Palestinian prisoners escape from maximum security Israeli jail

Published by DPA Six convicted Palestinian prisoners escaped from an Israeli prison late on Sunday. The Israeli military, along with the country’s Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency and police, are now searching for the escapees, the military tweeted on Monday. The prisoners escaped through a tunnel from the Gilboa maximum security prison in the north […]

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Middle East

Natalie Portman rediscovered the ‘joy’ of beauty in lockdown

Published by BANG Showbiz English Natalie Portman rediscovered her love of make-up in lockdown. The face of Miss Dior fragrance has admitted she never “felt special or luxurious” getting her glam done because it was just work to her, but since the COVID-19 pandemic, she’s loved doing her own make-up to bring herself “joy”. Speaking

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Jewish Celebrities

Biography Tells of Jewish Family’s Holocaust Survival in the Forest

Meticulous research documents the lives of the Rabinowitz family in small town Poland; their suffering after the Nazis invaded; their miraculous escape to the forest, where they survived in hiding for several years; their post-war relocation to Italy, while awaiting permission to immigrate to Palestine; their decision to move instead to the United States; their lives in Connecticut; and the marriage of daughter Ruth to a future rabbi, from whom author Rebecca Frankel received her Jewish education. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, USA

Howie Mandel ‘teetering’ on depression

Published by BANG Showbiz English Howie Mandel is “teetering” on the brink of depression. The ‘America’s Got Talent’ judge has spoken openly over the years about his struggles with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and how he is a “world-renowned germophobe” so he admitted he’s found living life amid the coronavirus pandemic difficult. He said: “People

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Jewish Celebrities

Koren Publishes New Version of the Tanakh

Koren Publishers Jerusalem has just published an excellent single 2033 page volume of the entire Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh, with the beautiful classic Koren Hebrew font and a new, modern, readable translation of the Torah, Prophets, and Writings by the recently deceased Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, and other scholars. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion

Jewish Trivia Quiz: Rosh Hashanah 5782

Some Sephardic and Mizrachi communities have traditionally included a seder as part of their Rosh Hashanah celebration. The tradition comes from the Talmud, Horayot 12a, where Abaye suggests that people should eat a variety of foods, including pumpkins, leaks, and dates. What else is traditionally included on the Rosh Hashanah seder plate, and why? [Mark D. Zimmerman]

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Jewish Religion, Mark D. Zimmerman, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Surveying Israeli Developments on the Cusp of the New Year

The country proceeds, also more or less well. Lots of arguments and demonstrations. Major hospitals were on a Sabbath schedule, turning away some patients, claiming that the Finance Ministry hadn’t come through with the money promised. Now that seems to have been solved, with yet another promise from the Finance Ministry. And we’re waiting on the passage of a national budget. We’ve not had one for some three years, and this government will expire if one is not passed in a month or so. With a Knesset majority of one vote, it is dependent on full cooperation. That empowers each Knesset Member to have considerable leverage, to get what he/she wants, or to vote no, abstain, or be conveniently absent from the voting. So far, the Knesset has passed a budget with one vote. Now it’s waiting for two more votes. [Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D]

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

Palestinianism and the New Antisemitism

A recent survey conducted by Alums for Campus Fairness, “A Growing Threat: Antisemitism on College Campuses,” asked some 500 Jewish-affiliated college students and recent alumni what their perceptions were regarding campus antisemitism. The findings of the survey were troubling, given that: “Nearly 100% of respondents said antisemitism is/was a problem on their campus,” “95% of respondents identified antisemitism as a problem on U.S. college campuses, with three out of four describing it as a ‘very serious problem,’” almost “half of current students say antisemitism is getting worse on their campus,” and “69% of students and grads say they have avoided certain places, events, or situations at school because they are Jewish.” [Richard L. Cravatts, Ph.D]

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Middle East, Richard L. Cravatts, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA