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News Lone Struggle To Keep Tunisian Cemetery Alive
Video: Nate Lavey After years of decay and neglect, the Jewish cemetery in Tunis is overgrown, unkempt and could be declared ‘abandoned’ by the Tunisian government a status that could result in its redevelopment. The fate of the cemetery rests on a few caretakers like Joseph Krief, a native-born Tunisian Jew, who has tried for…
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News The Ladies in Grey and Blue
About 10,000 Jewish men fought in the Civil War, for both the Union and Confederate armies. When these soldiers set off for battle, they left behind their wives, sisters and daughters, who stayed to raise the children and run the households and, sometimes, the family businesses. But not all these women stayed focused on only…
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News Voodoo and Grave-Selling Irk Cemeteries
At a recent annual convention for Jewish cemetery officials, a New York State cemetery regulator asked attendees to share cemeteries’ biggest problems. One Connecticut cemetery manager talked about occult practitioners leaving sewn-up cow tongues and mutilated chickens around the graves. Another mentioned cash-strapped people seeking to disinter their dead parents so that they could sell…
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News Tunisian Jews Seek Place in New Order
Video: Nate Lavey A year and a half after the ouster of Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the president of the Tunisian Jewish community is wistful for the one-party government that ruled the country for decades. “You cannot find a better government than what we had,” said Roger Bismuth, who has held the…
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News Sherman and Berman Will Clash in November
Jewish Democrats Brad Sherman and Howard Berman were headed for a face-off in the November general election after the two congressmen finished as the top two vote-getters in the June 5 primary. Sherman led with 42% of the vote, compared to 32% for Berman, with five other candidates, including three Republicans, trailing far behind. Under…
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Opinion When Orthodoxy Goes Too Far
Jewish reaction to President Obama’s declaration of support for same-sex marriage was swift. Liberal Jewish groups, including Hadassah and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, praised the president’s statement, and the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center declared, “History will regard the president’s affirmation of this core right for the LGBT community as a key moment…
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News Tefillin for Women, by Women
When Molly Moses graduated from Harvard University in 2011, she wanted to pray each day wearing tefillin. But she couldn’t afford the several hundred dollar investment required to buy a pair of the leather-covered boxes, which contain tiny parchments with handwritten Torah verses. Moses had borrowed tefillin from friends in the past; now she wanted…
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Fast Forward Barney Frank’s ‘Trayvon’ Graduation Quip Falls Flat
Congressman Barney Frank’s joke about a hoodie and a black recipient of an honorary degree fell flat at a college graduation. The crowd gasped as retiring Jewish congressman made the crack at the University of Massachusetts graduation, which honored civil rights leader Hubie Jones, the Daily News reported. “When you get an honorary degree they…
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News What a Mayor Mamdani would mean for New York Jews
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Opinion Zohran Mamdani’s victory proves it: The ‘gotcha’ mode of fighting antisemitism has to go
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Fast Forward Mamdani tells Colbert — and a national audience — why NYC Jews shouldn’t fear him as mayor
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Opinion Mamdani’s victory is an opportunity for Jews to relearn the art of disagreement
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Opinion ‘Israel is seen as violent’ — and Israeli chefs, once global culinary icons, are feeling the heat
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Culture As Mel Brooks turns 99, his wisdom matters more than ever
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Culture Barbra Streisand’s brand-new duet with Bob Dylan is a whole lot different than you might think
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Fast Forward Jewish group shoots back after Candace Owens accuses rabbi of bribing pastors to criticize her
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