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News ‘SermonSlam’ Teeters on Edge Between Earnest and Cool
“I’d like to point out that you’ve all just paid $5 and come through the snow on a cold Wednesday night to attend an event with the word ‘sermon’ in the title,” David Zvi Kalman said, followed by a loud round of laughter. Kalman was addressing the 130 young Jews who had gathered in Brooklyn’s…
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Fast Forward Jewish Groups Defend Circumcision at Council of Europe Hearing
Representatives of European Jewish groups defended ritual circumcision at a hearing of the Council of Europe. Officials from the European Jewish Congress and the Conference of European Rabbis presented facts and defenses of Jewish male ritual circumcision during the hearing on Tuesday. The hearing was called after the council’s Parliamentary Assembly, or PACE, passed a…
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Fast Forward Menachem Stark’s DNA Found in Kidnap Van Seized By Police
Traces of DNA of Brooklyn real estate developer Menachem Stark was found in a van seized by police in the investigation of his kidnapping and murder. The discovery was reported late Tuesday by Newsday, citing an unnamed law enforcement source familiar with the case. The 2002 van with Pennsylvania plates was confiscated by New York…
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Fast Forward Jews Slam New York Mayor Bill De Blasio for ‘Secret’ AIPAC Speech in Open Letter
A group of New York Jewish public figures have signed an open letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio condemning his recent proclamation that the pro-Israel lobbyist group AIPAC would always have a friend at City Hall. The letter counters the idea that AIPAC represents the best interests of de Blasio’s New York constituents, including the…
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Life The State of the Uterus
As the President spent his Tuesday prepping for a crucial State of the Union Address, Congress was busy passing yet another sweeping anti-abortion bill, this time H.R.7, a bill designed, primarily to further restrict insurance coverage of abortion, particularly for women with fewer means. It was part of another banner week for attacks on women’s…
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Fast Forward Senators and Jewish Groups Call on U.S. To Keep Iraqi Jewish Trove
Prominent Jewish organizations and a number of senators are calling on the government to renegotiate the return of a trove of Jewish archives that shed light on the once thriving Jewish community in Iraq. The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations released a statement earlier today commending the efforts of senators Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Richard…
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Fast Forward Lifting Veil on Science of Counting Jews
(JTA) — Fueled by KitKats and Cherry Coke, some two dozen people sit hunched over stacks of questionnaires in a windowless conference room in Miami, a phalanx of 1980s-era push-button telephones in front of them. It’s the first day of work on a new survey of Miami Jews, and operators are having a hard time finding…
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Life ScarJo’s Other SodaStream Problem: The Sexist Ad
No matter where you stand on Israeli politics, it’s hard not to see Scarlett Johansson’s decision to become a spokesperson for SodaStream as a bold choice. Unfortunately, this boldness didn’t make its way into the commercial itself. Instead, the ad relies on the most cliche, ickily retro advertising tropes imaginable. If you are reading this…
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Culture A great Israeli author’s searing reflection on Oct. 7 would be a must-read — if you could find it in English
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Culture How the Oct. 7 aftermath splintered the New York Dyke March
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Opinion Anti-Israel rhetoric is fueling an alarmingly powerful new wave of antisemitism on the right
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Fast Forward Joe Rogan defends Ye’s ‘Heil Hitler’ song
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