Obama is the best friend Israel has ever had [Decent Dissent]

By Harpo Jaeger February 8, 2012

Editor’s note: This post was written in response to an op-ed we recently published by Eliana Glogauer, an American Orthodox Jew currently in Israel for a gap year program. Neither her op-ed nor this response to it is anything but the opinion of their respective authors. Eliana Glogauer’s op-ed “Obama – Iran, not Israel, is…

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Dressing to impress in a world you don’t belong to

By pkessler February 7, 2012

The first time I was ever told the way I was dressed was inappropriate I was wearing a short sleeve t-shirt and a skirt that covered my knees. Having been raised Modern Orthodox in a Jewish day school, I thought that as far as the guidelines of modesty went I was pretty well covered. However,…

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Rabbis respond to price tag graffiti attacks; State Department issues new guidelines for tourists in Israel; Kosher Valentine’s Day; and more. [Required Reading]

By pkessler February 7, 2012

After a series of hateful “price tag” graffiti attacks in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Rabbis for Human Rights are planting trees in the village of Al Jenia, near Ramallah, in honor of Tu B’Shevat. [+972] Jason Diamond notes Fashion Week’s revival of classic ‘Ivy League’ style, and reveals the all-American preppy look’s Jewish roots….

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Meet Larry David

By lkatz February 6, 2012

Larry David, creator of Seinfeld and the star of HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm | photo by flickr user jaydedman (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Born Lawrence Eugene David, “Larry” is an American actor, writer comedian and producer. He was born on July 2, 1947 in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn where he grew up in a Jewish housing section….

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Jews and Messianics can agree on Long’s Torah debacle

By John Propper February 6, 2012

After a video of a recent service in Georgia with the controversial Bishop Eddie Long went viral, Jewish groups and bloggers were left scratching our heads and saying, “Huh?” The clip, found in last Friday’s Required Reading, featured Long being wrapped in a Torah scroll and declared “king” (though of what is unclear). There were…

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Day school decline; Madonna plays Israel; and more. [Required Reading]

By John Propper February 6, 2012

What is beautiful to the Jews? [Tablet] How should Jews respond to the work of great Western classical composers, when so much of their work is rooted in a Christian understanding of the world? Is there an “appropriate” response, or does it really even matter? David Goldman explores the relationship between a Christian conceptualization of…

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A new Torah in Atlanta; not so chosen after all; and more. [Reading List]

By John Propper February 3, 2012

Eddie Long… the new Torah? [Forward] In one of the oddest religion stories this year, Atlanta pastor Eddie Long–who recently faced accusations of child molestation, and a subsequent divorce from his wife–was recipient to a strange outpouring of affection from a self-identified Messianic Jew as part of a recent church service. The Huffington Post gave…

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Barnard College and the Case on Racism

By Carly Silver February 2, 2012

Barnard College the subject of controversy after an alleged slight to a professor with negative views on Israel | photo by Flickr user walkinggeek (CC BY 2.0) Last fall, a Barnard College professor was accused of discrimination when she allegedly steered  an Orthodox Jewish student away from taking a class taught by controversial professor Joseph…

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On Voting for an American President

By pkessler February 2, 2012

That Israel is a hot-button issue for many American Jews goes without saying. However, to those casting their votes solely on this issue, I beg you to stop and think for a second. While American support of Israel is crucial to the maintenance of a Jewish state, I do not believe in letting it cloud…

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Reform Jews on Planned Parenthood, Vote America Not Israel, Newt Gingrich on the Jews, and More. [Reading List]

By pkessler February 2, 2012

Why Israel shouldn’t be the deciding factor in the American Jewish vote. [Huffington Post] As the traditional Jewish/Democratic alignment is being challenged by those who believe that President Obama has not done enough to reaffirm American support for Israel, Brent Sasley argues for why Jews should remain in the Democratic Camp. “It would be bad…

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Editorial: ‘Tough Love’ rabbi or Teflon?

By New Voices Editorial Board February 2, 2012

The stories have circulated for years. Stories of students being slapped and others called “Nazi” or “gay.” They are shared between alumni, passed on to prospective students and discussed between parents. They’re recounted in debates at high school and college lunch tables. They have inspired their own blog, the Rav Bina Abuse Blog.

They are stories about Rav Aharon Bina, rosh hayeshiva (head of the yeshiva) at Netiv Aryeh — an all-male yeshiva in the Old City of Jerusalem and a popular destination among American Orthodox high school graduates spending a gap year in Israel before returning to America for college.

And most recently, an article published last week by The Jewish Week has ignited a debate over Rav Bina’s questionable teaching methods, for which he has become infamous.

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Jewish seminaries doing it right (and by it, I mean ‘it’) [Sex!]

By David A.M. Wilensky February 1, 2012

Big news, folks. Three American Jewish seminaries have been pronounced “sexually healthy:” Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the Reform seminary with branches in Cincinnati, New York City and Los Angeles Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, the — you guessed it — Reconstructionist seminary in Philly Jewish Theological Seminary, the Conservative seminary in New York City The Religious…

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Your (Republican?) grandparents pick Romney [Florida!]

By Zach C. Cohen February 1, 2012

The Jewish state has spoken. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney should be president. Oh, sorry, I was talking about Florida. It may not be the most Jewish state in the Union, but it’s certainly the first in this presidential primary voice to have a sizable Chosen People population choosing. The GOP’s Favorite Lukewarm Son won Florida…

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Kosher Violence, Boozing Jews, Minimalist Kippot, and More. [Reading List]

By John Propper February 1, 2012

Not so kosher after all? [Forward] Ever wondered if you were funding the violence of radical ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel? Shmarya Rosenberg is there! Rosenberg finds a link between the purchase of kosher food items in the United States and the militant, fundamentalist groups recently dominating Israel’s headlines. “Most of us do not want our…

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A thought-provoking Shabbat

By Simi Lichtman February 1, 2012

This past weekend I had one of those all-too-rare Shabbatot, where I spent the day with friends who I got to know better, and strangers who quickly became friends. Shabbat was a mixture of eating, sleeping, and long conversations where we all shared and learned from one another. It was the kind of weekend that…

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