World News
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Jewish Rep. Steve Cohen will not run for reelection after Tennessee GOP redraws his district
(JTA) — Rep. Steve Cohen, the Jewish Democrat from Tennessee at the center of a controversial Republican-led redistricting push, announced Friday that he will not seek reelection. In his press conference announcing his decision, the congressman also took a swipe at a Republican rival for referring to him as “an old, white Jewish guy.” Cohen,…
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Piers Morgan is what’s wrong with media coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — and I can’t stop watching him
Piers Morgan’s online debate about Nicholas Kristof’s New York Times op-ed containing allegations of Israeli dog rape was loud, chaotic and unenlightening — and I couldn’t stop watching it. That’s a problem. Morgan’s format is a trap. On his YouTube talk show, Piers Morgan Uncensored, he pits people holding intransigent, often extreme positions against each…
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The Jewish secret to affordable eyewear that isn’t so secret anymore
The business cards on the counter at Minzer’s Optical proclaim “45 years of 15-minute service.” If your wait drags on for longer than 15 minutes, you can pick up one of the prayer books that line a shelf beneath the counter. But there’s no need to pray that your eyeglasses won’t cost you an arm…
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The profound internal contradiction that could spell doom for Hillel
Shortly after I graduated from Swarthmore College, it became the first campus to formally break with Hillel International. The campus Jewish organization began, instead, to call themselves an “Open Hillel,” then rebranded entirely after the parent organization threatened legal action over a civil rights panel it deemed too critical of Israel. Swarthmore Jewish students lost…
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When the 92nd Street Y was a hub for Black innovation in dance
Last week I was permitted a moment of naches. My friend and classmate Rennie McDougall published his first book, Nonstop Bodies: How Dance Shaped New York City. The book, a whirlwind tour of the 20th Century from Flo Ziegfeld’s chorus line and social dances at the Savoy Ballroom to the edge of the millennium coming…
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He may be country music royalty, but his heart belongs to Leonard Cohen
From the beginning of his career, Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell has been solidly ensconced in country music. He won a Grammy for Best Country Song for “After All This Time” in 1989, and one for Best Americana Album for Old Yellow Moon, a duet album recorded with his then ex-wife, Emmylou Harris, in 2014.…
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Amid Jerusalem’s Flag March, police remove activists aiding Palestinians
Left-wing peace activists say they were forcibly removed by Israeli police while attempting to protect Palestinian residents in the Old City of Jerusalem during Israel’s annual Flag March on Thursday. The march commemorates Jerusalem Day, a holiday marking Israel’s capture of East Jerusalem during the 1967 war. While the holiday has been celebrated in Israel…
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I run The Jewish Theological Seminary. Here’s the real story about President Isaac Herzog speaking at our commencement
Because there have been many public misstatements and mischaracterizations, I believe it is incumbent on me as chancellor of The Jewish Theological Seminary to clarify the facts about our invitation to Israeli President Isaac Herzog to serve as our commencement speaker this year. Herzog’s leadership and public service reflect the core principles and values that…
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Outrage over Nicholas Kristof’s op-ed on sexual assault of Palestinians is missing the point
Sexual violence is wrong, and carefully researched reports of sexual violence should be taken seriously, regardless of the nationality of the reported perpetrators. There should be no reason for me to write that obvious sentence. This week has given me two: the backlash against a Nicholas Kristof New York Times essay alleging widespread sexual abuse…
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Why do some people think Mike Lawler is Jewish?
For Rep. Mike Lawler, a practicing Catholic, the antisemitic insult hurled at him this week was not just a ugly political attack by an intoxicated political scion. It highlighted how closely the Hudson Valley Republican has become linked to New York’s Jewish community because of the district he represents, the relationships he has built and…
