What's New in Jewish News This Week

August 22, 2025

Important Note: The following articles do not represent an official position of the JCA, and are deliberately intended to mirror the wide range of diverse perspectives within Southern Maine’s Jewish community. Our goal is to deliver interesting news, reliable sources, and important perspectives on major Jewish issues.


In IDF-controlled Rafah, an armed clan’s school plants seeds of a Hamas-free future  (The Times of Israel)  The Palestinian Abu Shabab gang claims to have carved out an area where it is providing electricity, medical care and education for thousands of displaced Gazans under IDF protection. The school eschews Palestinian Authority textbooks previously prevalent in Gaza, with teachers apparently recruited from among displaced Palestinians living in a part of Gaza controlled by the Israel Defense Forces and appears to educate pupils along progressive ideas of pluralism and tolerance. “We want to create a generation of learners, not terrorists,” said Mohammed, a senior member of Abu Shabab’s forces, in a phone interview with The Times of Israel. Both initiatives appear to address longstanding Israeli concerns regarding Palestinian education, which critics say includes content that incites against Israelis and Jews, perpetuating narratives that fuel distrust and conflict rather than coexistence.


After decades of conflict, Armenia-Azerbaijan peace plan gives Caucasus Jews new hope  (Jewish Telegraphic Agency)  -  Two former Soviet republics that have been sworn enemies ever since the breakup of the USSR are suddenly on the verge of making peace. Since even before their independence in 1991, predominantly Christian, landlocked Armenia and mostly Muslim, oil-rich Azerbaijan have fought many wars over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region and accused each other of human rights abuses, ethnic cleansing — even genocide.


But now, their leaders say they have decided to bury the hatchet — and Jews in both countries could benefit.


Israel opens new embassy in Zambia, once home to a historic Jewish community  (Jewish Telegraphic Agency) - Israel has opened an embassy in Zambia, more than half a century after it was shuttered following the Yom Kippur war and as the African nation’s Jewish population has dwindled to near zero. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Zambian Foreign Minister Mulambo Haimbe opened the embassy together on Wednesday. “It’s an honor to be in Lusaka for the opening of Israel’s embassy,” Sa’ar tweeted, adding that the two countries were “enhancing our partnership in agriculture, health and much more.”


80 Modern Orthodox rabbis call for ‘moral clarity’ in the face of Gaza humanitarian crisis  (The Times of Israel) - Dozens of Orthodox  rabbis have issued “A Call for Moral Clarity, Responsibility, and a Jewish Orthodox Response in the Face of the Gaza Humanitarian Crisis,” in an addition to a recent cascade of open letters from Jewish voices responding to a hunger crisis in the Palestinian enclave nearly two years into the Israel-Hamas war.


Unlike some of the other letters, the new letter stresses condemnation of Hamas and does not call for Israel to end the war in Gaza. Instead, the rabbis write, “Hamas’s sins and crimes do not relieve the government of Israel of its obligations to make whatever efforts are necessary to prevent mass starvation." The Orthodox rabbis also lament the ascendance of extremist voices in Israel, the hardening of sentiments about Palestinians, and the explosion of settler violence in the West Bank — which they refer to using the Hebrew name for the region that conveys a historic Jewish connection to the land. “Hamas’s sins and crimes do not relieve the government of Israel of its obligations to make whatever efforts are necessary to prevent mass starvation,” the rabbis write.


Israel Claims UN’s Gaza Famine Declaration Based on ‘Biased and False’ Hamas Report  (The Media Line) - Israel has rejected a  global classification of famine in northern Gaza, accusing the international monitoring body behind the assessment of using flawed data sourced in part from Hamas-affiliated individuals and organizations. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification system (IPC), a widely used global hunger monitor, declared on Thursday that famine is occurring in the Gaza governorate, which includes Gaza City, and warned that conditions are deteriorating rapidly across the territory. The declaration prompted a sharp rebuke from the Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), a unit of Israel’s Defense Ministry that oversees humanitarian efforts in Gaza. In a counter-report, COGAT said the IPC’s findings were “biased and false” and accused the organization of relying on “severe methodological flaws.” 


Massachusetts Man Who Threatened to Kill Members of Jewish Community and Bomb Synagogues Sentenced to Prison  (Reuters) -  A Massachusetts man was sentenced on August 14 to more than two years in prison after he threatened to bomb synagogues and kill Jewish children in a series of calls he placed to two local houses of worship and the Israeli consulate in Boston after Israel and Hamas went to war in 2023. John Reardon, 60, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick in Boston to 26 months in custody after pleading guilty in November to charges related to what prosecutors said were dozens of violent and antisemitic calls and voicemails he placed to Jewish institutions beginning on October 7, 2023.


Other Articles

September 22, 2025
Rosh Hashanah is a time when we reflect on the past year and contemplate the ways in which we have grown, the mistakes we have made, and the opportunities we have yet to seize. As we engage in this sacred process of self-reflection, may we find the strength and courage to make amends, to learn from our experiences, and to grow into our best selves. As we welcome the new year 5786, we do so carrying the weight and wisdom of a year that has tested us in profound ways. This has been a time when our hearts have been stretched between grief and resilience, between fear and hope, between isolation and the deep human need for connection. We have witnessed antisemitism rise in our own communities here in Maine and beyond. We have seen violence and suffering that has shaken us to our core. We have grappled with complex questions about identity, safety, and belonging that have no easy answers. Many of us have felt the particular loneliness that comes from feeling misunderstood or unseen in our pain. Yet here we are, together. We continue to show up for one another. We continue to choose connection over isolation, dialogue over silence, and hope over despair—even when those choices feel impossibly difficult. Together, thanks to the hard work of our tremendously talented development team and the spirit of generosity and cooperation that is a hallmark of our community, the JCA has directly improved the lives of thousands of people locally and globally in the past year. We provided almost $400,000 in allocations to care for the most vulnerable among us, educate our children, strengthen Jewish identities locally, support Jews globally, and foster a thriving Jewish life. We distributed 259,050 diapers, 2,250 diaper wipe packs, and 43,248 menstrual pads through our diaper bank. We are starting a BBYO chapter to foster community and support Jewish identity among our local teens. We resettled 110 refugees from 9 different countries. We provided local school children with 510 pairs of boots through our Winter Warmth Drive. We greatly strengthened our antisemitic response protocol, developing a statewide incident response form and building key relationships with local, state, and national partners. We held our first Mitzvah Day, with 60 volunteers at 7 project sites, and subsequently created a mitzvah corps that comes together monthly to do volunteer work around the Portland area. We brought disparate voices together in dialogue to work toward shared understanding. And held space for our community to come together, to spread joy, to share pain, to remember, to hope for a brighter future, and to work to build a better world. The shofar calls us not to forget this year's trials, but to carry their lessons forward. It reminds us that we are part of an ancient story of perseverance, that we belong to a people who have always found ways to build meaning from brokenness, to plant seeds of justice even in the hardest ground. Every generation has faced its darkness and chosen to kindle light anyway. This is our moment to be ancestors to the future. Each conversation that builds understanding, each time we choose action over inaction and courage over fear—these become the foundation for the world we want our children to inherit. We plant trees whose shade we may never sit in, but whose shelter will comfort generations to come. As we stand at this threshold between years, we acknowledge what we've lost and what we've learned. We commit to continuing the sacred work of repairing our world—tikkun olam—knowing that this work is never finished, never perfect, but always necessary. We do this work not because we are certain of the outcome, but because hope is more than passive waiting—it is active faith in our ability to create change. Too often we are quick to call out the changes other people need to make, and shy away from taking account of the work we need to do internally. Our tradition emphasizes the critical principle of Kol Israel – that each Jew is responsible, one for the other. We can all benefit from reflection on the changes and repairs we need to make as individuals, looking inward before casting outward. We can also all benefit by affording others a little more grace to learn and grow and change, focusing more on building up instead of tearing down, of uniting rather than dividing. Given the host of ills in the world, it’s more important than ever that we stand together to confront the challenges we face as a community, as a nation, as a people, as human beings. May this new year bring healing to our community and our world. May we find strength in our traditions and in each other. And may we remember that even in the darkest times, we are never truly alone. Shanah Tovah u'Metukah. Leslie Kirby, Chief Executive Officer Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine 🍎🍯🍏
By Zach Schwartz, JCRC Director September 22, 2025
Did you know that there is a connection between Jews and the Tutsi people of Rwanda and Burundi? One member of Portland’s community, Paul Niyonizigiye, who immigrated from Burundi (a country in Africa), is passionately keeping that connection alive. While Paul’s faith is Unitarian Universalism, he donates regularly to Jewish causes, including the World Jewish Congress and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and considers himself both to be an ally of the Jewish people and a supporter of Israel. “If I see Jewish people in the community, I see my brother or sister, even if I don’t know them,” Paul tells me during a recent visit to the JCA. Tutsi people and Jewish people have many similar customs , including not eating pork or mixing meat and milk, and some historians believe this points to a shared historical origin. Paul himself believes that Tutsis are descended from Ethiopian Jews who settled in the region millennia ago. But the connection between the Tutsi people and Jewish people doesn’t stop at mysteriously similar traditions or shared ancestry. Our modern histories are marred by tragedy: Tutsis were the primary victims of the Rwandan genocide, where 800,000 people were killed in 100 days. Many Tutsis after the genocide have looked towards Israel, and more broadly Jews, as an example of how to survive a horror and rebuild afterwards. In fact, while the blight of antisemitism spreads again throughout the world, many Rwandans and Tutsis continue to hold a positive perception of Jews, Israel, and the Jewish religion. We consider Paul a friend of the JCA, and we look forward to continuing to build with him and the Tutsi community in Maine. I interviewed Paul about his connection to the Jewish people, his thoughts on Israel, and his message to our community.
September 19, 2025
In Fall 2021, the JCA was thrilled to become a HIAS affiliate in refugee resettlement work. Over the last four years, this area of our organization has expanded more than we ever could have imagined: our Refugee Resettlement & Newcomer Services (RRNS) staff grew to 18 dedicated individuals, welcoming a total of 571 people from 24 countries to Maine. This work includes meeting newcomers at the airport, getting them settled into temporary and then permanent housing, providing stipends for essential expenses like groceries and rent, and helping them adjust to life in the United States through cultural orientations, assistance with medical appointments, enrolling children in school, employment searches, and so much more. Under the federal resettlement program, refugees are entitled to up to five years of services after their arrival. And so, it is with deep devastation and disappointment that we share a very difficult decision made by the JCA’s Board of Directors to pause federally-funded refugee work at the end of the federal fiscal year, on Sept. 30, 2025. The JCA Board, with input from staff, has spent many hours discussing our RRNS program over the last year. We pushed ahead more than once, taking financial risks for the organization to continue providing vital services. We’ve done this because we value this work as part of our mission and Jewish values. We respect and honor the time and energy the RRNS staff has put into their work for the last four years. And we recognize the significant needs of the RRNS clients as they continue to settle into their new homes in Maine. However, in the current political climate with massive grant cuts and unexpected changes to programs and decisions, it is not viable for us to take on further, substantial financial risks to run this program. The JCA is many things and provides such an array of valuable and important services and programs to so many different people. We cannot knowingly agree to put the organization in financial jeopardy for the sake of one program or service area, no matter how much we value it. Over the last couple of months, our focus has been on helping both RRNS clients and staff be in the best position possible when September 30 arrives. In addition to the services we have continued to offer clients, we have been supporting staff as they look for their next roles and balance their ongoing work with their own well-being. We’re truly sorry and heartbroken to be in this position. And yet, in hard times, we are always amazed by our wonderful community. Through the incredible generosity of a small group of transformational donors, the modest bright light we can share today is that we will be able to fund three RRNS staff positions privately in the next year. This will allow the JCA to continue to offer intensive case management services to many of the clients in continued need of care, as well as group programming. One position will include a caseload of clients who are experiencing significant barriers to self-sufficiency and need additional case management support to gain independence. Another position will offer case management to our most vulnerable Ukrainian clients, and the third position will directly serve our most vulnerable Afghan clients. We will also continue to identify ways we may be able to serve this population through other JFS programming in the months and years ahead. The Board and leadership of the JCA are so proud and forever grateful for the incredible, selfless, and humanistic work of the RRNS staff, especially over these tumultuous past 10 months. We very much hope that one day the JCA can open our doors to this work more fully again, when the funding streams and federal partnerships required are more stable and welcoming of refugee populations. Please join us in gratitude for our departing staff, and support new Mainers in any way you are able.
Show More