Rebecca Dube
By Rebecca Dube
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News And Then There Was One: Specter’s Democratic Party Conversion
Sen. Arlen Specter, one of two Jewish Republicans in Congress, has converted — to the Democratic Party. The longtime Pennsylvania senator’s surprise move will give Democrats 60 votes in the Senate, assuming that Al Franken wins his ongoing court case in Minnesota and is seated, which would give Senate Democrats the power to stop filibusters….
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News Holocaust Survivor’s Past Drove Her To Help Detainees
Almost no one noticed or cared when Ahmad Tanveer, a 43-year-old Pakistani New Yorker, died of an apparent heart attack while being held in jail, awaiting deportation. Tanveer’s name did not appear on any list of immigration detainees who had died in custody. He never came up in testimony that the Department of Homeland Security…
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News Two Orthodox Groups Are Opposing Sex Abuse Bill
Two influential Orthodox organizations, Agudath Israel and Torah Umesorah – The National Society for Hebrew Day Schools, have come out against a New York State bill that would create a one-year window in which child sex abuse victims could sue their molesters, no matter how long ago the abuse happened. The bill has been a…
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News Rabbinic Job Market Tries Anxious Souls
After five years of rabbinical school, Benjamin Berger was looking forward to leading the life of a pulpit rabbi: getting to know his congregation, sharing his love of the Torah and leading a community. But when he started searching for jobs in his fifth year at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School, a Modern Orthodox seminary…
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News Bloggers, Twitterers and Nonprofessionals! Oh, My!
A fundraising letter that was distributed by JTA and seemed to disparage bloggers and other online commentators has prompted quick backpedaling from JTA officials, demonstrating anew the perils of offending the Jewish blogosphere. The kerfuffle began April 3 when fundraisers sent out an e-mail from JTA President Elisa Spungen Bildner, asking for donations to help…
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News This Passover, Hunger Has Many New Faces
A few weeks ago, Benny Wechsler was speaking to a United Jewish Appeal group in Westchester, N.Y., that makes sandwiches for the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty. As director of the council’s kosher food network, Wechsler thanked the group for its help and discussed the growing need for food assistance among struggling middle-class families who…
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News Religious Leaders Avert Death Certificate Delays
Bowing to pressure from Jewish and Muslim leaders who warned that funerals could be delayed, state lawmakers have tentatively agreed to reject proposed budget cuts that would have drastically reduced funding for medical examiners across New York. Both faiths require speedy burials — within a day of death, if not sooner. New York City’s medical…
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News Satmar-Backed Abuse Bill Excludes Many Adults
At the urging of the Catholic Church and some Brooklyn Orthodox Jewish leaders, the state legislature has given new life to a bill to address child sexual abuse considered weaker than one favored by groups representing sexual abuse survivors. The competition between the two bills is small potatoes in a state Capitol wrangling with a…
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