Daily Archives: February 24, 2009

Anti-Semitic Incitement, Poor Economy Have Kherson’s Jews Worried

KHERSON, Ukraine — City council member Sergey Kirichenko’s bid to replace Kherson’s Jewish mayor has turned into a wild anti-Semitic incitement campaign, blaming Jews for the country’s economic downturn and accusing them of plotting genocide.

According to Kherson’s Chief Rabbi and Chabad director, Yosef Wolff, the incitement has been building over the last few months and represents the latest development in a five year political war against Mayor Vladimir Vasilevitch Saldah.

Torah Dedication Perpetuates Life of Childless Holocaust Survivor

KATZRIN, Israel — Holocaust survivors from Holland and Israel, many with tears in their eyes, joined residents in the Golan Heights city of Katzrin to dedicate a Torah scroll in memory of a fellow survivor who, because of the horrors inflicted on her in a Nazi concentration camp, died childless.

Once in a Rare Sun: Birkat Hachamah

BROOKYN, NY — The waxing and waning of the moon is regularly celebrated in Jewish life. The Jewish calendar is based on the lunar cycle, familiar to Jewish children even as preschoolers who learn to welcome the new moon with regular Rosh Chodesh celebrations. In a popular depiction by Jewish painters, a minyan of men stand outside the shtetl shul and bless the new moon under a dark sky.

5,360 Inmates in Federal Prisons in the U.S. Request Kosher Meals

According to data provided by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP), a record 5,360 inmates in federal prisons are receiving kosher meals in all of the FBOP’s 114 facilities across the United States. Of those, 3,268 identify themselves as Jewish. While there have been several challenges to kosher by some state prison officials, the FBOP guides itself by a number of court decisions that mandate the kosher food.