A Jewish American fighter pilot, whose plane was shot down in the Chinese theater during World War II, was given a proper burial 82 years after his plane went down, according to the United States Department of Defense. The remains of Lt. Morton Sher were buried in Greenville, SC, on Dec. 14 on what would have been his 105th birthday. Sher was a member of the pilot group known as the “Flying Tigers,” formed to [...]

Julie Menin is the first Jew to be elected speaker of the New Yor City Council, the second-most powerful government position in America’s largest city. Mainstream Jewish leaders see Menin as a check on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and a potential guardrail on his actions, according to The Forward.

By Len Berk The whole story of Barbra Streisand and the sturgeon began a few months ago on a Thursday when I was at my regular spot at the fish counter. A pleasant, attractive woman ordered a pound of Nova and, before Slim, my sharp slicing knife, and I started our journey through the salmon, she said, “I’m buying this for Barbra Streisand.” I was skeptical, so I asked her what her relationship was with [...]

Hessy Levinsons Taft, who as an infant appeared on the cover of a Nazi magazine in Germany, promoting her as the ideal Aryan baby, a distinction complicated by the fact that she was Jewish and had been exploited as part of a hoax, died on Jan. 1 at her home in San Francisco. She was 91. Th episode began in 1934, when Hessy was 6 months old and her parents hired a photographer to [...]

President Donald Trump has tapped Shalom Baranes, a prominent Jewish architect, to redesign the White House’s East Wing ballroom. Baranes came to the U.S. as a child when his parents fled antisemitism in Libya with help from the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS). His projects have included work on the Pentagon and the historic Sixth & I synagogue, among other undertakings. The original architect for Trump's White House ballroom project was James McCrery II of [...]

Billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman has been confirmed by the Senate as the new head of NASA. Isaacman, 42, is founder and CEO of the payment processing company Shiftd4, but has never worked at NASA or in the federal government. He will take control of the space agency from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who has served as NASA’s interim administrator since July. During his hearing before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, Isaacman said he [...]

Ben Cohen, Ben & Jerry’s co-founder accused parent company Unilever of blocking a proposed ice conviction became a defining cream flavor promoting solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, calling it a “corporate attack on free speech” and part of what he described as widespread “butt kissing” of President Donald Trump.

Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of former President John F. Kennedy and son of Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, is running to succeed Rep. Jerry Nadler, currently serving New York’s 12th district on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Schlossberg, 32, is making Jewish security a central pillar of his campaign, pledging to introduce legislation to double federal funding for security upgrades at synagogues and other Jewish institutions. Schlossberg, raised Catholic, also identifies as Jewish and “occasionally” goes to services [...]

Melanie Shiraz represented Israel at the 2025 Miss Universe Competition held on Nov. 21 in Bangkok, Thailand. It was revealed later that her costume had been stolen shortly before the competition, and she had to quickly make a new one.

France posthumously promoted Alfred Dreyfus — the Jewish army captain whose 1894 treason scandal of French antisemitism — to brigadier general, 130 years after he was falsely accused.