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Anti-Netanyahu protests spread to L.A. and other U.S. cities
Waving signs reading “Crime Minister Bibi,” “Bibi Step Down” and “You are corrupted and tired. Go home!” dozens of Israelis rallied outside the Consulate General of Israel in Los Angeles, calling for Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign. The August 9 evening gathering was held as protests in multiple American cities and around the…
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Masks are the new kippahs: Customized face-coverings sweep bar and bat mitzvahs
Masks are the new kippah, said Chavie Knapp, a mother who is giving out customized masks instead of yarmulkes at her daughter Sophie’s bat mitzvah. “Masks have become the new normal,” said Knapp, whose daughter’s big day is planned for Labor Day weekend in Teaneck, N.J. COVID-19 has forced cancellations and postponements of countless events,…
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No streaming, no singing: here’s how High Holidays will work in Modern Orthodox synagogues
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Rabbi Mitchell Wohlberg of Congregation Beth Tfiloh, a Modern Orthodox synagogue in Pikesville, Md., has made hundreds of calls to check in on members of his flock. In recent weeks, there’s been one recurring topic of conversation: Would the synagogue be able to offer in-person High Holiday services?…
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Was a liberal Orthodox rabbi too ‘pro-Israel’ to head a Berkeley seminary?
Updated Aug. 14 at 10:00 a.m. Last fall, Berkeley’s Graduate Theological Union made history by inaugurating its first non-Christian president — an Orthodox-trained rabbi — to lead the esteemed consortium for the advanced study of religion. The ceremony took place on Oct. 24 at UC Berkeley’s International House, where Rabbi Daniel Lehmann delivered his inaugural…
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A USC student leader resigns amid accusations that her Zionism ‘made her complicit in racism’
The newly-elected vice president of the University of Southern California student government resigned on Wednesday, following accusations that she is a racist for her support of Israel as a Jewish homeland. Rose Ritch, a senior from San Francisco who was elected by the student body in February, said in an open letter to the USC…
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David Axelrod wants to save Manny’s Deli
David Axelrod has a clear memory of the roasted turkey leg he received in a care package at the White House. “It was the size of a war club,” he said. A friend had shipped it to Axelrod, then senior advisor to President Barack Obama. He figured Axelrod missed the Wednesday Turkey Leg special offered…
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How did the American Jewish Congress hire a budding white nationalist?
A political activist with ties to white nationalists, who in June led a rally defending a statue of Teddy Roosevelt, worked recently as the marketing director of the American Jewish Congress, a century-old organization that was once the voice of working-class Jews on anti-Nazism and civil rights. Gavin Wax, 26, is a graduate of Baruch…
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Early results show Rep. Rashida Tlaib, staunch supporter of BDS, crushing primary opponent
In a dramatic show of newly acquired political strength, Rep. Rashida Tlaib appeared well on her way to crushing City Council President Brenda Jones in Tuesday’s Democratic primary just two years after scraping by Jones by about 900 votes to win the seat. Tlaib, who in 2018 became the first Palestinian-American woman and one of…
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Separation of church and state group raises alarm on government aid to religious schools
A new report argues that private schools, including Jewish ones, received an outsized amount of federal coronavirus aid compared to the number of students they serve. The report, by the group Americans United for Separation of Church and State, calculated the amount of federal dollars received by religious, secular private and public schools and divided…
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She needs a kidney. The pandemic is in her way.
The coronavirus got to Rachel Bialer’s kidney before she could. Earlier this year, the Port Washington, Long Island woman had hoped that a 27-year-old social worker in San Diego, Calif., might be a compatible kidney donor for her. But surging coronavirus infections in San Diego make it unlikely the social worker will be able to…
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Biden’s anti-Semitism fundraiser focuses on Trump bashing — and it got personal
WASHINGTON (JTA) — A fundraiser for Joe Biden on Monday night was billed as a “Virtual Conversation on Anti-Semitism” with three marquee speakers: Rep. Adam Schiff, the California Democrat who chairs the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee; Nevada freshman Sen. Jacky Rosen; and Jason Alexander — yes, that Jason Alexander, the one famed for…
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