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The Schmooze Hiking Little Hitler
A little crag near Stockholm is causing a minor uproar in the Jewish world, thanks to the inconveniently named Cordelia Hess, a historian who, on a recent hike, took issue with several Nazi-inspired trail names. “I thought it rather unpleasant to climb through the ‘Crematorium’ or say that ‘now I am going to do Kristallnacht,’”…
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Books Why There Are No Israeli Superheroes
Uri Fink, who 30 years ago created Israel’s first superhero, in the form of Sabraman, has a theory about why comic book superheroes have caught on only in America. “It’s naive just thinking people will go out and fight the bad guys out of the goodness of their hearts,” he told the Forward. “It’s Americans’…
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The Schmooze Fusing Indian and Jewish Worship With the ‘Kirtan Rabbi’
Kirtan, a Sanskrit call-and-response form of worship from India, and Rabbi, are two words not often found in the same sentence. Rabbi Andrew Hahn, better known as the “Kirtan Rabbi,” is on track to change that. Hahn’s spiritual innovation was on display at the Jewish Heritage Museum in New York’s Battery Park last week, as…
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The Schmooze Knicks’ Amar’e Stoudemire Has a Twitter Double
Amar’e Stoudemire was just asking to be parodied. The New York Knick’s out-of-left-field Tweets (e.g. “I’m going 2 Israel 2 study Hebrew. It’s time 2 get a better understanding on who we R”) left everyone (including us) speculating about his possible Jewish roots. Now some mysterious Twitter user has taken this to its logical conclusion….
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The Schmooze Oliver Stone ‘Sorry’ for Anti-Jewish Comments
Maybe he’s not such an expert on natural born killers, after all. For the second time this year, filmmaker Oliver Stone has generated controversy with comments about Adolf Hitler, contending in London’s Sunday Times that the Nazi dictator needed to be viewed “in context.” The July 25 interview also quoted the “Platoon” and “Wall Street”…
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The Schmooze Pay Now, Pray Later
Anyone who has ever tried to explain to a bewildered Christian friend why you need a ticket to go to shul on the holiest day of the year will appreciate Lisa Miller’s deliberately provocative essay, “The Cost of Being Jewish”. Miller, Newsweek’s religion editor, pointed out in the July 8 article that while there is…
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The Schmooze Elena Kagan Gives Congress Its Most Jewish Moment Ever
As might be expected of an Upper West Side girl who demanded a bat mitzvah, Elena Kagan seems pretty comfortable with her roots. “As you know, I don’t think it’s a secret I am Jewish,” she said yesterday, during the second day of her confirmation hearings in front of the Senate’s Judiciary Committee. But the…
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The Schmooze Comedian Who Made Anti-Semitic Comment: I Was Intoxicated
David Fane, a New Zealand comedian, achieved international notoriety this week after making grossly anti-Semitic remarks on Wednesday at a media event in Auckland. (Making offensive remarks to a room full of media types: not recommended.) He later claimed to have been intoxicated. According to a report in The New Zealand Herald, Fane, who was…
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Fast Forward A new Hebrew press in Berlin argues that Israel doesn’t own the language
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Fast Forward Jewish library and Chabad near Buenos Aires attacked, Argentine Jewish advocates say
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Fast Forward Cornell’s Jewish president clashes with students following on-campus debate about Israel
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Fast Forward U of Michigan apologizes after faculty chair praises pro-Palestinian students during commencement speech