Amid a spate of anti-Semitic attacks, a French court for the first time punished a defendant who performed the quasi-Nazi quenelle salute. The correctional tribunal of Bordeaux on Wednesday convicted the defendant, a 28-year-old Moroccan native, of incitement to racial hatred for performing the quenelle in front of a synagogue, and fined him the equivalent…
A former synagogue on the Lower East Side of Manhattan was evacuated after cracks were discovered in the building’s columns. The building, which was evacuated during a performance gala of the Angel Orensanz Foundation Center for the Arts, was closed indefinitely. Built in 1849, the Gothic Revival synagogue once served as the home for Congregation…
Talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are at a critical moment although progress was made in overnight discussions, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday. “The dialogue remains open. There was progress made in narrowing some of questions that have arisen as a result of the last few days but there is still…
Canadian border security officials raided the compound of the fringe haredi Orthodox sect Lev Tahor and arrested seven members. According to the local children’s aid society in Chatham, Ontario, about one dozen Canada Border Services Agency officials entered the compound on Wednesday and arrested Lev Tahor members believed to be in violation of immigration laws….
Employees of Israel’s Foreign Ministry ended their two-week strike with an agreement to increase pay for Israeli diplomats. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry Workers Union called the deal signed Wednesday with the Finance Ministry an “outline” of a collective agreement that will be signed within a month, according to Israeli news reports. Under the…
Jewish and Muslim officials in the Detroit area examined areas where they could cooperate more closely. The daylong event, “A Shared Future,” was co-sponsored by the American Jewish Committee’s Detroit office and the Michigan Muslim Community Council. Panelists at Sunday’s event included state lawmakers of both faiths, officials from the local Arab American National Museum…
Newly discovered accounting errors at Brooklyn’s Congregation Beth Elohim forced the synagogue to lay off 12 employees in mid-March, synagogue officials say. The prominent Reform synagogue’s rabbi, Andy Bachman, also announced in March that he would not renew his contract after it expires next year. The synagogue’s president said that Bachman’s departure was unrelated to…
Washington is keeping up efforts to put Israel-Palestinian peace negotiations back on track despite “unhelpful steps” taken by both sides in the past day, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday. A surprise decision by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday to sign more than a dozen international conventions that could give Palestinians greater leverage…
Workers began demolishing a wall in Warsaw near the spot where Jews were gathered for transport to the Treblinka concentration camp. The demolition of the wall bordering the square in the former Warsaw Ghetto known as the Umschlagplatz was first reported Tuesday by the Virtual Shtetl website. The brick wall, which in some places is…
Jeff Morgan’s story is one best told over a glass of wine — preferably a robust cabernet by Covenant, the kosher wine company he has co-owned for more than a decade. A roving jazz musician and writer turned vintner, Morgan has spent most of the past 10 years working with California vineyards and wineries to…
Polish Jews who perform non-commercial ritual slaughter for the needs of the Jewish community are not violating the law, Poland’s parliament announced in a statement. The statement appeared in a position paper by the Sejm, Poland’s parliament, that parliament sent recently to the country’s Constitutional Tribunal, the Warsaw-based Dziennik Gazeta Prawna daily newspaper reported Wednesday….
