Jewish outreach in Australia

As Jewish communities in major cites celebrate the start of the Chanukah festival this week, one group is heading into country Australia to support Jewish people living in isolated areas without a synagogue or connection to their culture.
The founder of Chabad of Rural and Remote Australia, Saul Spigler, says while the census lists only 3,600 Jews as living in remote areas, the work of his group indicates there could be between 7000 and 10,000 in regional areas.
Read more: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/bushtelegraph/chabad-of-rara-takes-jewish-outreach-to-isolated-communities/5122448

Enrollment in French private schools

Most French Jewish parents enroll their children in private schools because of anti-Semitism, a leader of France’s Jewish community said.
Read more: http://www.jta.org/2013/11/26/news-opinion/world/french-jewish-leader-majority-of-jews-too-afraid-to-put-kids-in-public-school#ixzz2lnFgxvnB

Reassurances

White House officials have held at least three conference calls with various leaders of the American-Jewish community to reassure them since the nuclear deal between Iran and the major Western powers was announced, CNN has learned.
Continue reading: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/11/25/administration-tries-to-reassure-american-jewish-groups/

Hate crimes

The FBI has released their statistics for hate crimes in 2012 and the numbers show that almost 2/3 of religious hate crimes are committed by offenders with an anti-Jewish bias.
Continue reading: http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2013/11/25/Two-Thirds-of-Religious-Hate-Crimes-Come-from-Anti-Jewish-Bias

Thanksgiving Hanukkah overlap

Chicago-area Jews greet overlap of Thanksgiving, Hanukkah with gratitude

Thanksgiving Hanukkah overlap

Chicago-area Jews greet overlap of Thanksgiving, Hanukkah with gratitude

Suspending ties

Brandeis University has decided to suspend its partnership with a Palestinian university over what it calls a failure by leadership to condemn an on-campus demonstration in which marchers reportedly made what Brandeis officials said looked like Nazi salutes.
Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/us-university-cuts-ties-palestinian-school

Knockout game and Jewish victims

A new and brutal "game" that appears to be gaining popularity among some teens has  targeted victims in several cities, reports CBS New York. 
It's called "knockout."
...
State Assemblyman Dov Hikind told the station, "It's 'knockout,' and it happens to be a Jew in each and every case."

Other "knockout" attack victims in Brooklyn include a 20-year-old man from Israel and a 12-year-old boy who was attacked on his way to Hebrew school.
Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57613157-504083/knockout-game-targeting-victims-in-several-cities-report-says/

Rare Jewish manuscript up for auction

JEwish manuscript up for auctionA rare Jewish manuscript created for the Oppenheimer banking dynasty is expected to be sold to a foreign collector when it comes up for auction next week. It was discovered forgotten in a soup box in a semi-detached house in north Manchester.
...The velum manuscript, which contains more than 50 coloured scenes from the Torah, was taken to Amsterdam where an expert concluded it was the work of Aaron Wolff Herlingen, scribe to the Imperial Court in Vienna in the mid-18th century.
Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/rare-jewish-manuscript-found-in-garage-expected-to-fetch-500000-8947620.html

Polish Forbes apologizes

The Polish edition of Forbes magazine apologized for three articles about the restitution of prewar property of Jewish communities that targeted the leaders of Poland’s organized Jewish community and several Jewish organizations.

Read more: http://www.jta.org/2013/11/18/news-opinion/world/polish-forbes-magazine-apologizes-to-jewish-leaders#ixzz2l2wlL030

Hadassah celebrates

Hadassah’s Boston chapter marks 100th anniversary

100 years ago, group began its mission of aiding health care in Israel
Read more: http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/11/18/boston-chapter-hadassah-jewish-women-volunteer-organization-celebrates-centennial/XlaQc2512G8VkVxir22zcO/story.html

Jewish values

Below is an excerpt from an article titled Book excerpt: How New Tigers manager Brad Ausmus' Jewish heritage molded him.

Have Jewish values osmotically or otherwise filtered into Brad’s personality, which are expressed in the way he handles life situations?
“I think certainly some of my mother’s values have. She is Jewish, she was raised in a Jewish household, and those values have been instilled in me. I am able to tell you what my mother’s values are. Treating everyone the same, assuming the best in everyone, assuming everyone is a good person until they prove otherwise, just generally being kind. I see Judaism as my heritage. Not only was my mother born and raised Jewish, but both my grandparents, who were two of my favorite people, were very much practicing Jews.
http://www.freep.com/article/20131117/SPORTS02/311170119/detroit-tigers-brad-ausmus-jewish-heritage

Defying the charter

Montreal’s Jewish General Hospital, one of Quebec’s most prominent institutions, has fired a strong message to the Quebec government saying it will not play along with any part of the proposed religious dress code in the charter of values.
Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/montreal-jewish-hospital-to-defy-quebec-secular-charters-dress-code/article15433805/

Israel breaks record

Israel has broken the Guinness world record for donating the most hair to cancer victims in a single drive, producing 53.1 kilograms (117 pounds) on Monday. The previous Guinness record was 48.7 kilograms (107 pounds).
Read more: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=13253&r=1

New legislation on non-medical circumcision in Norway

Norway will promote new legislation to “regulate ritual circumcision,” the country’s health minister said.
Bent Hoie said the new legislation on non-medical circumcision of boys under 18 will be introduced before April 20, according to a report by the Norwegian daily Aftenposten.

Read more: http://www.jta.org/2013/11/12/news-opinion/world/norway-to-introduce-new-regulations-on-circumcision#ixzz2kTJnHNds

A mouthpiece for Bibi

Italian Jewish actor Moni Ovadia has distanced himself from Milan's Jewish community, calling it a mouthpiece for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
"I no longer want to be part of an entity called a Jewish community that is nothing but a government propaganda bureau," the 67-year-old actor told the daily Il Fatto Quotidiano last week.
Ovadia, an actor and musician who attracts thousands to his Yiddish cultural productions, is known for his left-wing politics and strong criticism of Israel's occupation and settlement policies.
Continue reading: http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/.premium-1.557307

Kristallnacht commemorated

Germans across the country on Saturday commemorated the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht — the night of broken glass — during which the Nazis staged a wave of attacks on Jews in Germany and Austria.
Continue reading: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2013/1109/Germans-mark-Kristallnacht-with-candle-light-vigils-tales-from-Jewish-survivors

In bad taste

A health spa has offered potential customers the chance to enjoy a ‘long romantic Kristallnacht’ - just days before the 75th anniversary of the Nazi atrocity with the same name.

The astonishing error was made by Kristall Sauna-Wellnesspark in Bad Klosterlausnitz, Germany, in an advert on its website which was accompanied by a photograph of candles.

The spa’s owners have apologised for their ‘insensitive naming of this event’ and admitted it was ‘extremely inappropriate’ - but claimed they often tagged part of their name, Kristall, onto events.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2488114/Shocking-Kristallnacht-advert-German-spa-eve-75th-anniversary-Nazi-atrocity.html#ixzz2jqey2Qoo

Holocaust items on eBay

Online auction site eBay is facing an international storm of outrage after it was revealed to be profiting from the repulsive trade in Holocaust memorabilia.

Items for sale include the clothes of concentration camp victims. Among dozens of sick souvenirs on offer last week was a striped uniform thought to have belonged to a Polish baker who died in Auschwitz, which was on sale for £11,200.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2485251/Ebays-sick-trade-Holocaust-souvenirs-Outrage-auctions-Death-Camp-relics.html#ixzz2jY2aLRij

South African Jewish cemetery vandalized

Dozens of gravestones were pushed over at a Jewish cemetery in South Africa.
Many of the 30 to 40 desecrated gravestones were broken in the Oct. 27 attack in Krugersdorp, according to Ryan Machet, a resident of the mining city in northwest South Africa.
Read more: http://www.jta.org/2013/10/31/news-opinion/world/jewish-cemetery-in-south-africa-vandalized#ixzz2jP930bsf