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Sundown: A Tricky Question

Namecalling in Ukraine, a cokehead rabbi, and more

by
Hadara Graubart
November 18, 2009

• Sergey Ratushniak, mayor of the Ukrainian town of Uzhgorod, has been approved to run for president of the nation despite referring to his (non-Jewish) opponent as “Impudent Jew Yatsenyuk,” and saying things like “If I don’t like Jews and Israel, does that make me an anti-Semite?” [JPost]
• Hundreds of protesters, including members of the Interfaith Fellowship for Universal Health Care, attended a prayer vigil outside the Connecticut home of Senator Joe Lieberman, who has said he would join a Republican filibuster to derail a health care bill that includes a public option. [Connecticut Post]
• Sy Syms, a major philanthropist, has died at 83. He was also the founder of Syms discount men’s clothing store, where an educated consumer was their best customer. [JTA]
• The lawyer for a British rabbi charged with dealing cocaine claims his extraordinarily large stash was all for personal use, saying that “when he buys cigarettes, he does not buy one or two packets but 20 at a time.” [Times (London)]

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