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5 Ways Stephen Miller Grew Up To Be Trump’s Inauguration Speechwriter — and Right-Wing Ideologue
At 31, Stephen Miller has reached a political stature few have matched – he is drafting president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration speech, to be delivered Friday. But the Santa Monica schoolmates of Trump’s top adviser were hardly surprised that the Jewish kid who insisted on standing and placing his hand on his heart during the pledge…
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Inspired by Ancient Practice, Rabbi Leads Interfaith Inauguration Day Fast
Jews fast on Yom Kippur, the annual day of atonement — but not only then. The tradition includes age-old and modern instances of fasts called to plead for rain, and one still on the calendar that mourns the assassination of a righteous government official about 2,500 years ago. Rabbi Burt Visotzky of the Jewish Theological…
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How Barack Obama Won Over Jewish Voters — While Irking Pro-Israel Establishment
WASHINGTON (JTA) – Fraught record on issues of race and anti-Semitism? Check. Much-hyped meeting to get Benjamin Netanyahu’s hechsher? Check. Stirring speech at AIPAC to quiet the naysayers? Check. Jewish validators galore? Check. Administration top-loaded with Jewish staffers? Check. Welcome to Inauguration Day 2009. President-elect Barack Obama walked into the White House eight years ago…
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How Trump’s Inauguration Preachers Bring ‘Hebrew Roots’ to the White House
Donald Trump has enlisted a diverse lineup of six clergy to pray him into office at his upcoming inauguration ceremony. Three draw on Jewish ritual objects and ideas in their practices, like Torah and prayer shawls — but only one clergy member is a Jewish rabbi. The other two, praying alongside Rabbi Marvin Hier, are…
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Will ‘Stiff’ Treasury Pick Steve Mnuchin Make It Through Confirmation?
Steve Mnuchin, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Treasury Department, might be headed for some trouble at his Thursday confirmation hearing. According to gossip from the transition team, Mnuchin came off as “uneven and stiff” in prep sessions, leading handlers to bring in extra help ahead of the Senate appearance. Those unnamed sources, speaking…
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Police Finger Masseur in Killing of Israeli Gay Nightclub Pioneer
A week after gay nightclub operator Savyon Zabar was found strangled in his Upper West Side apartment, prosecutors have charged his massage therapist Daqyan King for second-degree murder in connection with the death. Zabar’s death apparently came after a sexual encounter gone awry, with sources conflicting over how King described the event to police. DNAInfo…
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After 20 Years, Orthodox Feminists Claim Big Victories — but Still Face Challenges
The past two decades have witnessed a small revolution in the religious leadership roles being taken by Orthodox Jewish women. It is an arc easily traced back to when Blu Greenberg and a small group of like-minded women convened the first International Conference on Orthodoxy and Feminism. That 1997 conference, which attracted many more people…
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The ‘Alt-Right’ Hates the Jews. But It Also Loves Them — and Israel.
When Rabbi Matt Rosenberg went to a speech presented by one of the country’s leading white nationalists, he hoped to make a statement about the power of Judaism. During a question-and-answer session after the talk, Rosenberg, who heads Hillel at Texas A&M, asked Richard Spencer, the self-styled ambassador of the “alt-right,” whether the two could…
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Will This Holocaust Survivor, Tailor to Presidents, Dress Trump?
Martin Greenfield has been a tailor to the presidents, from Dwight Eisenhower to Barack Obama. As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office on Friday, it’s unclear if the new leader will get some threads from the 88-year-old Holocaust survivor. “We made some suits for him right before he decided to run, but we haven’t…
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Jerry Nadler Says Election Was ‘Tainted’ and Trump Is ‘Not Legitimate’
Congressman Jerrold Nadler, who represents more Jews than any other member of Congress, says that that Donald Trump is not a “legitimate” president. In comments on CNN and to the Forward, Nadler acknowledged that Trump had been legally elected. But he said that the election had been “tainted” by interference from the Russians and the…
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Martin Luther King Jr.’s Pilgrimage to Israel That Never Was
The plans for Martin Luther King Jr.’s pilgrimage were ambitious. King was slated to lead thousands of pilgrims to the Holy Land, where he would preach on the Mount of Olives and at a specially constructed amphitheater on the Sea of Galilee. He would preside over a series of “multi-racial interfaith services” at the region’s…
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