Abby Wisse Schachter
17 months ago | 0 
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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...
19 months ago | 0 | 6 |
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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...
20 months ago | 0 | 10 |
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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...
21 months ago | 0 | 11 |
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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...
22 months ago | 0 | 12 |
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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...
23 months ago | 0 | 17 |
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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...
24 months ago | 1 | 13 |
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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...
2 years ago | 1 | 16 |
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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 years ago | 0 | 15 |
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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...
2 years ago | 0 | 16 |
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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...
2 years ago | 0 | 16 |
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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...
2 years ago | 0 | 15 |
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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...
2 years ago | 0 | 27 |
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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...
2 years ago | 0 | 33 |
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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...
2 years ago | 0 | 32 |
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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 ...
2 years ago | 0 | 26 |
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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...
2 years ago | 0 | 32 |
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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...
2 years ago | 0 | 51 |
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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...