Scientists who examined a controversial fragment of papyrus written in Egyptian Coptic in which Jesus speaks of his wife concluded in papers published on Thursday that the papyrus and ink are probably ancient and not a modern forgery. The existence of the fragment, known as the “Gospel of Jesus’s Wife,” was made public at an…
Jacob Birnbaum, who helped launch the movement to free Soviet Jews, has died. Birnbaum, the founder of the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry, died Wednesday at the age of 87. A native of Germany, Birnbaum escaped with his family to England after the Nazis came to power and later moved to France. Upon moving to…
The State Department said on Thursday that progress was being made in U.S.-mediated negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians meant to keep peace talks going, but denied reports from the region that there had been an agreement. “Our negotiating team and both parties remain in intensive negotiation. They had another meeting today. The gaps are…
Australian Jewish leaders are rejecting allegations that the “hardline” pro-Israel lobby in Melbourne wielded “extraordinary influence” on Mideast policy during Julia Gillard’s tenure as prime minister. In his new book, “Diary of a Foreign Minister,” Australia’s former foreign minister Bob Carr accuses Gillard of “subcontracting our foreign policy to party donors” and the pro-Israel lobby…
Gusztav Zoltai, the director of Hungary’s federation of Jewish communities, or Mazsihisz, resigned in what community leaders said was a protest against the government over Holocaust commemorations. But Szombat, the Hungarian Jewish newspaper, published an article on Wednesday alleging that Zoltai quit because of financial irregularities connected with Budapest’s main Jewish cemetery on Kozma Street…
An interfaith group sent over 100 tons of matzahs from Israel to 100,000 Jews in the former Soviet Union. The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews arranged to have the matzahs that were baked in Jerusalem shipped to Jewish communities in the countries of the former Soviet Union. Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, the head of the…
Kicking up dust on the back roads of northern Gaza within sight of the Israeli fence that seals off the enclave, Olympic athlete Nader Al-Masri is still training, despite being barred from competing in his people’s largest sporting event. Masri, who has participated in 40 international contests including the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, was denied…
The American Federation of Teachers has filed an unfair labor practices complaint against the board of suburban Philadelphia’s Perelman Jewish Day School. The complaint, issued Monday with the National Labor Relations Board, came in response to the school’s unilateral decision last month to no longer recognize its teachers union, the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent reported. A…
A senior Israeli minister has urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex a swathe of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying peace talks with the Palestinians were dead. The U.S.-backed negotiations came close to collapse last week amidst mutual recrimination and although the two sides are seeking to overcome the crisis, Netanyahu has…
Congress members, White House delegates and representatives of Jewish social service agencies spoke out against hunger at the National Hunger Seder in Washington, D.C. Wednesday’s seder, which was organized by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger, revolved around the traditional Passover seder message “Let all who are hungry,…
A sapling taken from the tree that grew outside the attic where teen Holocaust diarist Anne Frank was hidden will be planted at the U.S. Capitol. The tree will be planted on the west front lawn on April 30. Saplings taken from the tree have been planted around the world. The tree, at more than…
