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Archive for the ‘Anti-Semitism’ Category

What would you say to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad if you had the chance?  My friend and colleague Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb had this extraordinary opportunity last month at an Iftaar dinner in which Ahmadinejad met with several religious peace groups during his visit to the US. Rabbi Gottlieb was among the few Jews to attend the dinner, [...]

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Therefore, when the LORD your God grants you safety from all your enemies around you, in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as a hereditary portion, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!(Deuteronomy 25:19)
Tonight we begin Shabbat Zachor (”The Shabbat of Rembrance”) - [...]

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Some interesting responses to my last post on the AJC 2007 American Jewish Opinion survey. I was happy to read Eric Alterman’s response to my thoughts about his Nation article on his own blog, Altercation. (And I was especially thrilled that he described himself as a Reconstructionist at heart!)
He went on with this response to [...]

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Before we bid a final farewell to the year that was, I thought it might be interesting to take a quick look at the American Jewish Committee’s recently unveiled 2007 survey of American Jewish opinion.
Among other things, the survey indicated that the American Jewish community remains firmly ensconced on the liberal/progressive side of the political [...]

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Perfect Me!

I’ve purposely stayed away from commenting on Ann Coulter, as I have no interest in helping her sell more books, but this new clip is too brilliant not to share…

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As this week’s Torah portion opens, Aaron and Miriam unexpectedly disparage their brother Moses:
When they were in Hatzerot, Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married: “He married a Cushite woman!” (Parashat Beha’alotecha, Numbers 12:1)
Moses’ siblings’ comment is confusing on a number of levels. In the first place, it’s [...]

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In honor of Yom Hashoah (”Holocaust Remembrance Day”), here are two poems by survivors of genocide: one by the great Jewish/Italian writer Primo Levi (who died twenty years ago this month) and the other by Emtithal Mahmoud, a 13-year-old Darfur native who now lives in Philadelphia.
Please participate in the upcoming Global Days For Darfur - [...]

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This Saturday, JRC will commemorate Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) with a memorial service for the victims of the Shoah, followed by a presentation from a survivor of a more recent genocide.
On April 17, 1975, the Khmer Rouge invaded the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh and initiated a genocidal campaign against the Cambodian people that [...]

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I’m willing to lay odds that this Purim there will be a fair share of Jewish commentators claiming that history is repeating itself in Shushan - that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the contemporary Haman come back to life to once again threaten the Jewish people with genocide. I’m also fairly sure that some of [...]

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Purim - the festival that highlights the experience of ancient Persian Jewry - arrives this weekend. In advance of the holiday, (and given the current state of affairs in that part of the world) I thought it might be interesting to take a closer look at the little-known present day Jewish community of Iran.
Some of [...]

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