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Sundown: Post- Denominational Pals

High-priced holidays, blushing brides, and a wasted plea

by
Hadara Graubart
September 01, 2009

• A Modern Orthodox synagogue in New Orleans lost its home in Hurricane Katrina; since then, it has developed a partnership with a local Reform congregation, and will be constructing a new building on their land. Says one official, this unusual camaraderie is indicative of the “rosy future” for New Orleans’ Jews. [JTA]
• Via a peculiar rant that starts off bemoaning Chicago’s lack of an authentically dirty Jewish deli, a Sun Times columnist discusses the dilemma of expensive tickets for High Holiday services in tough times, and for a population that “risks evaporating into the anything-goes polychromatic wasteland of American culture.” [CST]
• Some Jewish federations in Florida are offering money to Jewish students who stay in-state for college; an example is the Thelma and Isador S. Segall scholarship, presumably set up in a bid to keep its honorees first names’ from remaining among the most popular in the state. [New Voices]
• In its own desperate bid to restore modesty to its tarted-up student body, an ultra-Orthodox girls’ yeshiva in Israel is offering a scholarship of about $265 to anyone who agrees not to wear makeup on her wedding day. [Ynet]
• South African president Jacob Zuma gave a stirring message imploring expat Jews to return home and rejoin the community. The only problem is, he was speaking to Jews who are still in S.A. [JTA]

Hadara Graubart was formerly a writer and editor for Tablet Magazine.