Tag Archive for Jewish World

| January 2, 2014
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1st Time: US extradited to Israel man who refused to give ‘Get’

 

In legal precedent for both countries, Israel’s Justice Ministry uses suspected criminal offenses to ask American authorities to extradite man who fled Israel without granting his wife a Jewish divorce.

By Kobi Nachshoni

 

 

A man who fled to the United States without granting his wife a divorce has been extradited to Israel by the American authorities.

Woman 'chained' to her marriage - Photo: Shutterstock

Woman ‘chained’ to her marriage – Photo: Shutterstock

This is the first time an Israeli citizen is extradited over denial of a “get” (a religious divorce under Jewish Law), which is not considered a criminal offense – using other offenses he is suspected of. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News, Jewish News | Tags: , , ,
| December 22, 2013
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Edgar Bronfman dies at 84: Jewish Community Leader & Philanthropist

Longtime president of the World Jewish Congress, Edgar Bronfman fought for Jewish rights, championed community projects, & as philanthropist, took the lead to create & fund numerous projects that strengthen the Jewish identity among the young.

By

 

 

Edgar Bronfman, the billionaire former beverage magnate and leading Jewish philanthropist, died Saturday. He was 84.

Edgar Bronfman

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon listens to Edgar Bronfman, then president of the World Jewish congress, during a meeting in Jerusalem on October 2, 2002. – Photo: Reuters

As the longtime president of the World Jewish Congress, Bronfman fought for Jewish rights worldwide and led the successful fight to secure more than a billion dollars in restitution from Swiss banks for Holocaust victims and their heirs. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News | Tags: ,
| December 21, 2013
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Interfaith cooperation saves Bradford synagogue

Faced with closure a year ago, today Bradford’s synagogue’s future is bright, a model of cross-cultural co-operation after a nearby mosque together with a few local Muslims stepped in.

 

It was around this time last year that the trustees of Bradford‘s final remaining synagogue faced a tough choice. The roof of the Grade II-listed Moorish building was leaking; there was serious damage to the eastern wall, where the ark held the Torah scrolls; and there was no way the modest subscriptions paid annually by the temple’s 45 members could cover the cost.

Bradford Synagogue

Zulfi Karim, secretary of Bradford Council of Mosques, and Rabi Rudi Leavor inside Bradford Synagogue.

Continue Reading »
Category: Jewish News | Tags: , , ,
| December 17, 2013
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‘Pro-Israel’ discussion in NYC ends in insults, storming off the stage & recriminations

Commentary editor John Podhoretz storms off the stage at a ‘Pro-Israel’ debate at New York’s 92nd Street Y, leaving the panelists puzzled & the audience stunned.

By

 

When the planners at 92nd Street Y in New York decided to host a “community discussion” on Monday on the question “What it means to be pro-Israel in America?” they couldn’t know that they would be getting a clear-cut answer before the night was over.

New York's 92nd Street Y.

New York’s 92nd Street Y. – Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

Because based on the course of the debate, “being pro-Israel in America” means ideological chasms, professional rivalries, frayed nerves, inflamed tempers, one of the participants storming out in a huff and then exchanging barbs and insults on the internet with the moderator. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News | Tags: , , ,
| December 13, 2013
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Chagall masterpiece among Munich stash believed looted from Latvian Jews by Nazis

A Marc Chagall masterpiece was identified in the art trove hidden in a Munich flat, was stolen by Nazis from a Latvian Jewish family.

By JTA

BERLIN – A painting by Marc Chagall discovered in a sensational art trove found in Munich is believed to have been looted by the Nazis from a Latvian Jewish family.

Marc Chagall masterpiece in art trove was stolen from Jewish family by Nazis - Screensgot: lostart.de

Marc Chagall masterpiece in art trove was stolen from Jewish family by Nazis – Screenshot: lostart.de

According to the German newspaper Bild, evidence was uncovered that the painting from the collection hidden for decades by the reclusive Cornelius Gurlitt, 80, may have been looted during the Nazi invasion of the former Soviet Union in 1941.

Continue Reading »
Category: Jewish News | Tags: , , ,
| December 10, 2013
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Nobel Prize in Chemistry Awarded to Two Israeli-Americans

To Israelis Michael Levitt, and Professors Arieh Warshel, also American citizens, share Nobel with colleague Martin Karplus.

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Two Israeli scientists who emigrated to the U.S. on Tuesday were awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, in a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden.

Professor Arieh Warshel receiving the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Stockholm, Oct. 10, 2013.

Professor Arieh Warshel receiving the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Stockholm, Oct. 10, 2013.

Professors Arieh Warshel and Michael Levitt, who completed their Ph.D.s at Israel’s Weizmann Institute, are sharing the prize of 8 million crowns ($1.25 million) with Prof. Martin Karplus for their development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems.

All three winners are American citizens, but also hold dual citizenship. Continue Reading »

Category: Innovations & Discoveries, Jewish News | Tags: , , , ,
| December 10, 2013
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Pro-Israel orgs stepping back from confrontation with White House over Iran

AIPAC’s executive director calls for pro-Israel organizations & groups to focus on passing new & stricter sanctions as a means of shaping a final anti-Nuclear deal with Iran.

By

 

 

When it comes to the deal between Iran and major powers, Israel and the pro-Israel community are retreating from a strategy of confrontation and working instead to influence the contours of a final agreement.

U.S. President Obama speaking at the 2011 AIPAC convention.

U.S. President Obama speaking at the 2011 AIPAC convention. – Photo: AP

In a conference call last week, Howard Kohr, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s executive director, advised pro-Israel activists and leaders not to confront the Obama administration directly over the “difference of strategy” between the United States and Israel on Iran. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| December 8, 2013
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Ukrainian Jewish leader reports national protests puts Jewish community ‘on high alert’

Oleksandr Feldman, president of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee says, ‘To a considerable degree, the Ukrainian Jewish community supports promoting a path toward merger into the EU … but it is important to adopt a neutral & comprehensive position,’ 

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Widespread protests in Ukraine have prompted the country’s Jewish communities to up security arrangements, a community leader from Kiev has said.

Students wave Ukrainian and European Union flags

Students wave Ukrainian and European Union flags as they shout slogans during a rally of the opposition in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on December 5, 2013.- Photo: AFP

“Now that streets across Ukraine are full of civilians, the community’s safety is becoming our primary concern,” Oleksandr Feldman, a Ukrainian lawmaker and president of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee, wrote in statement published Wednesday by the Israeli Ma’ariv daily. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , , ,
| December 4, 2013
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NYT displays Israeli woman’s breast for cancer photo

American readers were offended by the paper’s controversial front page photo citing partial nudity & Jewish tradition as cause.

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An unnamed Israeli woman pictured in a controversial photo on the front page of The New York Times on Wednesday spoke out in response to critics of the paper’s choice of images.

NYT nipple photo

The front page of The New York Times Wednesday.- Photo Courtesy NYT

An image of the woman’s upper body – including an incision scar, a portion of her areola and a Star of David tattoo – was featured as the lead photo in the paper that day to illustrate a story about breast cancer screening in Israel. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News | Tags: , ,
| December 3, 2013
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Jerusalem asks Berlin to return stolen Nazi loot to Jewish hands

 

Deputy FM Zeev Elkin urges Germany to donate all Jewish-owned art from a trove discovered in Munich in 2012 to Jewish or Israeli museums if owners or heirs can’t be found.

Jerusalem asks to join German investigation into the discovery of 1,400 works of art seized by the Nazis.

By The Associated Press & Israel Hayom Staff

 

Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin has urged Germany to give any Jewish-owned art from a trove discovered in Munich to Jewish or Israeli museums if heirs are not found.

Otto Griebel’s “Kind am Tisch” (“Child at a table”), which was among the more than 1,400 works of art seized by German authorities in a Munich apartment in February 2012 – Photo: AP

He said Israel has requested to join the German investigation into the roughly 1,400 artworks found in the apartment of a reclusive Munich collector last year. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News | Tags: , , ,
| December 3, 2013
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Chabad’s ‘Mitzvah Tank’ takes Chanukah into Australia’s Outback

Even if there are more deadly crocodiles than Jews in Australia’s Outback,that’s not going to stop Chabad emissaries from bring Chanukah to the few wandering Jews.

By

 

 

Hanukkah Down Under is arguably the most public of Jewish festivals, an eight-day blitz of festivities across the continent.

Chabad's Mitzvah Tank

The ‘Mitzvah Tank,’ a synagogue on wheels, belonging to Chabad of Rural and Regional Australia.- Photo: George Koulakis

Cherry pickers hoist rabbis high above the crowds to light giant Hanukkah menorahs in public spaces; inside the Westfield chain of shopping malls – founded by Holocaust survivor Frank Lowy – menorahs jostle alongside Christmas decorations; on the beaches and in the bays, in parks and even in parliament, Hanukkah is a hive of activity. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News | Tags: , ,
| December 1, 2013
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Fire destroys part of Belarus’ oldest functioning Synagogue

No one injured as fire consumes dining room & part of 2nd floor of Grodno’s 500 yr-old Great Choral Synagogue.

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One of Europe’s oldest functioning synagogues sustained heavy damage in a fire that broke out in the city of Grodno in Belarus.

Fire raging at the Great Choral Synagogue in Grodno, Belarus.

Fire raging at the Great Choral Synagogue in Grodno, Belarus – Screenshot from ONT Channel report.

The flames erupted Tuesday night as a result of malfunctioning heating system and consumed the dining room and part of the second floor of Grodno’s Great Choral Synagogue, according to a report Wednesday by the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News | Tags: , , ,
| December 1, 2013
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U.K. minister promises to end Shabbat discrimination against Orthodox Jews

Employment minister pledges to introduce new regulations to allow religious Jews who refuse to work on Shabbat eligible for welfare benefits.

By

 

 

Britain’s employment minister said she would introduce new regulations to make Jews who refuse to work on Shabbat eligible for welfare benefits.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews in London.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Stamford Hill, North London, U.K., November 2013 – Photo: Tal Cohen

Employment Minister Esther McVey and Jobcentre National Director Neil Couling have told the Jewish employment charity JCom that rules would be “tweaked” to end the practice of denying job seekers’ allowance to observant Jews, The Jewish Chronicle of London reported Friday. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News | Tags: , , , ,
| November 28, 2013
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In Chanukah message to Jews & Israelis Obama invokes ‘Thanksgivukkah’

Like the Pilgrims, the Maccabees ‘made tremendous sacrifices so they could practice their religion in peace’ commented President Obama.

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The spirit of “Thanksgivukkah” has become so pervasive that even U.S. President Barack Obama decided to get in on the fun in a holiday message.

Hanukkah at the White House, Obama, 2010

Barack and Michelle Obama take part in the Hanukkah candle lighting ceremony, 2010. – Photo by The White House

On the evening of the lighting of the first candle of Hanukkah Wednesday night, the U.S. leader sent “warm wishes to all those celebrating Hanukkah” in a statement from the White House, and made note of the unique convergence of the American celebration with the Jewish festival. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News | Tags: , , ,
| November 27, 2013
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Tug-of-war over American commitment to return Jewish archives to Iraq

 

Iraqi Jews claim materials were forcibly taken from them & should be returned to owners or descendants….not Iraq.

By Reuters

 

 

Jewish books and documents found by U.S. soldiers in the flooded headquarters of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and sent to the United States for restoration have touched off a dispute between Baghdad and Iraqi Jews who fled the country.

A Passover Haggadah from Vienna, 1930

A Passover Haggadah from Vienna, 1930 is pictured after treatment in this undated handout photo from the National Archives obtained by Reuters November 26, 2013.- Photo: Reuters

After a $3 million restoration, the collection has been put on display at the Washington-based National Archives. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News | Tags: , , , , ,
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