World News
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You don’t need to be religious to enjoy the weekly Torah portion
Every shabbos, Jews in synagogues of all denominations hear the cantor, rabbi or a layperson chant that week’s Torah portion from an open scroll. But Yiddish scholar Sheva Zucker says you don’t need to be an observant Jew, or even believe in God, to enjoy the weekly Torah portion, known in Yiddish as the parshe…
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‘Why do we have to waste a few weeks?’: Satmar rabbi congratulates Mamdani during Williamsburg sukkah hop
This piece first ran as part of The Countdown, our daily newsletter rounding up all the developments in the New York City mayor’s race. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. There are 25 days to the election. Mamdani on tour Zohran Mamdani met with Orthodox Jewish leaders at their sukkahs in Williamsburg…
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Palestinian Authority Slams Trump as ‘Criminal’ and ‘Unstable’ as He Tries to Help Bring Peace
US President Donald Trump gestures during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, Aug. 26, 2025. Photo: Jonathan Ernst via Reuters Connect President Donald Trump has gone to great lengths to improve the lives of Palestinians. He has invested tremendous political and financial capital to genuinely attempt to give Palestinians a…
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Will the Release of the Hostages Be the Next Phase of Our Renewal?
Israeli protestors take part in a rally demanding the immediate release of the hostages kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, and the end of war in Gaza, in Jerusalem September 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun With all the talk of “deals” and “final phases,” it feels a world away…
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Two Years Since Oct. 7: A World That Lost Its Moral Compass
People react near the scene, after an attack in which a car was driven at pedestrians and stabbings were reported at a synagogue in north Manchester, Britain, on Yom Kippur, Oct. 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Phil Noble Two years have passed since October 7, 2023 — a day of unspeakable horror for Israel and the Jewish…
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Pro-Palestinian LA Times Heiress Seizes Left-Wing Outlet to Push Agenda
May 1, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; A flag is waved during a sit-in outside of a pro-Palestinian encampment at the campus of UCLA. Violence broke out early in the morning at the encampment, hours after the university declared that the camp “is unlawful and violates university policy.” Photo: USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect.…
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Satire on ‘Saturday Night Live’ used to be a deadly weapon; is it still enough in the Trump era?
A funny thing happened when I went to Austin last week. My youngest child, Basil, a junior at the University of Texas, and I paid a visit to the university’s Harry Ransom Center.The crown jewel of UT, the Center is named after its founder, Harry Huntt Ransom, who began as a professor of English at…
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The Spanish and Portuguese Sukkah
15-year-old Adin Stanleigh cleans palm branches used to cover a sukkah, or ritual booth, used during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, in Jerusalem, Israel, Oct. 11, 2019. Photo: Reuters / Ronen Zvulun. I live on the 30th floor with no balcony or courtyard below. The possibility of building a Sukkah of my own is zero.…
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Squeezed out in Gaza, PA’s Abbas embraces Israeli peace activists in Ramallah
(JTA) — RAMALLAH, West Bank — As a teacher at a school in the Galilee in northern Israel, peace activist Shoshana Lavan says students often told her during the war, “Don’t talk to me about peace.” But just hours after a ceasefire agreement was reached between Israel and Hamas, she was beaming with hope. “I…
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Trump plans Israel trip as IDF withdrawal in Gaza triggers 72-hour clock for hostage release
(JTA) — President Donald Trump says he is planning to head to Israel to mark the ceasefire deal he brokered in the Gaza war. The Israeli government officially approved the agreement late Thursday, triggering a 72-hour clock for the return of the 48 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Of them, 20 are presumed to…
