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Once Untouchable, Rabbi Pinto Faces Prison as Empire Teeters
Sometime in the next few months, assuming judges reject his long-shot appeal, Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto will report to an Israeli prison to serve a year behind bars. Such a fate was nearly unimaginable five years ago, when the globetrotting, high-living rabbi splashed onto the scene in New York, rolling with a coterie that was…
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For First Time in a Century, Outsider Tapped to Lead Looksteins’ NY Synagogue
(JTA) – For the first time in about a century, a rabbi from outside the Lookstein family will lead New York’s storied Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun. The Orthodox synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side voted last week to hire as its new senior rabbi Chaim Steinmetz, who for two decades has led the Montreal congregation Tifereth…
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Jewish Extremists Suspected in West Bank Arson Murder of Palestinian Toddler
Suspected Jewish extremists carried out an arson attack that killed a Palestinian toddler in the occupied West Bank Friday morning. Masked perpetrators entered the village of Duma, outside Nablus, and broke the windows of two Palestinian homes, sprayed Hebrew graffiti and threw firebombs that ignited the homes. An 18-month-old child was killed and three of…
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This Baby Was Born in Auschwitz — and Survived
Barbara Puc is a survivor of Auschwitz, yet she has no memory of ever having been there. Sitting in her home, Puc, a sturdy woman with short gray hair and a warm face, warned me before we even sat down, “All I know is what my mother told me.” Now 72 years old, Puc, whose…
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Federations Split as Some Call for Action To Block Iran Deal
The nuclear deal with Iran has already put Jewish politicians in the hot seat. Now, Jewish federations from coast to coast are debating whether to take a stand on the controversial agreement. So far, eight of the larger American federations have issued statements denouncing the deal, which opponents claim poses a danger to Israel, and…
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How Jonathan Pollard Freedom Crusade United American Jews
The organized Jewish community celebrated as one the news July 28 that Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard will be released from prison in November, after completing 30 years of his life sentence. “We have long sought this decision and we believe this action is long overdue, with Pollard serving a longer sentence than anyone charged with…
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In Search of Slovakia’s Jewish Heritage
Tomas Stern was born decades after World War II, decades after Nazi Slovak militia fired bullets into a pile of hay, narrowly missing his father — not yet 5 years old — who lay trembling beneath the straw. “They got some information that there are some Jews hiding there, so they ran into the stable,”…
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Washington’s Best-Traveled Synagogue Gets Ready To Move Again
The first time the historic Adas Israel synagogue stood in the way of progress, it occupied the corner of Sixth and G Streets NW in downtown Washington. During the 1960s, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority bought the Sixth and G Street block and began demolishing buildings to make way for its new headquarters. By…
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Is Orthodoxy on Brink of Historic Schism?
In a basement auditorium at a neighborhood synagogue in Jerusalem, rows and rows of densely packed chairs are arranged, along with a podium, a microphone and a table covered with a sheet of cheap paper. This sparse scenery hardly matched the dramatic event taking place – the ordination of two women as Orthodox rabbis (or…
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Faigy Mayer’s Brave Life and Shocking Death
Faigy Mayer left the Belz community, a Hasidic enclave in Brooklyn’s Boro Park, in 2010. She was 24 years old. Five years later, having finally made the move to Manhattan, she was seemingly self-sufficient. She had an undergraduate degree from Touro College under her belt, and she was pursuing her master’s in accounting and computer…
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Is Love Winning in the Israel-Iran Social Media Wars?
While Israelis from left to right lamented the Iran nuclear deal signed in mid-July, Ronny Edry, a 44-year-old graphic designer in Tel Aviv, took the opportunity to speak directly to Iranians. “We’re coming for Shabbat!!” he wrote on his Facebook page, Israel-Loves-Iran. Three years ago, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened a military strike…
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