World News
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Houston Astros star Alex Bregman celebrated Hanukkah at a local synagogue
(Houston Jewish Herald-Voice via JTA) — One month after lifting the World Series trophy at Minute Maid Park, Alex Bregman was at Houston’s Congregation Beth Yeshurun lifting a candle to lead the Hanukkah blessing. On the fourth night of the holiday, the Astros star third baseman sat down with hundreds of congregants and talked about…
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Netanyahu’s new government could lose a critical constituency: American conservatives
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The op-ed was typical of the Wall Street Journal’s conservative editorial page, extolling the virtues of moderation in all things. The difference was that the author of the piece published Wednesday, Bezalel Smotrich, has a reputation for extremism, and the political landscape he was imagining is in Israel, not America. Experts who…
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Netanyahu swears in new government, giving far-right figures key roles
(JTA) — Benjamin Netanyahu completed his stunning return to power by swearing into office a historically right-wing government coalition and beginning an unprecedented sixth stint as Israeli prime minister on Thursday. After winning a decisive mandate in November elections, Netanyahu spent several weeks negotiating with figures once relegated to the far-right fringes of Israeli politics…
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The top 8 Jewish sports moments of 2022, from Sue Bird to Sandy Koufax
(JTA) — For Jewish sports fans, 2022 was a year of very high highs and particularly low lows. The fall was dominated by an antisemitism scandal involving Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving, who shared a link to an antisemitic film on Twitter and initially refused to apologize. Irving was suspended for eight games and brought…
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Jamie Raskin, Jewish Democrat who took lead in impeachment and Jan. 6 hearings, has cancer
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Jamie Raskin, the Jewish Maryland Democrat who has been a lead investigator of former President Donald Trump’s alleged responsibility for the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, announced he has a serious but curable form of cancer. “After several days of tests, I have been diagnosed with Diffuse Large…
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Meet the rabbi who is helping bring legal cannabis to New York
(New York Jewish Week) — As New York gears up for a new landscape of legal marijuana, one rabbi will bring his experience retailing weed to help others “squeeze more out of life.” Rabbi James Kahn is part of a company, “Keep It A 100,” that is one of the first to be licensed to…
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Italian Jewish leaders condemn parliament president for honoring neo-Fascist party
(JTA) — Jewish leaders in Italy had strong words for the president of the country’s parliament after he published a post on Instagram honoring the history of the Italian Social Movement, or MSI, a neo-fascist party founded in the wake of World War II. Ignazio la Russa, a senator from Cologno Monzese, a municipality in…
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In Turkey, Orthodox drama ‘Shtisel’ is being adapted for a Muslim audience
ISTANBUL (JTA) — “Shtisel,” a TV series about haredi Orthodox Jews that became an international phenomenon after Netflix picked it up in 2018, is getting a Muslim makeover for Turkish audiences, according to Turkish media. A new show titled “Ömer” has begun production and will premiere sometime in 2023 on Turkey’s STAR TV, Turkish media…
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‘Married to the Mob,’ but under a chuppah: A new memoir details a Jewish family’s crime ties
(New York Jewish Week) — The Geiks weren’t your typical Bronx working-class Jewish family. One brother ran a mob-protected trucking company in Manhattan’s Garment District. Another brother, an NYPD detective, chauffeured organized crime couriers around the city with illicit cash. Their kid sister visited a Las Vegas casino where the tween was set up with…
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Coalition deals finalized in final step before far-right Israeli government is sworn in
(JTA) — Benjamin Netanyahu has signed agreements with the leaders of three far-right political parties that, together with his own Likud party, will form the next Israeli coalition government. On Twitter, Netanyahu, the incoming prime minister, also released his own list of principles for the next government, including among them indications of the governing partners’…
