Jewish News

Gingrich Comes Out Against Mosque Near Ground Zero

Newt Gingrich says he’s opposed to a planned mosque near ground zero in New York City. The former House speaker and possible 2012 Republican presidential candidate posted a statement on his website Wednesday, saying there should be no Muslim house of worship at the site of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Three thousand people died that day at the hands ...

Gilad’s Special Passover

For five years, the Shalit family was forced to celebrate Passover without Gilad, but this year the former Hamas captive will finally be marking the holiday at home.The previous Passover was marked by the Shalit family in a tent and on the sidewalk near the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem. “We have no holidays,” Gilad’s father, Noam, would say when ...

Gilad Shalit takes first trip outside Mitzpe Hila

Slowly readjusting: Gilad Shalit, accompanied by his father Noam, left his Galilee hometown of Mitzpe Hila for a few hours on Saturday morning, for the first time since his release from Hamas captivity on Tuesday.Shalit was released after nearly five and a half years in captivity.The two used a side road to drive out of Mitzpe Hila at around 8:15 am, ...

Giffords makes public appearance with husband

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords made a public appearance Monday evening in Houston with her astronaut husband at a NASA function, a spokesman said.The Arizona congresswoman appeared alongside Mark Kelly, who received a Spaceflight Medal during an awards ceremony at Space Center Houston.“Personally, I was not surprised at all,” Giffords’ spokesman C.J. Karamargin said. “For us it is clear the congresswoman’s ...

Giffords communicates after skull surgery

Scribbled on the helmet protecting Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ injured head was a simple reminder: 5/17/11, the date doctors said she could take it off for the last time.Now, a day after successful surgery to repair her skull, the helmet adorned with the Arizona state flag that she has worn since she was shot in the head in January is finally ...

Giant Plumes of Oil Found Forming Under Gulf of Mexico

Scientists are finding enormous oil plumes in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, including one as large as 10 miles long, 3 miles wide and 300 feet thick in spots. The discovery is fresh evidence that the leak from the broken undersea well could be substantially worse than estimates that the government and BP have given. “There’s a ...

Giant Menorah Destroyed On Long Island By Vandals

The hunt is on for the vandals who destroyed a menorah on Long Island. Police are now investigating what could be a possible hate crime.Burton Radish said he could believe what found on his front lawn on Tuesday morning.“There I saw it on the curb, smashed to smithereens,” Radish told CBS 2’s Cat Andersen.Radish was referring to what was left ...

Germany gives $80 million to fix Auschwitz memorial

Germany pledged Wednesday to pay 60 million euros ($80 million) over the next year into a fund for Auschwitz-Birkenau to preserve the barracks, gas chambers and other evidence of Nazi crimes at the former death camp, some of which are deteriorating to the point of collapse.Germany is the largest of several countries contributing to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Fund, which was set ...

Germany doubles payment to its Jews

A Jewish group in Germany says it has reached an agreement with the government that will see Berlin double its funding to the nation’s Jewish community to €10 million (about $13 million) starting in 2012.Central Council of Jews President Dieter Graumann said Wednesday the increase recognizes the community’s work to integrate new immigrants, educate religious leaders and work with the ...

Germany Convicts Shoah-Denying Bishop

A German court has fined an ultraconservative British bishop €1,800 ($2,400) for denying the Holocaust in a television interview.German news agency DPA reported that an administrative court in Regensburg convicted Richard Williamson of incitement and levied the fine on Wednesday.The case was retried after an earlier conviction of Williamson was overturned on procedural grounds.The 72-year-old Williamson told a Swedish TV ...

Germany awards Jewish leader Order of Merit

Charlotte Knobloch, the outgoing president of Germany’s Central Council of Jews, was awarded the German Order of Merit on Tuesday, the country’s only state decoration.Knobloch, 78, spent the war years in hiding with a Catholic family. She planned to leave Germany after war, but instead stayed and played an integral role in rebuilding the country’s Jewish community.“We are honouring a ...

German Prosecutor Drops Anti-Circumcision Charges Against Mohel

A German prosecutor has dropped all charges against a rabbi for his role as a circumciser.A statement by the Hof prosecutor on February 21 said that Rabbi David Goldberg of Hof satisfied all requirements regarding child welfare “which are not jeopardized by the circumcision,” the Jewish-German publication Jüdische Allgemeine reported.“Circumcisions which are applied with the consent of parents or custodians ...