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A Reign of Terror for Jews in France

Nobody has been killed yet, but the atmosphere of suspicion and anti-Semitic violence in Marseille, France’s famously mixed port city, is getting dangerous.

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The doubt essential to faith

When Lesley Hazleton was writing a biography of Muhammad, she was struck by something: The night he received the revelation of the Koran, according to early accounts, his first reaction was doubt, awe, even fear. And yet this experience became the bedrock

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The doubt essential to faith

When Lesley Hazleton was writing a biography of Muhammad, she was struck by something: The night he received the revelation of the Koran, according to early accounts, his first reaction was doubt, awe, even fear. And yet this experience became the bedrock

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How To Get Wax off Your Menorah After Hanukkah

On Thursday morning—the last day of Hanukkah—we received the following query from reader Daniel S. Palmer: How do you get those last pesky bits of wax off  your menorah? We felt that this was a matter of some importance (if not urgency—after all, H

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Our Favorite Hanukkah Toy Was Actually a Non-Jewish Irish Gambling Game - Culture

With the arrival of Hanukkah comes the reemergence of dreidels from closets, desk drawers and cupboards. These tops are a beloved part of the holiday — but where did they actually come from?

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You Can't Understand ISIS If You Don't Know the History of Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia

Abd al-Wahhab argued that all Muslims must individually pledge their allegiance to a single Muslim leader (a Caliph, if there were one). Those who would not conform to this view should be killed, their wives and daughters violated, and their possessions c

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Total Badass Goes On Fox News In Patriotic Hijab

Hello GOP - it's not the Muslim Religion that kills people it's people who kill people according to your logic about gun rights. Every religion has extremists who want to kill and maim in the guise of religion, including Christianity. So hypocritical and bigoted.

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If you think raising your kids religious makes them nicer, science has bad news for you.

A new report has found that children from religious households are meaner than their secular counterparts. These findings were the result of an international study conducted by seven universities

Very interesting and telling. I would like to see more research on the Jewish and Buddhist cohorts.

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Study: College experiences can boost Jewish identity for children of mixed marriage - Religion News Service

(RNS) Jewish experiences in college were found to boost attachment to Jewish life for those whose Judaism comes from one side of the family.

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A Hummus Restaurant Is Offering Half Price Meals To Jews And Arabs Who Eat Together

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The Playground Theory of Morality

Yom Kippur reminds us we are imperfect—and it takes work to awaken our better selves

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Read the Pope's Speech to Congress

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Pope Francis Calls for Ending Tax-Exempt Status of Churches That Don't Help the Needy

This might be the Pope's best idea yet.

I love Pope Francis and his progressive common sense reforms. John Oliver would be proud!

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Op-Ed: Religious People Must Oppose Attacks on Planned Parenthood

Conservatives balk when we say they are waging a war on women. Yet, the way in which conservatives attack and degrade women leaves little doubt that something is dreadfully wrong. The latest attack comes from Senator Ted Cruz who called on evangelical pas

Moving article from a Pastor referencing Amos from the Old Testament. "Amos was the prophetic voice in the Hebrew Bible that called out the social injustice and religious arrogance of those in power. Known as the prophet of righteousness, he critiqued the elite for using religious traditions and the law to place economic and political power within the hands of a privileged few".

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How Jewish Musicians Influenced 20th-Century American music

Ben Sidran argues that Jewish hunger to fit in shaped both the core of their identity and many of America’s greatest songs in his book

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Exit of Anti-Defamation League head marks shift for US Jews

NEW YORK (AP) — Over 28 years as head of the Anti-Defamation League, Abe Foxman emerged as a forceful torchbearer for American Jews. He counseled presidents and diplomats, CEOs and celebrities. He took on prominent figures over anti-Semitic remarks or r

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Dog or Jewish Boyfriend? A Quiz

Shouts & Murmurs: “My grandma Dottie loves him and says he’s a ‘good, good boy.’ ”

I don't find this humorous at all. It is nauseating that she compares her dog to her Jewish Boyfriend regardless that she is Jewish as well. I can't believe that the New Yorker would even publish this border line anti-semitic crap.

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Brace Yourself for “Adon Olam” to the Tune of Pharrell’s “Happy”

Move over, Maccabeats. If Pharrell's

Very Cool. Better than Pharrell's Happy!

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Community Post: The Entire Story Of Purim. Told With Cat GIFS

The festive Jewish holiday of Purim begins the evening of this Wednesday, March 4th.The entire story of Purim, retold in the universal...

Adorable!

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Sealed With A Kiss: The Religious History Of X And O

(RNS) When I was a young girl, my mother taught me to add “x” and “o” — a kiss and a hug — after my signature. So deeply embedded was this English-language tradition that it never crossed her mind that these symbol...

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Godless Parents Are Doing a Better Job

Hate to break it to you, Bible thumpers: Parents who raise their kids without religion are doing just fine, studies say, possibly even better. Overall, not believing in God seems to make people and their offspring more tolerant. Less racist. Less sexist.

:)

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Why American Jews Eat Chinese Food on Christmas

If there’s a single identifiable moment when Jewish Christmas—the annual American tradition where Jews overindulge on Chinese food on December 25—transitioned from kitsch into codified custom, it was during Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan’s 2010

Family tradition!

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The Maccabeats - Candlelight - Hanukkah

Join the Miracle Match Campaign: http://www.makesomemiracles.com Based on Mike Tompkins' a cappella version of Taio Cruz's

My favorite Hanukkah song!

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The Ghosts of Gaza: Israel’s Soldier Suicides

Were Israeli soldiers so haunted by what they saw and did in the last Gaza war that they took their own lives? What role did their zealous commander play?

All I can say is wow! I hope these soldiers are getting access to the treatment they need as well as encouragement to seek it.

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The Universal Message of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur

Any Jew who has just finished attending many hours of worship services during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur ought to know that the liturgy of these holidays is not just about us. Too many prefer to see these holy days only through separatist lenses....

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How the Once-Every-Seven-Years Observance of Shmita is Changing Jewish Lives

Cultural conditions are ripe for connection to shmita, which relates to food, economic justice and personal, as well as environmental, restoration....

I really liked learning about these spiritually renewing activities. Does anyone know why it takes place only every 7 years instead of every 5 or 10?

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Exploring the World’s Jewish Communities

Harry D. Wall talks about finding a lesser-known side of Jewish culture, which community surprised him and more.

Fascinating.

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Is Israel good for the Jews?

Is Israel good for the Jews? For vast majority of Americans — and certainly for most Jews — the answer is a no-brainer. But on the intellectual left, a place where nationalism and religion are view...

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Oy Vey! European Jews Are All 30th Cousins, Study Finds

If you're European Jewish and meet another European member of the community, odds are you're at least 30th cousins. A study by an international team suggests the central and eastern European Jewish population, known as Ashkenazi Jews, from whom

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Jewish life before the Holocaust in thousands of never-seen photos

In 1920, a young Jewish man with a keen eye fled anti-Semitism in his native Russia, arrived in Berlin and began snapping pictures. Roman Vishniac would go on to become one of the 20th century’s great photographers.

These are amazing, sad and beautiful. So appreciative that they released them on line for everyone to see.

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Stances on Israel roil UCLA campus

Sunny Singh campaigned for UCLA student body president this spring, pledging to push for mental health resources, increase graduate school opportunities and make student government more efficient.

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This Is Why We're the Atheist Generation

It's Easter weekend, so now seems like as good of a time as any to discuss the radically decreasing popularity of religion among America's young people. This won't ruffle any feathers, will it?

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Once hounded, Sephardic Jews find Spanish embrace

MADRID (AP) — They were burned at the stake, forced to convert or chased into exile. Now Spain is moving to right a half-millennium old

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China’s Hidden Jews

In Kaifeng, where Sephardic Jews from the Silk Road settled in the 12th century, their descendants are rediscovering lost religious practices and petitioning Israel for recognition.

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Israel reaches out to save US Jewish community

JERUSALEM (AP) — More than 100 Israeli leaders gathered with Jewish-American counterparts in Jerusalem last month with a daunting mission: to save Jewish life in North America.

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Scroll down to see the article "Twenty years of Jewish spirituality in Seattle". I very much miss my Jewish and Spiritual community and Temple Bet Alef in Seattle. I miss Rabbi Ted Falcon too. I wish they could clone him.

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Holocaust Survivor Gives Thanks To His Rescuer In Emotional Reunion

Leo Gersten survived the Holocaust because of Czeslaw Polzeic and his family. Yesterday, he was able to properly express his gratitude for the first time in 69 years, as the two men reunited at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City to celebrate Hanukka

Beautiful, moving story.

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Last Jew in Afghanistan faces ruin as kebabs fail to sell

By Jessica Donati and Mirwais Harooni KABUL (Reuters) - Zabulon Simintov always removes his kippah, the skullcap worn by Jewish men, before entering his cafe in a dilapidated building that also houses Afghanistan's last synagogue. In his 50s, Siminto

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8 Brands With Religious Affiliations (Who Knew?!)

SPECIAL FROM Grandparents.com Would you like a Bible verse with those fries?