Posts in Jewish
How Schumer Persuaded Speaker Johnson To Pass Foreign Aid Bill

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the recent bipartisan passage of a $14.3 billion military aid bill to Israel, without imposing any conditions, a “great victory” for the Jewish state. In an exclusive interview, Schumer said he dedicated significant time to discussions with House Speaker Johnson, emphasizing the importance of passing the comprehensive foreign aid package, crucial for Israel’s defense.

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Israelis See Antisemitism — And Foreign Interests — Behind US campus protests

News about the demonstrations spreading at colleges in the United States has been dominating the headlines here. All of the 21 Israeli Jews we spoke with perceive protesters’ rally cries as attacks on Jews writ large. Most also said, without evidence, that American college kids are being manipulated, if not also paid, by Hamas, Qatar, Iraq or China to undermine Israel and Jews.

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Christian Activists Stage ‘United for Israel March’ At Columbia University

As pro-Palestinian protests spread to college campuses across America and around the world, three conservative Christian activists staged a “United for Israel March” at Columbia University on Friday night. The group of a few dozen people carrying American and Israel flags gathering before marching to Columbia’s gate, accompanied by a snare drum.

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How Passover Haggadahs — And Their art — Have Been Evolving For Centuries

The Jewish festival of Passover recalls the biblical story of the Israelites enslaved by Egypt and their miraculous escape. During a ritual feast known as a Seder, families celebrate this ancient story of deliverance, with each new generation reminded to never take freedom for granted. Every year, a written guide known as a “Haggadah” is read at the Seder table.

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Campus Chaos: Columbia Goes Remote After Protests Intimidate Jewish Students

Columbia University’s president canceled all in-person classes and urged faculty and students who do not live on campus to stay away, after a weekend of anti-Israel protests swelled and included threatening messages to the school’s large Jewish student population. The extraordinary move was announced in an early-morning Monday email.

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Jewish Students Advised To Leave Columbia’s Campus Amid Protests

Jewish students concerned about their safety amid a new wave of anti-war protests at Columbia University received mixed messages on Sunday about staying on campus during the holiday of Passover. Rabbi Elie Buechler, who leads the Orthodox Union’s Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus at Columbia and Barnard, advised students to return home until it is safe for them to be on campus again.

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Israel Sends A Message To Iran, But Tensions Not Likely to Escalate

(OPINION) Is the conflict between Israel and Iran about to explode? Are we on the edge of World War III, if not Armageddon? The answer to all these questions is the same: not likely. But in saying this I do not claim supernatural, prophetic insight.

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What Houdini, Coney Island And Space Aliens Have To Do With The Book Of Exodus

Every year at Passover we are commanded to imagine ourselves leaving Egypt — Joel Silverstein painted himself into the picture. In “The Brighton Beach Bible” — an art book with narrative commentary — Silverstein envisions the boardwalks and abandoned attractions of his childhood in Brooklyn as the staging ground for the Exodus and 40 years in the wilderness.

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After A Sleepless Night, Israelis Anxiously Wonder ‘What Happens Next?’

Sunday is the start of the Israeli workweek, but schools and many government offices were closed for the day. This cosmopolitan city’s typically crowded light rail was sparse and remarkably silent, with the few passengers glued to their smartphones looking for answers nobody could seem to find. 

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Hillel Revamps College Guide For Jewish Students In Response To Campus Turmoil

Amid what many consider an increasingly hostile climate for Jewish students on campus, Hillel has updated its college guide, including a new feature that indicates whether students at a particular school have held a vote to boycott Israel.

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Online Jewish Salon Hopes Conversation Has The Power To Heal

When Jews gather around their Passover seder tables on April 22, most will read in the hagaddah prayerbook a simple tale of four children who are tasked with learning of the Jewish exodus from slavery in ancient Egypt: The wise child, the wicked child, the simple child, and the child who does not know how to ask.

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‘Judaism Is About Love’ Shatters Stereotypes And Addresses Jewish-Christian Relations

(ANALYSIS) “Judaism Is About Love” is a new book that thoroughly and poetically shatters the misconception that the God of the Hebrew Bible is about law, while the God of the New Testament is about love. As a result, it creates healthy parameters for disagreement between Jewish and Christian believers.

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Jewish Plaintiffs Claim Religious Exemption To Indiana Abortion Ban

Hoosier Jews for Choice and four others can proceed in a class action challenge to Indiana’s abortion ban, claiming it violates their individual rights under the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), an appeals court has ruled.

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A Scandalous NBA Rivalry Among Jewish Team Owners Is Taking Shape

(ANALYSIS) Fourteen of the NBA’s 30 franchise owners are Jewish. Two of them absolutely despise each other. And it has nothing to do with basketball. Instead, it’s about … mortgages? The rivalry between Mat Ishbia, owner of the Phoenix Suns, and Dan Gilbert, owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, dates to long before Ishbia bought the Suns in 2022.

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On Religion: Faith And Politics In The Life Of Sen. Joe Lieberman

(ANALYSIS) Sen. Joe Lieberman died on March 27 at age 82, ending a career defined as much by his life as an Orthodox Jew as by his attempts to remain a centrist as Democrats kept moving to the cultural left. While voting with his party on issues such as abortion, gun control and gay rights, he was a strong supporter of religious liberty — including for conservatives who frequently clashed with his party.

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Majority Of Americans Say Jews And Muslims Face Rising Discrimination

Many Americans particularly sense that discrimination against Muslims and Jews has risen since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. The vast majority of U.S. Muslims and Jews agree: 7 in 10 Muslims and 9 in 10 Jews surveyed said they have felt an increase in discrimination against their respective groups since the war began last October.

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At Eastertime, Gaza’s Christians ‘No Longer Have The Energy To Suffer’

As Christians approach Easter, Baptists sheltered in the remnants of Gaza Baptist Church are so worn out they “no longer have the energy to suffer,” a leader there told the Christian Mission to Gaza. At the same time, Israel Defense Forces have decreased their attacks on Gaza in recent days.

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Joe Lieberman’s Rabbi On The Senator Who Was ‘One Of Us’

When Rabbi Daniel Cohen was writing his book about courage, he couldn’t think of a better subject for a chapter than his congregant, Sen. Joseph Lieberman. Lieberman, who died Wednesday at 82, eventually wrote the foreword for the book, “What Will They Say About You When You’re Gone?”

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Israel’s Purim Festivals Feature Glee And Despair Amid Ongoing War

The Purim festivities in Israel this year were tinged with a schizophrenic twinning of glee and despair. Adding to the dismal mood was intermittent rain and a drizzle of rockets from Lebanon. Many celebrants experienced cognitive dissonance in marking the foiling of a genocidal plan in ancient Persia while a bloody war is raging today in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

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