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The Schmooze Ben Stiller and James Franco’s Arcade Fire Debut
James Franco can now add “appeared in an Arcade Fire video” to ever expanding resume. The James-of-all-trades opens the Canadian band’s promotional spot touting their new album “Reflektor” — directed by Roman Coppola no less — in a blazer slightly reminiscent of “A Night at the Roxbury.” Fellow member of the tribe Ben Stiller also…
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Fast Forward Hungary Vows Crackdown Against Anti-Semitism
Hungary will use all political and legal tools available to crack down on resurgent anti-Semitism in the country, the deputy prime minister said on Tuesday, in one of the government’s boldest statements yet on the issue. “We cannot allow, especially knowing our own responsibility, anti-Semitism to gain strength in Hungary,” Tibor Navracsics told a conference…
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News Conservative Jews Shrug Off Evidence of Dramatic Decline in Landmark Pew Study
Conservative Jewish leaders brushed off evidence that their denomination is dramatically shrinking that appeared in the new Pew survey of Jewish America. Denominational officials said that the data, which showed that just 11% of young Jews identify with Conservative Judaism, confirmed what the movement already knows about the problems its facing. Some said that the…
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News Apparent Suicide of Ex-Hasidic Woman Deb Tambor Sparks Funeral Chaos
Confusion and controversy marred the funeral of a mother of two said to have committed suicide after leaving her Hasidic community and being denied access to her children. Friends and family of Deb Tambor, a former resident of the ultra-Orthodox community of New Square, in upstate New York, believe she killed herself on Friday, September…
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Fast Forward Argentina President Complains About Jewish Focus on Iran’s Role in 1994 Bombing
Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez in a series of 31 tweets called on the United States to include the issue of the Buenos Aires Jewish Center AMIA bombing in its bilateral talks with Iran. The tweets posted Monday night from the president’s official Twitter account also mentioned the pressure that she feels from U.S. Jewish organizations…
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Fast Forward Don’t Dance With Children on Shoulders, Rabbis Tell Gur Hasidic Jews
Gur Hasidic sect followers were told the day before Simhat Torah that adults would no longer be allowed to dance with children on their shoulders, including their own children, to avoid awakening “the evil inclination.” Jews traditionally dance with Torah scrolls on Simhat Torah, and it is common practice for children to sit on their…
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Fast Forward Popes Who Fostered Ties With Jews Win Sainthood
Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII, who played key roles in fostering Catholic-Jewish relations, will be canonized as saints. The ceremony will take place next April 27, the Vatican announced Monday. Polish-born John Paul, who reigned from 1978 to 2005, made bettering Catholic-Jewish relations a cornerstone of his papacy. John XXIII, who reigned…
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News London’s New American-Style JW3 Community Center Opens to Great Expectations
(JTA) — At his office in London’s newly opened, $80 million Jewish community center, Raymond Simonson fumbles with a state-of-the-art telephone switchboard. “Sorry, I’m embarrassed, but we’ve only just moved into our offices,” says Simonson, the 40-year-old boss of London’s first American-style JCC, which opened Sunday. “Now the article will say ‘New CEO can’t even…
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Opinion Is starvation in Gaza really Israel’s fault? The facts are clear
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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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Film & TV How Jon Stewart evolved on Israel — at least on ‘The Daily Show’
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Opinion I have the answer to Jon Stewart’s toughest question about Israel
In Case You Missed It
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Opinion A beloved peace activist was killed in the West Bank. Can his death finally teach us empathy?
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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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Opinion Israelis want out of the Gaza war. But all the exit routes feel like traps
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Fast Forward Antisemitic conspiracy theories about Jeffrey Epstein are proliferating — and entering the mainstream
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