News

Yeshiva University undergraduates spent a week this January traveling throughout Morocco visiting Jewish heritage cites, building cultural bridges with Muslim university students, and expanding their leadership horizons. Jews – al-Yahud al-Maghariba – have lived in Morocco for two thousand years, from about 70 BCE. After the expulsion from Spain in 1492 and then Portugal only years later, many Spanish Jews found refuge and built new lives in cities throughout Morocco, creating an impressive Jewish tapestry of immigrants. In Fez, Maimonides wrote his major works. In Rabat, Marrakesh and even in the Atlas Mountains, Jews lived and worked. Casablanca today has the largest Jewish community in Morocco with synagogues, community centers, and Jewish schools. Close to 100 YU graduates come from Morocco.

NEW YORK NEWS

The Nassau County Republican Party held a press conference demanding the resignation of Congressman George Santos.  Santos has made international headlines for weeks because of the lies about his resume, from where he attended college to his “Jew-ish” identity.  County Chairman Joseph Cairo led the call for him to resign. “George Santos’ campaign last year was a campaign of deceit, lies and fabrication,” Cairo said. “He deceived the voters of the 3rd Congressional District, he deceived members of the Nassau County Republican committee, elected officials, his colleagues, candidates, his opponents and even some of the media. He’s disgraced the House of Representatives and we do not consider him one of our congresspeople.” Cairo has led the Nassau Republicans to a series of wins, including the victories in 2021 with the election of Bruce Blakeman as County Executive and Anne Donnelly as District Attorney, and in 2022 with the flipping of multiple federal and state seats.  

On Wednesday, February 8, two culinary worlds will come together for one purpose. Restaurateur Micah Seavers, who got involved with the Masbia Relief Team in the aftermath of the tornado that ripped through Kentucky in December 2021, will come to New York City and contrast his cooking against long-time Masbia volunteer and cookbook author, Naomi Ross.

Recap: Libby has a recurring scary dream where she’s freefalling from the sky. She starts her new job, and she has to go into the second-grade class where they already went through three teachers.

Recap: Libby has a difficult time with her first day working in the second-grade class. Mrs. Kahn calls about a foster child. She and Avi meet Sabrina Rachel, and Libby decides she wants to bring her home.

NEW YORK NEWS

Nurses at two of New York City’s largest hospitals have gone on strike. Union officials failed to reach tentative agreements with hospital administrators in a dispute over pay and staffing levels. The walkout involves as many as 3,500 nurses at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx and about 3,600 at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. Seven other hospitals were able to reach tentative agreements to prevent strikes.  At these hospitals, patients are likely to see disruptions in emergency rooms, childbirth, and other areas of care. “The entire New York City Labor Movement stands with our nurses, who are courageously taking action against dangerous understaffing that threatens the safety of their patients,” AFL-CIO New York City Central Labor Council President Vincent Alvarez remarked. “The decision to go on strike is never an easy one, particularly for workers who care so deeply about the patients and communities they serve. But hospital executives created this crisis by failing to hire, train, and retain nurses while at the same time treating themselves to extravagant compensation packages. Now it’s time for them to fix what they’ve broken.”