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June 27, 2012
Opinion: Will your great-grandchildren be Jewish?
The just-released Jewish Community Study of New York: 2011 clearly shows that the Jewish population decline in New York has been stemmed by large numbers of babies born to Orthodox families in America. The heroic fertility and educational efforts of Orthodox Jews — sometimes to the point of actual impoverishment — is legendary. Ironically, it is historically the Conservative and Reform Jewish movements that have unintentionally benefited from this Orthodox Jewish investment.
Is All of Jewish Leadership Work Holy? The Notion of Meta-Holiness!
Opinion: Islam navigates the shoals of extremism
Which is the more serious problem today: Islamic extremism or anti-Islamic bigotry? The latest contribution to this debate comes from The Nation, the leading magazine of America’s left, in its current special edition on “Islamophobia: Anatomy of an American Panic.” Its articles address a real and serious issue — but they also illustrate the pitfalls of ignoring its other side.
John and Paul, still alive
Last week, I started writing a column about John Sullivan, a former drug and alcohol addict who restarted his life, thanks to Beit T’Shuvah. But then I got interrupted by another great story, in a documentary called “Paul Williams: Still Alive,” directed by my friend Steve Kessler. I wasn’t planning to write about the film — until I saw a packed house at the Nuart on Saturday night give it a standing ovation.
Dybbuks, demons and exorcism in Judaism
Rabbi Isaac Luria, one of the greatest of Jewish mystics, would walk in the hills of 16th century Safed and point out to his students the souls of the dead, often standing on their graves. In the same city at the same time, the great legal scholar Joseph Karo, author of the Shulchan Aruch, the great code of Jewish Law, was composing another book dictated to him by an angel.
Syrian minister: Thought downed Turkish plane was Israeli
Syria shot down a Turkish plane believing it was an Israeli plane, a Syrian government minister said.
Opinion: Crafting a Holocaust insurance solution that works
There is a solution to get us beyond the seemingly endless stalemates and complications that continue to characterize the ongoing debate over Holocaust-era insurance claims. And I do not believe it can be found in the well-intentioned bill before the U.S. Congress.
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Proud Jews, Despite Everything
ADL, Brandeis Center File Complaints Against Occidental, Pomona College Over Antisemitism
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