Israeli honeymooner dies in car accident

An Israeli tourist died in a Barcelona hospital Friday after being hit by a car while on her honeymoon there last week.
....Shalgi was an event planner with Nohar Productions. The last event she worked on was the reception ceremony for US President Barack Obama at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem on March 20. Her colleagues related to Israeli media her excitement about having worked on the US president’s visit and been briefly greeted by him.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/honeymooning-israeli-dies-in-barcelona/

Calls to cancel 92 Street Y's event

An Israeli civil rights organization has called to cancel a Roger Waters event after his recent anti Israeli and anti Semitic activities, according to a press release by Shurat HaDin.

"New York's 92nd Street Y's decision to postpone and not cancel all together Roger Waters' event is appalling.
Read more: http://www.yourjewishnews.com/2013/03/26418.html

British poll on shechita

Almost half the population favour a ban on religious slaughter of animals for meat and nearly a third want a ban on male circumcision, according to the results of a YouGov poll for the JC.
Continue reading: http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/103895/forty-five-cent-britons-ready-ban-shechita

Doesn't think in French

The leader of the French far left said a Jewish Socialist minister “thought in international finances, not in French” and then denied he was referring to the minister’s origins.
Read more: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2013/03/25/3122986/french-leftist-leader-jewish-minister-doesnt-think-in-french

Kosher for Passover for pets

With four fish, three cats, two dogs and a hamster as her pets, Helene Rubin of Bloomfield Township loves animals a lot.
But as an Orthodox Jew, she also loves her faith and wants to follow its rules.
And so when Passover -- an eight-day Jewish holiday that has specific dietary rules -- rolls around every year, she makes sure to follow them not only for herself, but also her animals. That's because even feeding your pets the wrong kinds of food during Passover could violate the laws of Judaism.
Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20130325/NEWS05/303250088/Keeping-pets-kosher-for-Passover-challenges-Jewish-owners

Barred from Libya

The French celebrity philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy was banned from joining the former President Nicolas Sarkozy’s visit to Libya this week because he is Jewish.
Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/author-barred-from-libya-for-being-jewish-8546522.html

Special spiritual bond

Pope Francis told Jewish leaders that Catholics and Jews are “bound by a very special spiritual bond.”
The new pontiff on Wednesday also pledged to foster the interfaith dialogue begun with the Nostra Aetate decree of the Second Vatican Council.
Read more: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2013/03/20/3122636/poe-francis-tells-jewish-leaders-they-have-special-spiritual-bond

The New Jewish Table review

What happens when an ambitious chef raised Episcopalian falls in love and marries a Jewish woman working in the food industry? Well, if it's Todd Gray and Ellen Kassoff Gray, you open a restaurant called Equinox in Washington, D.C., garner attention and acclaim, branch out into other restaurant gigs and catering, and write a cookbook together that tells the story of living and working and eating together.
Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/food/sc-food-0315-jewish-table-20130320,0,2881212.story

Matching funds

A group of foundations announced they are giving away up to $1 million in matching funds to Jewish social justice organizations.
Read more: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2013/03/19/3122376/nathan-cummings-foundation-gifts-1-million-to-social-justice-causes

The new Pope

Mordechia Levin writes about the Pope's relationship with the Jews over here.

The first-responder son of city Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano resigned today after The Post revealed his history of racist, anti-semitic writings.
Mayor Bloomberg said EMT Joe Cassano has stepped down from job after his “offensive” online rants were exposed.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/emt_son_rant_fdny_commish_resigns_DS5bxNGpJMSo51fJfP9U5H

Searching for his twin

Separated by a cruel fate at the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944, an Israeli man is now on the hunt to find his long lost twin brother. And the 72-year-old is using Facebook to do it.

Elias Gottesmann doesn’t remember much from his time in the Nazi’s largest death camp. He was just 3 years old when Hitler’s men stormed his house while he was playing in his yard and brought him to Auschwitz. But Menachem does remember that he had an identical twin brother who was sleeping inside his house during the raid.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/auschwitz-survivor-facebook-search-lost-twin-article-1.1290784#ixzz2NmDYxwSr

Labour peer suspended

Labour has suspended one of its peers as it launched an investigation into allegations that he blamed a Jewish conspiracy for his imprisonment for dangerous driving.
Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/mar/14/labour-suspends-ahmed-jewish-conspiracy

A heavenly canopy

A Jewish history museum in Warsaw has unveiled a reconstructed synagogue roof with an elaborately painted ceiling modeled on a 17th-century structure, presenting the first object that will go on permanent display in the highly awaited museum.
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/jewish-museum-poland-unveils-synagogue-roof-18709050

The Nazi orchestra

The Vienna Philharmonic today revealed that almost half of its musicians were Nazis in World War II after it sacked Jewish members.
Continue reading: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-03-10/vienna-philharmonic-reveals-nazi-past-jewish-firings

Sandy relief

Two Jewish-affiliated groups announced new relief for victims of Superstorm Sandy.
...the Jewish Federations of North America on announced that the Jim Joseph Foundation awarded it $1 million for subsidies for "Jewish day and congregational schools, Jewish camps, youth volunteer activities, and social service programming needs" in nine communities in New Jersey and Connecticut affected by the storm.
Read more: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2013/03/10/3121586/jewish-groups-announce-new-sandy-relief

Arrest in Toronto Jewish community center bomb threat

Police in Toronto have arrested a man in connection with a bomb threat at a Jewish community centre.
Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/toronto-police-make-arrest-in-connection-with-bomb-threat-at-jewish-centre/article9575095/

Rabbi Simes reflects

For Rabbi Yehuda Simes, an Ottawa teacher and youth leader, Passover is a special time to celebrate freedom. In June 2010, everything he’d thought of as freedom vanished when his family’s van rolled off the highway. His pregnant wife and seven of eight children received only minor injuries, but Rabbi Simes was paralyzed from the shoulders down.
Continue reading: http://www.cjnews.com/news/quadriplegic-rabbi-reflects-freedom-pesach

Forced to apologize

After a TV host called Israel a cancer Irish TV was forced to apologize to Jews, according to press reports in the United Kingdom.
Read more: http://www.yourjewishnews.com/2013/03/26101.html

Under scrutiny

Comic Beppe Grillo's populist tirades were seen as a benign outlet for popular anger in the days his protest movement was a sideshow in Italian politics. Now that he's one of Italy's most powerful figures, his views are coming under greater scrutiny - and a history of anti-Semitic statements has started to raise concern outside the country.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/07/3272090/italy-kingmakers-anti-jewish-views.html

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/07/3272090/italy-kingmakers-anti-jewish-views.html#storylink=cpy

Painting returned

A museum in Stuttgart today handed over an early Renaissance painting to the heirs of Max Stern, a Jewish art dealer persecuted by the Nazis and forced to flee Germany 75 years ago.
Continue reading: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-05/virgin-painting-returned-to-heirs-of-nazi-victim-dealer.html

The righteous among the nations

Israeli President Shimon Peres and the crown prince of Belgium recognized 11 families who saved Jews during the Holocaust.
Peres and Prince Phillipe bestowed the decorations of the Righteous Among the Nations on the 11 Belgian families on Tuesday.
Read more: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2013/03/05/3121216/peres-recognizes-11-belgian-families-who-saved-jews

Jewish Ukranian survives attempt on his life

Vadim Rabinovich, a Jewish Ukrainian philanthropist and businessman, survived an apparent attempt on his life in Kiev.
According to the online edition of the Russian daily Komsomolskaya Pravda, an explosive device was hurled into Rabinovich’s car near the Klovska metro station on Monday.
Read more: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2013/03/04/3121036/ukrainian-jewish-businessman-survives-explosion

Emergency preparedness

Dozens of leaders from area Jewish and law enforcement communities met at the Monmouth County Fire Academy on Friday to discuss emergency preparedness in the wake of the Newtown shootings and other recent attacks.

“The purpose is to engage the Jewish community in a partnership with law enforcement on best practices when it comes to emergency management, preparedness, training and understanding the various threats that could impact the Jewish community institutions such as synagogues, schools, campuses and community centers,” said Doron Horowitz, a senior advisor with Secure Community Network.
Read more: http://www.nj.com/monmouth/index.ssf/2013/03/jewish_law_enforcement_communities_talk_preparedness_following_newtown_and_other_attacks.html

Unrepentant Joan

Joan Rivers is refusing to apologize about controversial comments she made during a segment on her TV show “Fashion Police,” insisting she uses humor to remind the public about the Holocaust.
Read more: http://blog.sfgate.com/dailydish/2013/03/01/joan-rivers-unrepentant-about-jewish-joke/

Accommodating the Sabbath

The Chicagoland Jewish High School boys basketball team is two victories away from reaching the Class 1A state semifinals, scheduled for Friday, March 8 in Peoria.
Should the Deerfield school reach the state final, the Illinois High School Association said Thursday it will move the game, originally scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, March 9, to 8:15 p.m. to accommodate the Jewish Sabbath. As a result, the Class 2A final would be played at 2 p.m. Saturday.
- See more at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/highschool/chi-ihsa-state-finals-chicagoland-jewish-20130228,0,2299308.story#sthash.dOuyDrsp.dpuf