Chabad of Newton, MA eyes new location

The Beth Menachem Chabad, which caused an uproar laced with accusations of anti-Semitism when it moved into its current home in Oak Hill nearly two years ago, plans to build a new synagogue a quarter-mile down the road on the site where a 200-year-old home now stands.

The Chabad, at 229 Dedham St., has set its sights on 349 Dedham St., which is situated at the corner with Rachel Road, near the Charles River Country Club’s golf course. The property’s previous owner, Adam Neiman, requested a permit to knock down the house in October 2004.

Faithful gather to celebrate Yom Kippur

In the warm glow of candlelight, a host of followers came to the Lubavitch Jewish Center Wednesday one by one to pray and ask God to forgive their sins.

It was one of many services in Gainesville to observe Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year.

Surrounded by the sweet aroma of incense, the faithful then took a melodic journey through history, chanting the mystical words of the Kol Nidrei, a sacred Hebrew prayer that annuls all previous vows made with God. Women on one side, men on the other, they stood in solemn reverence beneath a white tent at the center in northwest Gainesville.

Fears Of Lulav Shortage Hit Baltimore

A massive shortage of palm branches leads to panic among observant Jews who require the branches in time to recite a blessing during the Sukkot holiday as they wave the palm branch – known as a lulav – in various directions.

Politicians become involved in the hope that a bit of desperate, crafty political wielding will result in free-flowing palm fronds.

Palm fronds for all? Sounds like the kind of story that one would delete from their e-mail inbox as a bad joke, an unfounded rumor, a potential virus intent on destroying one’s hard drive.

Potential Successor Has Ties to Norman

A group of Brooklyn Democrats will gather in Crown Heights this weekend to select their party’s nominee to fill the Assembly seat formerly held by Clarence Norman Jr., the Brooklyn Democratic leader who had to leave the State Legislature because of a felony conviction.

Film tackles anti-Semitic conspiracy theories

Filmmaker Marc Levin says Israeli power, Jewish influence in the world, even the origins of Judaism are legitimate topics for debate. He just doesn’t think conspiracy theories add to those arguments.

In his documentary “Protocols of Zion,” Levin explores two beliefs _ one old, one relatively new _ fueling anti-Semitism: Jews have a master plan known as the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” to rule the world, and no Jews died during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Levin wants to get to those people who subscribe to those theories so much that he welcomed Malik Zulu Shabazz, a black nationalist leader known for his anti-Semitic views, to a recent screening.

Last Afghan Jew alone for holidays

Zevulun Simantov stands in the center of the dusty synagogue on Flowers Street in Kabul on the eve of the Jewish New Year, and tries to elicit sounds from his shofar.

With just one day left before Rosh Hashana, Afghanistan’s last remaining Jew is very worried he won’t have a minyan.

“This year I’ll be alone for the holidays,” he told me. “Over the past years Jews from the American army bases and relief organizations came, at least then we had enough for a minyan.”

“I pray that one day all the Jews that left will return, and once again the Jewish community will flourish,” he said.

Presidential Meassage for Yom Kippur, 5766

“Seek the Lord while He may be found, call unto Him while He is near”.

Yom Kippur is the Sabbath of Sabbaths, the most solemn day of the Jewish calendar. On this day, Jews around the world reflect on their lives and give thanks to G-d for their many blessings. The Rabbis teach that on Yom Kippur, G-d holds open the gates of Heaven and listens to every word of every prayer. As those final prayers are shared and the Shofar is sounded, G-d remembers every name — those living and those departed. In this moment, we draw near to G-d, sharing in the wonders of all creation and the miracle of all life.

Yom Kippur teaches us that we merit forgiveness and mercy through repentance, prayer, and acts of charity. May we have the strength to achieve all these things, so that we continue to build a more hopeful Nation and a more peaceful and free world.

Laura and I send our best wishes for a blessed day.

George W. Bush

Kapores at 5:00AM

More Pictures in the Extended Article.

‘No Evidence’ Of NYC Subway Threat

An official at the Department of Homeland Security tells CBS News correspondent Bob Orr that “no evidence has surfaced through intelligence to substantiate the threat” last week against the New York City subway system.

“All intelligence agencies agree there is no evidence to support the original information,” the official said.

No Need to Feed Parking Meters on Sundays

Stash away those quarters. Switch off the alarm clock.

A New York City tradition of free metered parking on Sundays – revoked in many neighborhoods to help ease the city’s fiscal crisis three years ago – will be revived under a law that the City Council approved yesterday over a mayoral veto.

Beginning on Nov. 13, about 32,100 parking spaces at the curb and 4,500 in municipal lots will be available to drivers without charge every Sunday. Worshipers had complained that they had had to dash out of services to feed parking meters.

Pakistan Welcomes Aid From U.S. Jews

On Monday, the chairman of the American Jewish Congress appealed to Jews to help Pakistani earthquake victims.

Yesterday, the chairman, Jack Rosen, said, he received a telephone call from President Pervez Musharraf.

Mr. Musharraf called Mr. Rosen in New York to say that Pakistan welcomed aid from American Jewish charities for earthquake victims and that he would be open to publicizing this help to Pakistanis, who are overwhelmimgly Muslim.

US apologizes to Hungarian Jews over ‘Gold Train’

The United States on Tuesday apologized to Hungarian Holocaust survivors whose possessions were stolen by U.S. soldiers at the end of World War Two after allied forces seized what became known as the “Gold Train.”

lulav crisis is not going away

The lulav crisis in Israel is still not going away, despite the entry of 70,000 lulavim from Gaza today. The U.S. has additional lulav problems of its own.

The Israeli market demands some 500,000 kosher lulavim a year for the Sukkot holiday, and the vast majority of this number are imported from Egypt. This year, however, one importer – Avi Balali of Segulah, north of Kiryat Gat – has managed to convince Egypt to drastically reduce the amount of lulavim it exports, and to allow him exclusive rights on that limited amount.

A report in the Hebrew weekly Yated Ne’eman alleges that Balali, a non-observant Jew, bribed Egyptian officials to this end.

Putting Up The Rebbes Sukah

Jews vandalize anti-Israel Orthodox shul

The London synagogue belongs to Neturei Karta, ultra-Orthodox sect opposed to state of Israel as national homeland for Jews.

An Orthodox Jewish synagogue in Stamford Hill in London has been attacked and vandalized – not by anti-Semitic thugs, but by fellow Jews who regard its leaders’ outspoken condemnation of Israel as a betrayal.

Rising tensions over the forced evictions by Israeli troops last month of Jewish settlers from Gaza and parts of the West Bank as part of the Middle East peace process has sparked a backlash among Stamford Hill’s Orthodox Jewish community.

When young Jews major in anti-Semitism

AMERICAN JEWRY is experiencing a cognitive dissonance the likes of which it has never known.

To illustrate, consider my recent lecture in Virginia Beach, Va.: “Anti-Semitism at the Universities: What Can We Do About It?”

It is very significant that a mainstream (i.e., largely secular and liberal) Jewish organization (the Jewish Community Center) would fly a speaker from across the country to speak on anti-Semitism at universities.

To understand how significant, one must appreciate how much Jews revere the university.