Abby Wisse Schachter
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I had my third child this summer and since my other two daughters are toddlers, I know something about dependence. My girls need my husband and me for everything: every meal, all their clothes, the...
1 month ago | 0 | 3 |
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama met this week and like previous meetings between the countries’ two leaders, the topics included the peace process, securit...
3 months ago | 0 | 7 |
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Lots of American Jews, including many in the Pittsburgh community, think of themselves as supporters and defenders of the state of Israel. These folks are having a tough week. Why? Because many don...
4 months ago | 0 | 7 |
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Driving along route 30 the other day, my husband saw a bumper sticker that read, “I miss Clinton.” Now, that is not a sentiment with which I ever thought I’d sympathize. But it may just be a worth...
4 months ago | 0 | 8 |
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U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Swissvale) spoke to a Jewish audience in Pittsburgh last week, spending a good chunk of time on Israel and the current problems between the Obama administration and the Jewi...
5 months ago | 0 | 13 |
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“An actively engaged Jewish family that keeps kosher and sends its three school-age children to the most intensive Jewish educations can expect to spend somewhere between $50,000 and $110,000 a yea...
6 months ago | 1 | 9 |
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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...
7 months ago | 1 | 12 |
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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 ...
8 months ago | 0 | 12 |
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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...
9 months ago | 0 | 13 |
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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...
10 months ago | 0 | 13 |
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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...
11 months ago | 0 | 12 |
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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...
12 months ago | 0 | 22 |
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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...
14 months ago | 0 | 28 |
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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...
14 months ago | 0 | 28 |
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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 ...
15 months ago | 0 | 23 |
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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...
16 months ago | 0 | 28 |
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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...
17 months ago | 0 | 46 |
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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...