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• Commentary magazine sees a new split in the black-Jewish alliance

  June 15, 2018 5:49pm

  NEW YORK (JTA) — Commentary, the conservative Jewish magazine, weighed in on black-Jewish relations in its June issue, and some are crying foul. The issue features articles on Black Lives Matter, intersectionality and anti-Semitism in the black community, but it is its stark cover — featuring the words “African Americans vs. American Jews” — that…

• How geopolitics keeps Israel out of World Cup contention — and why Jerusalem may not mind

  June 14, 2018 4:31pm

  NEW YORK (JTA) — On Thursday, Saudi Arabia and Russia opened the 2018 FIFA World Cup tournament before 81,000 fans at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium amid concerns over the host’s human rights record. While Saudi Arabia and Iran will serve as this year’s Middle Eastern hopefuls, Israel has failed to reach soccer’s quadrennial competitive mountaintop since 1970,…

• David Brooks has a name for his Jewish and Christian beliefs: ‘religious bisexuality’

  June 12, 2018 3:02pm

  (JTA) — David Brooks is usually included in the long list of Jewish columnists now populating The New York Times op-ed pages, who include Paul Krugman, Bret Stephens, Thomas Friedman, Michelle Goldberg, Bari Weiss, Roger Cohen and David Leonhardt. Brooks himself has frequently surfaced his own Judaism in his writing, not only dedicating columns to…

• Anthony Bourdain used food to bridge divides — even between Arabs and Jews

  June 8, 2018 4:19pm

  NEW YORK (JTA) — Anthony Bourdain was quick – and often willing – to publicly offer his own flaws. “Until 44 years of age, I never had any kind of savings account,” Bourdain said in 2017. “[I] always owed money. I’d always been selfish and completely irresponsible.” Despite or maybe because of such flaws, Bourdain…

• MSNBC host Joy Reid criticized lavish bat mitzvahs and Ariel Sharon in old blog posts

  June 8, 2018 3:25pm

  NEW YORK (JTA) — Embattled MSNBC host Joy Reid on her now-deleted blog wrote posts mocking a lavish bat mitzvah, criticizing the late Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and suggesting the U.S. had no stake in the terrorist threat from Iran. The 2006 posts on The Reid Report criticizing bar and bat mitzvah celebrations and addressing…

• 250,000 attend Tel Aviv’s 20th Pride Parade

  June 8, 2018 1:47pm

  (JTA) — A crowd of 250,000 attended Tel Aviv’s 20th annual Pride Parade, which featured a performance by Israeli Eurovision winner Netta Barzilai. At least 30,000 foreign tourists attended the parade on Friday morning, Haaretz reported. The event, which topped last year’s overall attendance by  some 50,000, according to estimates, is held in congruence with LGBTQ Pride…

• Jay-Z’s first inspiration was his Jewish sixth-grade teacher

  June 6, 2018 2:33pm

  (JTA) — Shawn Carter, better known today as the rapper and business mogul Jay-Z, came of age in Brooklyn’s underprivileged Marcy Projects housing complex. And yet, within the walls of neighborhood public school I.S. 318, Carter flourished, finding refuge in words. He has talked throughout the years about his connection with a beloved sixth-grade teacher who inspired him,…

• Jason Derulo to Israeli fans: ‘I’m so excited to be coming back’

  June 6, 2018 12:06pm

  (JTA) — Jason Derulo is pumped about his upcoming concert in Israel. The pop singer, who is slated to perform there in August, released a message specifically tailored to fans in the Jewish state on Wednesday. “Tel Aviv, what’s happening? It’s Jason Derulo, and I’m so excited to be coming back,” the 28-year-old said in a…

• Ilana Kurshan wins $100,000 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature

  June 5, 2018 3:13pm

  NEW YORK (JTA) – Ilana Kurshan has won the 2018 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature for her book “If All the Seas Were Ink: A Memoir.” The $100,000 prize, a program of the Jewish Book Council, was announced Tuesday. It recognizes emerging writers who articulate the Jewish experience, as well as the author’s potential to…