Like many American Jews, I have a complicated relationship with Hebrew. Growing up, “Hebrew school” meant giving up my Sunday mornings and Wednesday afternoons to learn to read and pronounce Hebrew without understanding what we were reading or saying. As a young adult becoming more involved in Jewish life, I tried to make up for […]
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One of the last surviving Jewish witnesses of Kristallnacht told German police leaders they have an “enormous responsibility” to learn the lessons of the past. George Shefi, 94, this week returned to the city of his birth to share his story with senior law enforcement representatives from Germany, the United States, and other European countries […]
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A Montreal kosher bakery burnt down following an suspected arson attack on Wednesday morning. This incident was the second of two alleged arson attempts directed at the Jewish-owned bakery, Mimimelon, within 48 hours. In both cases, the bakery was empty and no injuries were reported. The Montreal police said there is no evidence yet that […]
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In high school, Blake J. Harris’s yearbook quote was from “Seinfeld,” and he wrote his college admissions essay about the show’s final episode. “Seinfeld,” he says, is why he became a writer. “It made me fall in love with storytelling,” he told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in a recent interview. Little wonder, then, that after […]
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BUDAPEST — After a gala dinner attended by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, most of the guests at the closing conference of his Voice of the People (VOP) initiative in Budapest were in no hurry to call it a night, staying on to dance to Israeli pop music. That so many stayed for the obligatory let-your-hair-down […]
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BUENOS AIRES — Two years after an Argentine judge ordered a Spanish dictionary to drop a definition of “Jewish” as “miserly or usurious,” the institution responsible for the dictionary has yet to comply — frustrating the Jewish groups that brought the case. The definition reflects a long history of associating Jews with greed and moneylending, […]
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When Marvel offered Sacha Baron Cohen the role of Mephisto, the demonic figure he played in the 2025 series “Ironheart,” the creative team behind the show had a concern. The mostly Black team, he recalled, was aware of the long history of associating Jews with the devil and wanted to make sure the Jewish actor […]
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Dovid Hofstedter was visiting Belarus five years ago when he discovered that a historic Jewish school had turned into something else. Hofstedter, a Canadian rabbi, was joining a group of rabbis from around the world at the Radin Yeshiva, nestled in the small town of Radun in western Belarus. The school was founded in 1869 […]
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An assailant with knives attacked a police officer guarding the Israeli Embassy in Serbia overnight before the officer shot him dead, according to Serbian authorities. Interior Minister Ivica Dačić called the incident a “terrorist attack.” The attacker had two knives and shouted “Allahu Akbar” at the officer 15 minutes after midnight Wednesday morning at the […]
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The Netherlands is withdrawing from the Eurovision Song Contest, reversing an announcement that it would join the event and citing “sensitivity” over Israel’s participation. The Dutch organization that oversees public broadcasting, the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep, or NPO, said on Tuesday that it failed to find sufficient support from broadcasters to ensure a Dutch artist could […]
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