JTA
By JTA
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Fast Forward Son of Hasidic Grand Rebbe Dies After Surgery
The eldest son of the Vizhnitz Hasidic sect’s grand rabbi died unexpectedly at age 67. Rabbi Pinchas Shulem Hager, whose father Rabbi Mordechai Hager is international grand rabbi of the Vizhnitz Hasidic sect, died Thursday morning following back surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. Hager, known for officiating at many Vizhnitz weddings, served as…
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Fast Forward American Officials Meet With Critics of IDF
White House officials met with members of Breaking the Silence, an Israeli group which collects soldiers’ testimonies to expose abuses. The meeting, the first of its kind, dealt with testimonies that the organization had collected on alleged human-rights violations by the Israel Defense Forces during last summer’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Haaretz…
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Fast Forward Shlomo Riskin Hits Back in ‘Swindler’ Slander Drama
Shlomo Riskin, the chief rabbi of Efrat, filed a $260,000 countersuit against a resident of the West Bank settlment who had sued Riskin for libel. Riskin’s lawsuit, which he filed Wednesday in the Jerusalem District Court, alleges that Samuel Wasserman, also a resident of the Efrat settlement in the West Bank, conspired with others to…
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Fast Forward Phone Firm Insists Israel Pullout Not Political
France opposes boycotts against Israel but will not intervene if the Orange communications giant drops its Israeli affiliate, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said. Fabius’ statement on Friday was in reaction to the announcement the previous day by Orange S.A., which is partly controlled by the French state, that it would terminate its presence in…
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Fast Forward Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt Denies Wrongdoing in Sauna Chats
Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt asserted his innocence in his first public comment since the publication of a New York Times article about his habit of inviting young males to join him for naked heart-to-heart talks in the sauna. In a letter sent Thursday to congregants of his Orthodox synagogue, the Riverdale Jewish Center in New York,…
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Fast Forward Caitlyn Jenner Asked to be Guest of Honor for Tel Aviv Gay Pride Week
(JTA) — The City of Tel Aviv invited Caitlyn Jenner to be a guest of honor at its Gay Pride Week celebration. Jenner, 65, the former reality show star and Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete, has not responded to the invitation announced Thursday. She has garnered the media spotlight with her recent transition to become a…
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Fast Forward Avi Beker, Former World Jewish Congress Secretary-General, Dies
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Avi Beker, the former secretary-general of the World Jewish Congress and longtime head of its Israel office, has died. Becker died Wednesday of cancer. He was 64. He was hired by the World Jewish Congress in 1985 and served as executive director of the group’s Israel office until 2001, as well as…
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Fast Forward French Telecom Company ‘Orange’ to Leave Israeli Market
A major French telecommunications company partly owned by the government confirmed that it was planning to leave the Israeli market, but said the move was strictly business. The statement by Orange comes a day after its CEO said at a news conference in Cairo that he would cut ties with an Israeli partner “tomorrow” if…
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