U.S. Texas official: State law requires teaching ‘opposing’ view on Holocaust Teachers in a Texas school district were told last week that a new state law requiring them to present multiple perspectives about “widely debated and… By Philissa Cramer, JTA Oct 15, 2021
Sports Billiards’ ‘Battling Beauty’ joins NorCal Jewish Sports Hall of Fame For JoAnn Mason Parker, playing pool comes just as naturally as handling a knife and fork. “You’re not going to drop it, because you know what you’re… By Gabe Stutman Oct 15, 2021
Bay Area Man threatening S.F.’s Beth Sholom is arrested and released A mentally ill man, Anatoly Smolkin, has been repeatedly and aggressively harassing families and staff at San Francisco’s Congregation Beth Sholom,… By J. Staff Oct 14, 2021
Philanthropy In time of global suffering, Federation sees growth in giving Joy Sisisky built a career around her love of kehillah (Hebrew for Jewish community). But in the early, disquieting days of the Covid pandemic, she… By Dan Pine Oct 14, 2021
Analysis Why a seemingly minor word choice appeased Yair Lapid on D.C. visit Yair Lapid got what he wanted out of his Washington visit: the word “every,” instead of “other.” During Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s first… By Ron Kampeas, JTA Oct 14, 2021
U.S. 3 years after Tree of Life shooting, Pittsburgh to host summit on hate As Pittsburgh approaches the three-year anniversary of the Tree of Life synagogue shooting, the city will play host to a high-profile new effort to find a… By David Rullo, JTA Oct 13, 2021
Bay Area Bay Area Jews ask: Should our buildings be visibly Jewish? Since 2019, Bay Area Jewish institutions have received close to $2 million in federal security grants to protect their buildings against attacks, but a… By Eliyahu Kamisher Oct 13, 2021
Israel BDS activists cheer Sally Rooney, Jewish groups mostly mum Author Sally Rooney’s announcement last week that she is refusing to sell an Israeli publishing house the translation rights to her latest blockbuster… By Arno Rosenfeld, Forward Oct 13, 2021
Education This Bay Area 16-year-old confronted antisemitism on the TEDx stage Whoever thinks fighting antisemitism is only for adults should meet activist Jasper Vyda. Vyda, a 16-year-old junior at Oakland’s College Preparatory… By Mark Lawton Oct 13, 2021