When Tahrir was my hangout [Abroad]

By Gabriel T. Erbs November 28, 2011

As we sat drinking knock-off, yoghurt-tasting whiskey (“Johnn Walke Red Label”) and smoked hashish cigarettes, it was hard to imagine things would ever be different for Mohey and Mahmoud, our Egyptian friends who lived their whole lives under President Hosni Mubarak’s iron fist. Their rhetoric didn’t invite much room for change. They called the entire…

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#Occupy The Great Pyramid? | 20,000 Leagues From Hillel

By Carly Silver November 11, 2011

The Nile is clogged with mystery – and inaccuracy.  Today, Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities closed the Great Pyramid at Giza. According to The Jerusalem Post, “protesters said various groups, among them Jews, planned to attend a numerologist ceremony on the Giza Plateau.” Apparently, Egyptians feared that on November 11th, 2011 (11/11/11), the Jews would reclaim for…

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The Reading List: The Next Maccabeats?

By Ben Sales March 2, 2011

Better late than never: Not as good as those Hanukkah dreamboats, I think, but still fun. [Ein Prat Fountainheads] And you thought Natalie Portman couldn’t get any more amazing. [NYT] Turns out Italy isn’t as Catholic as it seems. [Pink Pangea] Where do you go if you’re a student in Egypt and things get ugly?…

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J Street Conference: Clapping for Hate?

By Ben Sales February 27, 2011

There’s a plenary going on right now at the J Street Conference that’s exploring the present democracy movements in the Middle East. Good stuff. Something everyone–and especially the peaceniks here–can get behind. The first two panelists gave unsurprising speeches supporting democracy and the peace process, which elicited some token cheers from a mostly silent crowd….

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What’s Going On With Egyptian Synagogues?

By Carly Silver February 18, 2011

Concerns have grown from the Egyptian revolutions about the country’s priceless antiquities.  Despite Zahi Hawass’s assurances that many items have remained safe, it appears much has been damaged. Egypt also has invaluable Jewish sites, like the synagogue at Alexandria, but these are not mentioned in the media as much. During all the chaos, what has…

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Reflections on Pesach

By smelamed April 6, 2010

Forgive me for my late post. You see, like my ancestors before me, I too had an arduous exodus from Egypt.  And although mine involved less wandering through the desert and more riding in buses through the desert–not to mention waiting in security lines, enduring a ‘random’ bag search, and withstanding a heart-stopping bomb scare–I…

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Egypt II

By meuriarte March 10, 2010

This is the second post of a series. To read the first post, click here. The next morning we walked passed the synagogue on our way to the main boulevard. It was an impressive cement building with a giant Magen David centered above the entrance, which had two Greek columns on either side. The temple…

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Egypt 5770 (Part I)

By meuriarte February 24, 2010

Rob, Hannah and I took turns posing in front of the “Welcome to Egypt” sign as we crossed the border.  We were on break for Sukkot and thought the best way to celebrate the exodus from Egypt was to visit Egypt. At the last of four checkpoints, the three of us conferred and decided not…

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