Jewish News

Some Hebrew Schools Decide to Go the Free Route

Start them young, they say, underscoring the value of a solid educational foundation. But in the world of Jewish education, such a firm footing may not come cheap.With that in mind, several Chabad-Lubavitch centers around the country have begun offering free Hebrew school programs, using the incentive of a tuition-free experience to help ensure that Jewish children of all stripes ...

Some 700 Haredim riot in Jerusalem after graves removed from Ashkelon ER site

Close to 700 Haredim took part in the Sunday demonstration in Jerusalem’s Shabbat Square organized by the Eda Haredit sect, the extreme ultra-Orthodox faction that has been most vocal in its objection to the relocation of the human remains in Ashkelon. Several municipal employees in the capital were beaten on Sunday by angry Haredi demonstrators, and ultra-Orthodox youth staged riots ...

Somber Farewell Melava Malka For Spinka Rebbe Before Being Sent To Prison

Spinka Chasidim In Boro Park Bid Farewell to Thier Beloved Rebbe in a Melava Malka that was planned for the rebbe before he is going to prison for 24 month.The incarceration of the rebbe was supposed to be about seven months ago (May 24), but after an appeal filed by his lawyers, his sentence was postponed until this Tuesday (December ...

Sobibor museum shuts on fund shortage

A lack of funds has forced a museum housing the former Nazi death camp of Sobibor to close, drawing protests from Jewish groups over the fate of a site where up to 350,000 Jews perished.Poland’s culture ministry said on Friday it would take charge of the museum, located in the southeast of the country, from next year, but it was ...

Snail mail: Letter sent during WWII arrives in California 66 YEARS after it was posted

Many people will have had bad experiences with postal delivery in the past, but it’s unlikely any of us will ever have to wait as long for a letter as one American lady has.A World War II-era letter addressed to a woman at a Red Cross hospital in California has been delivered 66 years after was sent in Alabama.The letter, ...

Small-Town Dixie Jews a Dying Breed

Bert Rosenbush Jr. enjoys a bittersweet form of celebrity in his hometown of Demopolis, Ala.: He’s the last living Jew there.It’s a form of prominence he shares with Phil Cohen of Lexington, Miss. In Natchez, Miss., Jerold Krause is one of just a dozen Jews left. And Selma, Ala., a town that was central to the civil rights movement, is ...

Small Luxury Hotel Set To Open In Chassidic Williamsburg

The traditional, Chassidic neighborhood of Williamsburg is set to be housing Brooklyn’s newest luxury hotel and ballroom—The Condor Hotel. The opulent structure at 56 Franklin Avenue is being constructed by Orthodox Jews and is being built from the ground up to accommodate their special requirements.When asked about his reaction to the brand new luxury hotel going up in the Williamsburg ...

Slovakian Jews Call for Extradition of Alleged Holocaust-Era War Criminal

Slovak’s Jewish community is calling on state authorities to request that a 97-year-old alleged Holocaust-era war criminal under house arrest in Hungary stand trial in Slovakia.Laszlo Csizsik-Csatary, 97, is accused of sending 15,700 Jews to their deaths in 1944, when he was an officer in the Hungarian Royal Police. His town, Kosice, then part of Hungary, is now part of ...

Slovakia: Special Coin Honors Chatam Sofer

Slovakia has issued a special commemorative coin honoring the 250th anniversary of the birth of Rabbi Moshe Schreiber, known as the Chatam Sofer.Schreiber, who died in 1839, is widely considered as one of the early 19th century’s most prominent European rabbis.According to the JTA, Chatam Sofer’s tomb in Bratislava survived the bombings of World War II and is still a ...

Slovak Police Find Key Witness in Trial of Nazi War Criminal

Slovak police have found a key witness in the case of suspected Nazi war criminal Laszlo Csatary, Hungarian public radio announced Tuesday.While authorities have not yet disclosed the identity of the witness, it has been established that he or she survived the deportation of Jews from Kassa, now Kosice in Slovakia, in 1944 and presumably has accurate information about Csatary’s ...

Slonimer Rebbe Meets Chacham Ovadia Following Release Of Emanuel Prisoners

After being released from Massiyahu Prison four days ahead of schedule, the Emanuel fathers were driven to the Har Nof home of Maran HaGaon HaRav Ovadia Yosef Shlita, who met with them. The day started with a visit to the Slonimer Rebbe’s home by Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishai, who was accompanied by Deputy Minister Meir Porush and others. At ...

Sloatsburg rest stop offers Jewish men place to pray

On Thursday nights during the summer, thousands of Orthodox Jewish men transform an ordinary Thruway rest stop into a sacred space.The travelers, who hail from Brooklyn, Staten Island and northern New Jersey, look for a place to pray as they make their way upstate to meet their families.For nearly two decades, the New York State Thruway Authority has provided a ...