Week of May 15, 2026
Week of May 15, 2026
(JNS) — Bestselling author R.F. Kuang is facing online backlash after advance copies of her forthcoming novel, “Taipei Story,” included a brief reference to an Israeli character. Kuang, the Chinese American author of “Yellowface” and “Babel,” withdrew in December from the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, held in Dubai in January, citing a call by the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee to boycott the United Arab Emirates over alleged involvement in “the mass atrocities in Sudan.” “I...
(JNS) — The Iranian regime’s response to the latest U.S. proposal to end hostilities was “totally unacceptable,” U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday. “I have just read the response from Iran’s so-called ‘representatives.’ I don’t like it — totally unacceptable!” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported earlier on Sunday that Tehran’s response to Washington’s plan had been submitted to Pakistani mediators. According to the regime outlet, Iran’s response...
(JNS)— Israel is in “full coordination” with Washington on Iran and is preparing for all possible scenarios, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday as he convened his Security Cabinet. “We are maintaining continuous contact with our friends in the United States,” said Netanyahu according to his office, adding that he spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump “almost on a daily basis. My people and his people are in daily contact as well, including today. And I will also speak with President Trump later...
(JNS) - The head of a state-funded university in Norway said on Tuesday he had no plans to discipline a professor who last month called the Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, massacres "the most beautiful thing that has happened in our century." Following an uproar this week over comments made on April 21 by Professor Bassam Hussein of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Rector Tor Grande told broadcaster NRK that Hussein's views do not represent NTNU, the country's largest university. He...
(JNS) — U.S. Central Command said on Sunday that more than 20 American warships are enforcing a naval blockade against Iran, with forces having redirected 61 commercial vessels and disabled four others to ensure compliance. Washington launched the maritime operation on April 13, targeting all vessels entering or leaving Iranian ports in the Arabian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, disrupting the regime’s oil exports. It is part of the Trump administration’s “Operation Economic Fury” — a sweeping pressure campaign targeting Tehran’s...
(JNS) - Growing up in Israel, Ofir Akunis remembers spending Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israeli Independence Days, dancing in Kings of Israel Square, which was renamed Rabin Square after Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in 1995. This year, it felt different to Akunis, Israeli consul general in New York. "It's a unique feeling - to be somewhere else in the world during Yom Ha'atzmaut," he told JNS. "It's totally different. This is an ordinary day here. It's a day off for the employees...
It's hard to imagine the powerful mixture of faith, fun and friendship that permeated Crown Heights, Brooklyn during the recent "Shabbat in the Heights" weekend. Sponsored by Jewish Learning Institute, an educational arm of Chabad, the event in early May drew more than 500 visitors - Chabad Orthodox rabbis and their wives (and sometimes family members) and fellow Jews interesting in learning. Among participating Chabads were a group from Chabad of North Orlando, led by Rabbi Yanky Majesky and...
The Meitin Alliance for Growth and Learning, known as MAGAL, a collaborative religious school between Temple Israel and Temple Shir Shalom, celebrated its 10-year anniversary this year. To honor the milestone, students created a beautiful art project that is displayed for all to see as they enter the school, located at 50 S. Moss Road in Winter Springs. Led by co-heads of school Rabbi Joshua Neely (Temple Israel) and Cantor Kim Singer (Temple Shir Shalom), MAGAL serves students in kindergarten...
(JNS) — The TV show “Sesame Street” featured Black and Jewish actress Kat Graham in its celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month, which began on May 1, drawing both support from Jews and antisemitic backlash on social media. “Happy Jewish American Heritage Month,” it wrote. “Join us this May as we honor and celebrate our Jewish American friends and neighbors in our communities.” “As a proud Jewish American, I am so excited to celebrate my community and heritage this month and every month,” said Graham, best known for...
A major milestone has been reached in the Holocaust Museum's new center, the Holocaust Museum for Hope & Humanity, in Orlando. The Center has secured gifts and pledges totaling 70 percent of its $63 million goal, representing approximately $44 million raised to date. The Center's newsletter states: "This moment reflects years of commitment from supporters who believe deeply in our mission to use the history and lessons of the Holocaust to build a more just and caring community. It also marks an...
JNS) — Prospects for peace and reconciliation between Israel and the Palestinians hinge on the Palestinian Authority ending its “pay-for-slay” program, which provides monthly stipends for life to convicted terrorists and the families of attackers, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. “If you want reconciliation, peace, partnership, pay-for-slay must stop,” a ministry spokesperson said in a video posted to X, arguing that the payments “reward terror and incentivize future terror. “It’s the opposite of educating for...
Shekel hits 33-year high against dollar By JNS Staff The Israeli shekel gained 1.1 percent, reaching its highest level against the dollar in 33 years, amid investor optimism over a possible end to hostilities between Iran and the United States. The shekel, which has appreciated 9 percent so far in 2026, strengthened to 2.90 per dollar on Wednesday, its strongest level since October 1993, Reuters reported. ADL report says 2025 one of most violent years for American Jews By Aaron Bandler (JNS) — Although incidents of Jew-hatred declined... Full story
The Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center is sending members of its team to Warsaw for its first cultural exchange program with the Mi Polin Mezuzah Center. During this visit, staff will spend time at the museum learning directly from their team, exploring their approach to storytelling, and deepening the Center’s understanding of the work behind the exhibit, Mezuzah Traces. This experience will help prepare the Holocaust Center to bring the exhibition to this community when it opens at the Center in August. To support staff...
(JNS) — It has always been a mistake for politicians and pundits to underestimate the basic moderation of the American people. Whenever either major party goes too far to the right or the left, the rule has always been that they are soon punished for it by the electorate. But Democrats who are cheering the prospect of extremists like Graham Platner and Abdul El-Sayed to represent their party in the U.S. Senate in contests in Maine and Michigan seem to be ignoring that lesson. If there is any real constant in the ever-changing American...
(JNS) — Efrat is located in the area known as Gush Etzion in Israel. Before 1948, the residents of the Gush were Jews residing in four thriving kibbutzim, known as Kfar Etzion, Massu’ot Yitzhak, Ein Tzurim and Revadim. The land in the Gush was legally purchased. Much of it was purchased by Jewish individuals or organizations decades before the 1948 War of Independence. Following the U.N. Partition Plan, the Gush was besieged by the Jordanian army and other Arab forces. On May 13, 1948, Kfar Etzion was invaded by the Jordanian army, and it...
With the rising tide of antisemitism around the world, coming together as Jews is more important than ever. Our strength in numbers provides intellectual, financial, and emotional stability — something a divided community cannot sustain. Our future, in many ways, depends on it. This is not a discussion about Israel, which faces its own complex challenges. This article focuses specifically on Jews living in the diaspora — particularly here in the United States. Divisiveness within our community is strategically beneficial to our enemies....
(JNS) - An Israeli man completed the study of a Talmudic tractate atop Mount Everest but fell short of setting a world record. Moshe Frei, 56, from Petach Tikvah, was trekking Mount Everest with three friends when he completed the Menachot tractate on Monday. "The timing was right, and it was a great place," Frei told JNS from Nepal on Wednesday. His friends filmed a nearly four-minute video of him reading from the Jewish law book and posted it on social media. The attorney said he has been...
Smoke-filled hotel and country-club dining rooms with middle-aged men puffing on cigars. That is my main memory of the countless events I covered during my early career as editor of the weekly Jewish newspaper in my Buffalo hometown. The annual dinners were the social and economic highlights of the city’s Jewish Federation and of the Israel Bonds office. Every year I sat in the stuffy rooms, taking notes and photographs, while the well-heeled men who sustained the Jewish community’s philanthropic endeavors puffed away, standing at their...
Flu season arrives each year with new challenges, and while vaccines and treatments continue to improve, prevention remains the best protection — especially for older adults and those with underlying health conditions. Even in years when the flu vaccine is not a perfect match for circulating strains, it can still reduce the severity of illness and help prevent serious complications. Here are some simple but effective ways to lower your risk of getting the flu: • Get a Flu Shot. Even when the vaccine is not targeted exactly to a specific...
In 2014, my husband, Larry, spent eight days in New Jersey as the New York State triathlon coach at the Special Olympics USA National Games, an experience he stated was “incredible” and “life-affirming.” As soon as he arrived home, he tried to catch up on his sleep, as he got less than five hours a night for the entire trip. How he got to this nirvana of sleep deprivation is part of Shapiro family lore. In 1995, Larry announced at the dinner table that he had signed up our family to...
You name it "Let me call you Sweetheart I'm in love with you Let me hear you whisper That you love me too" It was a musical dream that came true at Metro Diner recently. I was looking at the menu when the young waitress came over and gushed "Hi, sweetheart! I haven't seen you for a long time!" It must have been ages since she had served me. Or maybe we really were sweethearts in a previous lifetime. I could tell you that I don't have a clue except that I do have a hunch. It's just what they do...
Usually, my iPhone recognizes me instantly. But on rare occasions, I am holding my own phone, looking straight at it, and it tells me: “Face Not Recognized.” If you have ever had that moment, you know how unsettling it can feel. What changed? Did I pick up someone else’s phone? Sometimes it is something simple: the tilt of the phone, poor lighting, or a smudge on the lens. But other times it is not so simple. You may be tired, slightly swollen, not well. I find myself wondering: were my glasses off? Was I dehydrated, or just different...
(JNS) — U.S. President Donald Trump has called for Jewish Americans to observe a national Shabbat from sundown May 15 to nightfall May 16 in honor of Jewish American Heritage Month and the nation’s 250th anniversary. Rabbi Steven Burg, CEO of Aish, told JNS that he was "very moved" by the president's message because it shifts the narrative from Jew-hatred to Jewish faith. "One of the things people lose in all of this antisemitism is that we're a proud religion," he said. Burg told JNS that the call for a national Shabbat observance is...
Panna Cotta Shavuot is an important two-day holiday that takes place seven weeks after Passover in 2026 on May 21-23. It commemorates the giving of the Torah. It is celebrated by studying the Torah all night, eating dairy foods and having flowers in the home. Panna cotta is an Italian dessert that is a good accompaniment to a Shavuot dairy meal. Serves 4. 1 envelope unflavored kosher (1/4 oz.) gelatin 1 cup whole milk or almond milk 1 cup heavy cream 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 tsp. salt 2 T. sour cream 1/4 tsp. fresh lemon juice 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg...
(JNS) - Abraham Foxman, a Holocaust survivor and national director of the Anti-Defamation League from 1987 until 2015, died on Sunday, May 10, 2026. He was 86 years old. "America and the Jewish people have lost a moral voice, a passionate advocate for the Jewish people and the State of Israel, and a remarkable leader," stated Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and national director of the ADL. "Abe Foxman was an iconic Jewish leader who embraced the ideal of an America free from antisemitism and hate and...
(JNS) — Doris Fisher, co-founder of The Gap Inc. and a key figure in shaping modern American casual fashion, died in San Francisco on Saturday, the company announced. She was 94 years old. Fisher and her late husband, Donald Fisher, founded the retailer in 1969 “after a frustrating shopping experience when Don couldn’t find a pair of jeans that fit.” They opened their first store on Ocean Avenue in San Francisco, initially selling Levi’s jeans and records. The company grew into a global apparel chain with brands including Old Navy...
MORNING MINYANS Chabad of Altamonte Springs — Sunday morning minyan, 8 a.m. Weekday morning minyan 6:30 a.m., 407-720-8111. Chabad of South Orlando — Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. and 10 minutes before sunset; Saturday, 9:30 a.m.; Sunday, 8:15 a.m., 407-354-3660. Congregation Ahavas Yisrael — Monday - Friday, 7:30 a.m.; Saturday, 9:30 a.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m., 407-644-2500. Congregation Chabad Lubavitch of Greater Daytona — Monday, 8 a.m.; Thursday, 8 a.m., 904-672-9300. Congregation Ohev Shalom — Sunday, 9 a.m., 407-298-4650. GOBOR Community...
