Tag Archive for Jewish Culture

| November 25, 2013
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Norwegian gov’t official: Muslims and Jews circumcise out of ignorance

Norwegian gov’t’s child welfare adviser says minorities’ parents would shy away from  circumcision if they knew pain, risk & lack of health benefits involved.

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The Norwegian government’s child welfare adviser said Jews and Muslims would stop circumcising children if they learn more about the risks and pain that the ‘procedure involves.

Eitan's Brit

A Jewish circumcision ceremony. – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

“With good information about risk, pain and lack of health benefits of the intervention, I think parents from minorities would voluntarily abstain from circumcising children,” Anne Lindboe, Norway’s Children’s Ombudsmen, told the Norwegian Aftenpost daily last week.

Lindboe, who last year advised Jews and Muslims to replace circumcision with “a symbolic ritual,” also told the paper that non-medical circumcision of pre-teen boys should be outlawed and those performing it should be punished similarly to people who use violence against children. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News | Tags: , , ,
| November 15, 2013
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American Jews Pleed with Washington not to return Jewish antiquities to Iraq

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-New York) said, “These sacred artifacts were taken from the Iraqi Jewish community & thus do not belong to the Iraqi gov’t; rather they belong to the thousands of Iraqi Jews, an ancient & once-vibrant community, who were exiled many years ago.”

By SAM SOKOL

 

 

CHICAGO – A treasure trove of Iraqi Jewish documents on display in Washington, DC, should not leave the United States, a coalition of Jewish organizations demanded on Tuesday.

An Iraqi employee examines a document in the Jewish archives in Baghdad.- getty photos

n Iraqi employee examines a document in the Jewish archives in Baghdad.- Getty photos

The documents, which the Hussein regime confiscated from the Jewish community, were discovered by coalition forces in the basement of the headquarters of the Mukhabarat, or secret police, in 2003 and document centuries of life in Mesopotamia. Continue Reading »

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| November 15, 2013
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Conservative American synagogues wrestle with non-Jewish participation

‘Since a large percentage of our younger families include interfaith marriages, we want to keep our children as loyal & involved Conservative Jews, and we realize that in order to do so, we need to be welcoming to their partners, spouses & families’

 

 

NEW YORK (JTA) — To an outsider, the battles might seem to be over trifles — in some cases, just a few feet.

Where may a non-Jewish parent stand in the synagogue during his child’s bar mitzvah? Can a non-Jew open the holy ark? Should non-Jewish synagogue members have voting rights?

A non-Jewish woman is among those at a Torah reading at Adas Israel Congregation in Washington. Many Conservative synagogues are finding new ways for non-Jews to participate in synagogue life. (Adas Israel)

A non-Jewish woman is among those at a Torah reading at Adas Israel Congregation in Washington.

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Category: Jewish News | Tags: , , ,
| October 23, 2013
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State comptroller: Jewish Marriage Protocols a Disaster

 

Israel’s State comptroller finds a hornet’s nest of irregularities in the marriage process for Jewish citizens, with rabbis double-charging, religious councils overcharging couples,  bookkeeping & receipts lacking, and almost no objective oversight.

By Israel Hayom Staff

 

The marriage registration process is all tied up in knots, characterized by missing records, financial irregularities and lack of enforcement of laws and regulations, the state comptroller’s annual report has found.

Groom ready to break wineglass in Jewish ceremony – Photo: Yehoshua Yosef

The Knesset State Control Committee will hold a hearing on Wednesday morning to discuss the sorry state of marriage registration in Israel.

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Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| August 3, 2013
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New York Knicks basketball star Amar’e Stoudemire, seeking Israeli citizenship

Stoudemire traveled to Israel for the Maccabiah Games & stayed to apply for citizenship. ‘I follow the rules of the Bible that coordinate with & connect with the Hebrew culture,’ he says.

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Amar’e Stoudemire, the New York Knicks star who claims Hebrew roots and is currently touring Israel, is seeking Israeli citizenship.

U.S. NBA's New York Knicks basketball player Amare Stoudemire, shakes hands with Israel's President

U.S. NBA’s New York Knicks basketball player Amare Stoudemire, shakes hands with Israel’s President Shimon Peres. – Photo: AP

Stoudemire’s agent, Happy Walters, told New York magazine that the Knicks’ power forward is in the process of becoming an Israeli.

“He’s getting citizenship,” Walters said. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| July 27, 2013
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Op-Ed: Poland’s goal of good Jewish relations remains clear

Polish democracy may take a few  missteps every once in a while, but its goal of good Jewish relations remains clear by their actions and investments.

SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) — For the past decade, the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life & Culture and I myself, as Poland’s honorary consul in the Bay Area, have been involved directly in furthering the renaissance of Jewish life in Poland. The renaissance is viewed as a “miracle” in Poland and around the world.
shechita ritual

shechita ritual – Photo: Nati Shohat/Vosizneias.com

At my foundation, we receive communications every day from all corners of the globe congratulating and thanking us for our leadership in the rebirth of Jewish life and culture in Poland. Continue Reading »

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| July 24, 2013
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Polish Religious Minister asks Jews to sue over ritual slaughter in Constitutional Court

Boni met with two Jewish representatives Monday in Warsaw and asked them to challenge a de facto ban on ritual slaughter that has been in effect since January. The Polish parliament earlier this month defeated a bill that would have allowed ritual slaughter.

By JTA

 

A Polish government minister asked Jewish and Muslim representatives to petition the country’s Constitutional Court to sort out conflicting laws that have led to a ban on ritual slaughter.

Michał Boni, Polish Minister responsible for Religious Affairs

Michał Boni, Polish Minister responsible for Religious Affairs

According to a statement Monday by the office of Michal Boni, the Polish minister responsible for religious affairs, the minister asked the representatives to petition the court with regard to the 1997 Act on the Relation of the State to the Jewish Communities in Poland, which states that ritual slaughter may be performed in accordance with the needs of the local Jewish community.

Continue Reading »
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| July 12, 2013
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Polish Parliament votes to uphold ban on Kosher slaughter

Decision harms both Jews, Muslims. “The completely untrue idea that such slaughter is cruel, or even intentionally cruel, has triumphed,” said Polish Jewish community leaders.

By SAM SOKOL
 

 

The Polish parliament voted on Friday to uphold a ban on Kosher slaughter in the country. A government sponsored bill aimed at legalizing the practice of shechita, Hebrew for ritual slaughter, was shot down in the Sejm in a vote of 222 to 178.

shechita ritual

shechita ritual – Photo: Nati Shohat/Vosizneias.com

The ban went into effect in January. Combined with a decline in meat exports due to Poland’s implication in the European-wide horse meat scandal, the end of local ritual slaughter has caused harm to the eastern European country’s cattle ranchers and exporters.

Continue Reading »
Category: Jewish News | Tags: , , ,
| May 10, 2013
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Morocco’s king helped restore Jewish burial site off African coast

The Moroccan gov’t continues to be a ‘major benefactor’ of heritage preservation efforts on the island of Cape Verde, even though the Jewish-Moroccan community has long since disappeared.

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A Jewish burial plot in the island state of Cape Verde was rededicated with help from the king of Morocco.

Jewish gravesite, Cape Verde.

Jewish gravesites during their inauguration in the municipal cemetery of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde.- Photo: AFP

 

About 100 people attended the rededication ceremony last week.

“The support of King Mohammed VI to this project is representative of Morocco’s attachment to the preservation of its patrimony – Arab, Jewish or Berber,” Andre Azoulay, the king’s Jewish advisor, said in a statement read during the ceremony by Abdellah Boutadghart, a Moroccan diplomat. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News | Tags: , ,
| February 22, 2013
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VIDEO: Haifa’s Technion students do the Purim Harlem Shake

Israel’s Institute of Technology students release their latest in a series of Jewish holiday dance videos intended to demonstrate the Technion as the hip institution, that it is.

 

The Technion has just released its latest in a new series of Jewish holiday videos – part of a campaign to promote itself as a hip institution.

Screenshot of Technion Purim dance video

Photo by Screenshot of Technion Purim dance video (below)

Its latest Purim video, just released on YouTube, shows a group of physics students doing their own version of the Harlem Shake, a 1980s dance recently re-popularized that has individuals dressed in strange attire jerking themselves around to the sounds of an electronic dance track. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| February 11, 2013
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Synagogues across the US are overwhelmed in old prayer books

In accordance to Jewish tradition, prayer books are holy & cannot just be thrown out; they must be placed in a geniza, a repository for holy books awaiting burial.

By Chavie Lieber

 

NEW YORK (JTA) — After years of watching synagogue members die or move away, the Sephardic Jewish Center of Canarsie made the difficult decision to downsize.

15th century Jewish prayer book – Christie’s

The 50-year-old Brooklyn synagogue had been a thriving center for the area’s Sephardim. But after accepting that it could no longer pull together enough money to cover expenses, let alone muster the 10 men necessary for daily prayer, the synagogue disposed of most of its belongings and began holding Shabbat services in a nearby Ashkenazi congregation. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News | Tags: ,
| January 2, 2013
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Man in Wheelchair requests ‘last chance’ at Kotel

“I was crying as I stood next to him at the Kotel.”

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

 

Magen David and Police made an exception to allow a man to pray at the Western Wall (Kotel) when he explained his illness may not allow him another chance.

Prayer at the Western Wall for another chance

Prayer at the Western Wall for another chance – Isarel news photo: Magen David

Handicapped accessibility at the Western Wall (Kotel) usually must be made in advance, but an exception was made for patient David Schneer, who made the sudden request to Magen David Adom medics who were transferring him from a Jerusalem hospital to his home in the metropolitan Tel Aviv area. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| January 1, 2013
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In revolutionary decision, Rabbis will allow ‘gender selection’

Up until now, rabbis forbade intervention in selecting the sex of a baby, but Rabbi Menachem Burstein says an increase in the number of requests stemming from deep psychological needs has led rabbis to reconsider.

Yehuda Shlezinger

 

 

After years in which rabbis forbade any sort of gender selection at conception, a recent revolutionary Halachic (Jewish legal) ruling has now deemed it permissible to intervene and select the gender of a fetus in certain situations.

A boy or a girl? – Photo: Getty Images

The ruling was to be officially issued at a conference on Wednesday organized by the Puah Institute, which offers fertility treatments in line with Jewish law. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News | Tags:
| December 22, 2012
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Yiddish becoming popular among Israeli Arabs

1/4 of Yiddish students at Bar-Ilan University are Arab. Yusuf Alakili of Kfar Kassem admits,  ‘I have always felt a connection to this language,’

By Dudi Goldman

 

“I find a certain mystery in Yiddish, a refined and enigmatic musical note. I cannot explain it, but I have always felt a connection to this language.”

‘Why is this magnificent language neglected?’ Yiddish literature – Photo: Ahimeir Porat

Contrary to what one might expect, the speaker is not a Polish poet or a German philosopher. He is Yusuf Alakili, 50, of the Arab Israeli town of Kfar Kassem, who is working on his master’s degree at Bar-Ilan University’s Literature of the Jewish People Department, while studying Yiddish for his own pleasure. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News | Tags: ,
| December 21, 2012
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World’s 2nd-oldest Bible fragment posted online

 

Purchased by Dr Walter Llewellyn Nash from an Egyptian antiquities dealer in 1902, he presented the fragment that is said to have come from Fayyum, Egypy, to the Cambridge Library in 1903.

 

By JTA

The University of Cambridge posted online thousands of pages from fragile religious manuscripts.

nash

Nash Papyrus – Photo from the Cambridge Digital Library

One of the documents scanned and uploaded to the Cambridge Digital Library is the Nash Papyrus, a 2,000-year-old fragment containing the Ten Commandments and part of the Shema prayer discovered in Egypt in the late 19th century.

It is the world’s second oldest known manuscript containing a text from the Hebrew Bible. Continue Reading »

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