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Fast Forward Belarus Synagogue Ravaged by Fire, No Injuries Reported
One of Europe’s oldest functioning synagogues sustained heavy damage in a fire that broke out in the city of Grodno in Belarus. The flames erupted Tuesday night as a result of malfunctioning heating system and consumed the dining room and part of the second floor of Grodno’s Great Choral Synagogue, according to a report Wednesday…
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Fast Forward British Orthodox Body Condems Shul For Allowing Women to Hold Torah
Britain’s umbrella body of Orthodox communities is condemning a London Orthodox synagogue that allows women to hold Torah scrolls. Earlier this year, Golders Green United Synagogue began giving women an opportunity to handle the Torah scroll on Shabbat mornings and festivals, and the change has been well received by members of the community, according to…
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Fast Forward Geneva City Council Member Seeks Ban on Hanukkah Ceremony
A city council member from Geneva has warned his municipality against allowing a public Hanukkah event, which he said would violate Swiss law. “I’m not afraid of being called anti-Semitic, because my request is not directed at a religious community [but at] the authorities, which do not comply with the law by issuing an authorization…
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Fast Forward Media Tycoon Haim Saban Backs Hillary Clinton for 2016 Presidential Push
Israeli-American media tycoon Haim Saban, a major donor to the U.S. Democratic party, said on Friday he would back former secretary of state Hillary Clinton with his “full might” should she run for president in 2016. Clinton, 66, whose four-year tenure as U.S. secretary of state ended in February, has said she is considering running…
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Fast Forward Israeli Toddler Injured By a Rock Thrown at a Car in Jerusalem
A toddler was injured in a Jerusalem neighborhood when a three-pound rock was thrown through the window of the car in which she was a passenger. The girl, 2, identified as Avigayil, was hit in the head Thursday evening while travelling through the Jewish neighborhood of Armon Hanatziv, located on the Green Line which separates…
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News Touro Synagogue Turns 250 With ‘Order and Decorum’
On December 2, 1763, the first day of Hanukkah, a procession wound through Newport, R.I., carrying three Torah scrolls bound for their new home in a synagogue that would quickly establish its place in American Jewish lore. When the scrolls entered the newly built Touro Synagogue, their arrival was celebrated with music and prayer that…
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Fast Forward Anti-Semitism Prompts French Jewish Parents to Enroll Kids in Private Schools
Most French Jewish parents enroll their children in private schools because of anti-Semitism, a leader of France’s Jewish community said. Anti-Semitism “affects Jewish families very seriously and is the main reason there are so few Jewish children in public schools,” Roger Cukierman, president of the CRIF umbrella group of French Jewish communities, said Tuesday during…
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News ‘Chained Wives’ Find Halachic Pre-Nuptial Agreement Is No Panacea
(JTA) — For years, Rachel Light felt like a hostage, worried she would be forever trapped in her marriage to Eben Light. Even in April 2012, after Eben was arrested for allegedly threatening her and was slapped with a restraining order, Rachel was unable to get a writ of Jewish divorce, or get. That made…
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Culture Why do Jews eat Chinese food on Christmas?
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Sports First Puka Nacua, now Mookie Betts: Why do sports stars keep getting antisemitic around a Jewish streamer?
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Culture We tried to fix Hallmark’s Hanukkah problem. Here’s the movie we made instead
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Holy Ground One of America’s first Jewish farms was nearly lost to history. Now these Brooklyn parents are risking everything to keep their family’s legacy alive.
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Culture On Instagram, ‘Rabbinic Fit Check’ is a look book for Jewish clergy
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Yiddish דראַמאַטישע פּאָעזיע: סוצקעװערס מעשׂיות לעבן אױף אױף דער ייִדישער בינעPoetry in drama: Sutzkever’s stories come alive on the stage
דער װאָקאַבולאַר אין די מעשׂיות ניצט אױס די פּאַליטרע פֿון דער קונסטוועלט, װילנער קאָלאָריט, ייִדישן לעבן און דער אונטערװעלט.
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Culture Waiting on line on Christmas is a time-honored New York tradition — was it ever thus?
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Fast Forward It’s not just a myth that Jews head to Chinese restaurants on Christmas. It’s science.
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