LGBTQ students sue Yeshiva University for discrimination

LGBTQ students sue Yeshiva University for discrimination

NEW YORK (JTA) — A group of students and alumni is suing Yeshiva University for discrimination, claiming that the university violated New York City’s human rights law when it refused to recognize an LGBTQ student club.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in New York County Supreme Court.

Over the last few years, the students repeatedly lobbied the university’s administration to formally recognize a Gay-Straight Alliance club. The university, a prominent Modern Orthodox institution, has grappled with how to reconcile a traditional interpretation of Jewish law, which does not allow homosexual relations, with its engagement with the secular world. Continue reading here.

Italy granted her a pension for Holocaust survivors. Then it asked for the money back.

Italy granted her a pension for Holocaust survivors. Then it asked for the money back.

(JTA) — In 2012, Messauda Fadlun received a letter from the Italian government asking her to return all the money she had been receiving as part of a restitution program for those racially persecuted by the fascist regime during World War II.

Fadlun, an Italian-Libyan Jew, and her family were shocked.

“We thought there had been a mistake,” said Ariel Finzi, Fadlun’s son, who is the rabbi of Naples. “Worst case, we presumed the government would stop paying for the pension, but not that we would have to return the money.”

They were wrong: It was just the beginning of a long legal fight with the Italian government, which claimed she had not been eligible to receive the pension, despite granting it earlier. Fadlun died in 2018, and now her 98-year-old husband, Alberto Finzi, is expected to pay the sum of 76,000 euros (about $92,000). Continue reading here.

Giornalismo e fact-checking, un appuntamento con Simone Somekh

NEW YORK, 1 febbraio 2021—Lunedì 8 febbraio alle 19:00, in diretta sulla pagina Facebook dell’Unione Giovani Ebrei Italiani (UGEI), Simone Somekh terrà un workshop di un’ora sul tema del fact-checking nell’era digitale. Modera Daphne Zelnick.

Giornalista a New York e autore del romanzo Grandangolo, Simone Somekh parlerà di fake news, acchiappaclick, deepfake e altri metodi di disinformazione utilizzati sul web, ed introdurrà alcuni strumenti utilizzati nelle redazioni giornalistiche per la verifica di fatti, foto e video.

Per seguire la diretta, collegarsi a questo link.

In libreria “Fase 1”, raccolta di testimonianze sulla pandemia

NEW YORK, 4 gennaio 2021—È uscito nelle librerie italiane “Fase 1”, volume bilingue che raccoglie memorie e testimonianze sul Covid-19 edito da Acquario Libri.

Nel libro, più di 60 scrittori, artisti e intellettuali italiani hanno catturato ciascuno in poche parole l’istante in cui tutto è cambiato e la pandemia ha preso il sopravvento sulle nostre vite. La raccolta include anche la testimonianza dello scrittore e giornalista Simone Somekh, che ha narrato la sua esperienza a New York.

“Fase 1”, pubblicato sia in italiano che in inglese, è acquistabile nelle migliori librerie italiane o sul sito internet di Acquario Libri.

Tobia Zevi is a rising star in Rome’s Jewish community. Can he become the city’s next mayor?

Tobia Zevi is a rising star in Rome’s Jewish community. Can he become the city’s next mayor?

(JTA) — Tobia Zevi is candid: He wants to become the next mayor of Rome. “I’ve dreamed of becoming mayor of my city my entire life,” he told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in an interview. “For years, I’ve been thinking about how to transform it and make it more liveable for its residents and more attractive for its tourists.”

If he succeeds, he is set to make history, becoming the second-ever Jewish mayor of the Italian capital, the first in over a century.

The 36-year-old, who has been involved in both local and national politics for 15 years, announced this summer his run for the capital’s mayoral primary in 2021. Since the announcement, he has gained momentum in the crowded field thanks to a series of high-profile newspaper interviews and social media posts. Over the summer, Zevi took advantage of the city’s relatively low infection rate to start campaigning, after the country was severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic in the spring. Continue reading…