Jewish Telegraphic Agency
By Jewish Telegraphic Agency
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News Reform Devises Sex-Change Blessings
In a groundbreaking move to recognize the experiences of transgender Jews, the Reform movement has published several prayers for sanctifying the sex-change process. The Union for Reform Judaism this week released the second edition of Kulanu, the union’s 500-page resource manual for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender inclusion. The guide includes two blessings authored by…
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News Tenure Battle Riles Barnard
A brewing battle over tenure for a polarizing Barnard College professor is threatening to thrust Columbia University back into the center of a controversy over its academic treatment of the Middle East. Nadia Abu El-Haj, an assistant professor of anthropology at Barnard, is the author of “Facts on the Ground,” a 2001 book that questions…
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News Conservative Rabbis Praise New Leader’s Remarks
He was given four standing ovations and received universal praise from Conservative rabbis this week, but Arnold Eisen still has his work cut out for him as he prepares to help steer the Conservative movement out of the doldrums. On July 1, Eisen will assume the chancellorship of the Jewish Theological Seminary and with it…
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News Israeli Contest Entry Pushes Europe’s Buttons
Jerusalem – Organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest are protesting Israel’s decision to submit a song whose lyrics seem to touch on the raging international controversy over Iran’s nuclear program. “It’s absolutely clear that this kind of message is not appropriate for the competition,” said Kjell Ekholm, a Eurovision organizer, adding that contest officials would…
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News College Students Killed in Murder-Suicide
A murder-suicide at Arizona State University involving Jewish students is rocking communities in New York, Arizona and Maryland. The two victims, Carol Kestenbaum and Nicole Schiffman, both from Long Island, had been best friends since high school and were out celebrating Kestenbaum’s 20th birthday at ASU, where the Bellmore resident was an education major. Schiffman,…
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News Report: E.U. Assumes Tehran Will Acquire Nuclear Capability
The European Union has reportedly concluded that Iran cannot be prevented from attaining nuclear weapons capability. “At some stage we must expect that Iran will acquire the capacity to enrich uranium on the scale required for a weapons program,” Monday’s Financial Times newspaper quoted an internal E.U. document as saying. “The Iranians have pursued their…
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News Florence Melton, Founder of Adult Mini-Schools
Florence Melton, a pioneer in Jewish education, died February 8 in Florida at age 95. She will be forever immortalized in the schools of adult Jewish education around the world that bear her name. Born in Philadelphia to Russian immigrant parents, Melton never graduated from high school; however, she described herself as having been born…
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News Synagogues Step Up Community Organizing Efforts
Three state assembly members and a lone county supervisor in Los Gatos, Calif., were no match this week for 500 Jews demanding more money for health care. “We meet tonight to ensure health care coverage for all county residents,” said Rabbi Joel Fleekop of Congregation Shir Hadash, a local congregation and host of the February…
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