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Holocaust stories of survival, protest and courage highlight two Louisiana online programs
From “This Is Your Life” By Richard Friedman Though dramatically different in substance, separate online Holocaust programs in Louisiana on Jan. 10 highlighted the importance of remembrance and resilience as two organizations recounted and reflected on vastly different Holocaust-era lives. The programs featured the adult […]
Jewish Learning Institute course discusses death, afterlife in Judaism
Several years ago, the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute introduced “Journey of the Soul,” a course discussing what Judaism says about life, death and the afterlife. Rabbi Mendel Ceitlin from Chabad in Metairie, who taught the course back then, said “it became the number one Jewish […]
Georgia runoffs leave turbulent aftermath as Jewish community ponders impact
Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate in Georgia Raphael Warnock (left) and Jon Ossoff. Source: Facebook/Jon Ossoff. By Richard Friedman Some are licking their wounds, others are celebrating, and what the future will bring is unclear. What is certain is that in the wake of the […]
After Capitol invasion, Rabbi Miller reflects on state of the nation
By Rabbi Jonathan Miller All of us are shaken by the mob takeover of the United States’ Capitol Building this week at the urging of our president. Like many of you, I am overcome by the news and the pundits and the experts. How did […]
Tulane Judaic Studies gets $1 million gift and $1 million challenge grant
Col. Jennifer Pritzker Tulane University has received a $1 million gift — and an additional matching challenge grant of up to $1 million — from the TAWANI Foundation, led by Colonel (IL) Jennifer N. Pritzker, IL ARNG (Retired). The gift will establish the Audrey G. […]
Phyllis Weinstein remembered as “Golda Meir of Birmingham”
On Jan. 4, tributes poured in as Phyllis Weinstein, a longtime visionary leader of Birmingham’s Jewish community, turned 100. Two days later, just after midnight on the morning of Jan. 6, she passed peacefully in her sleep. Known most recently as the founder of the […]
New Ala. Rep. says antisemitism a part of “moral decline”
Rep. Barry Moore (R-Ala.). Credit: Barry Moore Republican for Congress/Facebook. By Jackson Richman (JNS) — Barry Moore, a Republican, was sworn in as a member of the 117th Congress on Jan. 3 after he defeated Democrat Phyllis Harvey-Hall on Nov. 3 in the U.S. House […]
NOLA Center takes students on virtual civil rights tour
Spencer R. Crew, interim director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African-American History and Culture, discusses the civil rights battles of 1963 in Alabama. By Richard Friedman An imaginative, diverse and compelling program took place online on Dec. 21, highlighting facets of hate that […]
Baton Rouge Jewish Film Festival Goes Virtual in January
Photo from the January 2020 festival in Baton Rouge. No in-person screenings will be held for the 2021 festival. The Baton Rouge Jewish Film Festival is going virtual this year, with a series of online offerings. The festival, now in its 15th year, normally takes […]
NOLA Federation holding virtual civil, human rights mission
Each year, the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans has a middle school civil rights trip for African-American and Jewish students just before Thanksgiving, seeing the sites in Selma and Birmingham in a one-day journey. Because of Covid, this year’s trip had to be cancelled, […]
FEATURED ARTICLES
December 29, 2020
Spencer R. Crew, interim director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African-American History and Culture, discusses the civil rights battles of 1963 in Alabama. By Richard Friedman An imaginative, diverse and compelling program took place online on Dec. 21, highlighting facets of hate that […]
November 17, 2020
Student actors Allyn Hackman, left, and Cameron Mayers. (Photos by J. Hun-En Joswick) By Richard Friedman It was a trip Cameron Mayers had to make, driving 90 miles and 65 years back into history. Mayers, an 18-year-old Mississippi State University freshman, would play Emmett Till in […]
November 11, 2020
Self-described “local” paper has almost no local reporting, wild circulation numbers — but plenty of ads from politicians and others thinking they are reaching the local Jewish community For years, the Jewish Light has claimed to be the “true community newspaper” for New Orleans and […]
October 27, 2020
by Richard Friedman Before long, a new roar may be heard in Baton Rouge. This one, though, may not be coming from Louisiana State University’s Tiger Stadium. Instead, it may be the roar of Zioness. Zioness is not a typo. It’s a new, fast-growing organization made […]