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Opinion Kotel Struggle a Civil Rights Battle for Jews
Fifty years ago civil rights activists staged a sit-in at the lunch counter of Woolworth’s in Jackson Mississippi to protest the segregated seating which existed, mandating separate areas for black and white patrons. Young students from nearby Tougaloo College, both black and white, sat together at the “whites only” counter, waiting futilely to be served….
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Opinion Foxman: Foes of ‘2 States’ Hurt Israel’s Credibility
As Washington and Jerusalem jockey over terms for renewing Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, Anti-Defamation League director Abe Foxman insists that his organization will continue to support Israel. But he warns that Israelis make the job harder and hurt their own cause by allowing hardline opponents of Palestinian statehood to speak for them. He singled out Israel’s…
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Breaking News 7% of Israeli Jews Are Reform or Conservative
Some 7.1 percent of Israeli Jews define themselves as Reform or Conservative, according to the soon-to-be-released Israeli Democracy Index for 2013. This figure might sound surprisingly high, considering that there are only 110 Reform and Conservative synagogues in Israel. But it is actually slightly less than the figure found by a different survey published last…
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Breaking News Jewish Federations Back Western Wall Compromise as Clashes Loom
The Jewish Federations of North America’s board of trustees passed a resolution supporting Natan Sharansky’s proposed compromise on egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall. Monday’s resolution, according to a JFNA statement, says the compromise “develops a pathway whereby the Kotel will once again become a spiritual center for all Jews and a symbol of unity…
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Breaking News Police Brace for Fresh Clashes Between Women and Ultra-Orthodox at Kotel
Jerusalem District Police are preparing for another round of confrontations at the Western Wall next Sunday, as tensions continue to escalate surrounding the Women of the Wall’s demand for equal worship at Judaism’s holiest site. Police were also on guard after threatening letters were sent to the Chief Rabbinate and to the rabbi in charge…
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Opinion If Rabbis Are Allowed To Intermarry, Get Ready for the Non-Jewish Rabbi
In response to Rabbi Ellen Lippmann’s open letter in these pages to the board of governors of Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Religion, asking that it reconsider its policy of not ordaining rabbinical students who have non-Jewish spouses or partners, I offer my own open letter to the board: I am writing to urge you…
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Opinion Balkanization of Western Wall Prayer ls Threat to Jewish Unity
I really must avoid spicy foods — even my wife’s scrumptious jalapeno pepper-laced cornbread — before retiring at night. The recipe’s great, but for someone approaching 60, it’s also a recipe for indigestion-fueled nightmares. The scene of my latest bad dream: the Kotel, or Western Wall, in Jerusalem. The time: some future point, may it…
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Opinion ‘War’ With Ultra-Orthodox Over Western Wall? Bring It On
My first reaction to the ugly confrontation at the Western Wall on Friday was to be appalled and sickened. Attacks carried out mostly by ultra-Orthodox men, who heckled, shouted, and threw things at approximately 100 members of Women of the Wall attempting to pray at Judaism’s most sacred site, were a chillul Hashem, a desecration…
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