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  • Businessman asks forgiveness after public anti-Semitic rants

    “No wonder Hitler and the Nazis killed your ancestors – because they did not want your gay blood running around Europe.” This horrific email message was sent by Johannesburg businessman Montoedi Seane to attorney Colin Strime, director of Fluxmans Attorneys.

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  • JK Rowling tackles anti-Semitism in the Twitterverse

    “We must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy.” So says Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, in author JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series. Clearly, Rowling lives by that credo, as is evident in her recent Twitter stand against anti-Semitism.

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  • Natalie Portman’s snub of Netanyahu

    Actress Natalie Portman’s statement explaining why she declined to attend an award ceremony in Israel in her honour was a pointed rebuke, and of a particular individual.

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  • Songs to live (or die) by

    What is it about words sung that have the power to inflame? Traditionally, the Yom Hashoah ceremony is built around song. Songs sung by women, by chazzonim, by the crowd. Arguably, the most potent kind of song is the anthem. It is invested with the power of ideology; it can make people change the world for good or for bloodlust. We, as South African Jews, have a particularly complicated relationship with our anthems – Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika, Hatikva and the Partisan Song, which have always been part of the Yom Hashoah programme.

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  • Fake news – a powerful weapon

    Deliberate misinformation powered by social media has shown itself to be the most effective weapon of war and a powerful tool in the dissemination of what has become known as “fake news”.

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  • Death of Judge Ramon Leon leads to media storm

    The death of Judge Ramon Leon, father of former DA leader Tony Leon, has led to a storm of misinformation about his legacy – after it was incorrectly claimed that he played a role in the hanging of a well-known and loved anti-apartheid activist.

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SA News

Israel News

    • Innovations2

    Taking you through some of Israel’s firsts

    Apr 19, 2018 Go comment!
    1952 High-school dropout Stef Wertheimer sets up a small metal shop and tool-making company in the backyard of his home in Nahariya. His company, ISCAR, is today one of the world’s largest manufacturers of carbide industrial cutting tools used by carmakers like Ford and General Motors, employing 6 000 people in branches in 50 countries.
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    • KibbutzDegania

    Why kibbutzim are thriving again

    Apr 19, 2018 Go comment!
    If there was ever a quintessential symbol of the Jewish State’s founding pioneers, it is the kibbutz – a phenomenon found only in Israel, and as intrinsic to the fabric of society as the Israeli flag.
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    • JTAnetanyahuKotel2 2

    Bibi defends controversial Kotel decision

    Jun 29, 2017 1 Comment
    Netanyahu says he didn’t betray anyone by effectively cancelling a historic agreement to provide a non-Orthodox space at the Kotel, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, and caving to the interests of his Haredi Orthodox coalition partners.
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    • BenitaLevin

    Being schooled in a new school system

    Jun 08, 2017 Go comment!
    “Knowledge is Light” was our school motto when I was a child in Durban. The importance of education was made clear to us from as far back as I can remember. It wasn’t taken for granted. A good education was a privilege.
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    • Facebook swollows Whattsapp

    Israel’s ‘Facebook bill’ could hamper free speech

    Mar 09, 2017 2 Comments
    Israel’s Knesset last week passed the first reading of the Criminally Offensive Content from the Internet bill - dubbed the “Facebook bill”.
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    • 14-Chirp new HOME

    Join the conversations, have your say

    Feb 22, 2017 1 Comment
    JR Online users are having their say, as usual. While the website's peak day saw well over 12,000 users, it can also have as many as 300-plus comments posted on a busy day. Many are on older stories users have serendipitously happened along. Some are friendly greetings and exchanges, but often they descend into Chirp-fests – where users with differing views enjoy a good old argy-bargy on an issue. We list this week’s latest hotspots, and point users to a few of the Chirps posted this week - on well-commented stories long gone by…
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Our Whacky Jewish World

World News

Video of the Day 

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LET OUR PEOPLE GO!
Chief Rabbi reiterates his call of a year ago for Jacob Zuma to stand down in this Pesach Video, likening the SA saga of today to our flight from Egypt 3329 years ago. “With that freedom comes a voice” he says. He will be marching in Pretoria on Friday.  

Religious News

    • Rabbi Deren

    I’ve got a faribel with me?

    Apr 26, 2018 Go comment!
    Can you imagine a daughter-in-law who never once calls to wish Good Shabbos? Or a rabbi who started a new learning programme in the shul without consulting with the committee? Or every flat dweller in your block getting together for a braai – except for you as you weren’t invited?
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    • ParshaRabbiPink

    Try to be sensitive to the pain of others

    Apr 19, 2018 Go comment!
    In this week’s double parshah, Tazria and Metzora, we read about “tzaarat”. Tzaarat was a spiritual punishment for slanderous talk – not leprosy, but leprosy is the closest known disease that mirrors it – that would afflict the house, clothes or the body in biblical times. Having tzaarat would render a person “tamei”, or biblically impure.
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    • TorahThoughtRabbiJuliaMargolis

    We need to bring balance to our lives

    Apr 12, 2018 Go comment!
    Sometimes change comes upon us without warning. At other times we are warned beforehand by instinct, but we often don’t take heed. If we are to succeed in our endeavours, we would do well to pay close attention to that inner voice.
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    • Rabbi Ari Kievman

    The great matza debate

    Mar 29, 2018 Go comment!
    For the past few weeks, Jews have been busy with all their Pesach shopping. I’ve noticed the price tags on the assorted Pesach goods, of local and overseas origin. The economic factor certainly carries weight when deciding what is a Yom Tov “necessity”.
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