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FEATURED STORY 'Being Erica' TV character transfixes Toronto Jews The character -- a bright and attractive Jewish woman in her early 30s living in a hip neighborhood in downtown Toronto -- resonates with many young Canadian Jews who see in her something of themselves. But the Jewish portrayal of Erica does have its critics. Read more »

EDITORS' PICKS Oren, making the case for Obama Israel's U.S. ambassador reflects on why many Israelis have a negative view of President Obama -- and says they are not giving the U.S. leader enough credit, JTA's Ron Kampeas reports. Fasting for dummies Everything you need to know for a dinner conversation about fasting for Yom Kippur in the Montreal Gazette. Drive-by kapparot A New Jersey area man is planning to drive a truck filled with chickens to locations where people can say the kapparot prayer and then take their fowl with them, angering health officials, the Journal News reports. Membership has its privileges Jewish and Christian religious institutions raise about the same amount per member, despite the fact that church giving is voluntary and synagogues charge membership dues, according to a Forward survey. Who's bluffing: Abbas or Netanyahu? The contradiction between the usual judgments about the Israeli and Palestinian leaders and what they actually have been saying underlines what may be the most intriguing aspect of the latest "peace process," The Washington Post's Jackson Diehl writes. Easy pickings for mezuzah thieves In Israel, a product worth hundreds of shekels means merely opening a case affixed to the front door, Ynet reports. Beloved emblem of a conflicted Israel Gilad Shalit, The Jerusalem Post's person of the year for 5770, has become a metaphor for Israel and the country's condition. BREAKING NEWS A leading Israeli rabbi has come out against the tradition of using a live animal for the kapparot ceremony. The Jewish sheriff's deputy who arrested actor Mel Gibson for drunken driving is suing his department for harassment since the July 2006 incident. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled he would heed, in part, an appeal from President Obama to continue the settlement freeze. Holocaust denier David Irving called Auschwitz a 'Disney-style' tourist site while defending his own tour of Nazi sites. The painting of a swastika on a billboard featuring Sacramento Kings forward Omri Casspi is "hurtful," the Israeli player said. Workers at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel have ended their strike. Children will not take part in the reenactment of the liquidation of the Jewish ghetto in the Polish city of Bedzin, after criticism from Jewish groups. Police are investigating an attack on a synagogue in the capital of Kyrgyzstan. A Yom Kippur machzor translated for the first time into Portuguese will be distributed to Jews in Brazil's Amazon. Two more rockets were launched from Gaza into Israel, bringing to 10 the number of rockets that have struck Israel since the start of the high holidays. Pope Benedict XVI wished Jews joy and blessings in the new year. A Saudi Arabian diplomat based in Los Angeles has requested political asylum because he is gay and close friends with a Jewish woman.