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Fast Forward Jewish Couple Confirmed Dead In Plane Crash Near Jamaica
A small U.S. private plane with an unresponsive pilot crashed off the east coast of Jamaica on Friday after veering far off its course toward southwest Florida and triggering a U.S. security alert that prompted a fighter jet escort. A New York county official said that Larry Glazer, a Jewish real-estate executive from Rochester in…
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Fast Forward France Is Largest Source of Immigration to Israel in 2014
Reaching a 25-year high, immigration to Israel from France has become the largest single source of newcomers to Israel so far this year. Some 4,566 French immigrants arrived in Israel from January through Sept. 1, surpassing Russia, with 2,632 immigrants, and Ukraine, with 3,252 immigrants. The United States, whose Jewish population is more than 10…
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News How Jewish Reporters in Muslim Countries Conceal Their Identity
(JTA) — Don’t bring it up. If it comes up, change the subject. If you can’t change the subject, consider an outright denial. Those are some of the strategies used by Jewish reporters working in the Arab and Muslim Middle East to conceal their religious heritage. The dangers facing Jewish journalists in the region became evident…
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The Schmooze Gwyneth Paltrow Is Converting to Judaism
Getty Images Gwyneth Paltrow is reportedly converting to Judaism, the Daily Mail reports. Sources say that the 41-year-old actress has developed an interest in Kabbalah and that her desire to raise her kids in the Jewish faith may have contributed to her split with Coldplay singer Chris Martin earlier this year. In 2011, Paltrow appeared…
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Opinion The Very Jewish Reasons Why Gay Men Loved Joan Rivers
Getty Images Can we talk? Gay men have always loved our outsized female heroes, and Joan Rivers was right up there with the best of them. It’s no coincidence that a disproportionate number of these divas are Jewish (Rivers, Barbra Streisand) even though many (Judy Garland, Madonna) are not. In fact, gay men love strong…
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Fast Forward Watchdog: Britain Saw Record Levels of Anti-Semitism During Gaza War
Britain saw record levels of anti-Semitism during Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza, a Jewish watchdog group said. In July 2014, the Community Security Trust, or CST, recorded 302 incidents — the highest ever monthly total documented by the group since it started monitoring anti-Semitism in the United Kingdom in 1984, CST wrote Thursday on…
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Fast Forward Netanyahu: Sotloff Died Because He Symbolized Western Culture
In his condolences to the family of Steven Sotloff, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the American-Israeli journalist symbolized Western culture to the Islamists who murdered him. “I would like to send condolences to the family of Steven Sotloff who was murdered by ISIS in an act of appalling brutality,” Netanyahu said Thursday night at…
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Fast Forward From Bibi to Hollywood, Tributes Pour Out For Joan Rivers
Acerbic comedian Joan Rivers died in New York on Thursday, a week after suffering cardiac arrest during a medical procedure on her vocal cords, her daughter Melissa Rivers said. Fellow comedians, actors and even royalty paid tribute to Rivers: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement: “Joan Rivers brought laughter to millions around…
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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 The profound internal contradiction that could spell doom for Hillel
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Opinion I run The Jewish Theological Seminary. Here’s the real story about President Isaac Herzog speaking at our commencement
In Case You Missed It
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Art This Jewish artist hadn’t painted in more than 5 decades. Then came Oct. 7.
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Opinion How can I explain to my 93-year-old mother why it suddenly seems ok to hate Jews?
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Looking Forward The bizarre antisemitic book that taught me to better understand Judaism
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Music For Bob Dylan’s 85th birthday, an 85-minute playlist