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Confessions of a Christian Zionist
As a child I knew nothing about Israeli culture, politics or people. But I was a Christian Zionist. I believed with perfect faith that across the globe, the descendants of ancient Hebrews had been stirred by God to return to the Middle East. I believed Israel was the sole inheritance of the Jews. I imagined…
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Canada Judge Blocks Dead Man’s Will for Neo-Nazis
A Canadian judge has invalidated the will of a man who bequeathed his estate to a U.S. neo-Nazi group. A court in New Brunswick ruled June 5 that the National Alliance, an American hate group, may not inherit the estate of Robert McCorkill because such a bequest would run counter to Canadian public policy. Even…
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My New Girlfriend Is Way Too Enthusiastic About Judaism
The Seesaw is a new kind of advice column in which a a broad range of columnists will address the real life issues faced by interfaith couples and families. Join the discussion by commenting on this post, sharing it on Facebook or following the Forward on Twitter. And keep the questions coming. You can email…
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Why I Wish I’d Had a High School Prom
Sparkly gowns, heels, corsages, suits, ties, teenage pimples. Why yes, I’m talking about the high school prom — that quintessentially American rite of passage. Like many other Jewish girls who attended yeshivas or all-girls schools, my knowledge of proms is secondhand. I know about the gowns and heels and ties and Jewish nerds who take…
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How ‘Nice Jewish Boy’ Exterminator Rids a City of Pests
Moshe Stein is a nice Jewish exterminator. Whether he is squishing odorous ants, bursting blood-filled bedbugs or trapping rats and roaches, Stein is unfailingly warm, thoughtful and polite. “I personally believe you have to be nice, soft-spoken, because the bottom line is, you are dealing a lot with housewives,” Stein said. “You have to have…
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A Decade Later, Mass. Jews Look Back at Legacy of Same-Sex Marriage
Ten years ago, shortly after midnight on May 17, 2004, a jubilant Arthur Lipkin and his longtime partner descended the stone steps of Cambridge City Hall clutching a marriage license application. It was a historic night of revelry and celebration, as Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to allow same-sex couples to legally…
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400 Years After Portugal’s Inquisition, a Very Unusual Family Comes Together
The scene was that of a typical family gathering at an Amsterdam restaurant in April. Children squatted on their chairs to reach the table, cuddling up to their grandmother, dishes were passed and toasts were made; a pair of sisters talked about old times. Yet this was no typical family. The da Costas are descendants…
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Eddie Gottlieb’s Story of Immigrant Success Resonates in South Philly
Down the corridor outside the administrative offices at South Philadelphia High School run several display cases honoring storied alumni like actors Jack Klugman and Eddie Fisher and singer Marian Anderson. But during his four years as principal of Southern, as insiders call the school, Otis Hackney III never realized that a framed diploma of legendary…
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Agudath Israel Defends Rabbi’s ‘Heresy’ Attack on Open Orthodox
Officials at Agudath Israel defended remarks by the organization’s leading rabbi, Yaakov Perlow, in which he called the religiously progressive Open Orthodox movement heretical, and criticized non-Orthodox Judaism. “This kind of stuff has been part and parcel of what our movement has been speaking about since time immemorial,” said Rabbi David Zweibel, Agudath Israel’s executive…
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Ultra-Orthodox Rabbis Urge Women To Limit Internet Use
Ultra-Orthodox rabbis sought to enlist ultra-Orthodox women in their push to limit Internet use at a rally in Boro Park, Brooklyn on May 29, saying that women are responsible for controlling web access by their husbands and families. Speaking to a crowd of 10,000 women, a panel of rabbis warned of the dangers posed by…
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Storybook Boston Suburb of Sharon Shaken by Rabbi Barry Starr Hush Money Sex Scandal
Rabbi Miriam Spitzer did not have to mention him by name. The class of sixth graders at Temple Israel, in Sharon, Massachusetts, knew exactly whom Spitzer was thinking of when she dedicated that day’s lesson to Elisha ben Abuyah, a revered rabbi who became a heretic. “The lesson was that the Torah taught [by Abuyah]…
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