(JR) — As a child, Mauricio Avayu wasn’t allowed to pursue art — his father thought he should study something more practical, like math or engineering. Avayu grew up in the conservative Jewish community of Santiago, Chile, the capital city home to most of the country’s 18,000 Jews. But by now, Avayu has seen his […]
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PORTO, Portugal (JR) — In an apartment overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, 95-year-old Marilyn Flitterman habitually sits at her piano to play tunes by George Gershwin and Irving Berlin — long ago committed to memory — while looking back at the past 50 years of her life in Porto. Born in Brooklyn, she moved to the […]
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((JR)) — Jewish communal mourning was defined in large part this year by Oct. 7. But other notable losses occurred throughout the year, of people who have left outsized legacies on politics, the arts, sports and everything in between. In chronological order, here is a selection of obituaries of 20 of the most famous Jews who […]
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(JR) — A narrow window is open now through Dec. 31 for Lithuanian Holocaust survivors and their descendants to apply for restitution, under the terms of a law passed last year. A similar law enacted in Latvia has also taken effect, giving Holocaust survivors from that country the chance to secure one-time payments of about […]
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((JR)) — Automated content moderation tools deployed amid “a surge in violent and graphic content” on Facebook and Instagram after Oct. 7 went too far in removing posts that social media users should have been able to see, an independent oversight panel at their parent company, Meta, ruled on Tuesday. The finding came in a […]
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(New York Jewish Week) — The late Brooklyn klezmer musician Pete Sokolow would sometimes take the stage as “Klezmer Fats.” But many players used a different sobriquet to refer to the pianist, who served as link between generations: “the youngest of the old guys.” Sokolow started playing klezmer in the summer of 1958 with older […]
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(JR) — British Foreign Secretary David Cameron announced that extremist Israeli settlers would be banned from entering the United Kingdom, following a similar announcement by the United States last week. The ban comes amid a reported increase in settler violence in the West Bank during the Israel-Hamas war, including physical assaults and attacks preventing Palestinians […]
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(New York Jewish Week) – The first Jewish woman ever appointed to the Supreme Court, the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was known for her trailblazing advocacy of gender equality, her impassioned dissenting opinions and for being a liberal icon. But the Brooklyn native, who served on the court for 27 years until her death […]
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((JR)) — A decades-long era of Jewish comedy on television will come to an end next year, as “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Larry David’s HBO comedy, is set to end after its 12th season. The imminent conclusion of “Curb” has been rumored for several seasons now, but a poster and press statement from David this week […]
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((JR)) — Fights over Israel and the Palestinians on campus have taken place on quads across the country, in classrooms and, recently, in the halls of Congress. This week, at Yale University, the debate moved to the dining hall. And from there, of course, to social media. On Monday, sophomore Sahar Tartak posted on X, […]
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