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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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Closing Arguments Made in New Square Hasidic Abuse Trial
The defense and prosecution made their closing arguments on July 24 in the trial of a prominent Hasidic man from the upstate New York community of New Square who stands accused of sexually molesting a young neighbor from the age of eight till shortly after his bar mitzvah. “Let no man be judged by one…
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13 Undecided Democrats To Watch on the Iran Deal
Thirteen Democratic senators. That is all President Obama needs to ensure that the nuclear deal with Iran does not get derailed by Congress. And the battle over the votes of these 13 Democrats is about to overwhelm Capitol Hill. The math is simple. With Republicans controlling both the House and the Senate, Congress is likely…
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Will Washington Think Tank Swing Iran Debate — and Which Way?
Hours after negotiators in Vienna announced that a nuclear deal with Iran had been reached, the White House sent out a set of talking points to supporters and key activists. One of the documents promised that the deal “exceeds WINEP benchmarks.” WINEP, for those less versed in inside-the-Beltway lingo, is the Washington Institute for Near…
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Woman Who Left Hasidic Community Jumps to Death From Rooftop Bar
A 30-year-old tech entrepreneur who left her Hasidic community jumped to her death from a 20th-floor rooftop bar in Manhattan’s trendy Flatiron District. READ: Why the Whole Orthodox World Is Complicit in Faigy Mayer’s Death Faigy Mayer, 30, plunged off the roof of 230 Fifth Rooftop Bar on West 27th Street Monday night in an…
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Is There a Brighter Future for Reform Judaism in Israel?
Jerusalem native Noa Sattath came out twice to her family: first as a lesbian, and later as a Reform rabbi. But it was her second admission that ruffled her secular Israeli parents. “For them, Judaism is a lost cause,” said Sattath, who is the director of the Israel Religious Action Center, the Reform movement’s legal…
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Meet Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s Jewish Wingman
Donald Trump has been losing friends fast since he called Mexican immigrants “rapists” at his campaign kickoff in June: Television networks, a department store and a mattress company have all “fired” the bronze-haired developer. Amid the defections, though, one Trump buddy is standing by his man: Trump confidante Michael Cohen has been nearly as visible…
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