Gabe Friedman
By Gabe Friedman
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Fast Forward Hillel working to help students from Ukraine as Kharkiv chapter is destroyed in bombing
(JTA) — Before Russian troops invaded Ukraine, the Hillel chapter in Kharkiv was preparing to celebrate its 25th anniversary this spring. In fact, just one week ago, the group working with Jewish students and young adults was advertising a Saturday evening game night. Now, its home has been destroyed, and Hillel International, the network of…
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Fast Forward Joe Biden attended a Zoom shiva for his childhood crush as Russia’s Ukraine invasion loomed
(JTA) — Every week is busy for a U.S. president, but last week was unusually turbulent for Joe Biden. He finalized his choice of Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace Jewish Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, began preparing for his first State of the Union address and received news that the Centers for Disease Control would…
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News In 4 years, Volodymyr Zelensky went from Jewish comedian to Putin’s ‘No. 1 enemy’ and defender of democracy
(JTA) — Four years ago, Volodymyr Zelensky was an actor on the humorous Ukrainian TV show “Servant of the People,” starring as an unlikely president of the Eastern European country. Now, he is at the center of the continent’s most significant conflict since World War II, framing himself as a possible martyr on the world…
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Fast Forward Who are Ukraine’s Jews, and how is Russia’s invasion affecting them?
(JTA) — All of the posturing and fears and hypothesizing became reality early Thursday morning in Ukraine, as Russia launched a full-scale armed invasion by land and sea. Tens of thousands of Jews live in Ukraine, making it home to one of the world’s largest Jewish communities — one with a complicated history, tainted by…
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Fast Forward Jon Stewart backtracks, says he was joking when he called ‘Harry Potter’ goblins antisemitic
(JTA) — Jon Stewart thinks we all missed the joke. Following a recent podcast in which he suggested that goblin characters in the “Harry Potter” series resembled antisemitic caricatures, the Jewish comedian posted a follow-up video to Twitter on Wednesday, saying that he did not mean to accuse the series’ author J.K. Rowling of antisemitism….
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Fast Forward Tel Aviv is the world’s most expensive city to live in, study finds
(JTA) — Tel Aviv is now the world’s most expensive city to live in — and the reason why is tied in part to Israel’s successful COVID-19 vaccine rollout. The Israeli city rose from No. 5 to No. 1 in the annual Worldwide Cost of Living index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the…
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Fast Forward The CDC published a study finding that camp during COVID-19 can be safe. Its proof: Camp Ramah.
(JTA) — The Centers for Disease Control has published a study conducted by the medical committee of the Camp Ramah network, highlighting the Jewish camps’ highly successful safety measures for avoiding the spread of COVID-19 this past summer. Between June and August, nine Ramah campers tested positive for the virus, out of a total of…
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Fast Forward HBO picks up film about boxer who escaped Auschwitz death march
(JTA) — HBO has bought the rights to “The Survivor,” a film by acclaimed Jewish director Barry Levinson based on the true story of a boxer who escaped an Auschwitz death march after being forced to fight with his fellow prisoners. Jewish actor Ben Foster will star as Harry Haft, a Polish Jew who was…
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