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Judge’s Ruling Seen as Imperiling Rabbinical Courts’ Role
A New York State court decision has called into question the arbitration powers of rabbinical courts, long used by observant Jews to settle civil disputes. In a decision issued December 18, Judge Bruce Balter of the New York State Supreme Court threw out an arbitration ruling by the Beth Din of America, one of the…
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Dennis Ross Moves From Jewish World Back to State Dept. to Face Iran Challenge
Washington — As the new administration’s foreign policy team takes shape, veteran peace negotiator Dennis Ross is emerging as the diplomat who will take on America’s most daunting foreign policy challenge: dealing with a perceived nuclear threat from Iran. Not so incidentally, the issue is also one that Israel sees as a source of existential…
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Building a Bit of America in Beit Shemesh
Beit Shemesh, Israel — Spirituality sells. As developers feel the pinch of the global economic slowdown, building projects across Israel lie half-finished. But at the 400-unit Nofei Hashemesh development in Beit Shemesh near Jerusalem, work is steaming ahead. The prices are not cheap, and the houses are nothing special. So what is its secret to…
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Olmert’s Insistence on Continuing Gaza Campaign Highlights Dangers of Hubris
Early in the third week of the Gaza war, Ehud Olmert’s old self took over. No statesman in his right mind would have said what Olmert said in public January 14 about President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Not to mention a statesman serving as prime minister of a country supported by the…
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On the Outside Looking In
Bob Dylan was already rather fond of self-reinvention when, in early 1964, he arrived in Hollywood, metaphorically, via the photography of Barry Feinstein. There, for a moment, and only a moment, he transformed into the poet that people frequently still want him to be. “Hollywood Foto-Rhetoric: The Lost Manuscript” — the recently released book in…
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Spiritual Path
My husband’s first gift when we began dating was a slim volume of Abraham Joshua Heschel’s classic work “The Sabbath.” It was his way of saying, “Welcome to my world.” And a different world it was. Here we were, two middle-aged people, who each had taken a Jewish journey for more than 40 years, facing…
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Chef Gets Top Honors
FOOD ALLERGY GALA NOTES: ALLERGIES NOT JUST SNIFFLES — THEY CAN KILL “I bit into a piece of bread on Swedish TV and passed out. My system shut down,” said Marcus Samuelsson, recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Food Allergy Initiative’s Food Allergy Ball, held December 8, 2008, at the Waldorf-Astoria. Executive chef…
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Yid.Dish: Apple and Pear Crisp
According to Raymond Sokolov’s book, Why We Eat What We Eat, “Before Columbus, there were no apples in the Americas. Settlers brought seeds and grafts, hoping to recreate their old way of life.” Any American who has ever given a teacher an apple (or seen a movie where such an exchange occurred), uttered the words,…
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Birthright Nails Down Adelson’s $20-Million Pledge
Birthright Israel, one of the most prominent organizations promoting Jewish identity among young adults, has worked out a deal with its largest donor to confirm a $20 million pledge that had been in question for the coming year. Officials at Birthright Israel, which sends young Jews on free trips to Israel, say that the organization…
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Yid.Dish: Got gelt? Post-Chanukah suggestions for using up less-than-amazing chocolate
Chanukah gelt always seems like a good idea at the beginning of December, but these days, the chocolate just doesn’t seem worth fighting with the foil to eat. Similar to Rhea Yablon Kennedy’s experience, we wanted to find another way to use up our leftovers. When my roomies came back from a trip to Ohio…
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In Resolution, Congress Backs Israel’s Actions in Gaza
Washington — The U.S. Congress completed Friday its show of support for Israel’s attack on Gaza with an overwhelming majority of House members approving a non-binding resolution backing Israel. On Thursday the Senate adopted a similar resolution by unanimous consent. The resolutions not only demonstrated once again the wall-to-wall support Israel enjoys among Capitol Hill…
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