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Fast Forward Israeli kindergarten teacher who begged parents to follow quarantine rules dies of COVID-19
JERUSALEM (JTA) — An Israeli kindergarten teacher has died of the coronavirus, two weeks after she made an emotional appeal for parents to keep home children who had been exposed to the deadly virus. After Shalva Zalfreund, 64, died Friday, the mayor of her city posted on Facebook the message that she had sent to…
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Community The kibbutz is Israel’s original start-up
Born out of necessity as well as ideology, the first kibbutz, Degania, was established in 1910. The ideology consisted of a blend of socialist thinking and class struggle with Zionism. A communal lifestyle made it possible to cope with the challenge of developing an agricultural economy in a harsh environment. Still, kibbutz life is not…
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Books Remembering Israeli Literature’s Only Nobel Laureate
Shai Agnon was born on this day in 1888. To commemorate that auspicious day, we return to this story, originally published in 2013, about Israel’s only Nobel laureate for literature. Sitting in a lecture hall in the Talpiot section of Jerusalem, a group of 25 immigrants is discussing “A City and Its Fullness” (“Ir U’meloah”…
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Israel News Leading evangelical says no annexation could cost Trump election. Others disagree.
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Israel’s potential annexation of parts of the West Bank may not be a top election issue for American Jews, or even a top issue right now for most Israelis. But some evangelical Christians in America are hoping to make it an animating issue for evangelical voters in this fall’s presidential election. That’s…
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Israel News Despite progressive pressure, no major changes in Democrats’ Israel platform
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Centrists on the platform-writing committee of the Democratic National Committee overrode progressives who wanted the platform to condemn Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. The 2020 platform only alludes to the occupation, preserves Israel’s defense aid and rejects the movement to boycott Israel. But it does warn against annexation, the move that…
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News Rabbi who said Jews not ‘indigenous’ to Israel defended in open letter
After an assistant rabbi at a high-profile New York synagogue was called out by his own senior rabbi in public for tweeting that Jews do not count as indigenous people, hundreds of people signed an open letter in support of the junior rabbi’s right to express his views. On July 8, Rabbi Andrue “Andy” Kahn…
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Israel News Inspired by Black Lives Matter, Israelis protest police brutality
Israeli police were caught on camera earlier this month brutally beating 24-year old David Biton over a face mask. In a jerky, low-resolution cellphone video shared widely over the internet, Biton, who had been stopped for failing to adhere to the country’s social distancing regulations, could be seen laying on the ground crying out in…
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Fast Forward Netanyahu admits Israel reopened ‘too soon’ after surge of COVID diagnoses
(JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged that the reopening of the economy amid the coronavirus occurred “too soon” Facing a surge in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, Netanyahu took responsibility for the decision to reopen the country a month ago after severe early restrictions were put in place to halt its spread. “We…
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Opinion Mike Huckabee’s stunning, terrifying new gift to the Israeli right
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Culture Fifth graders write — Why is Abraham Cahan, founder of the Forward, worth celebrating?
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News This Alabama millionaire offered Jews $50,000 to move to his town. 16 years later, what’s left?
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Fast Forward Israeli weapons display is walled off at Paris Air Show, in move Israelis decry
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