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Triangle Boss a Witness
Originally published in the Forverts, December 23, 1911 Isaac Harris, forced to give evidence on the witness stand, said that there had been five fires in the Triangle shop, and that he had given instructions to inspect the girls’ pocketbooks. Witnesses forget what they said right after the fire: Isaac Harris, from 342 W. 101st…
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A Wild, Inexplicable Mass Murder
Originally published in the Forverts, March 26, 1911 Few fire escapes, locked doors, crooked and narrow stairways, a shop crammed with machines — signs of criminal negligence that robbed 144 workers of their young lives. There was no reason; it was murder, a mass murder. The bosses of the Triangle Waist Company, with permission of…
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Revered as Business Guru, Rabbi Faces Questions About His Organization’s Finances
On the streets of Ashdod, a hardscrabble port city in Israel’s southern desert, Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto is considered the local saint. Six middle-aged men sitting outside a cafe nodded with recognition when asked about the 37-year-old scion of Moroccan rabbinic royalty. “He’s an honored person here,” one said. Another man, hearing the kabbalist’s name,…
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Settlers Blame Left For Itamar Murders
Some tragedies lead to nations pulling together. But in Israel, the March 11 terrorist attack that left five Israelis, including three children, dead in their home in the West Bank settlement of Itamar has led to bitter sectarian arguments. In a controversy reminiscent of the aftermath of Yitzhak Rabin’s murder, when the Israeli left blamed…
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The ‘Other Muslim’ in Congress
From his all-American name to the clean cut of his smart, well-tailored suit, Indiana Democrat Andre Carson defies the stereotypes that many Americans may have of Muslims. But like Keith Ellison, his fellow Muslim and Democrat from Minnesota, the Indiana congressman belies a number of preconceptions. For one, there are his warm relations with the…
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In Madoff’s Shadow, Mets Fans Hang Onto Hope
The weather is picture perfect at Digital Domain Park on this spring-training Sunday afternoon, but as every New Yorker knows, the overall picture for the Mets is far, far less than perfect. On this day, however, the stadium, formerly known as Tradition Field and as the Thomas J. White Stadium before that — but never…
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Historic Canadian Jewish Congress To Be Merged Into New Communal Group
The Canadian Jewish Congress, which has functioned as Canadian Jewry’s primary advocacy group since 1919, is being merged into a larger super-agency that is expected to put greater emphasis on Israel advocacy. The congress, which faced severe financial problems recently, will be combined with community bodies that lobby on behalf of Israel and that co-ordinate…
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Israeli Government Rejects Orthodox Converts’ Bids To Immigrate as Jews
When New Yorker Bruce Smith prays three times a day for a “return to Zion,” it’s a very personal plea. He is desperate to immigrate to Israel with his wife, Fanny, and their three children, but he can’t: Fanny is an Orthodox convert to Judaism. Ironically, the problem is that Fanny Smith converted through the…
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A Century After Triangle, Unions Battle New Fires
Labor leader Stuart Appelbaum believes the battle in Wisconsin over union rights will galvanize support for organized labor — much the way the horror of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire did 100 years ago. “Sometimes it takes a tragedy like Triangle to energize the community,” said Appelbaum, national president of the Jewish Labor Committee and head…
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Why the Triangle Fire Matters Still
The spirit of the early 20th century was, simply put, the spirit of Progress. New Yorkers who, as children, read by the light of whale oil lamps and crossed the East River by wooden ferryboat now crossed over bridges aglow with electric lights, as if riveted with diamonds. A generation earlier, the tallest structure in…
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A Bridge Between Two Worlds
On these pages you will find translated into English for the first time the original coverage of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire from the pages of the Yiddish-language Forverts. In these pieces, the emotions run raw and the writing is evocative and as visual as any of the images that accompany the articles. They have…
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