Josefin Dolsten

Jack and Rachelle Goldstein, who as children were separated from their families during the Holocaust, criticize the separation of children from their families caught illegally crossing the US border in a video released by the Anti-Defamation League on June 19, 2018. (Screen capture: YouTube)

June 20, 2018, 10:42 pm

Jews separated from families during Holocaust condemn US border policy

'Separation of the family for us is probably the worst thing that ever happened to us,' says Rachelle Goldstein in video released by ADL

By Josefin Dolsten

The royal family, with Prince William in the center alongside his wife, Catherine, and their two children, in London during the Trooping the Colour, this year marking the queen’s 90th birthday, June 11, 2016. (Ben A. Pruchnie/Getty Images)

June 20, 2018, 6:16 am

5 must-know facts about Prince William’s historic visit to Israel

What will the heir to the British throne be getting up to on the first official royal trip to the Jewish state?

By Josefin Dolsten

Natalie Portman arrives at the Los Angeles premiere of "Annihilation" at the Regency Village Theatre, on February 13, 2018. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

June 15, 2018, 9:39 pm

Natalie Portman slams former friend Jared Kushner as a ‘supervillain’

The actress, who attended Kushner's wedding with Ivanka Trump, tells Stephen Colbert they are friends no more

By Josefin Dolsten

Blessings for ritual immersion at the Mayyim Hayyim community mikvah in Newton, Massachusetts. (Joel Benjamin/Mayyim Hayyim/via JTA)

June 14, 2018, 10:54 am

Boston-area mikveh in shock after funds go missing

Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community Mikveh, a small but celebrated ritual bath open to all parts of the Jewish community, says an employee misused its money

By Josefin Dolsten

A man buying Jewish newspapers from a stall in Buenos Aires, circa 1956. (Evans/Three Lions/Getty Images)

June 8, 2018, 4:25 am

Groundbreaking project aims to shed light on ‘forgotten’ Latin American Jews

First-of-its-kind research initiative will use lens of gender in order to examine the experiences of communities often glossed over in favor of European Jewry

By Josefin Dolsten

Jewish Ugandan women carry Torah scrolls in Nabagoye, Uganda (Courtesy of Be’chol Lashon)

June 2, 2018, 5:15 am

Conservative movement outraged by reports that Israel is blocking Ugandan Jews

Rabbi says rejection of the community converted under his denomination's auspices, 'is completely inconsistent with more than two decades of Israeli practice'

By Josefin Dolsten

Some Conservative synagogues allow interfaith couples to celebrate their unions by taking part in an aufruf. (Lior Zaltzman)

May 26, 2018, 9:27 am

Conservative rabbis find ways besides marriage to celebrate interfaith couples

After the movement doubled down on its intermarriage ban in October, clergy use a creative alternative to make their constituents feel welcome

By Josefin Dolsten

This file photo taken on March 2, 2011 shows US novelist Philip Roth during a ceremony at the White House in Washington DC, where he received the National Humanities Medal.
(AFP PHOTO / Jim WATSON)

May 26, 2018, 12:36 am

Philip Roth won’t be having a Jewish funeral

Celebrated writer 'expressly forbade' religious rituals at his burial, but chose plot near Jewish colleagues 'so he has someone to talk to'

By Josefin Dolsten

A woman walks across Israel square in Guatemala City on December 27, 2017 (AFP PHOTO / Orlando ESTRADA)

May 11, 2018, 9:05 am

Why these Latin American countries support moving their embassies to Jerusalem

Guatemala, Paraguay and Honduras look to strengthen ties with the US by supporting Israel, plus their leaders have personal connections to the Jewish state

By Josefin Dolsten

Rabbi Aaron Panken teaching a Talmud Class to Hebrew Union College students. (Courtesy of HUC via JTA)

May 8, 2018, 4:27 am

Rabbi Aaron Panken remembered as leader who embodied ‘best of Reform movement’

Friends and colleagues of HUC president killed in plane crash say he was joyful in his work, passionate about Israel

By Josefin Dolsten

'We Spoke Out: Comic Books and the Holocaust' features 18 comics that dealt with the Holocaust. (IDW Publishing/Yoe Books, JTA Collage)

May 5, 2018, 11:26 am

How comic books taught American kids about the Holocaust

The authors of a new book say a surprising number of mainstream comics addressed the genocide during the '50s and '60s, when it was not often being taught in schools

By Josefin Dolsten

Ruth Bader Ginsburg has attained pop culture icon status in the last decade. (Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures/via JTA)

May 4, 2018, 4:08 pm

‘RBG’ filmmakers hope to inspire Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s millennial fans

Ahead of Friday's opening, directors Julie Cohen and Betsy West say the goal of their film is to bring young fans the justice's extraordinary back story as a feminist pioneer

By Josefin Dolsten

Facebook adds balloons and confetti when wishing "mazel tov" (Screenshot: Facebook)

May 4, 2018, 8:31 am

Saying ‘mazel tov’ on Facebook brings on the confetti

Positive key words, including congratulatory Hebrew phrase, activate 'Text Delight Animations'

By Josefin Dolsten

Rabbi Barry Freundel exiting the courthouse after entering his guilty plea, Feb. 19, 2015. (JTA/Dmitriy Shapiro/Washington Jewish Week)

April 27, 2018, 3:49 pm

Mikvah-peeping Rabbi Barry Freundel’s jail sentence cut for good behavior

DC Modern Orthodox rabbi has over a year reduced from term; mix-up indicated he'd go free in 4 months, but release date is actually in August 2020

By Josefin Dolsten

Covers of the 72-year-old Jewish Currents magazine. (JTA collage)

April 27, 2018, 2:10 am

72-year-old left-wing magazine Jewish Currents aims for millennials

With communism and atheism looking antiquated to the younger crowd, the secular publication shifts its stance to a 'non-Zionist' platform focusing on Diaspora social activism

By Josefin Dolsten