Jewish Religion

“Yes, call me a Jew”

Historic Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia vandalized This new wave of anti-Semitism, delivered via bomb threats, cemetery vandalisms, swastika desecrations, and specific acts of violence, reawakens an old and bittersweet mantra in every Jewish soul: we are as vulnerable as we are enduring. I remember: somebody once wrote me a nasty letter after something I circulated

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Jewish History, Jewish Religion

StandWithUs publishes modern Israel Haggadah

LOS ANGELES (Press Release) — — A new Passover Haggadah is  being distributed by StandWithUs, an international Israel education organization, that emphasizes not only the themes of slavery and freedom but also underscores Jews’ 3,000-year-long connection to their ancestral homeland, Israel. The Haggadah, From Ancient Egypt to Modern Israel, is the brainchild of StandWithUs co-founder and COO, Jerry Rothstein. “According to a

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Jewish Religion, Middle East, USA

Prague synagogue gets two new Torah scrolls

Two new Torah scrolls donated to Prague’s Great Synagogue were inaugurated on Sunday during a festive ceremony. This is the first time since World War II that the Prague Jewish community received new Torah scrolls. During the Holocaust, Prague’s large Jewish community was almost completely wiped out: Prior to World War II, 125,000 Jews lived

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International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East

When the White House envoy made a minyan with the Prime Minister

White House special envoy Jason Greenblatt met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for three hours Thursday evening, the second time the two had face-to-face talks since Greenblatt arrived in Israel for a fact-finding mission earlier this week. Greenblatt also met with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin this week, and traveled to Ramallah for talks with Palestinian

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Jewish Religion, Middle East, USA

Where is the kippah? There is an answer

Commentators on social media wondered why White House special envoy Jason Greenblat did not wear a kippah (a Jewish skullcap) during his meeting with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Sunday. Orthodox Jewish men traditionally wear kippot. Greenblat studied at the Har Etzion yeshiva and attended Yeshiva University. He is a successful and respected lawyer and lives

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Jewish Religion, Middle East, USA

Leo Baeck and Jewish liberalism

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — Tucked away in a quiet Jerusalem side-street is the Leo Baeck Institute, where activities associated with the man himself and various aspects of his heritage are held, its official purpose being ‘the study of German and Central European Jewry.’ Sister institutes are to be found in cities elsewhere

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish History, Jewish Religion

Five megillot are examined in ‘Textual Tapestries’

Textual Tapestries: Explorations of the Five Megillot by Gabriel H Cohn (Translated from the Hebrew by David Strauss), Maggid Books, New Milford, CT, © 2016, ISBN 978-1-59264-398-1, p. 433, $29.95 By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California – The Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, is divided into three broad sections: Torah, the Five Books of Moses; Nevi’im, the prophets;

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