Judaism

British PM hosts Rosh Hashana celebration

British PM Theresa May yesterday hosted a reception at the United Kingdom’s government headquarters, celebrating Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year) with leaders of the United Kingdom”s Jewish community. This year, Rosh Hashana begins on September 20 at sundown, and ends on September 22 after nightfall. In her speech, May reiterated her support for the Jewish […]

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International, Jewish Religion, Middle East

‘180 Degrees’ tells of returns to Judaism

180 Degrees: 25 Amazing True Stories… That Caused a Turning Point in People’s Lives by Abraham Leib Berenstein, Feldheim Publishers, Nanuet, NY, © 2017, ISBN 978-1-68025-293-4, p. 340, plus a list of benefactors, $22.99 By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California – The Jewish High Holidays, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, are perceived by Jews as a time

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion

Family challenges fate of Swedish WWII hero Raoul Wallenberg in court

More than 72 years after the disappearance of a young Swedish diplomat who saved tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews from the Nazis, his family is going to court to challenge Russia’s claims of how World War II hero Raoul Wallenberg ended his days. The first hearing in the case is set to take place

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International, Jewish History

Obama Leads Tributes to Edith Windsor

Former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton led tributes following the death of LGBT rights campaigner Edith Windsor, 88, whose lawsuit led to the federal recognition of equal rights for same-sex couples. “America’s long journey towards equality has been guided by countless small acts of persistence, and fueled by the stubborn willingness of quiet heroes

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Obituaries & memorials, USA

Israeli MP quits under fire after attending gay wedding

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish Israeli lawmaker quit his seat on Wednesday under fire from religious colleagues and rabbis for attending a gay relative’s wedding, his daughter said. Yigal Guetta recently told a radio interviewer about the marriage of his nephew, which took place two years ago but still brought a harsh reaction from prominent rabbis, local

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Jewish Religion, Middle East

Israeli courts protect country’s founding values

By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–In view of recent decisions by Israel’s Supreme Court, citizens may have a point when they ask, “Who’s really running the country, the Knesset or the Supreme Court?” Two Court decisions published earlier this week come especially to mind: the Supreme Court’s opinion that (1) the government has no right to

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Jewish Religion, Middle East

German court drops case against ailing Auschwitz medic

A German court on Tuesday said it had dropped a case against a 96-year-old former medical orderly at the Auschwitz death camp because he suffers from dementia, ending one of the last high-profile Nazi prosecutions. Wheelchair-bound Hubert Zafke had faced 3,681 counts of being an accessory to murder at the concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland.

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International, Jewish History

Sderot municipality fines over ‘Shabbat sirens’

A few hours after a Chabad man in Herzliya was fined 730 shekels for helping passersby put on tefillin, a Sderot resident received a fine for activating “Shabbat sirens” near the city’s “Ha’ari Hakadosh” synagogue. “Shabbat sirens” are either music or an actual siren, sounded twenty minutes and five minutes before the start of Shabbat

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Jewish Religion, Middle East

Boxing world in mourning as a former champ and Hall of Famer has passed away

Ultiminio “Sugar” Ramos, a featherweight champion whose diminutive sized masked a giant punch, died Sunday in Mexico City. He was 75. #RIP Sugar Ramos, great @WBCBoxing featherweight champ. Won title @Dodgers stadium, battled Raul Rojas, Mando Ramos in ’70 @olympicaud pic.twitter.com/ZCbFKpWCRV — OlympicAuditorium (@olympicaud) September 4, 2017 Ramos’ career saw great success and tragedy. He

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International, Obituaries & memorials, Sports & Competitions

Shelley Berman, pioneering stand-up (or sit-down) comedian, dies at 92

LOS ANGELES — Shelley Berman, who tapped into the neuroses and frustrations of post-World War II America and brought an actor’s sensibility to his monologues to become one of the top comedians of the late 1950s and early ’60s, died Friday at his home near Thousand Oaks. Berman, who acted throughout his career and had

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Obituaries & memorials, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA