Jackie Hajdenberg

Sheila Katz, CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women, speaks at an abortion rights rally in front of the US Supreme Court in December 2021. (Courtesy of Danya Ruttenberg via JTA)

May 17, 2022, 5:00 am

National Council of Jewish Women creates outlet for Jews to donate to abortion funds

US Jewish group, a founder of Planned Parenthood, stepping up efforts to assist those who need help to end pregnancies in wake of likely overturn of Roe v. Wade

By Jackie Hajdenberg

A screenshot from Camp Ramah New England's Facebook page shows Rabbi Ethan Linden (center) two days after the lawsuit against him was filed. (Screenshot from Facebook/JTA)

May 14, 2022, 5:51 am

Camp Ramah director on leave amid allegations he mishandled sexual assault complaint

Rabbi Ethan Linden steps down from post while his handling of a 2018 allegation involving two campers is investigated

By Jackie Hajdenberg

May 10, 2022, 8:16 am

Lawsuit alleges mishandling of sex assault allegation at Camp Ramah in Berkshires

Rabbi Ethan Linden is accused of asking 15-year-old camper not to tell her parents for two weeks that she had been assaulted

By Jackie Hajdenberg

Rabbi Daniel Bogard (left) and Shira Berkowitz (right) lead songs at Camp Ramot Amoona. (Courtesy Shira Berkowitz via JTA)

May 8, 2022, 2:46 am

US Jewish summer camp veterans open stay-away program for trans kids

Places at Camp Indigo Point were filled within weeks; organizers say they’re aiming to create an inclusive experience for participants that can’t be found elsewhere

By Jackie Hajdenberg

Hadar students read a piece of text together. (Courtesy of Hadar/via JTA)

May 5, 2022, 3:47 am

Who counts as a Jew? Pioneering yeshiva fumbles admissions criteria, renewing debate

NY’s Hadar quickly removes erroneous language on website saying applicants should have two Jewish parents, but sparks heated conversation about egalitarianism and Jewish identity

By Jackie Hajdenberg

May 4, 2022, 8:40 am

US Supreme Court leak energizes Jewish groups ahead of planned abortion rights rally

‘We will fight for abortion rights with all of our strength,’ head of Reform movement vows after publication of draft document indicating justices set to overturn Roe v. Wade

By Jackie Hajdenberg and Gabe Friedman

A screenshot of Woman's Day magazine's instagram post announces Rabbi Steven Leder will be the magazine's new "Rabbi in Residence." (Screenshot via Instagram via JTA)

April 26, 2022, 2:36 am

Outcry after Women’s Day magazine appoints a ‘rabbi in residence’ and chooses a man

Jewish readers upset that magazine, which normally elevates women’s voices, would not do same for its faith coverage when there are so many women rabbis

By Jackie Hajdenberg

April 21, 2022, 8:18 am

Twitter account goes viral for sharing Easter explainer thread using Jewish jargon

One of the people behind ‘JewWhoHasitAll’ handle says goal is ‘to make people more aware of the dominant culture, more aware of the Christian-normative society that we live in’

By Jackie Hajdenberg

Rendering of the new Holocaust Museum for Hope & Humanity in downtown Orlando. (Courtesy of Beyer Blinder Belle and The Holocaust Museum for Hope & Humanity/via JTA)

April 20, 2022, 3:39 am

Orlando’s Holocaust museum is getting a huge expansion

Since the 1980s, the center has been a local fixture despite its small size; it will now relocate to a new 43,000-square-foot facility in the city’s cultural corridor

By Jackie Hajdenberg

Matzah pajamas designed by Rabbi Yael Buechler. (Design by Grace Yagel; images via NLI Historical Jewish Press)

April 16, 2022, 1:59 pm

Matzah pajamas are the latest trend in a long history of US Jewish branding

Like many others, American Jews were influenced by their new home country’s penchant for consumerism – but being a niche market has also helped preserve their cultural identity

By Jackie Hajdenberg

An 18th century haggadah from Amsterdam. (courtesy: National Library of Israel)

April 15, 2022, 11:32 pm

National library puts rare, historic haggadahs online

Passover seder books from world’s largest collection, spanning some 800 years of Jewish history from Prague to Morocco, made available to view and download for first time

By Jackie Hajdenberg

A sign at the David Elliot Poultry stall at KosherFest 2021 reads: 'This year's chicken shortage has been stressful for us all.' (Courtesy of Philissa Cramer/ JTA)

April 12, 2022, 3:54 am

Can’t find poultry for Passover? America’s kosher chicken shortage, explained

An unusual array of forces have conspired to depress production in the United States, and kosher plants have suffered alongside everyone else

By Jackie Hajdenberg

Abby Chava Stein, an American transgender activist, relaxes on the Resort Deck of Celebrity Apex. (Photographed by Annie Leibovitz for Celebrity Cruises' All Inclusive Photo Project/via JTA)

April 5, 2022, 9:41 pm

Ex-Hasidic trans activist gets dream photo shoot with Annie Leibovitz

Jewish author/rabbi Abby Stein tapped by Celebrity Cruises for campaign illustrating diversity of people who love to travel

By Jackie Hajdenberg

Justice Ginsburg's white lace jabot (L) and her black robe from Maison Blanc (R) are two of the artifacts the late justice's children are donating to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. (Jaclyn Nash, courtesy of the National Museum of American History via JTA)

April 1, 2022, 10:42 am

RBG’s ‘dissent’ collar and robe join Smithsonian permanent exhibition

Late Supreme Court justice’s documents, awards, bobblehead and Legos of her likeness now displayed at world’s largest museum

By Jackie Hajdenberg

An aerial view of American Jewish University's Sunny & Isadore Familian Campus in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles. (Courtesy of Communications Department, AJU/ via JTA)

March 25, 2022, 9:21 pm

One of 2 Conservative US rabbinical schools is slashing tuition — by nearly 80%

The Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies has lowered its tuition to $7,000 amid dwindling attendance and fewer rabbinical students overall, in the hopes of setting an upward trend

By Jackie Hajdenberg