Joshua Flanders
By Joshua Flanders
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News How do Jewish groups welcome Afghan refugees? With a Muslim caseworker.
When a refugee family arrived from Afghanistan to their first apartment in Chicago, a case worker from a local Jewish social services agency was there to welcome them. His name? Abdul. The family was overwhelmed to see their new home fully furnished. As the older boys helped with suitcases, the young daughter ran from room…
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Culture Why some Israelis are finally confronting what happened in 1948 in a village called Tantura
One week after the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, (and three days before the Israeli Defense Forces were created), a large-scale massacre of more than 200 Arabs allegedly occurred in the Palestinian village of Tantura. This event was one incident in wars from 1947-1949, a period that Israeli Jews call the War…
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Culture How one Jewish mother became the matriarch of modern comedy
Jews have been at the forefront of American comedy since its inception. Folks like Eugene Levy, Harold Ramis, Mike Nichols and Elaine May helped to grow theatrical improvisation — or improv comedy — into the worldwide phenomenon it is today. But, until now, little had been shared about the woman who started it all, Viola…
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News Who are Chicago Jews, and what do they want? The results are in.
Amid many gloomy predictions that American Jewry is shrinking, disengaging and assimilating, comes bracing news from Chicago: um, maybe not. A just-released Chicago Jewish population study — the largest one ever — found that the community is instead growing and diversifying: • The study shows that the Jewish population in Chicago is nearly 320,000, an…
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Culture Her Holocaust survival story was like something out of a Netflix movie — maybe too much so
Misha Defonseca had a secret. As she stood before the synagogue at Temple Beth Torah in Holliston, Massachusetts, she harbored a tale so remarkable that it would eventually catapult her to international notoriety. After a half century of silence, Misha began to share her story of escaping Nazi-occupied Belgium during the Holocaust. Her fellow congregants…
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News A Chicago Orthodox rabbi reaches out to his Rohingya and Black neighbors
In Chicago’s large Orthodox Jewish community, Rabbi Ari Hart stands out. As a leader at Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob Synagogue in Skokie, Illinois, Hart focuses on the roles of women within their community, inclusion of LGBTQ individuals, and other accessibility issues as simple as welcoming different styles of worship. As an activist, he has embarked…
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News When Ruth rescued Ruben: An asylum seeker’s story
When Jorge Sepulveda sees the images of the refugees gathered at America’s southern border, awaiting asylum, he thinks of his father. “I understand who these families are trying to come here, even illegally,” he said. “Imagine how bad it must be where they are from, to take such a risk.” Sepulveda’s own story has a…
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News Angry at discrimination, a rabbi creates a shul, and seminary, serving the Deaf community
When he was just 30 days old, Rabbi Douglas Goldhamer suffered a botched radiation treatment for a skin ailment, leaving half his body discolored. Growing up he was often teased and treated differently. Eventually, Goldhamer found his career calling in the seminary, attending Hebrew Union College in 1967.His experience as an outsider led him to…
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