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Fast Forward Kiwi Jew Jo Aleh Wins Gold in Sailing
New Zealand Jewish sailor Jo Aleh and her partner Polly Powrie won the gold medal in the women’s 470 regatta. Aleh, 26, whose parents are dual Israeli-New Zealand citizens, skippered the pair into the lead from the start of the gold medal race Friday at the London Olympic games. The Kiwis were tied with British…
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The Schmooze David Rakoff and the Voice of God
I can think of three popular ideas about what God actually looks like: the bearded man wearing a white robe who sits on a cloud deciding when to make earthquakes and who sometimes shows up in a burning bush; George Burns in “Oh God!” and, long before he actually played God in “Bruce Almighty,” many…
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Fast Forward Israel Doctors Blast Blood-Sucking Circumcision Rite
The Israel Pediatric Association has declared war on metzitza b’peh, a portion of the ritual that doctors deem medically harmful but ultra-Orthodox rabbis deem obligatory. Metzitza, the final stage of the circumcision, involves extracting blood from the incision. Today, it is usually done with a sterile tube. But some Haredi (ultra-Orthodox ) communities still use…
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Culture Tangled Up in Jews
It’s deeply ironic that Tanglewood, which is currently celebrating its 75th anniversary as the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and one of America’s largest music festivals — was essentially the creation of Jews in a place largely resentful of their presence. During the 1930s in America, hostility to Jews was common, especially in…
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The Schmooze Jews of Tanglewood
• Aaron Copland owed much of his career to Serge Koussevitzky. • Leonard Bernstein was in Tanglewood’s first class and became a Koussevitzky protégé and a worldwide symbol of Tanglewood. • Paul Fromm was insired by Koussevitsky to create the Fromm Music Foundation to support new music. • Erich Leinsdorf inaugurated Tanglewood’s Festival of Contemporary…
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The Schmooze MTV Wants ‘True Life’ Mama’s Boy
MTV is searching for a Jewish mama’s boy for an episode of “True Life.” The show is looking for someone aged 16 to 28 who consistenly chooses his mother over his girlfriend. The episode will be called “True Life: I’m Dating a Mama’s Boy.” “We really hope we can find a Jewish mama’s boy to…
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Fast Forward Bulgaria Blast Probe Eyes Calls From Lebanon
Israel has evidence of many telephone calls between Lebanon and Burgas in the two months before the bombing that killed six people, the New York Times reported. The volume of calls intensified in the three days before the attack on a bus carrying Israeli tourists, the newspaper reported Thursday, citing an unnamed senior government official,…
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News Sami Rohr, Philanthropist Who ‘Invested’ Millions in the Jewish People
When Sami Rohr was a young real estate developer living in Bogotá, Colombia, in the 1950s, fundraisers from abroad often came to collect money from the local Jewish community. While Rohr donated to all of them, and encouraged his employees to do the same, emissaries from the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement impressed him more than others….
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Fast Forward Rep. Max Miller says driver called him a ‘dirty Jew’ and threatened to kill his family. A local doctor turned himself in.
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News As Israel attacks, what is life like for Jews in Iran?
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Opinion Bombing Iran, Donald Trump is triggering a tragedy that Thucydides foretold long ago
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Culture Why is Israel’s attack on Iran called ‘Rising Lion’ — and what does the Bible have to do with it?
In Case You Missed It
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Yiddish די ייִדישע קרעטשמע אין דער פּוילישער קולטורThe Jewish tavern in Polish culture
„יאַנקעל דער ייִדישער קרעטשמער“ איז די סאַמע פּאָפּולערסטע ייִדישע געשטאַלט אין דער פּױלישער ליטעראַטור.
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Fast Forward Trump announces ‘complete and total ceasefire’ between Israel and Iran
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Fast Forward Why Israel, rarely a fan of regime change, now contemplates an Iran without ayatollahs
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Opinion Did Netanyahu coerce Trump into attacking Iran? No — but he tried with Obama
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