(JTA) — Shonna Levin is an Orthodox Jew, but she won’t be spending Yom Kippur in a synagogue. The Brooklyn activist had planned to set up camp in Prospect Park, where she was going to host an all-day gathering for Jews with eating disorders for whom the holiday centered around fasting can be especially difficult. […]
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(JTA) — If you know any young children or fidgety adults, chances are you’ve seen, heard, or coveted a handheld piece of dimpled silicone known as a “pop-it.” The must-have toy was originally created in the 1970s by an Israeli couple with a penchant for playthings, according to a BBC report that calls the pop-it […]
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(JTA) — On Sept. 11, 2001, the greatest Holocaust film ever made, before or since, premiered at a festival — and quickly disappeared, largely unnoticed. The film’s cast included Steve Buscemi, Harvey Keitel, David Arquette, Michael Stuhlbarg and Mira Sorvino, and it was written and directed by the acclaimed Jewish actor Tim Blake Nelson. Roger […]
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(JTA) — The Ben Stiller-Diego Schwartzman bromance is still going strong. While Schwartzman was eliminated from the U.S. Open in New York on Sunday, he snuck in some more quality with Stiller, the Jewish actor who happens to be one of Diego’s biggest fans. On Wednesday, the Jewish tennis star’s girlfriend posted a photo of […]
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(JTA) — The world population of those who self-identify as Jews stands at about 15.2 million — an increase of 100,000 over last year — with the number in the U.S. differing measurably from this year’s Pew survey. Israel has 6.9 million Jews and the United States has “about 6 million,” according to the estimate […]
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(JTA) — The adventurers arrived at Morgur’s Mound, an archaeological site ringed with dragon bones. There they stumbled upon some treasure: a fire giant’s gold-plated tooth. They grabbed the tooth and tried to leave the site, but suddenly the ground began to shake. “Four animated thunder beast skeletons erupt from the mound and attack you,” […]
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(JTA) — Any rabbi seeking to connect his or her High Holiday sermons to current events has plenty to draw from this year. There’s the global public health crisis that has claimed more than 4 million lives. There’s the recent conflict in Israel and Gaza. There’s the cloud of climate change and its accelerating impacts […]
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(JTA) — If you find your synagogue’s prayerbook a little dull at Rosh Hashanah services next week, you may be able to buy a livelier — and much older — alternative for next year. That is, if you have $4 million lying around. Sotheby’s announced Thursday that it will be putting a 700-year-old illustrated Rosh […]
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(JTA) — At a key moment in the new Netflix film “Worth,” Kenneth Feinberg, the real-life architect of the compensation fund for 9/11 victims, is shown overwhelmed by the monumental emotional toil of the job. At a town hall meeting for victims’ families Feinberg — whom Michael Keaton until this point has portrayed as an […]
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(JTA) — Israeli swimmers Iyad Shalabi and Ami Dadaon each won gold medals at the Paralympics on Thursday, adding to Israel’s historic medal showing. So far, Israel has won nine medals — all but one in swimming events. Six of the medals are gold. On the first day of competition, Shalabi had already made history […]
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