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Richard Joel Knew About Yeshiva Sex Abuse Allegations, Documents Show
When an investigative team appointed by Yeshiva University reported in August that the school had “failed to appropriately act to protect the safety of its students or did not respond” to credible allegations that they’d been sexually abused, it drew an important caveat: This dereliction of responsibility had continued, the investigators said, “until 2001.” After…
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One Man’s Quixotic Hunt for Sunken Nazi Treasure in Frigid Lake
It’s cold this winter morning at Stolpsee Lake. It’s February 2013, and ice is floating on the lake, an hour’s drive north of Berlin. Reeds and trees are covered in snow. Yaron Svoray, 60, stands on the lake’s shore, dressed in a thick winter jacket, looking thoughtfully over the water. He has been waiting nearly…
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Morocco Jewish Leaders Praise King for Keeping Peace and Respect
Serge Berdugo pulled out his iPad and quickly scrolled to a photo showing Yom Kippur services at a Moroccan synagogue. “This is the whole story,” he said, pointing at a row of dignitaries sitting up front. Government officials, police officers and military commanders, all Muslim, come every year to honor the Jewish community on its…
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Solomon Schechter Schools May Open Doors to Non-Jews
(JTA) — Synagogues aren’t the only institutions in the Conservative movement changing their policies to become more welcoming to non-Jews and interfaith families. The movement’s school network, Solomon Schechter, is too. Last week, the organization’s board voted to set up a task force to reconsider its admissions policies, which limit enrollment to Jews or non-Jews…
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Wunderkind Chase Harrison Takes Spot on New Jersey Town’s Board of Ed
After a canny Facebook-fueled campaign helped him trounce an incumbent, Chase Harrison will take his seat on the Millburn, N.J. Board of Education in January. He’s aiming to loosen rules around Advanced Placement courses by serving on the Board’s program committee. And he’s vowing to “shake things up” at the staid, tight-knit elected body. Oh,…
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Yeshiva U. Faces Growing Fiscal Crisis Amid Downgrades and Abuse Suit
Anxiety is building at Modern Orthodoxy’s flagship institution, Yeshiva University, as rumors swirl of looming cuts to address a financial crisis. Y.U.’s official student newspaper, the Commentator, reported November 20 that the school’s president, Richard Joel, “may announce mandatory furloughs to Y.U. employees” pending an emergency meeting of the University’s board of directors. School officials…
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Extremist Haredi Cult Flees Quebec, Planning Move to Iran
Forty families belonging to an extremist haredi Orthodox cult fled their Quebec homes and are planning to go to Iran. Members of the group, called Lev Tahor, or Pure Heart, left their homes on Tuesday out of fear that Canadian welfare authorities would take their children, the Times of Israel reported Wednesday. The paper cited…
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Marc Schneier Gets Married (Again!) — and RCA May Move To Resolve Dispute
In the past few months, Rabbi Marc Schneier, founder and president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding and leader of a star-studded synagogue in the Hamptons, has been busy. The foundation launched a month-long series of programs in Jewish and Muslim houses of worship, while Schneier has been jetting around the globe engaged in his…
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Former Hotel Security Guard Pleads Guilty to Defacing Torah Scroll
A former hotel security guard pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights charge for defacing a Jewish school’s Torah scroll and prayer books. Justin Baker, 25, of Jackson, Tenn., pleaded guilty Monday to civil rights intimidation for violating the civil rights of students of the Margolin Hebrew Academy’s Cooper Yeshiva High School of Memphis, as…
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Brant Rosen, Suburban Chicago Rabbi, Doubles as Firebrand Critic of Israel
It was on December 28, 2008, soon after Israel launched its punishing military campaign in Gaza, known as Operation Cast Lead, that Rabbi Brant Rosen hit the “send” key for a blog post that he believed could well pitch him out of his pulpit. “We good liberal Jews are ready to protest oppression and human-rights…
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Protest Slams Washington Jewish Funeral Home Merger — Fear Higher Costs
Standing in front of an empty coffin carrying signs reading “I can’t afford to die,” leaders of the Washington D.C. Jewish community staged a protest outside the offices of the Federal Trade Commission urging it to block expected rate hikes following a planned merger of two funeral conglomerates. “Our point of concern is that the…
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