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Fast Forward Many French Jews Believe Marchers Rallied for Charlie Hebdo — Not Jewish Victims
(JTA) — As he marched through Paris with some 1.5 million people, Philippe Schmidt felt he was experiencing a “beautiful moment of unity.” For Schmidt, a Jewish human rights lawyer and vice president of the International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism, Sunday’s so-called Republican March was “a sign of popular mobilization against extremism” following three attacks…
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The Schmooze Ayn Rand, Worst Jewish Aunt — Ever
Lior Zaltzman It’s hard to imagine Ayn Rand as having a warm and fuzzy family life. And yet, this letter to her niece Connie shows that Rand — born Alisa Zinov’yevna Rosenbaum in 1905 to Russian-Jewish parents — did indeed have humans who loved her. Well, maybe. The missive (posted below) outlines the rather, um, severe…
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The Schmooze Meet Stefan Zweig, the Jewish Author Behind ‘Grand Budapest Hotel’
Wes Anderson’s whimsical film “The Grand Budapest Hotel” was nominated for nine Academy Awards Thursday morning, just days after winning the Golden Globe for Best Comedy or Musical. Named one of the best films of the year by several top critics, it could earn Anderson, a director whose cult following has steadily grown over the…
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The Schmooze ‘Grand Budapest Hotel’ Leads Oscar Nominations
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the nominations for the 87th Academy Awards. Winners will be revealed in Los Angeles on Feb. 22, when Neil Patrick Harris makes his debut as Oscars host. Leading the pack is Wes Anderson’s “Grand Budapest Hotel,” inspired by the writings of Austrian-Jewish novelist Stefan Zweig,…
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Fast Forward Angela Merkel Vows To Protect Germany’s Muslims — and Jews
(Reuters) — Chancellor Angela Merkel promised on Thursday to protect Jews and Muslims living in Germany from prejudice, saying vibrant democracy was the best way to combat the sort of extremist violence that shook France last week. Merkel, a staunch ally of Israel and defender of Germany’s renascent Jewish community, has responded with unusual vigor…
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Opinion Are 45% of Brits Really Anti-Semitic? Not So Fast.
British Jewish demand “Zero Tolerance for Anti-Semitism” at a London rally / Getty Images There it was on Wednesday, on the front page of The Independent. “The new anti-Semitism,” the headline read, and beneath it: “Majority of British Jews feel they have no future in the UK.” My interest was immediately piqued, not least because…
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Books National Jewish Book Award Winners Are Here
The Jewish Book Council has announced the recipients of the 2015 National Jewish Book Awards. The council began giving out this award — the most prestigious of its kind — in 1948. Past winners include Philip Roth, Chaim Potok and Cynthia Ozick. It’s a pretty important way of giving recognition to the year’s most outstanding…
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Fast Forward 45% of British Public Hold Anti-Semitic Beliefs
A quarter of Jews in Britain have considered leaving the country in the last two years and well over half feel they have no long term future in Europe, according to a survey published on Wednesday. Additionally, anti-Semitic beliefs are widely prevalent among the wider public with 45 percent of Britons agreeing with at least…
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Opinion Outrage over Nicholas Kristof’s op-ed on sexual assault of Palestinians is missing the point
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Culture At Eurovision, Israel’s near triumph shows the limits of tolerance
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Opinion I run The Jewish Theological Seminary. Here’s the real story about President Isaac Herzog speaking at our commencement
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Opinion The profound internal contradiction that could spell doom for Hillel
In Case You Missed It
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Yiddish אַ רעפֿעראַט אויף ייִדיש אין מינכן פֿונעם ליטעראַטור־פֿאָרשער נתן כּהן A Yiddish lecture in Munich by literature scholar Nathan Cohen
די „שלום־עליכם לעקציע“ וועט מען קענען הערן אויפֿן אָרט אָדער דורך דער אינטערנעץ.
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Fast Forward Hundreds of Jewish leaders call on Israeli ambassador to apologize for attack on J Street
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Culture Despite what (Ashkenazi) tradition says, not everyone eats dairy on Shavuot
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News ‘It’s the Jews’: San Diego mosque shooters decried ‘the universal enemy’ in hate-filled manifesto