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Fast Forward Hungary Jews Emigrate Amid Anti-Semitism and Economic Recession
Three years ago, Fanni moved to Vienna from her native Hungary with her husband. Now she is pregnant. Though the couple would prefer to raise their child near their Jewish families in Budapest, rising nationalism and an economic recession are leading them to stay in Austria. “I don’t want to cut my roots, but I…
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Opinion Let’s Turn Jewish Practice Into Something Competitive
In the past few weeks, I’ve become an expert at epidemiology. I didn’t watch a documentary or read a magazine article or take a class — I simply played a videogame called “Plague,” which requires players to pursue a single objective in order to win the game: Place a virus or bacteria somewhere in the…
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Israel News Gays Debate ‘Pinkwashing’ as N.Y. Center Reverses Ban on Israel-Related Events
A debate over Israel is roiling New York’s gay and lesbian community. Days after barring a talk by gay scholar Sarah Schulman about her new book that criticizes Israel, a leading New York gay community center effectively reversed its decision amid heavy protest and allowed the event to go forward. Prominent gay elected officials, including…
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Fast Forward Skater Max Aaron Looks to Aly Raisman for Inspiration on Path to Jewish Gold
With consecutive quadruple jumps at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Max Aaron launched himself not only to a gold medal and a national championship. The 20-year-old Arizonan also joined the ranks of Jewish athletes who have made it big. For Aaron, that was even more exciting than executing the perfect jumps last month in Omaha,…
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Fast Forward East German Jews Get Last Chance for Property
Jews who owned property in what would become East Germany have a last chance to receive compensation for it. The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany published on its website a list of Jews who owned property in eastern Germany before the beginning of the Nazi era. The list, which contains thousands of entries,…
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Opinion A Tale of Two Jewish Conservatives
Earlier this month, Eric Cantor brought the Republican Party to a turning point and failed to turn. In the days leading up to an address he delivered at the American Enterprise Institute, many in the news media predicted a game changer: “GOP Leader Aims To Change Party’s Message,” The Wall Street Journal heralded, while Politico…
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Opinion From Zimbabwe, With Faith
Modreck Zvakavapano Maeresera comes from the southern African nation of Zimbabwe with a message of shared faith. A leader of the Lemba group that claims ancient Jewish ancestry, Maeresera is on a monthlong tour of the U.S., meeting with Jewish communal leaders and giving lectures about his community. “We are all joined together by our…
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News Philip Roth Answers Your Letters, BootyCall Israel
In this week’s Reporters Roundtable podcast, host Josh Nathan-Kazis is joined by Backward editors Dan Friedman and Tony Weiss to discuss the latest issue of the Backward, which features Philip Roth answering questions in the Bintel Brief, a new Birthright trip called “BootyCall Israel.” Plus, is Hollywood giving up blockbuster Holocaust movies for slavery movies?…
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Holy Ground A Jewish farmer broke ground on a synagogue in an Illinois cornfield. His neighbors showed up to help.
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Opinion I discovered anti-Zionism at the University of Michigan. I’m glad it lives on there
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Culture An Israeli genocide scholar looks to Israel’s history to understand ‘what went wrong’
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Opinion An alarming new battleground in campus fights over Israel
In Case You Missed It
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Fast Forward Toronto man arrested after allegedly shooting at Orthodox Jews outside a synagogue
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Fast Forward Netanyahu on ‘60 Minutes’: Fight with Hezbollah should be seen as separate from Iran war
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Fast Forward Labour politician is booed as thousands rally against antisemitism in London
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News Remembering Abe Foxman, the longtime ADL leader known as the ‘Jewish pope,’ who always answered my calls