Judaism

Interior Minister: No recognition for Reform Movement

Interior Minister Aryeh Deri addressed a special conference of 100 Sephardic rabbis from around the world in the Knesset Tuesday. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein also participated in the conference. Deri criticized the Reform Movement during his speech. “I am asked, ‘Why fight for Jewish causes? Why don’t you make a […]

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Jewish Religion, Middle East

Menorah to be displayed at University of Alabama

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)– For the first time in its almost 200-year history, the University of Alabama will allow a Jewish student group to display a menorah on campus during the Chanukah season, December 24 through January 1. This new seasonal display demonstrates the University’s desire to create a campus life that embodies collaboration, collegiality,

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Jewish Religion, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Another familiar Hollywood face of the ’70s and ’80s has passed away

Don Calfa, the film, stage and television actor whose credits included “The Return of the Living Dead,” ”Weekend at Bernie’s” and “Barney Miller,” has died. His publicist Michael Perez tells The Associated Press that Calfa died Thursday in Palm Springs of natural causes. Calfa died two days before his 77th birthday. Watch the video RELATED:

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Obituaries & memorials, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Sammy Lee, diver who became first Asian American to win Olympic medal, dies at 96

LOS ANGELES — Sammy Lee, the son of Korean immigrants who overcame discrimination to become the first Asian American to win an Olympic medal and the first diver to win back-to-back gold medals in two different Olympics, has died. He was 96. Lee, a retired doctor, died in Newport Beach on Friday after suffering from

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Obituaries & memorials, Sports & Competitions, USA

Amazonian Jews thrive in the depths of the rainforest

Unreachable by road, the city of Iquitos must be accessed by air or boat — yet the tiny Jewish community still imports clergy and exports a love of Israel By Rich Tenorio After their ancestors journeyed across an ocean from the edge of the Sahara to the center of the Amazon, their current numbers have

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International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Travel and Food

Real challenge: Eliminate lashon hara

By Joel H. Cohen NEW YORK — The motto on a bumper sticker in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn — “Stamp Out Lashon Hara” — seemed like a wonderful idea. Curbing our “evil tongue” — ridding ourselves of the inclination, if not the desire, to gossip about, slander, defame, disparage, ridicule, belittle or simply embarrass another person — was and is certainly a

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Jewish Religion, Joel H. Cohen, USA

Senegalese sculptor Ousmane Sow dies in Dakar

Ousmane Sow, a luminary figure of African contemporary art, died early Thursday morning in Dakar. He was 81. “He takes with him the dreams and the plans that his body, too tired, did not wish to follow,” Sow’s family told Agence France-Presse. Born in the Senegalese capital of Dakar in 1935, Sow was one of

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International, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Obituaries & memorials

‘Hawaii Five-O’ Actor Daniel Dae Kim Reacts To Co-Star Keo Woolford’s Death

Yesterday was a day of loss for the cast and crew of CBS drama “Hawaii Five-O.” Keo Woolford, who played Detective James Chang on the series, passed away at the age of 49. Woolford died on Monday afternoon at Pali Momi Medical Center in Oahu, Hawaii, three days after suffering from a severe stroke, People

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Obituaries & memorials, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Chief Rabbinate and Vatican: reverse UNESCO decision

The annual meeting between the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the Vatican ended Wednesday. This year’s meeting was focused on efforts to achieve peace in light of the rising amount of violence committed in the name of religion. The statement of the ‘Joint Commission of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel’s Delegation for Relations with the

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International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East

JPPI urges fluid definition for Jewish identity

JERUSALEM (Press Release) — A new report by the Jewish People Policy Institute “Exploring the Jewish Spectrum in a Time of Fluid Identity” analyzes the changing Jewish community and sets forth concerted recommendations which can serve as points of departure for leadership deliberation. Recommendations include that Jewish communal groups work to strengthen the sense of “Jewish Peoplehood” among individuals from mixed Jewish/non-Jewish

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International, Jewish Religion, Middle East, USA