World News
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In a twist, German rabbi at scandal’s center cedes rabbinical school ownership to Berlin Jews
(JTA) — In a shocking development, the embattled founder of Germany’s non-Orthodox rabbinical schools has relinquished his ownership stake in them to the Jewish Community of Berlin. The 25,000 euro transaction means that Rabbi Walter Homolka is no longer in control of the Reform Abraham Geiger College and the Conservative Zacharias Frankel College at the…
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How Jewish New York is spending Martin Luther King Day this year
(New York Jewish Week) – This weekend honors the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Jewish communities around the city are using the opportunity to discuss Judaism’s relationship with social justice and the African-American community, and to organize volunteering events. The New York Jewish Week has gathered a list of Jewish…
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Turner Classic Movies is airing a ‘Jewish Experience’ series of films this month
(JTA) — Turner Classic Movies admits that capturing the “Jewish experience” in a series of films is a daunting task, but the network is attempting to do so anyway. Every Thursday night in January, the channel is showing movies spanning from the 1930s through the 1990s on the theme. According to an article on the…
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Shalom, Slurpee: Israel gets its first 7-Eleven in convenience store chain’s planned wave
(JTA) — Yoav Silberstein, 16, waited an hour and a half to get into 7-Eleven’s new flagship — and so far only — store in Israel. Located in the heart of Tel Aviv in Dizengoff Center, the store opening on Wednesday attracted throngs of mostly teenagers hoping to get a taste of America in the…
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A new translation of Franz Kafka’s diaries restores much of his Jewish musings
(JTA) – Franz Kafka was a devotee of Yiddish theater, fell in love with his Hebrew teacher and once encountered the owner of a brothel he frequented in synagogue on Yom Kippur. The broad strokes of Kafka’s biography have long been known to historians, but a new English translation of the Czech author’s complete and…
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British parliament member booted from Conservative Party after comparing COVID-19 vaccination to Holocaust
(JTA) — Andrew Bridgen, a member of British Parliament, has been booted from the Conservative Party after calling COVID-19 vaccination in the United Kingdom “the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust” in a tweet on Wednesday. Starting on Tuesday, Bridgen has already been serving a five-day suspension from parliament for a breach of lobbying…
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This year’s ‘Jewish Nobel’ is a group prize, going to Jewish activists in Ukraine
(JTA) — A prize established to honor a single inspiring Jew with a lifetime of achievements has been awarded this year to a nameless group whose work is ongoing: Jewish activists in war-ravaged Ukraine. The Genesis Prize Foundation said the war in Ukraine required a change in the approach it has taken since creating the…
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A Jewish governor needed a Hebrew Bible to be sworn in. Jewish educators came to his rescue.
(JTA) — A conference of Jewish educators became first responders of sorts when Colorado Gov. Jared Polis had an emergency: The Jewish Democrat was about to be sworn in for a second term and he couldn’t find his Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible. It ended well — “when looking for a Tanakh, there’s never one too…
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How to find newly released Israeli immigration records from 1919 onward
(JTA) — The genealogy website MyHeritage posted 1.7 million Israeli immigration records online this week, making accessible a trove of ship and plane passenger lists stored in bound tomes at the Israel State Archives. The records cover arrivals to the country for about 60 years starting in 1919. They include details such as the name…
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Legendary Jewish tennis champion Dick Savitt dies at 95
(JTA) — Dick Savitt, the Jewish tennis champion who won both the Australian Open and Wimbledon Championships in 1951, died Jan. 6 at 95 at his home in New York. He was the first Jewish athlete to win either tournament. A native of Bayonne, New Jersey, Savitt never took a tennis lesson — his primary…
