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The Woman From Warsaw
Warsaw ? If it weren?t for a story she read in 1972 in a local paper, she would probably be a retired journalist by now. Instead, the phones are ringing, meetings are being set and work is progressing on a new book. Monday morning at the apartment of Hanna Krall is not exactly peaceful. At…
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A Tribute to a Great Spirit
Jewish Mysticism and the Spiritual Life: Classical Texts, Contemporary Reflections Lawrence Fine, Eitan Fishbane, and Or N. Rose Jewish Lights 256 pgs. $24.99 We may consider ourselves fortunate to have the many personal reflections on mystical texts offered in tribute to Arthur Green, on the occasion of his 70th birthday. ?Jewish Mysticism and the Spiritual…
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Passover: The Marketing Miracle
If you were wondering (which, perhaps, you weren?t) how to create the most memorable ad campaign ever ? one that will get stuck in your brain, like the Taco Bell chihuahua; or Coke?s ?I?d Like To Teach the World To Sing? song, or even the E*TRADE baby, except for an extra couple of THOUSAND years…
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April Is the Poetry Month
Happy April, the Poetry Month! To the list of festive occasions, picked up in this American goles, or exile ? Thanksgiving, Mardi Gras, the Hotdog Eating Contest day at Nathan?s in Coney Island ? a new one can now be added: April, the Poetry Month. Now in its 15th year, the newly minted holiday was…
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Enumerating Jewish Denominations
Warren Handel writes from Edwardsville, Ill.: ?Perhaps I am mistaken, but I had always understood the term ?denomination? to refer to varieties of Christianity. When did the term come into use to describe varieties of Judaism? What terminology did it replace?? Mr. Handel is not mistaken. Religious groupings such as Lutheranism, Calvinism, Presbyterianism, Methodism and…
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How Religious Customs Take Their Toll
Keeping religion at arm?s length from the government is one thing. Keeping one religion at arm?s length from another, especially at the grassroots level of participation, is something else again. Whether we call it ??cultural appropriation?? or ? less ominously, perhaps ? cultural borrowing, there happens to be a lot of traffic between faiths in…
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New Book and New Guilty Plea Cast Syrian Jewish Community Back in Spotlight
A prominent Syrian rabbi?s recent guilty plea and a new tell-all book that probes the underside of his insular community appear likely to confront Syrian Jews once more with a scandal that just won?t go away. On Monday, March 28, Rabbi Saul Kassin, age 89, pleaded guilty to one count of unauthorized money transmitting ?…
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Lord Byron and His Forgotten Hebrew Melodies
Lord Byron was a celebrity before the word was invented. All over Europe, men saw his portrait, and wanted to look like him. Women ? also a few men ? saw him and wanted to make love to him; a surprising number succeeded. The details of his private life made good topics for public conversation….
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Scenes From a Marriage Contract
The current exhibit at New York?s Jewish Museum, ?The Art of Matrimony: Thirty Splendid Marriage Contracts from the Jewish Theological Seminary Library,? is, essentially, a room full of contracts. True, they are beautifully decorated, restored and mounted. But their raison d?être is as legal documents ? each stipulating the conditions of a marriage. Jewish law…
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Justice Delayed
Anyone old enough to remember Brown v. Board of Education, Roe v. Wade and Bush v. Gore knows how important the U.S. Supreme Court is. Now comes Wal-Mart v. Dukes, in which the Supreme Court will hear arguments March 29 on whether 1.6 million women who work for the giant retailer will be able to…
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Yid Lit: Matthew Sharpe
Matthew Sharpe is the author of a story collection and four novels. His most recent is “You Were Wrong,” published last summer by Bloomsbury USA. He spoke to Allison Yarrow about writing of a suburban house, his Jewish sensibility and Kafka’s inexplicit religious authority. Listen to the podcast below and subscribe to Forward podcasts on…
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