London’s oldest man celebrates 108th birthday at Jewish care home
Ben Raymond is believed to be the third-oldest man in the United Kingdom. (Nightingale House)
(JTA) — A Jewish care home in London hosted a birthday party for a resident who is the city’s oldest man.
The Jewish man just turned 108, The London-based Jewish Chronicle reported.
At the party at Nightingale House Tuesday, Ben Raymond, a retired hair dresser, celebrated with friends and family. He told a Chronicle reporter that his longevity owes to his “positive outlook” and an occasional shot of whisky, though he has recently given up drinking and smoking his pipe for health-related reasons.
Born in London’s Bermondsey district in the city’s East End, Raymond, a former member of Croydon Synagogue and later of Sutton and District Synagogue, opened a hair salon where his clients included aristocracy and film stars. Charlton Heston got his hair cut at Raymond’s salon before the filming of “Ben Hur” in 1959, Raymond told The Chronicle. He also said that Heston gave him a tip of 10 British pounds. In 1959, that sum had the buying value of about $230 today.
Raymond moved into the Jewish care home where now lives in 2012, with his late wife. Both were over 100. She died that year, as did their only child, Victor, at the age of 70.
Ben and Millie Raymond met through their love of dancing, he told the British-Jewish paper, and got married in 1937.
He is said to be the third oldest man in the United Kingdom.
George Soros has spent over twice as much on this presidential election so far compared to 2016
George Soros in Vienna, Austria, June 21, 2019. (Georg Hochmuth/AFP/Getty Images)
(JTA) — George Soros has donated $5.1 million to a new super PAC ahead of the 2020 presidential election — over twice as much as he had spent at this point in the campaign leading up to the 2016 election, Politico reported Wednesday.
The Hungarian-born Jewish billionaire’s Democracy PAC is his first involvement in the 2020 election cycle.
Soros, a longtime donor to the Democratic Party, has not and does not plan to weigh in on any of the Democratic candidates during the primary stage, according to Politico. He told The Washington Post last year that doing so could “divide the Democratic party.”
Soros eventually spent $20 million on the 2016 race, one of the largest amounts for a donor in either party.
UK has record 892 anti-Semitic incidents for first half of 2019
Members of the British Jewish community holding a protest against anti-Semitism in the Labour party, outside the British Houses of Parliament in central London, March 26, 2018. (Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images)
(JTA) — A record number of nearly 900 anti-Semitic incidents have been recorded in the United Kingdom for the first six months of 2019.
The Community Security Trust, or CST, which is British Jewry’s largest watchdog on anti-Semitism, released its January-June 2019 Antisemitic Incidents Report, on Thursday. The 892 incidents reported in the first half of 2019 is the highest number recorded in that six-month period and is a 10 percent increase from the 810 incidents recorded during the same period in 2018.
There were 38 incidents of damage and desecration of Jewish property in the first six months of 2019; 710 incidents of abusive behavior, including verbal abuse, anti-Semitic graffiti, anti-Semitic abuse via social media and cases of hate mail; 49 direct anti-Semitic threats; and ten cases of mass-mailed anti-Semitic leaflets or emails.
Some 323, or 36 percent, of the anti-Semitic incidents involved social media, compared to 221 incidents, or 27 percent of the total, on social media in the first half of 2018.
The highest monthly totals in the first half of 2019 were in February and March, with 182 and 169 anti-Semitic incidents respectively. They occurred when issues relating to Jews and anti-Semitism in the Labour party were prominent in the news and politics, CST pointed out.
CST recorded a 37 percent increase in the number of violent anti-Semitic assaults, to 85 in the first six months of 2019, up from 62 in the first six months of 2018.
Almost two thirds of the 892 antisemitic incidents were recorded in Greater London and Greater Manchester, the two largest Jewish communities in the UK.
Poway gunman was inspired by New Zealand mosque attacks
John T. Earnest stands at his arraignment hearing in San Diego County Superior Court in San Diego, Calif., April 30, 2019. (Nelvin C. Cepeda/Pool/Getty Images)
(JTA) — The alleged California synagogue gunman was inspired by New Zealand mosque shooter Brenton Tarrant, according to documents unsealed by the court.
John Earnest has pleaded not guilty to murder and attempted murder for the April 27 attack on the Chabad of Poway synagogue that left one dead and three injured. He also is suspected of setting fire to a mosque in Escondido, California five days after the New Zealand attacks that killed 51 people at two mosques. One month later he allegedly attacked the synagogue.
The documents include social media posts showing that Earnest, 19, praised Tarrant’s hate-filled writings, writing “I’ve only read a little but so far he’s spot on with everything.” Earnest also said that “I think it’s important that everyone should read it,” referring to Tarrant’s racist ” manifesto,” the Associated Press reported.
The information is included in 338 pages of search warrants unsealed by a California state judge.
Three weeks before the attack, Earnest opened an Amazon account and purchased items for the Poway attack, including an ammunition holder worn across the chest, a military-style duffel bag, an action camera and a tactical helmet.
The day before the shooting, he bought, legally after obtaining a hunting license, a Smith & Wesson AR-15 rifle from a San Diego gun shop, according to federal charges.
Earnest was found with five extra 10-round magazines for his rifle. He fired off eight to 10 rounds before the rifle either jammed or malfunctioned and congregants chased him outside.
He could face the death penalty or life in prison without possibility of parole if convicted of the murder, which has been classified as an alleged hate crime. Earnest also pleaded not guilty to the arson attack on the mosque.
Jewish man wearing kippah assaulted by taxi driver in Montreal
(JTA) — A Jewish man wearing a yarmulke was assaulted by a taxi driver in Montreal.
The taxi driver was blocking the door to an underground garage at a condo building Sunday in the Saint-Laurent borough of Montreal. When the driver of a car honked to signal that he should move away from the door, the taxi driver apparently noted the other driver’s kippah and shouted, “I won’t move for any f***ing Jews!” He also threatened to kill the other driver.
The victim then attempted to photograph the taxi number in order to file a complaint, at which point the driver exited his car and punched the Jewish man repeatedly and shouted anti-Semitic slurs until a parking supervisor intervened, B’nai Brith Canada said in a statement. The victim’s phone also was smashed. The victim required attention at a local hospital.
Much of the incident was captured on a security camera.
A woman who intervened was reportedly struck by the taxi driver.
“This is a shocking anti-Semitic hate crime, in which someone could have been gravely injured or even killed,” said Michael Mostyn, Chief Executive Officer of B’nai Brith Canada.
Harold Prince, who brought ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ to the stage, dies at 91
Hal Prince at the 2017 Dramatists Guild Foundation gala in New York City, Nov. 6, 2017. (Walter McBride/WireImage)
(JTA) — Legendary Broadway producer and director Harold “Hal” Prince, who brought “Fiddler on the Roof” to the stage, has died at the age of 91.
Prince, whose credits also include “West Side Story,” “Damn Yankees,” “The Phantom of the Opera,” Cabaret,” Company” and “Sweeney Todd,” died on Wednesday, after what his publicist called a brief illness, in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Broadway theaters dimmed their lights for one minute on Wednesday evening in tribute to Prince. He requested that there be no funeral, according to Playbill, and instead the theatrical community will later hold a celebration of his life.
Prince received a record 21 Tony Awards, and was a recipient of a Kennedy Center Honor. Two of his Tonys were special awards. In 1972 he received a special Tony when “Fiddler” became the then-longest running musical, and in 1974 he received one for the revival of “Candide.”
His production of “Phantom of the Opera” currently is the longest-running musical.
He collaborated with Broadway giants including George Abbott, Jerome Robbins, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim in some of their greatest undertakings.
“Prince of Broadway,” a musical retrospective of his career, made its Broadway debut in August 2017, after opening in Tokyo in 2015.
Prince was born in New York City in 1928. In his 1974 memoir “Contradictions,” he described his parents as “privileged, upper-middle lower rich-class” German Jews whose families had immigrated soon after the Civil War. In the same book he wrote that “Saturday matinees were part of a New York Jewish child’s intellectual upbringing.”
In another memoir, “A Sense of Occasion,” he recalled that when he first read “Fiddler” in 1962, its focus on Russian Jews was “fascinating, but alien.” But working with Robbins, who directed, he produced what one critic called an “ode to Jewish history, the Jewish soul, the survival of a people.”
He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Judy Chaplin; a daughter, Daisy Prince; a son, Charles Prince; and three grandchildren.
Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez are really enjoying their time in Israel
Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez at the 2019 CFDA Fashion Awards at the Brooklyn Museum in New York, June 3, 2019. (James Devaney/Getty Images)
(JTA) — Celebrity power couple Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez don’t have a lot of time in Israel, but they are making the most of it.
The two — along with Rodriguez’s two children from his first marriage, and Lopez’s twins she had with fellow singer Marc Anthony — have been in the Jewish state since Tuesday, ahead of Lopez’s concert Thursday night in Tel Aviv’s Hayarkon Park.
Rodriguez, the former baseball star, was instantly “in love.”
“What an amazing time we are having on our first trip to Tel Aviv! The people have been wonderful and have such energy,” he tweeted.
Fans reportedly flocked outside of their hotel as they arrived, and they were spotted dining out in Tel Aviv.
The concert, her first in Israel, is part of Lopez’s first international tour in seven years.
Bon Jovi recently performed in Hayarkon Park as well, on July 25.
Mayim Bialik proud as NYC subway riders erase swastika
Mayim Bialik attending the 23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles, Jan. 29, 2017. (Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
(JTA) — Actress Mayim Bialik praised New York City subway passengers for erasing hate.
Bialik, who starred in “The Big Bang Theory,” in a post on Instagram described how, while on the subway with her two sons, fellow riders used hand sanitizer to remove the word “Nazi” written in permanent marker from a seat.
She called it a “very powerful moment of unity and understanding.”
Bialik and her sons, ages 10 and 13, were in New York over the weekend for the Fortnite World Cup, a video game tournament. She said her boys noticed the word Nazi on the seat, as did the other passengers.
“They took out some hand sanitizer and began removing the marking. THIS is America. It was a very powerful moment of unity and understanding, and I’m grateful that my boys got to witness it in action,” she wrote.
Kushner and peace team meet in Israel with Netanyahu
White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet in Jerusalem on July 31, 2019. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Jared Kushner arrived in Israel on a Mideast trip to stoke interest in the administration’s Middle East peace plans.
The senior White House adviser, along with Jason Greenblatt, President Trump’s special Mideast envoy, met on Wednesday evening with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Also attending were U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook, U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
A senior White House official said before the meeting that Kushner and his team would report back to Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the national security team to “discuss the many potential next steps to expand upon the success of the Bahrain workshop,” the Jerusalem Post reported. In June, Bahrain hosted a conference that rolled out the economic portion of the Trump administration’s peace plan.
The official denied a report in the Israeli daily Yediot Acharonot that the peace plan would be rolled out to Arab leaders at a meeting in Camp David early next month.
Earlier on Wednesday Kushner met in Amman with Jordan’s King Abdullah II to discuss the peace plan and its economic component.
Abdullah reportedly told Kushner that the peace plan must be based on a two-state solution, with eastern Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian lawsuit. The White House hasn’t committed to a two-state plan.
Kushner also is scheduled to visit Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Palestinian gunman crosses Gaza border and injures 3 Israeli soldiers
An Israeli tank crossing through a field in southern Israel near the border with Gaza, the day after Israel began its invasion of Gaza, July 18, 2014. (Hadas Parush/Flash 90)
JERUSALEM (JTA) — A Palestinian gunman who crossed the border from southern Gaza into Israel shot and injured three Israeli soldiers.
The gunman was killed by other soldiers in the area in the early Thursday morning incident,according to the Israel Defense Forces. The IDF said it also fired on a Hamas military post with tank fire.
Although the man was wearing a Hamas uniform it is believed he acted alone, the IDF said in a statement. He also threw a grenade at the troops.
Two of the soldiers were lightly injured and released from the hospital. Their officer was moderately injured.
The soldier was identified as Fadi Abu Salah, whose disabled brother was killed by Israeli soldiers during protests in May on the Gaza border.
The family of Lt. Hadar Goldin, who was killed by Hamas gunmen exactly five years ago — two hours into a cease-fire during the 2014 Gaza War and whose body is being held in Gaza — has called on the Israeli government to not turn over Abu Salah’s body until their son’s is returned.
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