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Articles written by deborah fineblum


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  • Lag B'Omer inspires memories and mayhem

    Deborah Fineblum, JNS.org|May 16, 2014

    One of Pnina Newirth's earliest childhood memories is of a trip to Mount Meron on Lag B'Omer. But this was no ordinary family vacation. "I was very small, yet I vividly recall the huge fires and the immense crowds," she says. Despite the cacophony and the roaring bonfires, the Ra'anana resident insists she felt no fear that day. "I knew my parents were there and would protect me. And we stood far enough back so give us a bit of distance," Newirth recalls. That moment was more than three decades...

  • On Yom Ha'atzmaut, falafel takes a back seat to barbecue

    Deborah Fineblum, JNS.org|May 2, 2014

    For one day in the spring, the humble falafel is all but forgotten as Israelis fire up their grills for some serious meat-eating. In that way, Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israel Independence Day), which falls on the fifth day of the Hebrew-calendar month Iyar, is not all that different from its American counterpart, the Fourth of July. On this holiday, marking Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion's announcement of Israel's independence at the stroke of midnight on May 14, 1948, you'll find musical and...

  • Immigrants to Israel don't regret dropping extra Passover seder

    Deborah Fineblum, JNS.org|Apr 11, 2014

    Rather than feeling a sense of loss, leaving the second Passover seder behind in the U.S., or France, or Turkey, or any other country of origin is touted as a perk of living in Israel that new immigrants to the Jewish state (olim) mention in the same breath as the universal availability of fresh pita and falafel. But why do Diaspora Jews mutter to themselves while they're dragging out the matzo balls for their return engagement at seder No. 2? Why, since the Torah is crystal clear that Passover...

  • Federation General Assembly examines Israel-Diaspora relations

    Deborah Fineblum, JNS.org|Nov 15, 2013

    JERUSALEM-The changing nature of the American Jewish community has been a much-debated topic ever since the release of the recent Pew Research Center survey, whose findings revealed rising assimilation and intermarriage rates. The Jewish Federations of North America's (JFNA) annual General Assembly, which took place in Jerusalem this year, provided a chance to place that debate within the context of Israel-Diaspora relations. "We are now undergoing a real historical change," Natan Sharansky, Chairman of the Executive of the Jewish Agency for...

  • Federation General Assembly examines Israel-Diaspora relations

    Deborah Fineblum, JNS.org|Nov 15, 2013

    JERUSALEM-The changing nature of the American Jewish community has been a much-debated topic ever since the release of the recent Pew Research Center survey, whose findings revealed rising assimilation and intermarriage rates. The Jewish Federations of North America's (JFNA) annual General Assembly, which took place in Jerusalem this year, provided a chance to place that debate within the context of Israel-Diaspora relations. "We are now undergoing a real historical change," Natan Sharansky, Chairman of the Executive of the Jewish Agency for...

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