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A Year of Curses and Many Blessings
Mark Hetfield
At the Forefront of Syrian Refugee Relief This year, many Jews spoke out against the growing tide of nativism, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. But for Mark Hetfield, the 49-year-old president of HIAS (formerly the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society), stemming that tide was a matter of personal importance and professional pride. HIAS is the oldest international migration…
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A Year of Curses and Many Blessings Danielle Berrin
Enough Was Enough In 2014, Danielle Berrin, the Hollywood reporter for the Los Angeles Jewish Journal, was looking forward to her interview with Israeli author Ari Shavit, who was in America promoting his New York Times best-selling book “My Promised Land.” But the story that Berrin, 33, came away with was quite different from the…
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A Year of Curses and Many Blessings Charles Schumer
The Most Important Democrat on Capitol Hill The electoral earthquake that derailed the political establishment on Election Day did not deliver to Sen. Chuck Schumer what he so desperately wanted — a Democratically controlled U.S. Senate. But Donald Trump’s triumph does leave Schumer in line to be the most important Democrat on Capitol Hill, perhaps…
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A Year of Curses and Many Blessings Harry Swimmer
Helping Disabled Children Ride Horses for 20 Years When CNN announced the 10 finalists for its “CNN Heroes” special, 86-year-old Harry Swimmer was eating lox and bagels with family and friends, keeping his best poker face. Swimmer knew he was a finalist, but he’d signed a confidentiality agreement and kept the news from even his…
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A Year of Curses and Many Blessings Masha Gessen
Writing About Jews and Fighting for Gay Rights When Masha Gessen, 49, fled Russia as a teenage refusenik to come to America, she probably never imagined that she would someday become one of the Kremlin’s primary antagonists. But three decades on, she has emerged as one of the loudest and most eloquent critics of autocracy,…
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A Year of Curses and Many Blessings David Wildstein
Pinning the BridgeGate Scandal on Chris Christie If they made a movie about David Wildstein’s roller-coaster political career and ties to high school classmate Chris Christie, it might be called “Revenge of the Nerd.” In October, Wildstein, 55, abandoned his political guru when his testimony in the explosive Bridgegate trial helped prosecutors secure convictions against…
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Ken Thompson Frightened Brooklyn’s Orthodox. Then They Got to Know Him.
In the fall of 2013, there was fear in the air in Orthodox Brooklyn. Power was shifting in the district attorney’s office, and Orthodox leaders worried that the borough’s new chief prosecutor, Ken Thompson, wouldn’t be a friend. “He said he’s going to target the Jewish community,” New York City Council member David Greenfield said…
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Red State Jews Feel Doubly Isolated by Donald Trump Victory
(JTA) — At 6:30 Wednesday morning, Oklahoma City Rabbi Abby Jacobson received a text from one of her teenage congregants expressing sadness at the presidential election results — and fear. “She said, ‘I’m sorry for texting you, rabbi, but I can’t say any of this at school,’” related Jacobson, the spiritual leader at the Conservative…
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Will Steve Bannon Be the Anti-Semitic Firebrand in Donald Trump’s Inner Circle?
Steve Bannon, the right-wing media provocateur who turned Breitbart News into a haven for white supremacy, the so-called “alt-right” and anti-Semitic tropes, is poised to play a key role in the incoming administration — setting off a firestorm of criticism from Jewish leaders and anti-hate groups. Bannon, who ran Donald Trump’s victorious presidential campaign, was…
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Can 19th Century Jewish Self-Help Credo of Mussar Help You Cope With Donald Trump?
This election has taken a toll on everyone. Each week seems to bring new revelations and scandals. Stressful, yes. Scary? Maybe. And taxing on our spiritual lives? Gary Shaffer worried that was the case. Shaffer leads weekly classes in Mussar, a 19th century Jewish spiritual practice focused on ethics at one of Brooklyn’s largest Reform…
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Thousands Sign Jewish Letter Pledging Solidarity With Muslims and Immigrants
An open letter from American Jews pledging solidarity with immigrants and Muslims during the Donald Trump administration has attracted more than 21,000 signatures in the past 24 hours. The letter, drafted and posted online by the Jewish social justice group Bend the Arc, promises support to “everyone who is threatened by the President-Elect and his…
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