Rebecca Spence
By Rebecca Spence
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News Chabad Pushes Big Development in L.A.
Los Angeles — The ultra-Orthodox Chabad movement is famous for multitasking, with its religious services, schools and museums, but a new development in Los Angeles is taking Chabad in an unexpected direction: the commercial and residential real estate business. Chabad of California is angling to build a massive, mixed-use development that would include a girl’s…
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News Film Portrays Obama as Friend to Israel
Los Angeles — In the ongoing battle for Jewish votes, Democratic activists are using prominent Israelis to burnish Barack Obama’s Jewish bona fides. A Jewish pro-Obama group and two Israeli-American filmmakers have released “Israelis for Obama,” a three-and-a-half minute video aimed at convincing American Jews that the Illinois senator is a friend of the Jewish…
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News High Holy Days Go Online: Jews Repent Over Internet
Los Angeles — As millions of Americans have found a place for themselves in cyberspace — be it on Facebook or on MySpace — so, too, have the Jewish High Holy Days. During the month of Elul — the 29-day atonement period that falls in September this year and is meant to prepare Jews for…
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News Jesuit University Offers Jewish Social Justice Course
Los Angeles — A Bay Area university has become the first in America to create an academic program based on a long-standing tradition: the Jewish commitment to social justice. This month, the University of San Francisco, a 153-year-old Jesuit institution, launched the Swig Program in Jewish Studies and Social Justice. Directed by Jewish activist Aaron…
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News Court Quashes Seattle Ballot Initiative on Israel Divestment
Los Angeles — Activists pushing for investors to pull their money out of Israel were dealt a significant blow in recent days when a Washington state judge struck down a proposed ballot initiative that could have made Seattle the first major American city to adopt a divestment policy. On September 10, Washington Superior Court Judge…
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Culture Trembling Before Allah
One year after the release of “Trembling Before G-d,” the iconic documentary on Orthodox Jewish gay men and lesbians, filmmaker Sandi DuBowski embarked on a project that was both deeply similar and utterly different from his first undertaking. In 2002, DuBowski agreed to produce “A Jihad for Love,” which would explore the plight of gays…
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News Grandparents Circle in on Continuity
Los Angeles — When Barbara Mindel wanted to help instill Jewish traditions in her grandchildren — the offspring of an interfaith marriage who were raised without Judaism — she took a simple step. Mindel moved a dreidel and a Hanukkah menorah, which had been perched on a high shelf in her home, to a lower…
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News Orthodox Join Fight Against Gay Nuptials
Los Angeles — The most powerful Orthodox Jewish umbrella group has thrown its support behind a ballot initiative that aims to overturn California’s historic decision to legalize same-sex marriage. In late August, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America joined a coalition of faith-based groups supporting Proposition 8, which, if passed come November, would…
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Opinion Outrage over Nicholas Kristof’s op-ed on sexual assault of Palestinians is missing the point
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Culture At Eurovision, Israel’s near triumph shows the limits of tolerance
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Opinion I run The Jewish Theological Seminary. Here’s the real story about President Isaac Herzog speaking at our commencement
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