International

Inaugurating embassy in UAE, Israel tells region: ‘We’re here to stay’

Published by Reuters By Lisa Barrington DUBAI (Reuters) -Israel’s new foreign minister inaugurated its embassy in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday and offered an olive branch to other former adversaries, saying: “We’re here to stay.” Yair Lapid’s two-day visit, in which he will open an Israeli consulate in Dubai on Wednesday, is the first […]

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Middle East

‘A wall of dust hit me.’ Lawsuit details Surfside condo collapse survivor’s harrowing tale

Published by Miami Herald SURFSIDE, Fla. — Raysa Rodriguez, a retired postal worker, lived in Unit 907 of Champlain Towers South for 17 years. She was a few payments away from paying off her mortgage. But the dream retirement ended in the middle of the night, when a giant rumble shook her from her sleep.

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USA

Biden to visit Florida condo collapse site as hope dims for rescue

Published by AFP Surfside (United States) (AFP) – US President Joe Biden will visit the site of a deadly apartment building collapse in southern Florida later this week, the White House announced Tuesday, as rescuers scoured the wreckage in an increasingly desperate search for survivors. A 12-story oceanfront condominium in Surfside, a neighborhood near Miami, pancaked into

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USA

A Drumbeat of Antisemitism in San Diego, Across the U.S.

Near the San Diego State University campus, in San Diego’s daily newspaper, in speeches by members of Congress, and in an apology forced upon a children’s book executive for speaking out against antisemitism, the drumbeat of hatred against our fellow Jews grows increasingly persistent. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Yoni Netanyahu Proved Himself a Hero Before Entebbe

It is not widely known that Yoni Netanyahu was a hero long before he commanded the Entebbe operation. He played a key role in many other crucial Israeli security operations exhibiting courage and valor in the most dangerous of circumstances. He was a living example to the world’s statesman that terrorism can be beaten – if the nations of the world have the will to fight back. [Moshe Phillips]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Middle East

Former Israelis PMs Family Members Reflect on Entebbe Anniversary

On the 45th anniversary of Operation Entebbe, this morning, (Tuesday) the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation held a moving and insightful meeting revealing testimonies never before heard, from the behind the scenes of one of the most ingenious and daring rescue operations the world has ever known, overseen at the time by then Defense Minister, Shimon Peres. [Peres Center Press Release)

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International, Jewish History, Middle East

A loving couple, the mother of a miracle, a baseball dad all victims of Surfside condo collapse

Published by Miami Herald SURFSIDE, Fla. — As the hope of finding survivors dimmed at the site of the Surfside condo collapse, some heartsick families were already grieving an unfathomable loss. Five residents of Champlain Towers South, which collapsed early Thursday morning, were identified among the nine dead recovered by rescuers. This leaves 152 residents

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USA

Torah on a Tatami: How One Couple Found Community In a Pandemic World

She grew up in Brooklyn, New York, her roots deep in the Ashkenazi culture of Poland, Hungary, and Lithuania. He grew up in Long Beach, California, a third generation Japanese American, and he barely knew a single Jewish person. On paper, they might not sound like an obvious match: Jewish Brooklyn versus Buddhist Japan, kvetching as a collective mode of connection versus pursuit of inner peace. But while Leah and Randy Matsui may come from disparate ethnic backgrounds, “two different flavors” as Randy puts it, over the past four decades, they have become one woven unit, and their story teaches a great deal about what love is, what true connection looks like, and most significantly, what diverse Jewish journeys look like in the 21st century. [M. Evan Wolkenstein]

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International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

A Response to Surfside

There are some things for which there are no words. On Thursday I did two funerals where I spoke about why we thank God at times of tragedy-because when we feel vulnerable, that the world has slipped out from underneath our footsteps, we need to find some rock to anchor ourselves, and that rock with a capital R is God. However, how can we thank God in the midst of a tragedy: the structural collapse of the Champlain Towers South Building? How can we be thankful when people are missing and all that might remain of them are DNA traces under the rubble? How can we be grateful when so many don’t know if their loved ones are alive or dead? [Rabbi Ben Herman]

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Jewish Religion, USA

Israeli, Mexican rescuers bring distinct experience to Miami building collapse

Published by Reuters By Daniel Trotta (Reuters) – The Israelis come trained by war. The Mexicans, by natural disaster. Search-and-rescue teams from Mexico and Israel have joined the phalanx of local firefighters and other specially trained experts combing the rubble for survivors where a residential high-rise collapsed near Miami on Thursday, killing at least nine

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USA

Therapy dogs comfort families of the missing in Miami building collapse

Published by Reuters SURFSIDE, Fla. (Reuters) – Some families of the missing at the Miami-area building collapse have found comfort in therapy dogs brought in during the agonizing wait for news. With some 150 people unaccounted for, many of whom could be buried beneath the rubble, the Boricuas de Corazon disaster relief team brought in

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USA