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Why Rabbi Ysoscher Katz Left Satmars for Progressive Start-Up Synagogue
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. He grew up among the ultra-Orthodox Satmar Jews in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, in a childhood with rules so strict that playing Frisbee at summer camp was considered a radical move. Today he serves as the spiritual leader of a small, relatively young, progressive Orthodox synagogue…
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A Satmar Girl Remembers Rosh Hashanah With Honey and Fear
If you live in a Jewish neighborhood like I do, you may periodically hear the wailing of a shofar in the distance in the month leading up to Rosh Hashanah. It is a common daily practice among Orthodox Jews, a reminder that the High Holidays are not far off. The evening air, at one time…
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Protest Against Mahmoud Abbas Fizzles at New York Speech
A planned Jewish “empty seats” protest against Mahmoud Abbas fizzled at the Palestinian President’s New York speech Monday night. There were no pro-Israel protesters in sight and dozens of Jewish students turned up to hear Abbas offer a plea for peace in the Middle East at the Cooper Union in Manhattan. Ariel Stern, the president…
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Protesters Take Aim at Metropolitan Opera’s ‘Death of Klinghoffer’
With the Metropolitan Opera’s new season set to open Monday night, protesters are calling for one show to be cancelled. The opera in question, “The Death of Klinghoffer,” composed by the contemporary American musician John Adams, tells the story of the 1985 Palestinian terrorist hijacking of the Italian cruise ship, Achille Lauro, and the subsequent…
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Jews Join Hundreds of Thousands at Largest-Ever Climate Change March
Shofar blasts rang out and ‘Save Our Planet’ signs in Yiddish peppered the streets of New York City as more than 100 Jewish groups joined the largest protest on climate change in world history. Organizers estimated 400,000 people showed up to the “People’s Climate March” on Sunday, September 21 to protest rising sea levels caused…
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Despite Winning 1,000 Pre-K Seats, N.Y. Jewish Advocates Still Frustrated
New York City awarded more than 1,000 seats to Jewish schools in its new free full-day pre-kindergarten program, but some advocates remain frustrated. Called “Pre-K for All,” the new program offers free schooling to over 50,000 New York City children and is a signature achievement for Mayor Bill de Blasio. In May, the mayor said…
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10 Reasons Why Celebrating Both Jewish and Secular New Years is a Win-Win
For members of the tribe, September marks a new year. We dip apples in honey to celebrate Rosh Hashanah. Three months later we dip chips in salsa to ring in the secular New Year. We love having two opportunities to celebrate. How is the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashanah, different from that other New Year?…
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Do’s and Don’ts of Going to Synagogue Only on High Holidays
For every Jew who goes to synagogue on only the High Holy Days, there’s a rabbi keenly aware of that fact. Sometimes even sweating over that fact. “I go through a number of different sermons — lots of paper crumpling, lots of false starts,” admitted Eli Herscher, senior rabbi of Stephen S. Wise Temple, in…
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Pro-Israel Students Hope To Shame Mahmoud Abbas With Empty Seats
Jewish student groups are planning protests against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at a speech in New York City this Monday night — including a push to create swaths of empty seats at the event. The students, who say that Abbas often sugarcoats his anti-Israel rhetoric when addressing English-speaking audiences, hope to reserve seats for the…
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South Africa’s Jacob Zuma Vows Anti-Semitism Fight
The president of South Africa emphasized that his government is committed to combating anti-semitism in a meeting with the leadership of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies on Thursday night. The meeting was held to address anti-semitism in South Africa in the wake of this summer’s conflict in Gaza. The leaders of the SAJBD…
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New Israel Fund Shifts Cash in Push for Progressive Politics
It worked for Democrats when they were underdogs in America during the last decade, and now some believe it can work for beleaguered liberals in Israel. The New Israel Fund, the largest funder of liberal causes in Israel, has announced that it will shift one-fifth of the $30 million in annual grants it provides mostly…
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In Case You Missed It
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Yiddish רבנישע כּתבֿים ווײַזן אומגעריכטע פֿאַרבינדונגען צווישן ייִדיש און לאַדינאָRabbinical texts reveal surprising links between Yiddish and Ladino
לויט אַ נײַ בוך פֿאָרשונגען האָבן טראַדיציאָנאַליסטן אין ביידע עדות געהאַלטן, אַז ייִדן מוזן אָפּהיטן זייער גערעדט לשון
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Opinion Why Poland’s president canceled his menorah lighting — and how the West helped make that happen
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Fast Forward 4 House Democrats introduce bill that would enact progressive vision for fighting antisemitism
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Yiddish אַ ייִדיש־רעדנדיק קינד דאַרף אַ „שטעטל“׃ ווי עלטערן קומען זיי אַנטקעגןIt takes a village to raise a child in Yiddish: How parents are doing it
מחוץ די חסידישע קרײַזן האָבן געוויסע עלטערן געשאַפֿן זייערע אייגענע ייִדיש־סבֿיבֿות
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