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Jewish communities

Rabbi Joel Fleekop points to a monument marking the 1878 consecration of Temple Beth El in Pensacola, Florida. (Larry Luxner/ JTA)
April 25, 2026, 1:40 am
As Pensacola’s oldest synagogue turns 150, locals celebrate the community’s rich history
Far from most of Florida’s three-quarters of a million Jews is a small pocket of 1,800 that significantly predates its southern counterparts – and, locals say, is ripe for a renaissance
By Larry Luxner
Rabbi Yossi Eilfort, founder of Los Angeles-based security nonprofit Magen Am, poses at the firing range. (Yoni Coen)
March 10, 2026, 1:00 am
Triggered by record antisemitism, local Jews put stock in LA-based security nonprofit
Offering armed community protection, firearm training and self-defense classes, Magen Am is rapidly expanding its footprint as attacks spike in the wake of Oct. 7
By Ayala Or-El
A Hanukkah celebration in downtown Reykjavik, Iceland, December 14, 2025. (Courtesy Mushky Feldman via JTA)
December 21, 2025, 2:49 am
In Reykjavik, a Hanukkah lighting illuminates a tiny community in times of darkness
With daylight in short supply and in the aftermath of the devastating terror attack in Bondi Beach, Iceland’s Jews celebrate the holiday amid heightened security rare in the pastoral country
By Jenna Gottlieb
Yoni Kretzmer (standing) teaches the children at the Greenpoint Shul's newly incorporated Hebrew school. (Courtesy Greenpoint Shul via JTA)
October 26, 2025, 3:58 pm
A growing Hebrew school may augur a new era for Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood
Though it borders the Hasidic hub of Williamsburg, the north Brooklyn community was never known for its Jewish population – though that may be changing
By Jackie Hajdenberg
A pro-Israel protester outside Columbia University in Manhattan, April 22, 2024. (Luke Tress)
September 19, 2025, 4:51 pm
Survey: US Jewish staff say internal rifts worse for morale than antisemitism, Gaza war
Poll of some 950 communal professionals finds just 25% often feel hopeful about future, compared to 82% of the general population, as they watch ‘communities tear themselves apart’
By Grace Gilson
Illustrative: Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal prepares Torah scrolls at the synagogue of the Chabad community in Berlin, Germany, Friday, October 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
August 28, 2025, 4:24 am
Two congregations, two opinions as Torahs hit the floor at separate NYC synagogues
Accidental dropping of the cherished scrolls can impact local communities – and the Jewish news cycle – while how it’s dealt with can teach us much about contemporary Jewish values
By Andrew Silow-Carroll
The Trondheim Synagogue in Norway, one of the northernmost synagogues in the world, marks its 100-year anniversary in October 2025. (Dan Fellner/ JTA)
July 11, 2025, 10:34 am
Just south of the Arctic, 100-year-old Norwegian synagogue has unique approach to Shabbat
Now celebrating its centennial, the Trondheim Synagogue has so far survived the Nazis, modern antisemitism, geographical isolation — and some particular halachic challenges
By dan fellner
A gathering in Morocco in the 1950s for Hanukkah (Courtesy Alliance Israelite)
December 17, 2024, 12:11 pm
Virtual museum recreates Jewish enclaves in Iran and Morocco
Universal Israelite Alliance, an Israel-based Jewish educational organization, shows the width and breadth of its institutions across several centuries
By Jessica Steinberg
Heather Conn Hendel in a video published March 27, 2017, for an annual dinner of the Manhattan Jewish Experience Synagogue in which she was honored for her volunteer work. (Screen capture: Youtube/Mark Wildes MJE, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
June 15, 2024, 1:03 pm
Heather Conn Hendel, pillar of Toronto, NYC Jewish communities, dies at 48
Beloved teacher, matchmaker, and ‘Bikur Holim’ volunteer passes away months into marriage, shortly after giving birth to daughter
By Jackie Hajdenberg
Ladislav Trajer, left, and Mirko Štark, the top two leaders of the Jewish community in Novi Sad, Serbia, chat just outside the entrance to their synagogue. (Larry Luxner/JTA)
September 18, 2023, 1:57 am
After barely surviving the Holocaust, one Serbian Jewish community faces extinction
Though their city has grown significantly since WWII, Novi Sad’s Jews still haven’t recovered from their near decimation. But what they lack in numbers they make up for in tenacity
By Larry Luxner
Israel's former chief Ashkenazi rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau shakes hands with Holocaust survivor Felix Goldschmied at the Launceston Synagogue in Launceston, Australia, July 12, 2023. (Mishka Gora via JTA)
July 23, 2023, 4:34 pm
In remote Tasmania, Jews welcome a rare visit from a former Israeli chief rabbi
The first such visit in 72 years is a boost for the small but growing community established by Jewish convicts in 1804 and considered far-flung even by Australian standards
By Nomi Kaltmann
The Pears Jewish Campus in Berlin is seen at its inauguration ceremony, June 25, 2023. (Toby Axelrod/ JTA)
June 30, 2023, 10:31 am
Chabad opens Germany’s largest Jewish center since before WWII
Berlin’s Pears Jewish Campus, which covers over 80,000 square feet and cost $43.7 million to build, will house a school, gym, movie theater, music studio and kosher deli
By Toby Axelrod
Rabbi Alberto (Baruch) Zeilicovich, seen at Eagle Beach in Aruba, recently came out of retirement to become the spiritual leader of Temple Beth Israel on the southern Caribbean island. (Dan Fellner/ JTA)
March 19, 2023, 5:44 am
Aruba’s new rabbi comes out of retirement to lead a congregation in ‘paradise’
After manning the pulpit in Medellin, Colombia, at the height of Pablo Escobar’s notorious reign, Baruch Zeilicovich feels ready for anything on the beautiful and serene island
By dan fellner
Illustrative: A Haredi man looks at his mobile phone in Jerusalem, Israel (svarshik/iStock by Getty Images)
March 6, 2023, 6:11 pm
Tradition meets technology with UK app for halachic questions
Those in need of advice on Jewish law can anonymously text a panel of rabbinic experts and receive an answer in hours with ShailaText, which just hit 10,000 users
By Yaakov Schwartz
Pavlina Sulcova holds a copy of 'Are We There Yet Moses' outside her office at the Prague Creative Center, October 2022. (Yaakov Schwartz/ Times of Israel)
January 21, 2023, 3:27 am
Directing a virtual JCC, one woman is making Jewish Prague the envy of its neighbors
When COVID scuttled director Pavlina Sulcova’s plans to open a new community space, a pivot to fun educational content paid off big time. She just released her 2nd children’s book
By Yaakov Schwartz
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