Jacques Torczyner, U.S. Zionist leader, 98
Jacques Torczyner, a former national president of the Zionist Organization of America, has died. Torczyner, a leader in the Zionist movement in the United States and around the world, died March 7 in Saratoga, Calif. He was 98. He served as ZOA president from 1968 to 1973, and was emeritus president until his death. “Jacques Torczyner was a tireless and galvanizing figure in American Zionism,” said Morton Klein, ZOA’s national president, in a statement. “He was a leading and active member of every important Zionist committee, flying to Israel regularly.” Born in Antwerp, Belgium, Torczyner escaped the Nazis and came to the United States in 1941. (JTA)
U.S. judge refuses to bar Jews from jury
A U.S. federal court judge rejected a Jewish attorney’s request to exclude Jews from a jury involving a client facing charges of lying about joining the Taliban. Judge Eric Vitaliano of U.S. District Court in Brooklyn ruled Monday that it would be unconstitutional to bar a prospective juror because of religion, the New York Post reported. (JTA)