After three years of Covid, synagogues have ‘new normal’ By Maya Mirsky Mar 20, 2023 Three years ago this week, much of the world came to a sudden halt. Schools locked their gates, office buildings went quiet, businesses closed — even synagogues stood empty. As the months went on, in the face of constantly changing health regulations and public fears, synagogues had to be nimble. They needed to figure out… Read More
Israel Israeli panel recommends 4th Covid vaccine for all adults over 18 A panel of experts that advises Israel’s Health Ministry on matters related to the coronavirus is recommending that all adults over the age of 18 be… By Shira Hanau, JTA Jan 26, 2022
U.S. Israel to allow US visitors back in for the first time since November Israel will lift its Covid-related travel ban on visitors from the United States, United Kingdom and several other countries for the first time since… By Shira Hanau, JTA Jan 6, 2022
Israel 4th Covid shot increases antibodies fivefold, data from Israel shows A fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine increases antibodies fivefold in patients who receive the shots, preliminary findings from an Israeli study show.… By Shira Hanau, JTA Jan 5, 2022
Israel Israeli study: 2 doses of Pfizer can’t fight Omicron, but booster helps Two full doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine are not effective at all against the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, but a third booster shot… By Abigail Klein Leichman, ISRAEL21c Dec 15, 2021
U.S. Some Jewish NYC schoolteachers seek religious vaccine exemption When Rivka Taub Rivera decided to apply for a religious exemption to New York City’s vaccine mandate for teachers, she didn’t turn to the rabbis of… By Philissa Cramer, JTA Oct 4, 2021
Education Virus and vitriol: Berkeley’s Jewish school board president reflects on Covid Berkeley school board president Ty Alper used to love meeting parents and community members out and about. After all, both he and his wife grew up in… By Maya Mirsky Sep 28, 2021
Bay Area How this Holocaust refugee beat Covid-19 against all odds Vitali Voskoboinik’s bright blue eyes sparkled behind his glasses as he sat in his sunny Pacifica apartment. At 79, the Holocaust refugee looked full of… By Lea Loeb Aug 16, 2021
Israel Sharansky once offered advice on life in lockdown. Now he has Covid. When the world shut down last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Natan Sharansky figured his experience as a Soviet political prisoner meant he had a… By Ben Sales, JTA Aug 11, 2021