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News
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What’s Behind The FBI’s Hate Crime Report?
The latest report from the FBI contained alarming news: There were 1,013 cases of hate crimes motivated by anti-Jewish bias in 2008 — an increase from the previous year, and the highest number of hate crimes against Jews reported since 2001. The report, released November 23, also showed that crimes against Jews comprise the large…
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The Gittith and Uggav Play Again in Tulsa
From the beginning, Jews have been a musical people. When God parted the Red Sea, what did Miriam do? She played the timbrel. When Saul was troubled by evil spirits, he called for David to play the harp. King David, in fact, was known as a great musician, and many of the psalms are attributed…
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In Kennedy Race, Jewish Vote Divided
Massachusetts has the highest percentage of Jews outside the tristate New York area, and its Jewish community is known as one of the most politically active in the country. So, as the state’s Democrats get ready to select their replacement for the late Senator Edward Kennedy, why is the Jewish voice barely heard? “The Jewish…
The Latest
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Despite Protests, Mainstream Haredi Leaders Talk About Sabbath Work Deal
On the surface, it looks as though Jerusalem is caught in a battle between old and new, as high-tech companies open factories with coveted jobs, while leaders of the large ultra-Orthodox population are adamant that the plants remain idle on Saturdays in observance of the Sabbath. This was the story widely told in the media…
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Mayer Kirshenblatt, 93, Merchant Who Became an Artist of Memory
Knowing Mayer Kirshenblatt, who died November 20 at age 93, was a rare privilege. Through him and his family, I learned about his hometown and a way of life — each remarkable in its own right, as was Kirshenblatt himself. For several decades, Kirshenblatt was the unofficial ambassador from Apt — the town in pre-World…
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Giving the Gift of Kitsch
When it comes to the Festival of Lights, there is no shortage of gift schmaltz. Since the Forward first published festive holiday picks under the headline “Give the Gift of Kitsch” in 2005, schlock options have grown exponentially. The phenomenon originally explored in these pages has expanded to include such winners as the new Latka…
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Holiday Baking Gets a Makeover
A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking: The 10th Anniversary Edition By Marcy Goldman Whitecap Books 432 pages, $26.95 Last Purim, I was touting my hamantaschen recipe to a friend. After years of searching, I had found one that folded easily, held its shape and actually tasted good. When my friend politely declined my offer to…
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Thelonius Monk’s Muse
“The Jazz Baroness” is a made-for-television documentary that traces the background and mutual influence of the inventor of Bebop, Thelonius Monk, and his great supporter, muse and mentor — Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter, also known as Nica Rothschild. Abandoning her husband, children and famous banking family in the late 1940s, she came to New York…
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What’s Worth the Wait
“Your friends are coming over for a play-date soon,” I told my 5-year-old son, Jeremy and 2-year-old daughter, Hannah. They immediately bounded out the door to wait on the sidewalk for their friends. “It’ll be a while until your friends come,” I said. “Wouldn’t you rather wait inside, where you can play with your toys?”…
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New Light for Old Shul
Kiki Smith is an artist best known for sculpture and largely black-and-white or pale-colored prints inspired by feminist themes or Catholicism. She is not the first person one would think of to design an imposing stained glass window for an historic Orthodox synagogue. So it came as something of a surprise when the Museum at…
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The ‘Crime’ of Praying with a Tallit, and a Plea for Tolerance
Every morning, since I was 15, I have worn a tallit for prayer in my home. During my army service, I was forced to swallow many negative comments by other soldiers who prayed in the army synagogues, some of which did not even have a women’s gallery, because female soldiers never set foot in them….
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