Center Field: Celebrate Martin Luther King Day by saying Gaza isn’t Ferguson

Over the last week, many American Jews celebrate Martin Luther King’s birthday at their synagogues, in community centers, or in African-American churches. Most American Jews, from Left to Right, embrace King’s message of racial equality, personal dignity, constitutional justice and aspirational democracy. I am making a personal plea to every rabbi,

Kuwaiti student expelled from French university over anti-Semitic Facebook posts

(JTA) — A Kuwaiti student was expelled from the prestigious Sciences Po University in Paris over anti-Semitic comments made on Facebook. Amira Jumaa is the first student to be expelled from the institution since it was founded in 1872, according to Haaretz. She reportedly was expelled in December in a

Celebrating Aristides de Sousa Mendes, diplomat and Holocaust hero, who saved 10,000 Jews

Los Angeles Jews will celebrate the life and moral courage of a devout Catholic beginning Jan. 22, with the world premiere of an oratorio, an exhibition, film screenings and a memorial service. The honoree is the late diplomat Aristides de Sousa Mendes, who in 1940, while serving as Portugal’s consul

Holocaust survivor and ex-Sutton High School student awarded MBE

A former Sutton High School student who survived the Holocaust has been awarded an MBE for raising awareness of the atrocity and for services to the Jewish community. Agnes Grunwald-Spier, 71, also helped establish the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and has written two books about Holocaust rescuers and how the

New ‘Mein Kampf’ publication ‘a slap in the face to Holocaust survivors’

As scholars mark first German edition since 1944, Jewish community leaders unconvinced by idea of teaching Hitler’s manifesto ‘as a vaccine against extremism’ As Adolf Hitler’s last official residence, the German state of Bavaria has kept the copyright of the genocidal dictator’s “Mein Kampf” under lock and key since the

Novominsker Rebbe Condemns ‘In Strongest Possible Terms’ Rabbi Mizrachi’s Outrageous Holocaust Comments

The Hamodia Newspaper has published an editorial along with a statement by the Novominsker Rebbe Shlita condemning the comments made by Rabbi Yosef Mizrachi, who is a well-known Kiruv Rabbi, which were published by YWN last week. The statement by the Novominsker Rebbe reads: “I condemn in the strongest terms possible the

Holocaust survivor’s story ultimately lifts the spirit

“Earlier this week, we were honored to publish a front-page story marking the 101st birthday of Ray Gawendo, a resident of the Norwichtown Rehabilitation and Care Center and a Holocaust survivor whose story is nothing less than awe-inspiring — heartbreakingly tragic, and yet ultimately uplifting. Gawendo’s early life was marked

Young Thespians Learn About Holocaust

A group of young thespians is tackling the tough topic of the Holocaust. The Lafayette Theatre Academy in LaGrange is putting on “I Never Saw Another Butterfly.” There are hundreds of beautifully colored butterflies at the Square in downtown LaGrange – 1,000 of them. Only 100 of these are white.

France upholds law singling out Holocaust-denial as crime

PARIS –  A French high court has upheld the law singling out Holocaust denial as a crime, ruling that the World War II genocide is of a “different nature” than other crimes against humanity. A math teacher fired after being convicted of Holocaust denial had challenged the law, saying it

The Boys of Auschwitz

How my father, a Holocaust survivor, found beauty in a soccer match When I began work on a book about my mother and her friends I had only a vague notion of what I wished to do, much less how to go about doing it. My only thought was to