World News
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The Hanukkah merch market has exploded. But are Jews feeling more represented?
(JTA) — It was early November when Nicholas Wymer-Santiago walked into his local Target in Austin, Texas, and realized it was beginning to feel a lot like Hanukkah. Instead of an endcap with a limited array of Hanukkah basics, as he had seen in past years, there stretched out a whole aisle of holiday products: pillows;…
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Biden task force to draft strategy for fighting antisemitism
WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Joe Biden has set up an interagency task force to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia and has set as its first task coming up with a strategy to tackle antisemitism. “This strategy will raise understanding about antisemitism and the threat it poses to the Jewish community and all Americans, address antisemitic harassment…
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He’Brew maker Shmaltz Brewing relaunches with new owner: a rabbinical student
(JTA) — It seemed like the last keg had been tapped for Shmaltz Brewing Company, until a rabbi-in-training stepped in for a Jewish renewal project. The Jewish craft beer label, best known for its He’Brew: The Chosen Beer line of drinks, shut down last year after 25 years when its founder, Jeremy Cowan, said he…
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As landmark Saul Bellow documentary premieres, a look back at his life through the JTA archive
(JTA) — Given his place in the international literary canon, it’s hard to believe that there has never been a widely-released documentary made about the Jewish Nobel Prize winner Saul Bellow. That’s about to change, as PBS debuts “American Masters: The Adventures of Saul Bellow” on Monday night. The documentary, which was filmed by Israeli…
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Gov. Hochul announces new unit to battle hate crimes at antisemitism summit
(New York Jewish Week) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a new “hate and bias prevention unit” to combat antisemitism and other forms of hate on Monday. The unit will include public education and outreach efforts, a “rapid response team” to assist communities affected by a bias or hate incident, and regional councils where community…
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10 treasures from the New York Public Library’s 125-year-old Jewish collection
(New York Jewish Week) – In the heart of Manhattan, you can page through the Passover story in an Italian haggadah from half a century ago, check out the posters for the most popular Yiddish plays of the 1920s and examine dried flower arrangements from the Holy Land made at the end of the 19th…
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Lord David Young, British-Jewish politician and favorite fixer for Margaret Thatcher, dies at 90
(JTA) — Lord David Young, a British-Jewish member of the House of Lords who advised Conservative governments in the United Kingdom from Margaret Thatcher to David Cameron died on Thursday at the age of 90. Young also worked as a businessman and ran Jewish charities before and after becoming a favorite fixer for Thatcher in…
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Denver drops drug charges against ‘mushroom rabbi’ who promotes religious psychedelic use
(JTA) — A Denver rabbi who promotes psychedelic use as part of spiritual practice will no longer face prosecution after Coloradans voted last month to legalize psilocybin, the chemical compound found in psychedelic mushrooms. Denver’s district attorney’s office announced last week that it was dropping charges against Ben Gorelick, the founder of Sacred Tribe, a…
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Rachel Freier is one unusual woman: civil court judge, parademic, Hasid and mother of 6
Rachel “Ruchie” Freier was the first Hasidic woman to be elected a civil court judge in New York. That is just one of many accomplishments for this mother of six who blows away preconceived ideas about what religious Jews can accomplish in the secular world. Freier also formed B’Derech, a nonprofit that helps provide education…
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Winnipeg Jews trace their ethnic origins to a lot of different places
By BERNIE BELLAN In other article on this website I’ve been delving into results of the 2021 census. That census stands apart from all previous censuses in the way it asked the question about ethnic origin. As I noted in my article in the Nov. 9 issue, the question about ethnic origin was the same…
