The French National Assembly has voted unanimously to promote Alfred Dreyfus to the rank of brigadier general. Dreyfus was the Jewish army captain arrested in 1894 on false espionage charges — passing military secrets to the Germans — that were a reflection of virulent antisemitism in the French military. Dreyfus had been publicly stripped of his rank and sentenced to life in prison. He was sent to Devil’s Island in 1895. Released from Devil’s Island [...]

Alex Soros, son of billionaire philanthropist George Soros, married Huma Abedin, longtime Hillary Clinton aide and ex-wife of former congressman Anthony Weiner, on June 21 in Watermill, NY.

Democrats are beginning to mobilize for a run to the White House in 2028. The Forward provided a preview: There are five Jewish governors: JB Pritzker of Illinois, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania; Josh Stein of North Carolina; Jared Polis of Colorado, and Josh Green of Hawaii. Also mentioned is Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is the highest-ranking Jewish elected official, and Rahm Emanuel, former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, previously Mayor of Chicago, and Barack [...]

Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports, is paying for a trip to Auschwitz for two customers involved in making an antisemitic sign at his Philadelphia bar. According to the Forward, two customers, one a Temple University student, asked two waitresses to make the light-up sign usually reserved for messages celebrating birthdays or a sports team’s win. Portnoy said he fired the two waitresses and is sending the two customers to tour the notorious concentration camp. [...]

Charles Kushner, the father of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, was confirmed by the Senate in a 51-45 vote to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to France, despite felony convictions for tax evasion and witness tampering, and making false statements to the Federal Election Commission for which he served two years in prison. His convictions were wiped away by presidential pardon.

Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage in Gaza, was released on May 12 after 584 days in captivity. His parents flew to Israel to greet their son. Here Edan hugs his mom, Yael. He was born to Israeli parents living in Tenafly, NJ, and enlisted in the Israeli military. He was serving as a soldier on the Gaza border when he was taken captive in the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023. He was [...]

Suffolk County Legislator Catherine Stark, First Legislative District of New York, has named Rabbi Gadi Capela of our shul the Jewish-American Person of Distinction for 2025. Rabbi Gadi is being cited for his leadership at Congregation Tifereth Israel and in the Greenport community, his tenure as president of the East End Jewish Community Council, and for his interfaith work on Long Island. The event will be held on Wednesday, May 7, at the H. Lee [...]

Shul member Roberta Garris was the subject of a half-page article in the March 27 issue of The Suffolk Times. Reporter Julie Lane wrote about Roberta’s passion for quilting, and how she has turned that pastime into statements to promote peace. During the AIDS epidemic, she created a quilt to represent those losing their lives to the disease. More recently, she developed a theme based on the killing of 1,200 Israelis and the kidnapping of [...]

Mike Huckabee is not Jewish, but he makes the Jews In The News column this month because of the new position he now occupies. The former Arkansas governor was confirmed recently by the U.S. Senate as the Trump administration’s ambassador to Israel. The 53-46 vote installed a staunch supporter of Israel in a key Mideast post. However, Huckabee, an evangelical Christian, told lawmakers during a hearing last month that he would “carry out the president’s [...]

President Donald Trump has nominated Yehuda Kaploun, a Miami businessman, to serve as the administration’s new special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism. The announcement was celebrated by leaders of the Orthodox Union, but criticized by Jewish lawmakers, citing “inaccurate and disqualifying” remarks by Kaploun in connection with the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, having accused Democrats of refusing to recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization. Kaploun holds a rabbinical degree and is part of [...]