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The Latest
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Breaking News Jewish Groups Condemn Charlottesville Violence, Trump’s Response
(JTA) — Jewish groups and Jewish leaders condemned the violence at a white supremacist event in Charlottesville, Virginia, and criticized President Trump for saying that the hatred and violence came from “many sides.” “The vile presence and rhetoric of the neo-Nazis who marched this weekend in Charlottesville is a reminder of the ever-present need for…
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Fast Forward Maryland Rabbi Suspended By Reform Council For Ethics Violation
A Reform rabbi who led a congregation in Maryland for over a decade until resigning late last year has been suspended from his movement’s main rabbinical organization for violating its code of ethics, the Frederick (Md.) News-Post reported. Rabbi Dan Sikowitz was suspended from the Central Conference of American Rabbis in May, the organization confirmed…
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Opinion Why We Are Spending Tisha B’Av At An Immigrant Detention Center
Jews know something about the immigrant experience. We know what it means to be a stranger, an unwelcome resident sometimes tolerated but always in danger of being uprooted and forced to become refugees. Whether we’re marking the Jews’ exile from the Land of Israel following the destruction of the Second Temple, or mourning our exile…
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Opinion ‘Liberal’ Jews Are Just As Judgmental As The Orthodox Behind The Kotel Decision
Like most of my fellow liberal Jews, I find it deplorable that the Israeli government reneged on a deal for egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall. I’m also feeling something that others probably aren’t, though: hope for a lesson learned about liberal Judaism’s own walls. What the Orthodox Chief Rabbinate is doing to the liberal…
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Community Sorry, Netanyahu: The Diaspora Won’t Take This Betrayal Lying Down
On the morning of July 12, I read a piece in the Opinion Page of the New York Times titled “Israel to American Jews: You Just Don’t Matter” by Thomas L. Friedman. In this piece, Friedman states that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu has yielded to the whims of the Orthodox and has basically…
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Opinion Orthodoxy Is Not Victimized By The Kotel Compromise
In his Forward column titled “Kotel Controversy Shows That U.S. Jewish Groups Don’t Represent The Orthodox,” Avi Shafran claims that the American Orthodox community has been treated like “chopped liver” in recent debates over the Western Wall and conversion law in Israel. While I acknowledge American Orthodox voices have been missing in the news coverage…
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Opinion There’s No Easy Answer To The Debate Over Intermarriage
The debate over intermarriage — once again erupting across the Jewish community — has too easily slipped into a binary equation. Opinions are shared, statistics are drawn as weapons and institutions often double-down. Sides are chosen, often reduced to a simple yes or no: “No, never; Jewish Law forbids this.” (Or “no, never; it will…
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Breaking News Fed-Up Reform Leaders Are Thinking Twice About Their Donations To Israel
NEW YORK (JTA) — Daryl Messinger knows she’s going to visit Israel again. But the next time she flies there, it won’t be on El Al. Messinger, the chair of the Union for Reform Judaism, will be boycotting Israel’s national airline as part of her protest of the Israeli government’s two votes last week that…
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News Scoop: Heritage Foundation plans to ‘identify and target’ Wikipedia editors
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Fast Forward Their Pacific Palisades synagogue is standing, but all three rabbis lost their homes
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News ‘Do you have the Torahs?’ Synagogue races LA wildfire to rescue its past and future
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Music For Bob Dylan’s biographer, ‘A Complete Unknown’ is a dream come true — even if it’s mostly fiction
In Case You Missed It
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News LA fires won’t stop bar mitzvahs this Shabbat, as joy and pain meet
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News HIAS cuts 22 staff even as it braces for Trump immigration crackdown
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Fast Forward A synagogue that survived the Palisades fire has become a ‘refuge’ for many who lost their homes
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News When fire spread to West Hollywood, a rabbi’s mom chose to grab candlesticks
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