Jewish and non-Jewish volunteers rededicated a 200-year-old Dutch Jewish cemetery after decades of neglect. The opening of the cemetery in Woerden in the center of the Netherlands on Wednesday was its first since 1973, de Week Krant reported. Jewish and Christian volunteers worked for six months to restore the headstones at the cemetery, according to…
The stunning array of charges against William Rapfogel, the disgraced former head of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, should prompt Jewish organizations to engage in soul-searching and make governance changes to avoid similar misfortunes, say experts in non-profit management and ethics. But that, they say, isn’t happening. Charming and savvy, Rapfogel was arrested September…
Two new synagogues, one of them for a Reform community, opened in Kiev. Some 120 people attended the Sept. 27 dedication ceremony of the Reform synagogue and community center of the Congregation Hatikva in the Ukrainian capital, according to Alexander Haydar, executive director of the Religious Union for Progressive Jewish Congregations of Ukraine. The new…
More than 100 women gathered for a Women of the Wall service at the Western Wall, praying in the women’s section with no physical barriers enclosing them, little police protection and minimal disruption from protesters. Women of the Wall gather at the Western Wall for a women’s prayer service at the beginning of each Jewish…
Israel said on Thursday it plans to run for a rotating seat on the U.N. Security Council for the time ever for 2019-2020, although U.N. diplomats said it will not be easy for the Jewish state to win. “We’re going all out to win,” Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Ron Prosor told Reuters. “It’s about time.” Winning…
Tunisian Jews feel that they are in danger, the head of a Tunisian rights group said. Three serious incidents against members of the Jewish community have occurred in recent weeks, Yamina Thabet, head of the Tunisian Association Supporting Minorities, told reporters Wednesday, the French news agency AFP reported. Thabet visited the Tunisian island of Djerba,…
The Western Wall rabbi requested that haredi Orthodox girls not fill the plaza for the next Women of the Wall service. Aiming to reduce tension at the plaza, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz made the request on Thursday, one day before the monthly Rosh Chodesh service by the group. Rabinowitz said in a statement that the mass…
Finland’s anti-euro Finns Party said it would expel a member who photographed a friend giving a Nazi salute in parliament to try to distance itself from scandals threatening its popularity. James Hirvisaari, an outspoken member of the party which has grown in popularity by capitalising on anger over eurozone bailouts, invited his friend Seppo Lehto…
Spanish officials have helped rededicate two ancient Jewish cemeteries, as Portugal kicked off a $6 million project for preserving its Jewish heritage sites. The rededication ceremonies of the Jewish cemeteries of Lucena in southern Spain, dated to the 10th century A.D., and in Avila near Madrid, which was in use in the 12th century A.D.,…
The Museum of the History of Polish Jews has gone over budget and the official opening of its permanent core exhibition has been pushed back. The official opening has been delayed until Fall 2014, the museum’s Virtual Shtetl web portal reported Tuesday. The museum is seeking an extra $2.5 million – half from the state…
A prolonged U.S. federal government shutdown could delay military assistance to Israel and other American allies, the State Department said on Wednesday. “The State Department’s ability to provide military assistance to Israel and other allies in the time frame that is expected and customary could be hindered, depending on the length of the shutdown,” State…
