Allison Kaplan Sommer is a journalist at Haaretz, host of Haaretz Weekend podcast and co-host of The Promised Podcast.
Allison Kaplan Sommer
By Allison Kaplan Sommer
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Opinion How Antonin Scalia Brought Chutzpah to the Supreme Court
(Haaretz) – The late Justice Antonin Scalia, weighing in on one of his final Supreme Court cases, made it quite clear where he stood on the issue of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. When the ruling in Zivotofsky v. Kerry was issued last June, Scalia made the unusual move of reading his dissenting opinion out loud…
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Israel News Turning Shabbat Into Front in War on Secular Jews
(Haaretz) — There really shouldn’t be anything controversial about a traditional Jewish Friday night dinner. After all, a nice meal with a blessing over candles, wine, and challah bread never hurt anybody. Even secular Israelis who don’t find traditional Jewish practice their cup of tea, or simply embrace the idea of Friday night as “family…
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Life Is a Pink Sparkly Barbie Wrong for Hanukkah?
Bratz dolls. Courtesy: MGA Entertainment (Haaretz) — We modern parents do our best to empower our little girls. We assure our daughters that they are strong, smart, capable and can be anything they want to be – doctors, lawyers, athletes, scientists or world leaders. At the same time, we try to teach our boys to…
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Israel News Ultra-Orthodox Women Threatened for Demanding Israel Political Voice
(Haaretz) — The backlash against ultra-Orthodox women who are daring to demand a public voice in government didn’t come as a big surprise, but it did come swiftly and harshly. Last week a formal campaign called “No Female Candidate, No Female Vote” was launched to pressure ultra-Orthodox political parties Shas and the United Torah Judaism…
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Life Keeping Orthodox Girls Dancing in Dark
(Haaretz) — It’s like homecoming weekend for Orthodox Jewish kids in Israel, minus the football game. The young members of the religious youth movement/scouting movement Bnei Akiva spend a full month preparing for what can only be described combination of a pep rally and a color war, culminating in a big ceremonial performance. It is…
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Life Threats and backlash for ultra-Orthodox women seeking political voice
Racheli Ibenboim, of the Gur Hasidic sect, who was nominated for Jerusalem city council but dropped out after facing threats and intimidation (Haaretz) — The backlash against ultra-Orthodox women who are daring to demand a public voice in government didn’t come as a big surprise, but it did come swiftly and harshly. Last week a…
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Opinion Newest Anti-Israel Hashtag? #JSIL
(Haaretz) — It was fairly predictable. The Israeli government, after all, has been doing its best lately to send the message out that we’re all on the same side when it comes to opposing the monstrosity that is the Islamic State. But that message upsets those who don’t want the world to forget that there’s…
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Opinion Where Is Bibi’s ‘Mazel Tov’ for Mahmoud and Morel?
Mahmoud Mansour and Morel Malka on their wedding day, August 17, 2014 / Haaretz (Haaretz) — To disrupt a wedding celebration and spoil the joy of two young people joining their lives together, one needs a very good reason. Racism clearly does not qualify. There’s an easy way for even the most tribal and anti-assimilationist Jew…
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