World News
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The real Jewish history in ‘History of the World: Part II’: Part I
Spoilers for “History of the World: Part II” follow. (JTA) – Finally fulfilling the promise Mel Brooks made in 1981, the long-belated “History Of The World: Part II” brings us … “Hitler on Ice.” For a sketch first teased during the end credits of Brooks’ film “History Of The World: Part I,” the leader of…
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The Purim story starts in fear and ends in vengeance. Can America and Israel break that cycle?
(JTA) — Many people think of Purim as a children’s holiday — unadulterated joy, fun and merriment. But I have come to see it as a profound moral commentary on what it means to hold power, and a cautionary tale about what happens when we fail to do our part to break the cycle of…
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Sarajevo Jews celebrate a second Purim. For centuries, they weren’t alone.
(JTA) — Starting tonight, many Jews around the world will celebrate Purim in the same ways: by reading the story of the heroic Queen Esther, dressing in festive costumes and drinking alcohol. For many of the 900 or so Jews in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it will be the first of two annual Purim celebrations. Since…
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Pro-Palestinian activist sentenced to 18 months for attacks on Jews in New York City
(New York Jewish Week) — A pro-Palestinian activist from Staten Island was sentenced to 18 months in prison on Friday for for attacking Jewish at protests regarding Israel Saadah Masoud, 29, was sentenced at the Federal District Court in Manhattan to one count of conspiring to commit hate crimes. The sentence is notable because most…
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The Jewish holiday of Purim has gone to the dogs
(New York Jewish Week) — The American Kennel Club’s Museum of the Dog, just two blocks south of Grand Central, can boast many things, including an extensive library about dog breeds and one of the world’s largest collections of dog-themed art. As of this past weekend, it’s also a place where dogs and their owners can…
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In Orthodox communities where women don’t read Torah, Purim offers a rare opportunity
(JTA) — When Alyza Lewin became a bat mitzvah in 1977, the fact that she had a ritual ceremony at all was still relatively revolutionary in Orthodox circles. But she took the rite of passage a step further, and did something that, for Orthodox Jews at the time, was considered the exclusive province of men.…
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‘Stop Cop City’ activists infuse Jewish rituals into their protest against Atlanta’s planned police training center
(JTA) — As the sun set on Feb. 5, signaling the start of Tu Bishvat, a group of Jews carried shovels into the South River Forest southeast of downtown Atlanta. In the day’s declining light, they planted saplings — seven paw paws, three fig and two peach — to honor the holiday, Judaism’s “new year…
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Reports: US considering denying entry to far-right Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Biden administration is considering denying entry to Bezalel Smotrich, the Israeli minister who said a West Bank village should be “wiped out,” according to multiple reports from Israeli and U.S. media. Smotrich, who is the finance minister and the minister responsible for civilian matters in the West Bank, has requested entry…
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Netanyahu government advances judicial reforms as protests intensify to include IDF reservists
(JTA) — The ninth week of protests in Israel brought hundreds of thousands of opponents to judicial reform into the streets on Saturday night, but within hours Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition advanced the legislation through the Knesset. Protests against the reforms extended to areas of Israel’s establishment where political protest was once unthinkable, including…
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Mike Bloomberg: Israel’s judicial reforms could make Brexit’s economic effects look like ‘bubkes’
(JTA) — Mike Bloomberg, the billionaire philanthropist and former New York mayor, is the latest pro-Israel stalwart to warn that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposed judicial reforms could be catastrophic. “Close allies bound together by shared values stand together in times of need — not only to support each other but to reaffirm the inviolable…
