Jesse Lempel
By Jesse Lempel
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Opinion Francois Hollande Explains The Holocaust to Teenagers — Awkwardly
What started out as an unusual debate on primetime television between French president Francois Hollande and five teenagers about to vote for the first time, took an even stranger turn when they argued for several minutes whether or not it’s OK to laugh at the Holocaust. The round-table discussion took place Sunday, during the and…
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The Schmooze Bob Dylan Lyrics Cause Uproar at Israeli Memorial Day Ceremony
“I hope that you die / And your death’ll come soon.” These lyrics, taken from Bob Dylan’s 1963 anti-war anthem “Masters of War,” when they were recited today at a Memorial Day ceremony in Israel. The event was held at Oranim College of Education, near the northern city of Haifa, which is partially subsidized by…
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Opinion The #BlackLivesMatter Haggadah
Sarah Quinter The Haggadah insists on being relentlessly current, asking that each year we read ourselves and our struggles into the ancient saga of the Jewish exodus from Egypt. So it’s not altogether surprising that a few young Jewish writers, primarily Jews of color, have compiled a #BlackLivesMatter Haggadah Supplement for the organization Jews for…
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News Jewish Navy SEAL Vet Jumps into Missouri Governor’s Race
The Republican primary contest for the 2016 Missouri governor’s race has barely begun. But it is already one of the most unusual and tragic in the state’s memory, upended by the suicide of a top contender followed by accusations that anti-Semitism played a role in his death, despite the fact that he was not Jewish….
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Opinion Can You Vote in France While Wearing a Kippah?
Can you vote in France while wearing a kippah? That was the debate that erupted among officials at the polling station on Sunday when Rabbi Avraham Weill, the Chief Rabbi of Toulouse, a city in southern France, went to vote in the municipal elections. He was initially turned away on account of his offensive attire…
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Breaking News Y.U. To Issue Mass Layoff Warnings to Einstein Med School Staff
More than 2,500 employees at Yeshiva University’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine will soon get notices from the school warning that they could be laid off this summer. The notices are being prepared as YU gets set to transfer much of its control over the medical school to Montefiore Health System. It is unclear how…
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Opinion Is Bibi Our Moses or Pharaoh? Neither.
Illustration by Lior Zaltzman In his speech to Congress a few weeks ago, Bibi concluded with a quote from none other than Moses, the great leader of the Jews and hero of Passover. Indeed, many of his supporters might see him as a modern-day Moses, boldly rebuking the arrogant Pharaoh (whether Obama or the Ayatollah)…
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The Schmooze This Boca Shul Just Created the Biggest Prayer Shawl in the World
Facebook Jewish tradition: it’s beautiful and comforting but a bit too constricting, right? Well, not anymore. The bookkeepers at Guinness just awarded the world record for “largest tallit (prayer shawl)”— measuring 1,471.74 square feet — to Boca Raton Synagogue, a Modern Orthodox shul. The Facebook post by Rabbi Efrem Goldberg announcing this amazing feat was…
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