Nathan Jeffay
By Nathan Jeffay
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The Schmooze Stricter Gender Rules at Western Wall on Sukkot
During the Jewish festival season, which finished yesterday here in Israel (and draws to a close tonight in the States), thousands have descended on the Western Wall. All sorts have made their way to the popular pilgrimage site, from secular to Haredi Jews, as well as a sizable contingency of Christians from around the world…
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News After Release, Gilad Shalit Faces Struggle
Uri Ehrenfeld knew exactly how Gilad Shalit felt as the pale and scrawny soldier strode to freedom on Israeli soil October 18 after five years in captivity. Ehrenfeld, who spent months in captivity during the Yom Kippur War, relived his own rush of emotions when he watched Shalit hug his father and return to a…
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News Walking Streets of Jaffa to Promote One-State Solution
It’s an ideology with few followers among Israeli Jews, but activists for the one-state solution are reaching out to American visitors via tours of the Arab-Jewish town of Jaffa. And they are doing so with the help of Israel’s Reform movement. Jaffa, now part of the municipality of Tel Aviv, was a town in which…
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News Jerusalem Rail Brings City Closer Together
Come and wait here, boys,” exclaimed an Arab man excitedly to a trio of American yeshiva bochers who study in Jerusalem. “It’s free and it’s fast — give it a try.” Jerusalem may suffer from bitter divisions, but where trains, engines and new technology are concerned, boys will be boys. And so, the Arab man…
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The Schmooze Making a Case for the ‘Sabbath Elevator’
Secular-religious tensions in Israel have reached new heights — literally. After three years of controversy among residents, homeowners at 14 Jabotinsky Street in Jerusalem’s Talbieh neighborhood have voted to use the building’s elevator every Sabbath as a “Shabbat elevator.” In a nod to the religious prohibition against pressing buttons on the Sabbath, the elevator will…
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The Schmooze Bootlegged Lulavs, Etrogs, for Sukkot?
Produce harvested in the dead of night, smuggled and sold for high prices under the radar of authorities. Warehouses burglarized. Tourists hiding the good stuff in suitcases and getting found out by customs. No, this isn’t a story of drug rings, but rather of lulavs and etrogs, the plant species waved during synagogue services on…
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The Schmooze Does Yom Kippur Unite or Divide?
Does Yom Kippur in Israel unite or divide the country’s Jewish population? Gesher, a nonprofit that promotes religious-secular dialogue, believes that a poll it just commissioned with Ynet shows the holiday’s unifying function. The poll found that 58% of Israeli Jews plan to fast. Taking a closer look at the figure for fasting, that means…
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Israel News ‘Righteous’ Moved to Israel After Saving Jews in Holocaust
It’s a bigger sacrifice than most people could ever imagine. But for Hester Grinberg-Boissevain, risking her life by hiding innocent Jews during the Holocaust just wasn’t enough of a contribution to the Jewish people. The Dutch nurse also decided to move to Israel. Until three years ago, the residents of Ramat Yishai, near Nazareth, knew…
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