DC-Area Jews Demand ‘Justice for Nabra’

Two nights after the June 18 death of Nabra Hassanen, 300 people gathered in Dupont Circle in Washington DC to light candles, honor her memory, and organize against Islamophobia. “I think it’s clear that our central Jewish values call for us to stand with our neighbors when they are facing attacks,” adds Rabbi Joseph Berman, another local rabbi who attended the vigil.

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The Jazz Kibbutz: A Brief History of Israel’s Jazz Scene

Israel’s jazz scene has been around since British mandate times, but really came into its own in the 90s. Thanks to trailblazers like Avishai Cohen, Omer Avital, and Avi Lebovich, Israel’s jazz music is now celebrated internationally for its quality as well as its diversity – Israeli jazz is nearly as big a jumble of cultures as Israel itself. “It’s very ‘exotic’ to the American or European ear,” says Barak Weiss, “but it’s still accessible because it’s based on American music.”

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What ‘Genius’ Gets Right—and Wrong—About the Jewish Einstein

In the popular imagination, Albert Einstein is a benign, whimsical and endearing old man. Yet of course, the real Einstein was more complex—though he was brilliant and had his fanciful quirks, in many ways he was also self-absorbed and careless, obsessive and absent-minded to the point of callousness.

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Is Brooke Davies the American Jewish Establishment’s Worst Nightmare?

Brooke Davies spent ten summers at Camp Ramah, confronted anti-Semitism routinely as a child in the South, and fell in love with Israel as a teenager. She also had a close call with terrorism, less than two years ago, when a young boy attempted to stab her in Jaffa. But when became a national leader in J Street U, she faced opposition from the Jewish community and even from those in her family. Now she is reconsidering her relationship with the Jewish community altogether.

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U.S. Pullout From Paris Climate Agreement Could Have High Stakes for Israel

“The Paris accords were a rare occurrence in which the world united—save for Syria and Nicaragua—to care for the welfare and health of future generations,” Israel Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz posted on Facebook. “Even if there’s a 50 percent likelihood that climate change and global warming are caused by human activity, it is our duty to act to minimize risks.”

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