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Trump says U.S. needs ‘more Jews that love Israel’
President Trump told a group of Jewish supporters at a fundraiser Sunday that “we need more Jews in the U.S. that love Israel,” the Orthodox news outlet Belaaz reported. The event was held at the Long Branch, N.J. home of the late Stanley Chera, a real estate developer and a friend of Trump’s who died…
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Russia has a full-time surgeon whose only job is circumcising Jewish men
(JTA) — The religious Jewish world has created some unusual jobs, from shofar makers to etrog pickers to mashgichim – kosher certifiers whose job is literally to watch others cook. But one of the more bizarre surely belongs to Dr. Yeshaya Shafit, who is Russia’s only mohel, or professional circumciser, for adult men. Shafit, a…
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Jewish schools across the country are opening in-person — but planning for a second wave
A lifetime ago, SAR Academy in the Bronx became one of the first schools in the country to close down due to the coronavirus. A parent had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, and his daughter, who attends SAR’s high school, was showing symptoms as well. Without warning, the school was forced to figure out how to…
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Why is Serbia the only Terezin Treaty signer that’s doing right by Holocaust survivors?
Representatives of some 45 countries met at the site of the Theresienstadt Ghetto and signed on to the Terezin Declaration in June, 2009 — committing themselves to help Holocaust survivors and return any stolen Holocaust-era assets. More than 10 years later, most of the signatories have a long way to go, according to a new…
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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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