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New York

The New York Jewish Week is the home of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency’s New York coverage.

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Hospitals and Hollywood are belatedly discovering what the Psalms declared millennia ago — that “A joyful heart makes for good health.” Medical studies show that “joyful laughter” strengthens one’s immune system, helps circulation and stimulates the body’s natural pain killers. Recent years have seen a growing effort to make humor part of a patient’s medical […]

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It’s mid-morning in mid-Manhattan, and a former Hollywood comedy writer is working the crowd. “Yossi,” asks Mort Scharfman, “you were in the armed forces?” “Sure,” says Yossi, a veteran and proud of it. “Ours?” Yossi, an American veteran, shakes his head in mock disgust. The crowd groans. Scharfman, MSW, is rolling. The crowd is five […]

Allen Klein, a former silk screen designer, became an author and speaker about the therapeutic affects of humor — he calls himself a “jollyologist” — after his wife died 20 years ago from a terminal illness. His latest book, “The Courage to Laugh: Humor, Hope and Healing in the Face of Death and Dying” (Jeremy […]

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