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Opinion ‘Open Orthodoxy’ Is Not Really Orthodox At All
The perils of religious self-definition became amusingly apparent in the recent Pew survey of American Jews. One category of “Jews” was “Jews by affinity” – Americans lacking any Jewish parentage or any Jewish background who simply choose to call themselves Jews; more than one million people so identified themselves. Similarly suspicious are the survey’s self-described…
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Fast Forward 18 Jewish Non-Profits Report Major Illegal ‘Diversions’ of Funds
At least 18 Jewish non-profit groups and non-profit groups that support Israeli institutions have notified tax authorities of likely illegal “diversions” of funds in the past five years. The Washington Post on Sunday published a review of more than 1,000 non-profit organizations that have reported such anomalies since 2008, when the Internal Revenue Service began…
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Opinion News Quiz: Lou Reed, Leonard Bernstein and Billy Crystal
Lou Reed, exposed! Leonard Bernstein, less so! And Hitler? He’s hiding in plain sight in this week’s Jewish news quiz, which also touches upon twerking and Billy Crystal. (But not Billy Crystal twerking.)
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Fast Forward Jewish Support for Possible Iran Strike Over Nukes Dips in AJC Poll
The annual American Jewish Committee poll of American Jews shows a decrease in support for a U.S. strike on Iran should diplomacy not end its suspected nuclear weapons program. According to the 2013 poll released Monday, 52 percent of American Jews favor such a strike – 24 percent strongly and 28 percent somewhat. That’s down…
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Fast Forward 2,000 South African Women Join Mass Challah Baking
More than 2,000 South African Jewish women converged on a street in Johannesburg’s Glenhazel neighbourhood two weeks ago to learn the intricacies of preparing challah – the bread Jews customarily eat on Friday nights when saying Kiddush to mark the onset of Shabbat. The street had been closed Thursday evening, with permission from the city…
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Fast Forward Argentina Rabbi Wins Seat in National Congress
Rabbi Sergio Bergman won a seat on Argentina’s National Congress, the first time a rabbi has served as a national lawmaker. Bergman – from the center-right PRO party- garnered 34.5 percent of the vote, slightly more than second-place finisher Elisa Carrio of the center-left UNEN party, who finished with 32.2 percent. Bergman, who will represent…
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News Asher Lopatin Gets Less-Than-Warm Welcome From Orthodox World
Rabbi Asher Lopatin is feeling a little “roughed up.” It’s October 17, less than a fortnight since Lopatin’s official installation as president of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, a liberal Orthodox rabbinical school in the Bronx, and his attempts to reach out to New York’s Orthodox community are not going well. Sitting in a cramped office at…
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Fast Forward Lou Reed, Jewish Rocker of Velvet Underground Fame, Dies at 71
Lou Reed, the pioneering songwriter and musician behind the influential rock band Velvet Underground, which fused art and music in collaboration with artist Andy Warhol, died on Sunday at the age of 71, his literary agent said. Reed, best recognized by mainstream audiences for his 1972 solo hit “Walk on the Wild Side,” died at…
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News That whites-only, no Jews allowed Arkansas community is legal, says state’s attorney general. How?
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Music How a swaggering Jewish kid from East London became (albeit briefly) Britain’s greatest rock star and poet
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Opinion As an Israeli political scientist, I resisted thinking this war was a genocide. Here’s what changed my mind
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News In a first, Orthodox rabbinical school ordains an out gay rabbi
In Case You Missed It
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Antisemitism Decoded A Florida college student said ‘F— Israel.’ Now she’s under federal investigation
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Fast Forward Historic Ukrainian synagogue significantly damaged by Russian drone strike
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Opinion In that horrific video of a man digging his own grave, Israelis are seeing something that Americans aren’t
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Opinion Netanyahu’s new Gaza plan is a disaster. But it contains a tiny kernel of wisdom
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