Julie Masis
By Julie Masis
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News Why Are There Crosses On Eastern Europe’s Newest Holocaust Memorials?
When school principal Ivan Timoshko decided to do something to mark the spot in his village where dozens of Jews were executed by the Nazis, he did it the only way he knew how: He built a cross. Together with the children from his school in the village, he cut down an acacia tree, chopped…
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Food Why Are There No Kosher Russian Restaurants In New York?
I recently stood in line with more than a thousand Russian Jews, waiting for sushi — the highlight of Saturday night’s dinner at the Limmud FSU conference, which is the largest gathering of Russian-speaking Jews in North America. It was kosher sushi, of course. The other meals at the event, held at a Hilton Hotel…
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News This Russian Comic Finds Success In A Dress
Gary Cherkassky’s grandmother, who is 80 years old, isn’t on Facebook or Instagram. She doesn’t even have a smartphone. But if you are a Russian Jew, chances are you’ve probably heard what she has to say somewhere on the internet. That’s because she is the inspiration behind Baba Fira (“baba” is short for babushka, which…
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News Big For-Profit Cemetery Owner Settling Suits with Jews Who Say It Dug Up Their Loved Ones’ Bones
Not long ago, Jean Bergman, an 88-year-old retired manicurist, received a check for $1,000. She deposited it without giving it too much thought. “I wasn’t told any of the details,” she said. The check arrived in connection with her husband’s grave at Eden Memorial Park, a Jewish cemetery in Los Angeles. The cemetery has been…
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News Sofiya Romm’s Journey From Russia to a Barely Findable American Grave
The grave of Sofiya Romm, a doctor who immigrated to the United States from Moscow, is hard to find in Ahavath Achim Anshe Sfard, the local Jewish cemetery here. On a recent afternoon in November, only Romm’s first name was visible. The rest of the inscription was under a pile of brown autumn leaves. You…
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News Even Gravestones Become Luxuries for Poor as Jewish Burial Groups Cut Back
We often hear stories about how hard life was for Jews in Russia back in the day. Still, after they passed away, even poor Jews in the Russian Empire got to have gravestones. If you travel around Ukraine and Poland these days, you’ll stumble upon Jewish cemeteries in almost every village where Jews used to…
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Opinion Why This Russian Jew Thinks Donald Trump Is Absolutely Right About Russia
This piece is part of a series about the issues in the 2016 presidential election. Until I watched second Presidential Debate, I didn’t like anything about Donald Trump. I am not a Republican. I believe in universal healthcare and I don’t think it’s a great idea to build a wall on the Mexican border. But…
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News Does Famed 1899 Painting Debunk ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ Myth on Intermarriage?
KIEV — No Jewish visitor to Ukraine’s National Art Museum can pass this painting without stopping to look. A Jewish woman is being assaulted, not by anti-Semites but by a crowd of angry Jews. Pressed to the fence by the mob, her hair is undone, her blouse is ripped, her eyes horrified. The rabbi is…
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