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Rabbi Who Converted Mexican Jews Dies at 89
Rabbi Samuel Lerer, who some say converted more people to Judaism than anyone in the past two centuries, died February 5 at age 89. Lerer, who had retired to San Antonio, Texas, lived in Mexico City from 1968 to 1999 while leading English-language Beth Israel Community Center in the capital. During that time, the Conservative…
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The Many Guises of Keeping Up Appearances
My wife and I have been married for 28 years, and we have three teenagers. We are both in our late 40s. My wife could make herself look much more attractive and 10 years younger if she would color and style her gray hair and start wearing makeup and nail polish — like she did…
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U.S. Tries To Build Momentum for Peace
WASHINGTON — Faced with a deadlocked Israeli-Palestinian peace process and international pressure to demonstrate a commitment to resolving the conflict, the Bush administration is hoping to generate momentum — or at least the appearance of progress — with Israel’s unilateral separation initiative. “Instead of [the unilateral initiative] being a damage-producing process, the administration is trying…
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Grasping for God With Arms Outstretched
Most of the congregants who trickled in for Saturday services on a recent morning in Evanston, Ill., were wearing spandex. Warming up from the sub-freezing weather outside, they rolled out their blue plastic mats in preparation for the first prayer. When Rabbi Andrea London began the morning blessing, everyone assumed the lotus position, with backs…
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P.A. Set To Handle Gaza Pullout, Palestinian Security Chief Says
If Israel unilaterally withdraws from the Gaza Strip as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has suggested, no governmental vacuum would be formed, Jibril Rajoub, Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat’s national security advisor, said Tuesday in an unusual briefing with Israeli reporters. “We have a plan to handle the territory,” Rajoub said during the press conference, held…
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Jon Stewart’s Cronies Stand Up for Atzum
Before agreeing to perform at next Monday’s “Up We Stand” benefit for the Israeli charity Atzum, the chasidic reggae artist Matisyahu hesitated. He usually asks his rabbi for permission before performances. For those pious people who may be wondering: Is it okay to laugh it up for Israel? Don’t worry about it. It’s for a…
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Orthodox Feminists Grapple With Issues of Sexuality
Faced with lurid popular images like Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl striptease and the stark reality of sexually active adolescents, Orthodox girls would be expected to turn to rabbinic law for guidance. The problem, says Jewish educator Tova Hartman, is that in religious schools sexuality is either dealt with through an “oy vey” curriculum that lays…
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Rabbi Buchwald Speaks of Highs and Lows of Jewish Outreach
“Almost 60% of American Jews have nothing at all to do with Judaism,” Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald, impassioned founder and director of the National Jewish Outreach Program, said at its February 3 dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria. Changing tacks, he said: “For the past 16 years NJOP has reached 730,000 North American Jewish souls… taught them Hebrew…
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GOP Senator Raps Bush And Sharon Over Talks
WASHINGTON — Senator Lincoln Chafee has a reputation as a maverick within the Republican Party, but that’s only half his troubles. Much of the pro-Israel lobby views him as a pain in the neck and wouldn’t mind seeing him gone from the Senate. Yet, in an exclusive interview, Chafee argued that it was President Bush…
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Discussion of Women Rabbis Causes Stir
At this week’s gathering of Orthodox feminists, women read from the Torah and led the Kaddish prayer during mixed-gendered services. Still, at least one topic had the power to shock this crowd: women rabbis. At this annual conference of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance, the subject was raised by two young women in the audience…
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It’s Not About You
Most of us have learned to be wary of people who offer us too many reasons to do what they want us to do. If my children list five different reasons why I need to drive over to the shopping district, I suspect that a sixth reason lurks behind them all: their “need” to rent…
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