World News
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Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer Resigns
Former Israeli Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer attends a special session of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, to approve and swear in a new right-wing government, in Jerusalem, Dec. 29, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen/Pool Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who played a leading role in negotiations during the Gaza war and was a close confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, resigned…
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A young Muslim woman moved in with a 96-year-old Jewish actress – and it was bashert
For Negin Nader Bazrafkan, Yiddish lessons have been an unexpected perk of moving into her Upper West Side apartment. Her roommate — and unofficial Yiddish teacher — is 96-year-old Rebecca Schull, a retired actress best known for her roles as Fay Cochran on the sitcom Wings and as protagonist Mike Ross’ grandmother on Suits. From…
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The Gospel of Grievance — From Father Coughlin to Tucker Carlson
Tucker Carlson speaks at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, Oct. 21, 2025. Photo: Gage Skidmore/ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect There is a new digital gospel sweeping the American landscape. It preaches grievance, faith, and freedom in equal measures. Its apostles include the likes of Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Nick Fuentes, and a proliferating class…
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What Would Happen if America Turned Against Israel — and US Jews?
An Israeli flag and an American flag fly at Abu Dhabi International Airport before the arrival of Israeli and US officials, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Aug. 31, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Christoper Pike The United States is arguably Israel’s greatest friend and ally. But what if it wasn’t anymore? What would American Jews and Israel…
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Rabbi Moshe Hauer: In a World of Self-Promotion, He Chose Humility
Rabbi Moshe Hauer. Photo: Orthodox Union. For four years, my boss and mentor, Rabbi Moshe Hauer, Executive Vice President of the Orthodox Union, and I, argued about how much self-promotion is needed for a leader to make a global impact. As the leader of the Orthodox Union, representing the largest Jewish Orthodox organization in the…
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From Kaddish to Day of the Dead: What I Learned Watching Mexico’s Joyful Mourning
A Torah scroll. Photo: Wikimedia Commons. I was raised with the traditional Orthodox view that sadness and solemnity are the proper ways to treat death and mourning. In a cemetery, it is forbidden to eat or drink, to say a blessing, or to study Torah because of what’s known in Hebrew as lo’eg larash —…
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Amy Goodman has been a fearless journalist for more than four decades; she says her Jewish roots made her that way
Decades into her journalism career, Amy Goodman is not just as sharp as ever, but also in great physical shape. In the opening scene of Steal This Story, Please!, a documentary about her life, she chases P. Wells Griffith III, an international energy and climate adviser to President Donald Trump, around the 2018 United Nations…
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Gershon Weiss’ poetic surprises
פֿאַראַיאָרן האָט דער תּל־אָבֿיבֿער „ה. לייוויק־פֿאַרלאַג‟ אַרויסגעגעבן אַ לידער־זאַמלונג פֿונעם דיכטער גרשון ווײַס. דאָס בוך, „אַלט־נײַע לידער פֿאַר דעם איין־און־צוואַנציקסטן יאָרהונדערט‟, איז בלויז 28 זײַטלעך, נאָר האָט אַן אוניקאַלן טעם, באַגלייט מיט דעם מחברס אייגענע אילוסטראַציעס. ווען איך האָב צום ערשטן מאָל געעפֿנט די דאָזיקע אויסגאַבע, האָט מיך גלײַך פֿאַרחידושט דער אימאַזש, אַז דער באַראַן…
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First-ever empirical study of US rabbinate finds ‘shortage’ is more about fit than numbers
(JTA) — For years, synagogue leaders have said they can’t find enough clergy to fill their pulpits, leading to warnings of a nationwide rabbinic shortage. At the same time, openings for campus rabbis at Hillel chapters draw an average of 19 applicants each. This mismatch between what rabbis want to do and the kinds of…
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Trump formally requests pardon in Israeli legal system for Benjamin Netanyahu
(JTA) — President Donald Trump has made official a suggestion that he first issued on the floor of Israel’s parliament: that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be pardoned preemptively for his alleged crimes. Trump made the case in a letter to Israeli President Isaac Herzog that Herzog’s office released on Wednesday. In it, Trump calls…
