Gabe Friedman

Jewish youth from across the world attend the main annual Taglit Birthright event at the International Conference Center in Jerusalem. Taglit-Birthright is a free 10-day educational trip offered to Jewish young ages 18 to 26. December 24, 2017. (Hadas Parush/FLASH90)

September 4, 2021, 6:40 am

Birthright trips to resume in October without quarantines for the vaccinated

Tours will likely restart on October 3; visitors will still need to take PCR and serological tests

By Gabe Friedman

Mathias Doepfner, CEO of Axel Springer SE, at the opening of the Axel Springer Award ceremony broadcast on the Internet Thursday, March 18, 2021. (Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa via AP, Pool)

September 1, 2021, 3:58 am

New owners won’t make Politico employees sign pro-Israel mission statement

Axel Springer, German firm that bought US news site, is staunch supporter of Israel and is said to require staff to pledge support for ‘the trans-Atlantic alliance and Israel’

By Gabe Friedman

Alexander Kahn on CNN, Aug. 27, 2021. (Twitter screenshot via JTA)

August 31, 2021, 12:30 pm

Holocaust survivor’s son who rescued Afghans: ‘I put myself in their position’

Delta Airlines pilot Alexander Kahn says the evacuation efforts had special meaning for him personally, as his father immigrated to the US in similar fashion

By Gabe Friedman

In this September 27, 2017 photo, Larry David attends the premiere of HBO's 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' at the SVA Theatre in New York. (Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)

August 19, 2021, 6:58 pm

‘You’re disgusting’: Larry David said to yell at Alan Dershowitz over Trump ties

Legal commentator retorts that comedian was ‘writing bad jokes’ while he was bringing ‘peace in the Middle East’

By Gabe Friedman

Ken Loach, left, and Jeremy Corbyn attend the "I, Daniel Blake" people's premiere at Vue West End on October 18, 2016 in London, England. (Anthony Harvey/Getty Images)

August 16, 2021, 6:03 am

UK director Ken Loach booted from Labour, blames antisemitism ‘purge’

Award-winning filmmaker says he was removed for refusing to ‘disown’ other members expelled as party attempts to remake itself in post-Corbyn era

By Gabe Friedman

(L-R) Eric Andre, Desus Nice and The Kid Mero in The Village Temple in New York City, in an episode of "Desus & Mero." (Screen capture/YouTube)

August 6, 2021, 11:44 pm

Desus and Mero get bar mitzvahed (sort of) in their Showtime series

Eager to learn more about Jewish culture on their late night comedy show, non-Jewish Jamaican-American and Dominican-American duo recruit comedian Eric Andre, Rabbi Diana Fersko

By Gabe Friedman

Shlomo Lipetz is vice president of programming at City Winery. (Ehud Lazin/ via JTA)

July 28, 2021, 4:30 am

This Team Israel Olympic pitcher has a day job booking talent like John Mulaney

Shlomo Lipetz is living the dream twice over with one foot in professional sports and one in showbusiness – and celebrities from both fields in his fan club

By Gabe Friedman

In this May 8, 2014, file photo David Cohen, Executive Vice President, Comcast Corporation testifies during the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial, and Antitrust Law oversight hearing on the proposed merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable, on Capitol Hill in Washington. President Joe Biden is nominating Cohen to serve as his ambassador to Canada, according to the White House. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

July 23, 2021, 2:47 am

Biden nominates David Cohen, ex-Jewish fed vice chair, as US envoy to Canada

A Comcast executive, Cohen hosted Biden’s first presidential fundraiser of the 2020 campaign

By Gabe Friedman

July 14, 2021, 4:33 am

Second Orthodox baseball player drafted into MLB in 2 days

Elie Kligman, picked by the Washington Nationals, recently switched to playing catcher, reportedly in a bid to secure a deal where he won’t have to play on Shabbat

By Gabe Friedman

This will be the first Israeli baseball team to play in the Olympics. (Courtesy of Israel Baseball/ via JTA)

July 11, 2021, 3:03 am

Olympics-bound Team Israel drives home Jewish identity for its American players

The baseball squad has four native-born Israelis and a diverse group of Jews from around the US with varying backgrounds, but a shared history makes this team closer than most

By Gabe Friedman

Rabbi Natan Slifkin holds Shayna, an albino Burmese python. (The Biblical Museum of Natural History)

July 9, 2021, 12:01 am

Snakes at a kiddush: Museum’s baby pythons get a ‘haimish’ welcome

Beit Shemesh natural history museum celebrates first baby snakes that emerged from crop of eggs laid by 12-foot albino Burmese python several months ago

By Gabe Friedman

Amanda Beckenstein Mbuvi had been a faculty member at High Point University in North Carolina. (Reconstructing Judaism)

June 19, 2021, 5:06 am

Black Jewish Bible scholar to lead Reconstructionist rabbinical school

In a first for American Jewish movements, Amanda Beckenstein Mbuvi will head institution outside Philadelphia

By Gabe Friedman

Steve Goode, far left, is biking across America to raise awareness about hunger by visiting Jewish delis. (Courtesy Goode/ via JTA)

June 19, 2021, 3:38 am

Biker takes his hog on ‘Great American Deli Schlep’ to raise hunger awareness

Motorcyclist Steve Goode is on a 75-day cross-country trek in which he’s partnered with the nonprofit Mazon to hit up 42 Jewish delis and spread knowledge about food insecurity

By Gabe Friedman

Stand-up comedian and actress Sarah Silverman talks about Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., at a campaign event at Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles Sunday, March 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

June 18, 2021, 12:52 am

Maybe add a Jewess to the Squad, comedian Silverman asks progressives

But raunchy actress turns down invitation from Ilhan Omar to join band of outspoken representatives, some of whom have been accused of antisemitism

By Gabe Friedman

Doni Zasloff and Eric Lindberg are Nefesh Mountain. (Lawrence Rickford/via JTA)

June 10, 2021, 9:59 am

Anne Frank’s famous optimism gets a bluegrass twang

New Jersey duo Nefesh Mountain’s new song ‘Piece Of The Sun (For Anne Frank)’ debuts just ahead of what would have been the Holocaust diarist’s 92nd birthday on June 12

By Gabe Friedman