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Fast Forward Former Haredi Girls’ School Principal Arrested For Sex Abuse in Israel
The former principal of a haredi-Orthodox girls’ school in Melbourne is facing extradition from Israel to Australia on claims she sexually abused some of her students. Malka Leifer, a resident of the West Bank settlement of Emmanuel, was arrested Sunday, officials said. The mother of eight ran the Adass Israel girls’ school from 2001 to…
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Culture Was Pope John Paul II Good for the Jews?
John Paul II’s Letter to a Jewish Friend: The Heart-Rending Story of Two Polish Boys Divided by World War II, Reunited by Love by Gian Franco Svidercoschi The Crossroad Publishing Company, 108 pages, $13.13 In April, when Pope John Paul II became Saint John Paul the Great, admirers recalled the late pontiff’s affinity for the…
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News For Jews Displaced By Fighting in Ukraine, Israel Is The Promised Land
(JTA) — Each time he dispatches a car into Lugansk, Rabbi Shalom Gopin readies himself for hours of anxious anticipation. The scene of brutal urban warfare between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian separatists, this eastern Ukrainian city now has no regular power supply, running water or cell phone reception. Mortar rounds can fall without warning. Much of…
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Opinion ‘Unhappy Happiness,’ Or What Rabbi Nachman And Pharell Have in Common
Presaging the hit song of Summer 2014, Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav famously taught, “It is a great mitzvah to be happy always.” In fact, Rabbi Nachman further observed, a century ahead of his time, sadness can lead to illness; poetically, he explained that this was because the body needs ten different kinds of music to…
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Fast Forward London Theater Reverses Course, Will Host Jewish Film Festival
A London theater that refused to host a Jewish film festival because of the event’s Israeli government funding has reversed course. The Tricycle Theatre decided to continue serving as a venue for the UK Jewish Film Festival after the theater’s initial refusal earlier this month sparked criticism, The Telegraph reported. The Tricycle earlier said it…
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Opinion Better The Enemy You Know — Gaza’s Other Terror Groups
Getty Images (JTA) — After four weeks of a punishing Israel air and ground campaign that left nearly 2,000 dead and much of Gaza in ruins, Hamas has lived to see another day. For Israel, that might not be the worst thing. That’s because for all of Hamas’ violent extremism, it also governs a territory, maintains…
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Fast Forward Warsaw Will Return And Preserve Jewish Tombstones Used for Construction
The City of Warsaw has agreed to return and preserve 1,000 Jewish headstones that were used to construct a recreational facility inside one of the city’s parks. The headstones, which are currently part of a pergola and stairs at a park in Warsaw’s Praga district, will be returned in the coming months to the Brudo…
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Fast Forward South African Jews To File Charges Against Union Official Who Called For Violence
A South African Jewish group said it would file charges for alleged hate speech against a trade union leader who accused it of complicity in murder in Gaza. The South African Jewish Board of Deputies, or SAJBD, decided to take legal steps against Tony Ehrenreich, provincial secretary of trade union umbrella body COSATU, after he…
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Culture ‘My mayor Muslim, my bagel Jewish’ — the Knicks chant capturing New York’s soul
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Opinion Cultural boycotts of Israel just reached peak absurdity
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Sports Memes, mashiach and ‘Torah-cyclopedias’ put a Jewish twist on the Knicks’ title chase
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Opinion It’s time for Jews who love Israel to give up on Zionism
In Case You Missed It
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News ‘Spatial restructuring’ razes hundreds of residences in West Bank refugee camps
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Culture Whether it’s viral dot cakes or Love Shack Fancy skirts, Chloe Hechter wants you to know that ‘Jewish-American Princesses did it first’
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Opinion The Iran war ended terribly for the US, and even worse for Israel
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Film & TV In ‘Disclosure Day,’ Steven Spielberg finds himself at odds with Jewish thought about aliens