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Jews Loved Bloomberg, But Most Backed His Strongest Critic
Jewish Democrats in New York City love Mayor Michael Bloomberg, but a plurality backed his strongest critic. Exit polls show that Jews rejected Bloomberg’s perceived successor in the recent primary election, joining instead with city Democrats to back Bill de Blasio, the candidate who assailed economic inequality as he railed against the three-term mayor. Jewish…
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Syria Crisis Puts Rift Running Through J Street on Sharp Display
Among the many political fault lines unearthed by the debate over American military intervention in Syria, one touched directly on the internal rift running through J Street, the left-leaning pro-Israel lobby. The group has prided itself in the past for “having the president’s back” as he seeks to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace. But in this case,…
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Yom Kippur’s Big Ask: Forgiveness
When Eileen T. was just 16, she was going out with a boy who spent most of his time talking about another girl, Betty. “I didn’t know Betty, but I started to resent her,” Eileen recalled. The more he talked about Betty, the more Eileen — who’d prefer not to give her last name —…
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Quebec Unveils Plan to Ban Religious Symbols To Convey Secular Society
Sept 10 (Reuters) – The Canadian province of Quebec will not allow public servants to wear Muslim headscarves, Jewish skullcaps or other obvious religious symbols under a new charter unveiled on Tuesday that is designed to cement a secular society. The pro-independence government of the predominantly French-speaking province says its Charter of Quebec Values will…
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Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Teachers Leader Share Faith — But Little Else
Last Halloween, 17-year-old Eleanor Glockner threw a red wool jacket over an old black dress of her mom’s. She dyed her hair gray, pinned it into a bun and stuck a homemade Chicago Teachers Union button on her lapel before marching down the street to trick-or-treat at the home of her neighbor, Mayor Rahm Emanuel….
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Russian Chief Rabbi Tells Jews To Back Off on Criticizing Vladimir Putin
When Vladimir Putin offers you a gift — you accept it. That’s according to Berel Lazar, Russia’s chief rabbi, who said he had to accept Putin’s offer to move a contested Jewish library to a new Jewish museum in Moscow controlled by Chabad in Russia. The Schneerson Library, a collection amassed by the early rabbinic…
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How an Asian Convert to Judaism Became Unlikely Leader of Unusual Synagogue
What do a Japanese rabbi, a Korean church and a Chinese restaurant have in common? For Temple Isaiah of Great Neck, on Long Island, N.Y., the answer’s no punch line. The three components have all played a crucial role in the congregation’s colorful 46-year history. For 37 years, this Reform congregation held the majority of…
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Judith Levy’s Best-Selling Series Inspires Grandparents to Record Life Stories
Judith Levy met her husband, Herb Levy, more than four decades ago at the Concord Resort Hotel and Golf Club, in Kiamesha Lake, N.Y., which at the time was a famous Borscht Belt destination. A singer with a gig at the hotel, she was passing the time by writing letters in the lobby. Herb came…
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Peddler Bound, Gagged and Robbed of $21 in Alphabet City
Forward Looking Back brings you the stories that were making news in the Forward’s Yiddish paper 100, 75 and 50 years ago. Check back each week for a new set of illuminating and edifying clippings from the Jewish past. 1913 •100 years ago Peddler Bound and Gagged Jacob Furman, an old clothes peddler who lives…
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Undecided Lawmakers Key to Fate of Syria Vote
The fate of a congressional resolution to authorize President Barack Obama’s planned military strikes on Syria hinges on scores of undecided U.S. lawmakers, with party loyalty appearing increasingly irrelevant. Even after congressional hearings featuring Obama’s secretaries of state and defense, a half dozen closed-door briefings and phone calls from Obama himself, it was too close…
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Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat Faces Tough Reelection Fight
In his first five-year term as mayor of the city holy to the world’s three monotheistic religions, Nir Barkat has limited ultra-Orthodox power in the city, slowed the migration of non-Haredim out of Jerusalem and boosted secular culture — a low priority for his Haredi predecessor — with a budget increase of 300%. But one…
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