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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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Opinion The ‘Kosher Burrito’ Can Get Messy
Latinos and Jews are increasingly seen as new partners within the American political story. And yet, the two communities are at very different points in their communal development. Latinos, who today comprise the largest minority community (16.3%) within the United States, with some 50 million residents, are described as a political force in ascendancy. In…
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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 Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s selection as JTS commencement speaker roils graduating class
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Opinion American Jews have a Hasan Piker problem. Solving it is going to hurt
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Opinion How Israel became a country where teenagers murder each other in cold blood
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Sports NBA coach Steve Kerr: ‘Israel sought revenge for Oct. 7 and now 72,000 Palestinians have been killed’
In Case You Missed It
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Yiddish World New documentary captures the lively history of Yiddish theater in America
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Opinion Is supporting peace illegal in Israel? A shocking arrest carries a warning
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Culture The handwriting analysis that convicted Alfred Dreyfus is for sale
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Yiddish World Yiddish street signs: Commemoration or marginalization?