Abby Wisse Schachter
1 month ago | 1 
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Last week, Israeli and foreign dignitaries, intellectuals, politicians, businesspeople and military and security experts gathered at the annual Herzliya Conference to meet, greet and gab about Isra...
1 month ago | 1 | 5 |
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For years, Pennsylvania Democrats have held their nose and voted for Arlen Specter. Their calculation? The thinking was that Specter was going to win the election anyway and better him, a moderate ...
2 months ago | 0 | 5 |
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Let’s all cheer, Obamacare is here. Or maybe not. If you were one of those hoping that the legislation reforming our current health care system would include the creation of a government-run insu...
3 months ago | 0 | 5 |
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Khalid Sheik Mohammed kept his word. When the al-Qaida operative was arrested in Pakistan in 2003 he told his captors, “I’ll see you in New York with my lawyer.” Whether it was a promise or a wish...
4 months ago | 0 | 6 |
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President Obama is scheduled to speak at the UJC/Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly on Nov. 10. As pleasing as this announcement may seem, it’s an unfortunate decision. The presi...
5 months ago | 0 | 5 |
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We tend to hear quite a lot about two of the three traditional characteristics of the first days of the new Jewish year — between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur — namely tshuvah (atonement) and tefila...
6 months ago | 0 | 9 |
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“We are not asking rabbis to give a political lecture — we don’t expect everybody will want to hear sermons on health care.” — A White House official explaining President Obama’s recent conferenc...
8 months ago | 0 | 15 |
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Have you been following the budget battle in Harrisburg? I don’t blame you if you haven’t, because really it’s lovely weather and who wants to read about deficits and taxes when the sun is out? Fo...
8 months ago | 0 | 18 |
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Dear Prime Minister, Mazal tov on your recent speech at Bar-Ilan University. It seems to have gone over very well. One poll says that 71 percent of Israelis believe you said the right things. And ...
10 months ago | 0 | 15 |
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An amazing thing happened at Temple Sinai last week: Jews of every stripe — Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist — sat together and listened to Rabbi Avi Weiss describe his principles...
10 months ago | 0 | 15 |
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Here’s a bold political prediction: Luke Ravenstahl will be re-elected Pittsburgh’s mayor. This week’s debate between Ravenstahl and his two rivals for the Democratic nomination, attorney and for...
11 months ago | 0 | 31 |
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My cousin Ben was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces this week. I used to change his diapers so I’m having trouble accepting that he is old enough to drive let alone be trained to fire a machin...
12 months ago | 0 | 24 |
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“I feel very comfortable with what I’ve done,” Sen. Arlen Specter said about his favorable vote last week for the economic stimulus bill. “This is the biggest vote of my 28 years. When you’re the k...
13 months ago | 0 | 13 |
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Newly minted President Barack Obama is a great speaker. Whether his subject is race, responsibility or the economy, he makes his case eloquently and lyrically. His inaugural address was no exceptio...
14 months ago | 2 | 14 |
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Instead of top 10 books or movies for 2008, I’m inaugurating a new way to evaluate the past year: The Liberty Meter. Are we more or less free as individual Americans than we were 12 months ago? Th...
15 months ago | 1 | 14 |
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Dear Mr. President, Next week, Americans will come together to celebrate Thanksgiving. The day will be filled with eating, playing and celebrating. Americans will also use the day to give thank...