Simone Somekh was born and raised in Turin, Italy. He has worked with publications based in Milan, Jerusalem, Tokyo, Berlin and New York. He is currently pursuing an M.A. degree in Journalism and European & Mediterranean Studies at New York University.
Simone Somekh
By Simone Somekh
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Fast Forward Italian Jews worry and wait as Giorgia Meloni, far-right leader, prepares to take power
Meloni would be Italy’s first female prime minister, and head of its first far-right government since World War II, when it allied with Hitler’s Germany
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Fast Forward LGBTQ students sue Yeshiva University for discrimination
NEW YORK (JTA) — A group of students and alumni is suing Yeshiva University for discrimination, claiming that the university violated New York City’s human rights law when it refused to recognize an LGBTQ student club. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in New York County Supreme Court. Over the last few years, the students repeatedly…
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Fast Forward What U.S. Jews can learn from Italy’s Jewish response to coronavirus
NEW YORK (JTA) — The Italian people’s first reaction to the coronavirus was to have a good laugh. Not because they didn’t believe the virus was a real issue, but because that’s just how we like to process big changes in my home country. By Feb. 23, there were 152 confirmed cases in Italy. Yet many…
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Life At Yeshiva University, Students Prepare To March For LGBTQ Rights
Molly Meisels, a student at Yeshiva University, wanted to invite assemblymember Deborah Glick to talk about her experience as New York’s first openly gay legislator to the school’s College Democrats club. The university administration had other ideas. Two weeks before the event took place, Meisels said she was called into an office and asked not…
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Life Every Orthodox Rabbi Ought To Read This Book About The Lives Of LGBTQ Orthodox Jews
Just a few days ago, a Jewish teenager from South Africa committed suicide while on an organized trip to Israel. Before dying, the 19-year-old—a first-year medical school student—wrote a note on his phone that he was struggling with his sexual identity and his place in the Modern Orthodox community he belonged to. “Trying to pretend…
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Life A New Program Offers A Space For Non-Binary Mitzvahs
During middle school, Yoni Kollin took part in “Shevet,” a Jewish teen group in Los Angeles for boys post-bar mitzvah. The program, facilitated by Moving Traditions, a Jewish organization that provides progressive educational teen programming, offered a parallel program for girls, too, called “Rosh Hodesh.” Yet for Kollin, neither program was a perfect fit. Kollin,…
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Life Mutiny In Milan: Meet Italy’s First Orthodox Woman Rabbi-To-Be
Miriam Camerini is the first Italian woman to enroll in an Orthodox rabbinical studies program in Israel. She revealed it earlier this winter in an article she wrote for JOI (Jewish, Open & Inclusive) Magazine, an independent Jewish publication. The comments ensued: But, contrary to expectations, they were overwhelmingly positive. On social media, fellow Jewish…
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Life A Walk Through Bukharian Queens — Just Don’t Call It ‘Russian’
The most common misconception about Bukharian Jews? Manashe Khaimov hesitates for a few seconds, then answers: “That we are Russian Jews. The only thing we share with Russian Jews,” he continues, “are the 70 years we lived under the Soviet Union. For 2,000 years, we had a different history, a different culture.” A community little-known…
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