The Haredim Meme [Humor]

By John Propper April 30, 2012

You may not have heard, but there’s this new thing all the hip kids are using now, called the Internet. It’s the only place you can find bigfoot porn and chinchillas playing piano seconds apart from each other. And there are useful, sane things too. For instance, we can do all our banking online, learn a new…

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Haredi Jews vs. the Internet; formerly ‘frum’ and looking for love; and more. [Required Reading]

By John Propper April 30, 2012

Off the path, on the prowl [Slate] This might be the most fascinating article about former Orthodox Jews learning to navigate the complicated waters of love, lust, and being around… “the rest of us.” (Plus, the title is a winner; just click and see what we mean.) Meet Israel Irenstein, coach to the socially awkward, no-longer-frum….

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Torah and modern activism; don’t pray the gay away; and more. [Required Reading]

By John Propper February 27, 2012

Israel has more non-orthodox Jews than Haredim, study finds [Jewish Journal] A recent study demonstrates that Israel’s Conservative and Reform populations appear greater in number than that of its Haredim (ultra-orthodox), though not by much. Could this knowledge spell a shift in representation for an Israeli population that doesn’t seem to make as much political…

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Sabra League Baseball [Global Jewish Voice]

By Gabriel T. Erbs November 24, 2011

Israel may field a baseball team for the next World Baseball Classic. Can you say ק-ו-פ-ק-ס ? The latest from the Global Jewish Voice: Sabra League Baseball By Gabriel T. Erbs in Portland Citing a recent ESPN article, Heeb Magazine reported that a slew of former MLB players met with Israeli baseball officials to discuss the potential of an…

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The Reading List: Selling Used Laptops to Pay for Jewish Day School

By Ben Sales February 14, 2011

That’s exactly what the Brisker Institute of Torah uMaddah in Buford, Montana is doing to offset tuition costs. [Frum Satire] Haredi control over Israel’s immigration grows. [JW] Some commentary on Malcolm Gladwell’s parsing of YU’s Us News ranking in the New Yorker. [Tzvee’s Talmudic Blog] A Jewish-Arab coexistence school in Israel is failing. [YNet] Regardless…

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The Reading List: Texas Christian Jews

By Ben Sales December 29, 2010

Several dozen Jewish students are going to the Rose Bowl to cheer on their school: Texas Christian University. [JTA] American students studying abroad in Israel live in a bubble. [JW] Apparently, my Jewish high school has raised $20 million in one month to build a new building. [Chicago Tribune] Protests grow against the Haredim in…

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The Reading List: Columbia J-Street U group did withdraw sponsorship of Ging event

By Ben Sales November 18, 2010

According to a Forward article, J Street U affiliate Just Peace did withdraw its sponsorship of UNRWA Gaza Director John Ging’s speech at Columbia. [Forward] Call me cheesy, but I think this is what we need in order to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. [Indexed] Volunteering, conviction and partying: 600 students at the GA. [JTA Telegraph]…

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The Reading List: Can a Shabbat Dinner Go By Without People Gettin’ Crunked?

By Ben Sales November 17, 2010

Observant Jewish students may not go out on Friday night, but that doesn’t mean they stay sober. [Mitzpeh] Another from UMD’s JewPaper: You can’t have a college party without beer, but is that beer kosher? [Mitzpeh] In Toronto, the rabbi of a community Jewish high school refused bribes to persuade students to study at a…

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The Reading List: Party like a Jew

By Ben Sales November 11, 2010

What should Jewish students who visit Brussels do? Apparently, they should celebrate Shabbat, tour the city and then get down.  [JPost] The kollel stipend protests continue… [JPost] While at Arizona State University, students protest IDF soldiers. [Mondoweiss] And at the University of South Carolina, the administration plans to revise the school’s discrimination policy, which could affect…

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The Reading List: Gentile (and some Jewish) comedians love AJWS

By Ben Sales October 29, 2010

Everyone from Tracy Morgan to Triumph the Insult Comedy Dog loves the Jewish international aid group. [AJWSTV] Meanwhile, two Pakistani-American Muslim students are going all over their campuses to promote dialogue and understanding between Muslims and Jews. [Forward] The Israeli university students’ protest of the yeshiva stipends bill continues… [JTA] A Jewish college basketball coach…

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Reading List: Even Religious Kids Light Up

By jmerkin October 27, 2010

Even the MOrthos engage in cannabis creations in Berkeley. [Tablet] New federal guidelines may protect Jewish college students against bullying. [Baltimore Jewish Times] StandWithUs launches a special password-protected website to help students fight campus BDS campaigns. [JTA] IDF soldiers find a new war: convincing U.S. college students that the Israeli-Arab conflict is not black-and-white. [JW] In…

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The Reading List: That hard, hard kosher salami

By Ben Sales October 14, 2010

This has been all over the internet during the past twelve or so hours, but here’s the priceless quote from Haredi Rabbi Yehuda Levin, who ended his support of New York Republican nut case/candidate for governor Carl Paladino after Paladino apologized for his homophobic remarks: “I was in the middle of eating a kosher pastrami…

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The Reading List: Invading Poland is so cliche

By Ben Sales September 3, 2010

How do cultural elitism and racial elitism relate? The above comic, surprisingly enough, is not a Heeb original, but they roll with it anyway, giving some more examples of the intersection between fashion and fascism. [Heeb] But who knows what will happen to all the Jewish hipsters, not to mention Woody Allen and Michael Bloomberg,…

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Where is the love?

By eweiss July 13, 2010

At least there is some good news today. There is obviously no Zionist conspiracy to run the world. Given the division in the Jewish community, it’s unlikely the community can agree on who a Jew even is, and the meaning of Judaism. With assimilation  at an all time high, one would think the Orthodox world…

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The Cab Ride Through Hell

By smelamed May 17, 2010

Drawing swastikas. Committing arson. Rioting en masse. Just another day in the Palestinian Territories, na’chon? Sadly, no.  In fact, we can’t blame these latest developments on terrorists, at least not in the traditional Arab sense of the word.  Nor can we pinpoint these heinous acts to Gaza or the West Bank or even East Jerusalem….

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