Jewish News

Skechers Pier to Pier Walk Distributes $586,000 to FC

Almost 2,000 people participated in the first Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk in 2009. Last October, 7,966 people participated in the annual walk. The Strand between the Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach piers was so jammed, concerns were raised about where to hold the walk if it continues to grow in coming years.Greenberg presented checks from the 2012 walk ...

Size of Oil Spill Underestimated, Scientists Say

Two weeks ago, the government put out a round estimate of the size of the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico: 5,000 barrels a day. Repeated endlessly in news reports, it has become conventional wisdom. But scientists and environmental groups are raising sharp questions about that estimate, declaring that the leak must be far larger. They also criticize BP ...

Six Varieties of Kosher Ice Cream Produced in Russia

Just in time for summer, a Russian ice cream company produced a special kosher line of the frozen dessert. The Stavropol-based company approached the kosher department of the Russian Chief Rabbinate headed by Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar about launching a production line that would be acceptable to Jewish dietary laws.Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Yossi Verzub, director of the kosher department, along with ...

Six arrested in Gateshead over ‘Koran burning’

Officers detained two men on September 15 and four more yesterday and all six were bailed pending further inquiries, Northumbria Police said. ”The arrests followed the burning of what are believed to have been two Korans in Gateshead on September 11,” the spokesman said.”The incident was recorded and a video placed on the internet.”In a video still accessible on YouTube, ...

Siberian City Welcomes First Jewish Kindergarten

The Siberian city of Irkutsk, Russia, saw the opening of its first Jewish kindergarten as its oldest Jewish resident, 100-year-old Boris Gornykh, cut a ceremonial ribbon and welcomed students to their first day of classes.Run by the Jewish community of Irkutsk, a member of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, the school occupies space in the city’s historic central ...

Shul girl Oprah

“O,” vey!Oprah Winfrey visited a Jewish ritual bath at Brooklyn Heights’ Congregation B’nai Avraham synagogue while filming an upcoming Hasidic-themed episode for her OWN network’s new show, “Oprah’s Next Chapter.”Winfrey didn’t actually take a dip in the mikvah — a purifying, traditional bath used by female members — said Rabbi Aaron Raskin.“She just wanted to see it and had the ...

Should Yeshiva Students be Forced to Enlist?

Netanyahu and Lieberman are threatening to head to the polls early over the enlistment of yeshiva students, the haredim declare it “will never be allowed to happen” and experts disagree over whether national service – military or civil – of the majority of the haredi sector is even a realistic scenario in the foreseeable future.Researcher of haredi society, sociologist Dr ...

Should rabbis be active on Facebook?

Dozens of community rabbis from Israel, abroad discuss rabbinical social network activity during Jerusalem conference. ‘A rabbi must be a rabbi, not a friend,’ claims Rabbi Spolter of Yad Binyamin. British rabbi argues, ‘Facebook exists, we can’t say no’.They say that in America, community rabbis are willing to go to NBA matches with their congregation members “so as not to ...

Should French Jews have the day off on Yom Kippur?

The political tempest spawned in France by Standard & Poor’s downgrade of the country’s credit rating has transfixed outside observers. They have thus paid little attention to a different storm now roiling the waters of French society: the question of whether or not French Jews can take the day off on Yom Kippur.In early January, the Green Party’s candidate for ...

Shortage of lulavs looms prior to Succot

The Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry is urging Israeli palm farmers to significantly increase the number of lulavs provided for sale for the holiday of Succot, in order to meet the upcoming demand, after it became clear to the ministry that export of palm fronds from the Sinai would become completely prohibited, a statement from the ministry said on Sunday.The ...

Sholom Mordechai Thanks Aleph

In a letter sent to the Aleph Institute, Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin laments the forsakenness felt by those languishing in the prison system, and thanks Aleph for helping combat it with their “personal caring manner.”Dear Aleph Personnel,In appreciation for all that you are, your caring, love and devotion, and all that you do for your fellow Jew, THANK YOU.I am saying ...

Shofar comes to Netanyahu this Rosh Hashana

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was a prisoner of his security detail over Rosh Hashana, unable to go to the nearby Great Synagogue in Jerusalem because of security considerations that would seriously have inconvenienced the other worshipers.So instead of going to hear the shofar on the holiday, the shofar came to Netanyahu, with Eli Yaffe, director of the synagogue’s choir, going ...