The Few Jews in Island Struggle to Keep the Faith

With no rabbi, no synagogue & a majority of interfaith marriages, Iceland’s few Jews find unique ways of keeping Jewish tradition alive …with a little help from their friends.

By Jenna Gottlieb, The Forward 
 

Iceland has no synagogue, no rabbis, no Jewish community center or organized structure. In fact, Judaism is not even one of Iceland’s state-recognized religions.

Reykjavík, Iceland's largest metropolitan area, seen from Hallgrímskirkja's steeple.

Reykjavík, Iceland’s largest metropolitan area, seen from Hallgrímskirkja’s steeple. Photo courtesy: Wikipedia Commons

Still, Iceland has about 100 Jews who call this North Atlantic island home. And last year, roughly 50 of them gathered in a hall downtown on Erev Rosh Hashanah for services — a proportion of prayer attendance that rabbis in many other countries would give their left arms to achieve.

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Israeli Report: U.S. President Discussed Attack Delay with PM Netanyahu

U.S. President Obama informed Israel’s P.M. in advance that he would ask Congress to discuss future US military scenarios in Syria.

By David Lev

 

U.S. President Barack H. Obama informed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in advance that he would let Congress decide on the appropriate action the U.S. would take in Syria. Reports in Israeli media quoted senior Israeli officials as saying the Obama called Netanyahu on Saturday, some four hours before he appeared on national TV in the US to announce that he was holding back on taking action against Syria until Congress discussed what the appropriate actions should be. Continue Reading »

Hamas furious over Egyptian move at creating buffer zone with Gaza

 

Egyptian families in Sinai protest after their homes were demolished to create a buffer zone with Hamas ruled Gaza.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
 

 

The Hamas government said Sunday it was “surprised” to hear that Egypt is planning to create a buffer zone along the border with the Gaza Strip.

Egyptian soldiers keep guard in Sinai

Egyptian soldiers keep guard in Sinai – Photo: REUTERS

Ehab Ghissin, spokesman for the Hamas government, said that there should be no buffer zones “between brothers and friendly countries.”

Ghissin expressed hope that the Egyptian move would not “solidify the blockade” and increase the suffering of the people in the Gaza Strip. Continue Reading »

Egyptian Security Arrests Duck, as ‘Zionist Spy’

Egypt’s Police arrests water fowl suspected of being an Israeli spy, maybe for the Mossad.

By Maayana Miskin

 

 

Egyptian police have arrested a duck that they fear was sent by Israel as a spy, Egypt’s Al-Ahram news agency reports.

The bird was spotted by a fisherman in the Nile River, in the Qena region, as it swam with other birds. The fisherman noticed that the bird had a device attached to its feathers, which he feared could be used to gather information.

A security official told Al-Ahram that experts are examining the device to see if it could have been used to gather intelligence. Continue Reading »

Russian weapons export shipments to Assad increasing

 

REPORT: The number of cargo ships sailing to Syria from a Ukrainian port used by Russia’s arms export monopoly has increased sharply.

By Reuters & Israel Hayom Staff

 

MOSCOW — More than two years into Syria’s civil war, President Bashar Assad is settling his bills for Russian arms orders through the Russian banking system to try to shore up ties with his most powerful ally, according to a Russian arms industry source.

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Azerbaijan’s Jewish shtetl survives among Muslim majority

Over the years, the community known as ‘Mountain Jews’ has endured pogroms by Persian warlords, repression under communism and the rise of post-Soviet nationalism.

Yedidia Yehuda, right, and a childhood friend walking down the stairs that overlook Krasnaiya Sloboda, August 2013. (Cnaan Liphshiz)

Yedidia Yehuda, right, and a childhood friend walking down the stairs that overlook Krasnaiya Sloboda, August 2013. – Cnaan Liphshiz

“You take care not to fall yourself and don’t worry about me,” he tells a visitor following him toward a small town on the northern bank of the Kudyal river, where 2,000 Jews have lived for nearly three centuries in their own shtetl, one of the world’s few remaining all-Jewish towns outside Israel.

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1st Time Ever: 2 Arrested in Lebanon for rocket attacks on Israel

Both arrested Lebanese men confessed to supplying 4 rockets used in August 22 attacks on Israel’s Galilee.

Lebanese Army expects further arrests.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
 

 

Lebanese authorities arrested two suspects for involvement in rocket attacks from the country’s territory into northern Israel earlier this month, The Daily Star reported on Saturday.

Katyusha Rocket shot at Galilee (archive) – IsraelandStuff/PP

According to the report, the Lebanese Armed Forces stated that the suspects, Youssef Muhammad Fliti and Omar Abdel-Mawla al-Atrash, confessed to supplying the four rockets used in the attacks.

The suspects said that they transferred the rockets to a man in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre.

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Watch Israel’s Amos IV satellite successful night-launch

 

Israel’s fourth satellite launches this evening from Kazakhstan. It joins 3 other Israeli satellites, which are still operational.

By Ynet

The satellite Amos 4, operated by the Israeli company Spacecom, has been launched into space from Kazakhstan on Saturday.

Amos IV launch – 31 Aug 2013

The satellite joins Spacecom’s Amos 5, 2 and 3, which are already operational in space. Amos 6 is expected to be space-ready in 2014.

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The satellite is carrying sophisticated communication equipment that allows it to function as a remote transmission and broadcast hub. Continue Reading »

Lebanese Report: Assad in underground Bunker

 

Syria leader has moved into an underground bunker with his staff, reported by a Lebanese newspaper that’s close to Damascus.

By Gil Ronen

 

Lebanese newspaper Aldiyar, which is considered to be close to Syria’s official leadership, reported Saturday that Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is in an undergtound bunker at an unknown location, where he is staying along with his senior staff and other unknown senior officials.

President Bashar al-Assad – AFP photo

The bunker is serving as an operational headquarters in advance of the US attack on Syrian targets that is expected to take place by Monday at the latest.

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Putin impugns Obama’s veracity: Present evidence at UN of chemical weapons used by Assad

 

UN’s investigative team leaves Syria, indicating American-French attack may be imminent.

Poll shows most French against strike on Syria.

Several nations advise their citizens against traveling to Lebanon.

 

The UN experts investigating last week’s alleged chemical weapons strike outside Damascus left Syria early Saturday and crossed into neighboring Lebanon, departing hours after President Barack Obama said he is weighing “limited and narrow” action against a Syrian regime that the administration has bluntly accused of launching the deadly attack.

The convoy of UN experts cross into Lebanon at the Lebanese border crossing point of Masnaa

The convoy of UN experts cross into Lebanon at the Lebanese border crossing point of Masnaa, eastern Bekaa valley, Lebanon, Saturday, Aug.

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A Peek at United Hatzalah – Israel’s Rescue Squad

United Hatzalah’s motto: “The Faster you Respond, the More Lives you Save”

By Kochava Rozenbaum

 

Arutz Sheva visited United Hatzalah of Israel’s main center in Jerusalem, where over 2,000 people volunteer and answer hundreds of phone calls a day in order to save lives.

With Jay Leno - United Hatzalah Facebook page

With Jay Leno – United Hatzalah Facebook page

The center responds to over 650 calls daily from dozens of locations across the country. The 24/7 rescue team uses the “best” and most advanced technology, called the Moskowitz Life Compass. The team also uses the Israeli mobile navigation, Waze, in order for respondents to arrive as fast as possible. Continue Reading »

Report: Syria moving its prisoners to military targets as human shields

 

 

A British paper reports Syria buses filled with inmates were seen being moved to military targets to be exploited as human shields against any possible Western airstrike.

By Roi Kais

Thousands of Syrian prisoners have been moved to military targets to be used as human shields against Western air strikes, Britain’s Daily Mirror reported Friday.

Residents in Damascus Photo: Reuters)

Residents in Damascus – Photo: Reuters

According to the report, Damascus residents said they saw buses filled with inmates being taken from their cells to sites the regime believes could be targets.

The opposition Syrian National Coalition said: “Assad’s fascist regime is amassing activists and civilians in prisons in military locations that may be targets for foreign forces. Continue Reading »

Golan Druze now free to prefer Israel to Syria, in public

 

After 32 years of public anti-Israel rhetoric, the Druze of the Golan can now openly align with the Jewish state without Syrian retaliation.

By Aviel Schneider

 

 

In the shadow of the raging Syrian civil war, the 20,000 Druze who live in the Golan Heights are finally admitting publicly that they prefer life under Israeli sovereignty.

Golan Druze

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Six Day War, and annexed the strategic plateau in 1981. All during that time, the Golan Druze leaned more anti-Israel for fear they would one day find themselves again under Syrian sovereignty. Continue Reading »

Western Wall opens temporary egalitarian section for the public

 

On its first day, the new section called “Ezrat Yisrael,” hosted 6 bar mitzvahs & weddings.

Bennett says he doesn’t want any controversy surrounding the temporary area, ahead of the Jewish High Holy Days.

By Yori Yalon & Israel Hayom Staff

 

On Thursday, Jerusalem’s new temporary egalitarian section at the Western Wall was opened to the public.

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Kerry: Syrian assault won’t be like Afghanistan, Iraq, or Libya

 

US Sec. of St. Kerry promises the American people that the U.S. military action in Syria will be “limited & tailored”.

By REUTERS, JPOST.COM STAFF, MICHAEL WILNER
 

 

US Secretary of State John Kerry assured the war-weary American people on Friday that any decision the US would make on a military action in Syria would be a “limited and tailored response” and would not in any way resemble the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, nor its intervention to help topple former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

US Secretary of State John Kerry talking about possible US strike in Syria, August 30, 2013.

US Secretary of State John Kerry talking about possible US strike in Syria, August 30, 2013.

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