa's, a Hasidic-run grocery store on Parc Ave., a new Maxi location with a kosher aisle is tightening the competition for grocers in the Mile End neighbourhood.
While Lipa's owner Lezer Adler said he still believes in his business, he's feeling uneasy about the long-term effect of Maxi locations popping up so close by. The Parc Ave. location near St-Viateur St. opened in August, and Maxi opened its 198th branch on Bernard Ave. in October, replacing gourmet grocer Les 5 Saisons.
"God knows what's going to happen, but (Lipa's) is still going. Maybe less than before, but for sure it's still going," Adler said in an interview Thursday.
Maxi's expansion is not unique to Mile End: 13 new locations have opened across Quebec in 2025, according to an email statement from Loblaw, the parent company of Maxi, Provigo and Pharmaprix. Half of the new Maxi locations are in the Greater Montreal area, and two more are set to open before the end of the year.
As Montrealers and Canadians in general struggle to afford groceries, the retail giant is adapting its strategy by pumping out branches of its discount banner. Maxi's buying power lets the chain offer low prices competitors struggle to match — and local grocers fear for their survival.
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Monday, November 10, 2025
Texas man charged with making antisemitic death threats to Jewish conservative pundits
A Texas man was arrested last week in Florida after he allegedly launched a volley of antisemitic death threats against several prominent conservative activists.
Nicholas Lyn Ray, 28, of Spring, Texas, allegedly made his threats between Oct. 8 and Oct. 10 on an X account named "@zionistarescum," according to an arrest affidavit.
His alleged victims included far-right Jewish conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer and conservative Jewish political commentators Joshua Benjamin Hammer and Karol Markowicz. A fourth victim, Seth Dillon, is the Christian CEO of a conservative satire site The Babylon Bee, according to an arrest affidavit.
The @zionistsarescum account was created in September 2025 and the first posts visible on it after Ray's arrest respond to the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the Turning Point USA founder whose killing spurred conspiracy theories about Israeli involvement. Several posts advanced that theory, while others amplify the white supremacist influencer Nick Fuentes, who had feuded with Kirk.
In a message allegedly directed at Dillon, according to the affidavit, Ray accused him of "conspiring with Israel about Charlie Kirk," the Turning Point USA founder who was murdered in September, adding that "these receipts are going to be perfect for display when you get hung bitch."
The affidavit also describes a threat that Ray allegedly directed toward Markowicz, who was born in the former Soviet Union. Ray allegedly wrote, "Russian genocide jew whose family escaped prosecution in American you deserve to be hung."
In another threat directed towards Loomer, Ray allegedly wrote, "why you asking this question as if you aren't gonna soon find out Mossad agent? you gonna get hung from the capitol baby."
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Wednesday, November 05, 2025
Jewish NYFD Commissioner Resigns Hours After Mamdani’ Wins Mayoral Race
New York City Fire Commissioner Robert Tucker has resigned just one day after Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor, sparking speculation about the timing of his departure. Mamdani has previously condemned Israel's actions in Gaza, drawing both national attention and controversy.
Tucker, a Jewish philanthropist and businessman, will step down Dec. 19, according to The New York Post. He plans to return to lead T&M Protection Resources, the private security firm he ran before joining Mayor Eric Adams' administration in August 2024.
Mamdani, 34, a New York assemblyman, has faced heavy criticism from Jewish advocacy groups and political action committees for his remarks on Israel's war in Gaza.
Mamdani called Israel's tactics a "genocide" and accused the country of creating an apartheid state in Gaza.
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent after losing the Democratic primary, repeatedly attacked Mamdani over those remarks.
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Tuesday, November 04, 2025
Andrew Cuomo backed by NYC Satmar Hasidic community after rabbi issues ‘unauthorized’ Zohran Mamdani endorsement
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo secured the backing from leaders of a typically bloc-voting Orthodox Jewish group on Sunday — after a rabbi in the Brooklyn sect reportedly issued an "unauthorized" mayoral endorsement of front-runner socialist Zohran Mamdani.
Cheskel Berkowitz, Avrum Brach and Shulem Yitzchok Jacobowitz — leaders of the Satmar Ahronim community — threw their support behind Cuomo, who is running as an independent, in a public letter following the internal drama, according to the ex-governor's campaign.
"I'm deeply honored to have the support of these respected community leaders," Cuomo said in a statement.
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Tuesday, October 28, 2025
Montreal Police Pursue Suspects After Antisemitic Incident Targeting Hasidic Jewish Voters in Outremont
Montreal police (SPVM) are actively investigating an antisemitic incident that occurred outside a polling station in Outremont, where a group of suspects shouted "Allah Akbar" at Hasidic Jewish voters waiting in line.
Authorities report that one individual has been arrested, while several others remain at large amid an ongoing search by officers in the area.
The distressing event, which took place during a period of heightened tensions around Jewish institutions, has prompted an increase in police patrols and renewed calls for community vigilance.
Eyewitness reports shared on social media indicate that suspects arrived at the polling location and targeted visibly Jewish voters with intimidating chants.
The incident is being treated as a hate-motivated attack by law enforcement and has drawn immediate condemnation from local leaders and advocacy organizations. Montreal's Jewish community leaders said the intimidation of voters is particularly disturbing given recent nationwide spikes in antisemitic conduct.
One community representative stated, "No Canadian should have to fear violence or harassment while participating in the democratic process."
Jewish organizations called on city officials to apply existing hate crime laws and bolster protection for Jewish neighborhoods, including Outremont, which has a large Hasidic population.
The investigation comes on the heels of other violent attacks on Jewish individuals and institutions in Montreal. Over the past months, incidents have ranged from vandalism at synagogues to assaults on Jewish parents and children in local parks.
In response, police have stepped up patrols near synagogues and polling stations, and federal authorities are considering expanded hate crime legislation that would impose new penalties for intimidation at places of worship and voting sites.
Prime Minister Carney and Quebec Premier François Legault both have issued prior statements condemning antisemitic attacks and expressing solidarity with the Jewish community. "Canada stands firm against antisemitic hate and intimidation," Carney said, promising swift action and support for victims.
Jewish leaders continue to urge government and law enforcement to guarantee the safety of all citizens, with many stating that incidents targeting Jewish voters during elections are an affront to the principles of Canadian democracy.
The SPVM is expected to release further details as its investigation proceeds. Anyone with information on the suspects is encouraged to contact the police anonymously.
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Sunday, October 26, 2025
Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral candidacy stirs Jews in New York – and beyond
In the most Jewish city in America, debates over antisemitism have exploded in the final days of the mayoral race as New Yorkers appear close to electing a 34-year-old Muslim who does not believe Israel should exist as a Jewish state.
Interest in the election has reached beyond New York City's five boroughs and into Jewish and Muslim communities around the country in ways that reflect shifting views on Israel and a changing Democratic Party that could have national political implications.
Zohran Mamdani's surprise win in the Democratic mayoral primary in June not only established him as the front-runner in the Nov. 4 election, it also accelerated tensions over those shifting views.
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Monday, October 20, 2025
Prominent NYC rabbi rips Zohran Mamdani as a ‘danger’ to Jewish New Yorkers
The rabbi of a prominent Manhattan synagogue slammed Zohran Mamdani as a "danger to the security of the New York Jewish community" — as he urged congregants to back Andrew Cuomo for mayor instead.
"I believe Zohran Mamdani poses a danger to the security of the New York Jewish community," Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, of the renowned Park Avenue Synagogue on the Upper East Side, said during his Saturday sermon.
He said Mamdani refuses to denounce the phrase "Globalize the Intifada," denies Israel's legitimacy as a Jewish state, has vowed to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and cited his "thrice repeated accusations of genocide" against Israel in Gaza at last week's mayoral debate.
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Thursday, October 16, 2025
Thousands expected in Monsey for Hasidic gravesite visit
Tens of thousands of people are expected to visit the Viznitz Cemetery in Monsey today to honor a religious figure in the Hasidic community.
Drivers are urged to avoid the area near Route 306 and Brick Church Road due to heavy traffic.
The East Ramapo School District will hold remote classes for the day. All after-school activities and sports have been canceled.
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Sunday, October 05, 2025
Anti-Semitic graffiti sprayed on kosher bakery in Rome
Antisemitic graffiti was sprayed across the rolled-down shutter of a kosher bakery in Rome, Italian media report.
"Dirty Jews, may you all burn," reads the graffiti, which, according to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, was uncovered by the bakery's workers this morning.
The bakery is located in Via Avicenna, in the heavily Jewish neighborhood of Viale Marconi.
Antisemitic incidents have skyrocketed in Italy since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.
The most recent report by the Centro di Documentazione Ebraica Contemporanea (CDEC), a Milan-based think tank that monitors antisemitism in Italy, revealed that in 2024, its antisemitism watchdog received 877 complaints about antisemitic incidents in the country, compared to 454 in 2023 and 241 in 2022.
Several prominent incidents have also been registered in 2025. Among others, two Jewish teens were attacked and beaten in Milan in June, and another attack was reported against several Jewish tourists in Venice.
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Friday, October 03, 2025
Rabbi of Manchester Synagogue Appeals to Jews to Attend Shul
"We, the Chabad-Lubavitch worldwide community, are outraged by the murder and maiming of Jews who who were attacked in cold blood when they came to pray on Yom Kippur," said Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, Chairman of Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch and Machne Israel. "Our profound condolences to the families of the victims who begin the New Year with such heartbreak."
The attack at the Heaton Park Shul early Thursday morning leaves the international Jewish community horrified by yet another antisemitic, terrorist attack. "We are appalled that Jews have become so vulnerable to this evil malaise, and want to see authorities in the UK and everywhere else step up their intervention to deter this wanton violence," Krinsky added.
The tragedy could have been worse but for the bravery of congregants and the synagogue's security team who rushed with Rabbi Daniel Walker of Heaton Park Shul, a Chabad-Lubavitch representative, to barricade the doors of the synagogue. After the synagogue premises were evacuated, the Rabbi continued the Yom Kippur services with congregants in alternative premises.
"We will recover. We will rebuild. The terrorist will not succeed in destroying our community," said Rabbi Daniel Walker. "We didn't let the terrorist stop us from praying — and I ask everyone who can do so to please go to shul this Shabbat."
"The only response to darkness is light. I ask people to increase in mitzvot, in studying Torah. Today, before Shabbat begins, give some charity and light Shabbat candles before sunset," Walker said.
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Monday, September 29, 2025
Britney Spears posts photo of Hasidic men playing chess
In keeping with pop legend Britney Spears' penchant for posting seemingly random images on her social media, the star posted a photo of a group of Hasidic men playing chess over the weekend with the caption, "I like the beard !!!"
While it was unclear whether Spears posted the photo because of the Hasidic subjects or in keeping with her newfound interest in chess, the singer also tagged a Chabad-adjacent account, COLLive, which posts about Chabad engagements and cultural events.
The unexpected post drew a flurry of discussion on social media, including from Jewish comedian Eitan Levine who raised the question: "Does Britney Spears have a Chabad fetish?"
"Britney Spears shared a picture of Chabad Chassidim playing chess to her 41 million instagram followers," tweeted Dovid Bashevkin, the director of education for NCSY, the youth movement of the Orthodox Union. "Appreciate you @britneyspears — the Jewish People could use some positivity!"
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Friday, September 26, 2025
Judge Rules Assailant Not Criminally Responsible In Attack On Hasidic Father
A Quebec judge has ruled that Sergio Yanes Preciado is not criminally responsible for an August 8 attack on a Hasidic father in a Montreal park, after a psychiatric evaluation concluded he was in a psychotic state at the time.
The assault was captured on video and widely circulated. The footage showed the attacker spraying the victim with liquid, pushing him to the ground, and punching him while the man's young children watched. The victim's kippah was tossed during the incident.
The judge's ruling followed a 30-day psychiatric evaluation at the Philippe Pinel Institute. The evaluation concluded Yanes Preciado was suffering from a mental disorder and was incapable of knowing his actions were wrong at the time. Prosecutors said the report made it unlikely the attack was motivated by hate.
Yanes Preciado remains detained at the Montreal General Hospital under psychiatric care. He was originally charged with one count of assault causing bodily harm. The not criminally responsible finding does not amount to an acquittal. The matter will now proceed to the Mental Disorders Examination Commission for review of potential release and conditions.
The assault drew sharp public condemnation when the video first emerged. National and provincial leaders denounced the attack at the time as horrific and abhorrent. Jewish community groups and security organizations said the incident heightened anxieties about violence against visibly Jewish people.
Community leaders said they welcomed a careful psychiatric review but stressed the need for vigilance and support for victims. They also urged continued monitoring of antisemitic incidents in the city and clear communication from authorities about how such cases are classified and handled.
The court ordered that Yanes Preciado not communicate with the victim and his family. Investigators and public officials said they will continue to follow administrative and legal procedures tied to mental health detentions and public safety.
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Thursday, September 25, 2025
Meet 13-year-old Hasidic pop star Shay Viner
In just six months, 13-year-old Shay Viner from Beit Shemesh has become one of the most talked-about young stars in Jewish music. It all began with the song "A Jew of Nachat," recorded for his bar mitzvah, which racked up hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube within days.
Since then, Viner has released more songs, surpassed 2.5 million YouTube views, and started performing live. He is no longer just "the son of Giti Viner," a well-known Haredi social media influencer, but an emerging artist in his own right.
At 13, it is too early to talk about a long career, but Shay is sure about one thing: "I always want to bring people closer together. To strengthen them, to make them connect with each other. That's what I want to do when I grow up."
Recently, he released a new music video for "Mehila" (Forgiveness), a duet with singer Daniel Hen. It's a renewed version of a song originally performed by Avishai Eshel, with lyrics by Rami Lev. "I want to heal the heart and the mouth, so that we'll go back to being brothers who fight and make up," Viner sings — a release that came during the Jewish month of mercy and forgiveness.
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Monday, September 22, 2025
K'Sivah V'Chasima Toivah
France hails arrest of suspect in 1982 Paris Jewish restaurant attack
France on Friday welcomed the arrest by Palestinian authorities in the Israeli-occupied West Bank of a suspect in a 1982 attack on a Jewish restaurant in Paris that left six people dead and more than 20 injured.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot wrote on X that the arrest was made possible by President Emmanuel Macron's decision earlier this week to recognise an independent Palestinian state, which allowed France to request extradition.
Macron himself welcomed the cooperation with the Palestinian Authority, saying: "We are working together towards a swift extradition."
The grenade and gun attack on the Jo Goldenberg restaurant in the Marais district in August 1982 was the deadliest antisemitic attack in France since World War II. It formed part of a wave of overseas violence by Palestinian militants in the 1970s and 1980s. No one has yet stood trial in connection with the case.
Along with France, about 10 countries, including Australia, Belgium, Britain and Canada, are expected to formally recognise a Palestinian state on Monday, ahead of the annual U.N. General Assembly.
Barrot stressed that "nothing can alter France's determination to take action against terrorism and antisemitism."
The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (PNAT) said Interpol had informed it of the arrest of Mahmoud Khader Abed Adra, also known as Hicham Harb, by Palestinian authorities.
In July, French judges ordered six people, including Harb, to stand trial before a special terrorism court over the attack.
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Sunday, September 21, 2025
New Jewish gun club with NY chapters features bullets and bagels as Oct. 7 date nears
They're packing heat – and some nosh.
A new Jewish-owned and -operated shooting club is catering to communal safety concerns ahead of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year that begins Monday at sundown.
Plenty of ammo is in the offing — along with bagels and schmear to kick off every session.
"Lox & Loaded was born out of necessity, sadly," said Ian Friedman, a rep for the national member-based club, which has three thriving New York chapters.
Friedman told The Post that Lox & Loaded's national tactical firearms training has quickly become an appetizing option for those seeking safety — specifically around Jewish holidays and generally since Hamas' devastating Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel that launched the ongoing war in Gaza and a relentless stream of antisemitism across the country and globe.
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Friday, September 19, 2025
Three-quarters of Jewish students hide identity on campus, global survey warns
A new report by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS) surveyed 1,727 students in more than 60 countries during the last academic year. It found that 78 percent conceal their Jewish identity and 81 percent hide their Zionist identity in university settings.
UJS president Louis Danker told Jewish News the findings mirror the experiences of students across the UK: "The recent WUJS survey findings are distressing, but sadly familiar. At UJS, we know many Jewish students shy away from campus spaces where antisemitism has become normalised. However, Jewish Societies around the country continue to provide a place where Jewish students can express their identity with pride.
"This year, UJS will be supporting Jewish students to showcase Jewish campus life to their peers, from interfaith work to our flagship 'Jewish Experience Week' in February. We will also continue to advocate strongly to universities, student unions and government, to ensure that Jewish students no longer have to hide their identity."
The global study also revealed widespread fear and isolation: one in three respondents said they knew Jewish peers who had been physically threatened, and nearly one in five knew students who had been attacked. Orthodox students faced twice the rate of discrimination compared to others, while Jewish women were significantly more likely than men to conceal their identity.
WUJS president Josh Cohen said: 'Since 7 October, Jewish students around the world have been speaking to the rise in antisemitism and ostracization in their regions. This survey only further highlights how striking the treatment of Jewish students is on campus."
The report recommended that universities adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, appoint coordinators to support Jewish and Israeli students, and implement clear accommodation policies for religious observance.
ADL senior vice president of international affairs, Marina Rosenberg, added: "This survey exposes a devastating reality: Jewish students across the globe are being forced to hide fundamental aspects of their identity just to feel safe on campus. When over three-quarters of Jewish students feel they must conceal their religious and Zionist identity for their own safety, the situation is nothing short of dire."
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Wednesday, September 17, 2025
Man who assaulted Hasidic Jewish father found not criminally responsible
A 24-year-old man who assaulted a Hasidic Jewish father in front of his three young children at a Montreal park has been found not criminally responsible.
The ruling, made by a Quebec Court judge Monday, comes after a psychiatric assessment found that Sergio Yanes Preciado was suffering from a mental disorder, likely schizophrenia, at the time of the attack and was incapable of understanding that his actions were wrong.
Preciado had been charged with one count of assault causing bodily harm after the Aug. 8 attack in the Parc-Extension neighbourhood, which was captured on video by a witness.
The victim, 32, was walking in Dickie-Moore Park with his three young children when Preciado sprayed water at him, according to the psychiatric assessment. The father then advanced toward Preciado, seeking an explanation.
Preciado is then alleged to have pushed his victim and struck him in the face until he fell to the ground. Preciado then struck the victim in the neck and head with his fists, knees and feet, the report says.
Preciado, who said nothing during the attack, then took the man's kippah, which had fallen on the ground, and threw it into a splash pad, according to police reports and images referenced in the psychiatric report.
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Tuesday, September 16, 2025
Restrictions and enhanced security measures introduced in Uman due to arrival of Hasidim
In Uman, from September 15, in connection with the arrival of Hasidim for the traditional annual pilgrimage, enhanced security measures are being introduced. The Uman City Council has reported this on Facebook.
"Security in Uman: the police are strengthening measures. From Monday, September 15, enhanced security measures related to the traditional annual pilgrimage are being introduced in Uman," the message says.
In particular, a special entry and exit regime is being introduced in the city again. The entry of vehicles will be prohibited in certain areas:
- from the M-30 highway to Derevianka and Horikhova streets;
- from the village of Rodnykivka - to Pavlova street.
Travel will be allowed with increased control in the following directions:
- from the M-30 and M-05 highways - on Derevianka, Internatsionalna, Mykhailivska, Vokzalna, Vyzvolyteliv streets;
- from the villages of Horodetske and Rodnykivka - on Horodetska, Maksyma Zalizniaka and Kyivska streets.
Important: entry to Vyzvolyteliv street is allowed only to Hasidic pilgrims.
It is also reported that local governments have introduced a number of restrictions: the sale of alcohol and pyrotechnics is prohibited, traffic control has been introduced at the entrances to the city, and traffic on certain sections of roads is being regulated.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, Israel and Ukraine have agreed on security measures for the visit of tens of thousands of pilgrims arriving in Uman to celebrate Rosh Hashanah.
As a reminder, on August 31, The Times of Israel reported that Ukraine was planning to ban this year's pilgrimage to Uman due to the deteriorating security situation.
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Monday, September 15, 2025
Jewish Family Fears London Doctor’s Antisemitism Influenced Their Disabled Son’s Treatment
In London, an investigation has started into a doctor after the family of a disabled Jewish boy uncovered her long trail of antisemitic social media writings, another expression of an ongoing trend of antisemitic bigotry manifesting in medical settings.
Dr. Ellen Kriesels works as a consultant pediatrician at Whittington Health NHS Trust and serves as clinical lead for community pediatrics. She has been suspended pending a formal inquiry, according to British media reports. The family — who remains unnamed — cares for a son who lives with cerebral palsy and multiple other conditions. Members of the boy's family told The Times they were "horrified" that a physician treating him had publicly claimed that "virtually every Jew has some feelings of supremacy" and that "world Jewry" was complicit in "slaughtering Palestinians."
Kriesels attended an anti-Israel rally in London on Sept. 6 carrying a placard that paired the Star of David with words such as "rape," "steal," and "kill." On her X account she alleged that Israel's actions in Gaza proved Jews "slaughter Palestinians precisely because they are not Jewish," while writing that one should understand the Hamas terrorists killed during the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel as "oppressed resistance fighters."
The boy's parents had already grown apprehensive after confronting Kriesels about her choice to wear a pro-Palestinian lanyard during an appointment. They filed a fresh complaint when they discovered she had failed to refer their son for specialist treatment as part of his transition to adult care. They argued the lapse, coupled with her public antisemitism, raised urgent questions about the safety of the patients under her care.
The child's father identified himself as "Brian" but chose not to reveal his last name to The Times.
"I am horrified that according to the logic of this doctor, set out in public statements, that because my paraplegic, non-verbal son is brought up in a Jewish household that he harbors genocidal intentions and believes himself superior," he said. "This is factually impossible and profoundly discriminatory. A professional who publicly expresses such views cannot be regarded as safe to work with vulnerable children or adults. It is deeply concerning that she was permitted to be involved in my son's care."
Whittington Health apologized to the family, saying the doctor was not currently scheduled to work, while the General Medical Council confirmed it had started to review the case. "Antisemitism has no place in health care," a spokesperson said. Britain's health department also condemned the remarks, promising zero tolerance for hate inside the National Health Service.
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