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Postnup Parties Get Happily Married Orthodox Couples To Plan for Divorce
Bobby and Chelle Medow are happily married — and have been for almost 50 years. Yet one Sunday evening in January, the St. Louis couple made contingency plans for a divorce. And 31 other Orthodox married couples joined them. They are part of a small but budding movement that is being promoted by some Orthodox…
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Maimonides, Medieval Jewish Thinker, Enjoys a Postmodern Revival
Maimonides is trending these days. The 12th century sage, once confined to musty tomes and talmudic study halls, is being brandished in the opinion pages of The New York Times, cited on the airwaves in “This American Life,” and featured in Dara Horn’s latest novel. By some measures, Maimonides is at the height of his…
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4 Jewish Athletes To Watch at Sochi Winter Olympics
Who are you cheering for at the Winter Olympics? The pickings might seem pretty slim for Jewish athletes in Sochi. The Israeli delegation is only sending a five-member team and few Jewish athletes from around the world have surfaced at the top just yet. But the American team does have some young Jewish stars worth…
The Latest
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Figure Skater Jason Brown Takes (Jewish) Aim at Winter Olympics Gold
As with most sports, competitive figure skating at the Olympic level demands a single-minded focus and devotion that are all-consuming for most of the young men and women who attempt it. But 19-year-old Jason Brown has another life, within the Jewish community of his hometown of Highland Park, Ill., that complements this. In fact, noted…
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Sochi Gets Ready To Host Jews With Kosher Food and 3 Synagogues
(JTA) — Soft sand and turquoise beaches make Sochi a lovely holiday destination, but this coastal Russian city is less than ideal for providing religious services to thousands of Jewish tourists. With few native Jews and only one resident rabbi, the Black Sea resort of 400,000 residents would seem ill-equipped to handle the tens of…
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WhatsApp Spreads Fast Among Ultra-Orthodox — and Rabbis Cry Foul
Ultra-Orthodox leaders are targeting a new threat to their community: the smartphone messaging service WhatsApp. Orthodox Jews have swarmed this service ever since a 2012 anti-Internet campaign tightened communal restrictions against social networking sites like Facebook. Now, some leaders are launching a new crusade against WhatsApp, an SMS-like tool that allows users to share digital…
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Project Zug Promotes Jewish Textual Study Using Internet Video Technology
A few months into his rabbinical studies in Jerusalem in 2012, it struck Benjamin Ross how little Israelis seemed to know about American Jews like him. At the same time, the second-year Hebrew Union College student was mulling over the fraught, distanced relationships American Jews have with Israelis. “Many Americans have no concept of life…
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New York Fails To Enforce Consent Forms for Metzitzah B’Peh Circumcision Rite
It has been more than a year since New York City introduced a regulation requiring mohels to obtain written consent before performing a controversial rite that risks infecting infants with neonatal herpes. The regulation put Mayor Michael Bloomberg at loggerheads with the ultra-Orthodox community. And it promises to be a headache for his successor, Bill…
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‘Sexy and Cool’ Jewish-Themed Fashion Makes Waves in Staid Poland
(Haaretz) — When 30-year-old Antonina Samecka returned to Poland after her first visit to Israel on Birthright, she wore a Magen David (Star of David) necklace. Her grandmother, a Holocaust survivor, was shocked to see her, and asked that she take off the necklace from the Holy Land. Her grandmother believed it was still dangerous…
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Yeshiva U. Accusers Claim Victory Despite Judge’s Decision to Toss $680M Abuse Suit
Former students who say they were physically and sexually abused at Yeshiva University High School for Boys say they are disappointed but not surprised that a judge dismissed their $680 million lawsuit against Yeshiva University. Seven ex-students told the Forward that despite the legal setback they achieved a tangible victory by witnessing their decades-old allegations…
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Anne Heyman’s Legacy Lives on at Village for Rwanda Orphans
(JTA) — Anne Heyman’s death during a horse-riding competition in Palm Beach, Fla., on Jan. 31 shocked and devastated many in the Jewish world. But it was Heyman’s work in Rwanda that so many of her admirers will remember most. A former assistant district attorney in Manhattan who made a career shift to philanthropy around…
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Yiddish ווידעאָ: יוטוב־פּערזענלעכקייט רעדט אויף ייִדיש וועגן אַ משפּחה־טראַגעדיעVIDEO: Youtube personality speaks in Yiddish about a tragedy in the family
מאַטי מענדלאָוויטשעס ברודער, וואָס האָט יאָרן לאַנג געליטן פֿון דעפּרעסיע, האָט הײַיאָר זיך גענומען דאָס לעבן. .
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