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Following yesterday’s thwarted funeral, some reaction in Italy: The head of Rome’s Jewish community praised protesters who blocked the funeral of a convicted Nazi war criminal as Italy marked on Wednesday the 70th anniversary of the deportation of Jews from the Rome ghetto.Erich Priebke’s final resting place is now unclear after the protesters forced a suspension of his funeral on Tuesday in the Italian town of Albano Laziale. His body is lying at a military airport near Rome pending a decision from the authorities.The former German SS officer died aged 100 last week in Rome, where he had been serving...

Pope Francis met on October 11 with representatives of the Jewish community in Rome, led by Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni, to mark the 70th anniversary of the date when Nazis rounded up the Jews of Rome for deportation to Auschwitz. Recalling the genocidal campaign, the Pope said: “We remember and pray for the many innocent victims of human barbarism, and for their families. It will also be an occasion to recall the importance of remaining vigilant in order that we do not regress, under any pretext, to any forms of intolerance and anti-Semitism, in Rome and in the rest...

In the hours following Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's death Monday, many shared stories of their own encounters with the renowned rabbi, whose influence touched almost every aspect of contemporary Jewish life. Among those who had a story to tell was Elishai, a teacher who works with immigrant youth. Elishai heard the story from an older man he happened to meet on a bus. The other man wore clothing that clearly identified him as a religious Jew, including a long coat and black hat, and he engaged Elishai in Torah learning during the ride. As the bus approached their destination, the older...

<p>An extremely rare convergence this year of Thanksgiving and the start of Hanukkah has created a frenzy of Talmudic proportions.</p> <p>There's the number crunching: The last time it happened was 1888, or at least the last time since Thanksgiving was declared a federal holiday by President Lincoln, and the next time may have Jews lighting their candles from spaceships 79,043 years from now, by one calculation.</p>

Rabbi Chain Ovadia Yosef, unarguably the greatest Sephardi Torah sage and one of the most influential political leaders of the past 40 years, died in Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital Monday after several months of deteriorating health. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected at his funeral, which will begin at 6 p.m. (11 a.m. EDT) at the Porat Yosef Yeshiva and he will be buried in the cemetery at Sanhedria in Jerusalem. Several main streets will be closed.

A young man looks forward to Succos, the Jewish religious festival known in English as the Feast of Booths or Feast of Tabernacles. Although he attends yeshivah, his family has no succah of their own. In the early 1970s there were many frum (religiously observant) Jews who did not "yet" have their own succah. People made due with the synagogue's succah. The young man and his family were one of those families. The young man asks his parents if this year they could have their own succah. His parents tell him they can't afford one. It's the Shabbos (Sabbath) before...

There is an interesting, albeit at times concerning, article over at Marketwatch.com that reports the simple fact that being a member of a believing community “costs� you something. And while the article is directed to a Jewish context, its implications reach all of us who believe and belong to the Church.Underlying the article and those it interviews is a not so subtle premise that it is somehow wrong for faith to “cost� much. Never mind that just about anything in life costs something, involves tradeoffs and that the things we value are often where we chose to spend more. Somehow...

During excavations at the foot of the Temple Mount which were conducted this summer, Jerusalem Hebrew University archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar discovered two bundles of a treasure containing thirty-six gold coins, gold and silver jewelry, and a gold medallion with the menorah (Temple candelabrum) symbol etched into it. Also etched into the 10-cm medallion are a shofar (ram’s horn) and a Torah scroll. Mazar, a third-generation archaeologist working at the Hebrew University’s Institute of Archaeology, directs excavations on the City of David’s summit and at the Temple Mount’s southern wall, the Ophel area. Calling the find “a breathtaking, once-in-a-lifetime discovery,”...

Orthodox Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, who replaced Lord Jonathan Sacks as Chief Rabbi of Britain and the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth on Sunday, said he would maintain traditional Jewish values, including support for natural marriage, while stressing that he wants all Jews to find a home and feel comfortable in orthodox synagogues. “We have a clear Biblical definition of marriage which is the union of one man and one woman and through that we value traditional family life," Rabbi Mirvis told the BBC in an interview before Sunday’s installation ceremony.

Tyrants have always wanted to control the minds of their subjects, which is why the schools are so important for the future of liberty.  Once the state gets its claws on the schools, it imposes texts and curricula that enhance its power and advance its ideology.  The advocates of statism understand this well, and they are willing to fight violently to maintain and extend their control. The Europeans are a tempo ahead of us in this very nasty business, but our guys are doing their best to catch up.  A recent story deals with American injustice working in tandem with...

The Sanctity of Human Life A Message from the Rebbe Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson The month of Tishrei, the first month of the year on the Jewish calendar, is generally a time for introspection when we pause to reflect on how well we have conducted ourselves in the past year, and resolve to improve further in the New Year. Thus, it is interesting to consider why it is that Rosh Hashana, which is the first day of the Jewish year, commemorates not the first day of creation, but rather the sixth--the day that man, Adam was created. The introduction of...

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Monday wished Jews around the world a sweet and peaceful year 5774, called for increased dialogue among the world’s religious communities and opposed fundamentalism in any faith. During his first private audience with an international Jewish leader since being elected Catholic pontiff in March, Francis asked World Jewish Congress (WJC) President Ronald S. Lauder to convey his New Year message to Jewish communities world-wide and said he also needed a sweet year because of the important decisions lying ahead. Using the Hebrew words for ‘Happy New Year’, Pope Francis wished a "Shana Tova" and...

SUFFERN, N.Y. (CNS) -- Maria Amman is still smiling. Paralyzed for half her life, 13-year-old Maria, a Palestinian from the Gaza Strip, recently underwent a procedure to regain the ability to breathe on her own, thanks to the kindness and skill of a Jewish surgeon on the staff at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Suffern, N.Y. Dr. Mark Ginsburg, chief of thoracic surgery at Good Samaritan, was assisted by Israeli surgeons at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem in successfully implanting a phrenic nerve pacemaker in Maria. She has been paralyzed from the neck down and unable to breathe without...

While controversial among Jews, especially secular ones, there is an increasingly influential Jewish movement that sees anti-Semitism in a different light. “The biggest problem here is people not knowing the difference between the Israeli establishment and the people who consider themselves Zionists based on the Biblical covenant between God and the Jewish people in his promise to Abraham,” said Bob Unger, a prominent Jewish attorney and conservative political activist in New York who describes himself as a “Biblical Zionist rather than a New World Order Zionist.” To deal with anti-Semitism, Unger told WND, “be a proud Jew and act like...

O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips. Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy. I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.(Hosea 14:1-4)We have been looking...

Eyewitnesses told Turkish media this week that a portion of the Temple Mount platform near the Al Aqsa Mosque has collapsed, creating a serious safety hazard and a possible threat to the stability of the Islamic structure. If the report is accurate, it would be the second serious collapse on the Temple Mount in the past five years. Palestinian officials claim that the collapses are caused by deliberate Israeli action to bring down the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock so that the Jewish Temple can be rebuilt. But archaeologists and engineers have been warning for...

Dr Laura Schlessinger is a US radio personality who dispenses advice to people who call in to her radio show. A few years back, she said, rightly, that homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstances. An open letter to Dr. Laura was penned and posted on the Internet. It has since done the rounds: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Dear Dr. Laura, Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and I try to share that knowledge with as many people as I...

Featured Term (selected at random):DIASPORAThe term used to designate all those Jews who lived outside of Palestine and constituted isolated communities among Gentiles. Most of them were originally scattered as a result of extensive deportations by Assyrian and Babylonian conquerors in the centuries before Christ. By the beginning of the Christian era there were substantial numbers of Jews in Greece, Syria, Persia, Asia Minor, and Italy. Possible 10 per cent of the population of the Roman Empire was Jewish. Most of these still considered Palestine their spiritual homeland and many made pilgrimages to Jerusalem on great feasts. some hold...

Fatima Center Invites Roberto Fiore to Fatima Conference The Fatima Center is hosting a conference in September. Among those advertised to attend are Roberto Fiore, John McManus, Dr. Ron Paul, Dr. Peter Chojnowski, Christopher Ferrara, Michael Matt and John Vennari. Below is a speech given by Fiore in Budapest, October 23, 2008. Fiore is a Right-wing extremist and Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) adherent. Fiore's speech follows the usual Perennialist/Fascist model. He begins by bemoaning the moral and economic decline in Europe. He then provides a nominal disparaging comment against Communism only then to direct the fury of his...

Teitzei means “to go out” in Hebrew. It is in the book of Devarim (Deuteronomy 21:10 – 23:26). What many do not realize or appreciate is that the Torah is based on connecting principles. Not just that, but that the world is based on connecting principles, and that ultimately God Himself, so to speak is consistent and runs the universe consistently based on connecting principles. Thus, is something at some point seems disconnected or dissonant at any given point in time, it will be redressed and reconnected and the final consequence will be such that not matter what seemed out...

Jewish tradition emphasizes that the month of Elul is a special time of Divine good will and mercy – a time that is particularly conducive to prayer and repentance. Actually, the month is part of the preparatory process for entering into the awesome judgment of Rosh Hashana and the cleansing power of the Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. God makes Himself especially close at hand. >>SNIP<< A popular rabbinic teaching describes the reality of the Elul encounter as “the king is in the field.” The analogy is to a great king who pays a surprise visit to his subjects...

In most traditional Catholic settings we usually think of the veil as something a woman wears, and as a sign of traditional modesty and prayer. In this sense we think of it as something good and positive, though perhaps some among us are less than enthusiastic.But in the readings of Mass from this Wednesday, the veil is presented in far more ambivalent terms:As Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the commandments in his hands, he did not know that the skin of his face had become radiant while he conversed with the LORD….the children of...

The Torah portion of Re’eh is in the Book of Deuteronomy. History, religion and literature have many examples of good and bad leaders but it gets very murky when trying to figure out good or bad spiritual leaders. As in all domains, one man’s bread is another man’s poison. One person’s hero is another person’s villain. And in today’s age of the relativity of truth, where everything is relative, even the worst leaders can somehow be accepted as great by some people. Extreme left wingers who are personally atheists can accept religious leaders they find appealing and likewise fanatical right-wingers...

You probably heard about Obama’s recent $10 million vacation to Africa.What you probably didn’t hear about was the fact that President Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton were all in Africa… At the same time. Why were they all there? Preston James PhD from Veteran’s Today says our three most recent presidents were all there to meet with their Annunaki Overlord “Marduk” in secret. This story might just be a rumor. Still, it comes from a source that has deep Intel connections and has historically been spot on regarding other incidents. First of all, I myself have very deep...

Jan's guests are a rep from the Zionist Organization of America, Joseph Sabag, and friend of Israel, Bob Naegele. Anti-Semitism is raging in the world and particularly on U.S. college campuses. It says in Psalms 102 that when the Lord builds up Zion, He shall appear in His glory. Thus, Christians need to be paying attention but most aren't. Nor are pulpits in the Western world. As last days' events play out, Israel is almost always in the center of them. The three have a lively discussion about many issues, including why Jews are usually supportive of liberal candidates who...

Israel’s deputy foreign minister has denied reports that his government is prepared to recognize the Vatican’s claim to ownership of the building that houses the site of the Last Supper. The same building in Jerusalem is revered by Jews as the site of King David’s tomb. Deputy foreign minister Zeev Elkin, who has been actively involved with negotiations over a long-awaited pact with the Holy See, told lawmakers that there has been no discussion of ceding ownership of the building to the Catholic Church. He added that rumors of an exchange—with the Vatican relinquishing other properties in exchange for control...

A video class regarding the shape of the Menorah (candelabra) used in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

Shalom, Are there tests/questions for some ideas/concepts to see if they are true? Toda Raba (thank you), ∼ Jonathan Isn’t it interesting that throughout history the idea of being uncertain about truth is a common theme? Much of Greek tragedy revolves around the oracle at Delphi that gave cryptic answers that were misinterpreted. In other periods as well, we see many examples of good people who thought they were doing the ‘right thing’, when hindsight makes it clear that they were sorely mistaken in their actions. Evidently, there is no foolproof method by which to discern the truth. However, we...

In Israel you might hear a youngster protesting to his mother in Hebrew, Zeh Loh Fair. The first two words mean "This is not..." The third word means exactly what it says in English - fair. The juvenile is saying that his mother is unfair. You see, there is no word in Hebrew for the concept of fair. He had no choice other than using the English. This is because "fair" is a false concept with no reality. What does fair actually mean? That everyone should have the same housing, talent, looks, and destiny? No two people even have identical...

It has always been questionable whether Israel required a chief rabbinate. It has never represented more than a small section of the population – the majority of secular Israel have no desire for such an institution, while the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) population – the most rapidly growing sector of the country’s Jewish population – do not recognize its authority. ... To put it in its simplest religious terms, the fight to determine who will be Israel’s next set of chief rabbis has been nothing short of a “chilul Hashem” – a desecration of God’s name. ... What has been going on...

Pope Francis met relatives of the worst anti-Jewish attack in Argentina’s history, and supported their efforts to discover the truth and obtain justice. They are nominating him for the Nobel Prize for Peace, for the work he did THE POPE WITH HIS FRIENDS Relatives and friends of victims of the worst attack on Jews since World War II, which took place in Buenos Aires in 1994, are nominating Pope Francis for the Nobel Prize for Peace.  The group announced this after a 90-minute private audience with him in the Vatican on July 5, during which he expressed support for their...

Magid identifies the creation of postethnic Judaism – a type of Judaism that does not take its identity from a tribal dynasty or a shared history, but from cultural values: things that are universal and suitable for everyone. Magid does not see this trend as the end of Judaism as a religion (in contrast to the Orthodox school of thought on the subject), or the end of Judaism as a culture. Not only is postethnic Judaism not rooted in tradition – it also removes itself from identifying with the historical Jewish nation. This is one step further than multiculturalism –...

In the game "Three Card Monte," the dealer moves around three cards very quickly to confuse the players. The cards are identical on the outside, but underneath only one is the sought-after queen. In his Papal directive from 2008, Pope Benedict XVI admits that it is advantageous for Catholic theology to avoid using the Tetragrammaton. The ambiguous term "Lord" makes it possible through exegetical sleight of hand to reinterpret Old Testament verses that speak about "Yehovah" (or "Yahweh") as referring to Jesus.

Although Joseph Smith said God had pronounced the completed translation of the plates as published in 1830 correct, many changes were made in later editions. There are at least 3,913 changes, and not all of them minor or merely grammatical. The LDS Church suggests that the changes are unimportant, but actual examination does not bear this out, especially when one considers that the Golden Plates were supposedly translated letter-by-letter by the power of God (H. of C. 1, pp. 54-55). Spelling or grammatical errors are one thing, but changes in doctrine and errors in consistency and common sense are quite...

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decisions striking down the substance of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California’s Proposition 8, Jesus’ opinion—or lack thereof—on homosexuality has received renewed attention. In a crass fundraising email running the risk of violating the Second Commandment, Mike Huckabee wrote, “My immediate thoughts on the SCOTUS ruling that determined that same sex marriage is okay: ‘Jesus wept,’� while social media ran rampant with memes of Catholic comedian Stephen Colbert’s words from a show in early May 2012: “And I right now would like to read to you what the Jesus said...

Brethren, Peace and Good to all of you. As you may know from most Catholic media, the Priestly Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), founded by the dissident traditionalist French Bishop Marcel Lefebvre, has announced its definitive separation from the Catholic Church. I don't have to go into the details and for that I refer you to the news report. However, I will share my opinion with you: even when I prayed for a miracle, and granted the SSPX the benefit of the doubt, I never really believed they were actig in good faith. You can read my consistent doubts...

The U.S. Supreme Court announced last month that when the justices return from their summer vacations they will tackle a uniquely American church-state constitutional question they have avoided for thirty years. There is no country in the world where divine guidance is sought as consistently at the inception of governmental deliberations and ceremonial occasions as it is in the United States. The inauguration of an American president has, since 1937, always begun with an invocation by a clergyman and ended with a benediction, as does the convention of every political party. The fact that the 2012 Republican Convention began with...

I recently interviewed a 26-year-old Swedish student about her views on life. I asked her if she believed in G-d or in any religion. "No, that's silly," she replied. "Then how do you know what is right and wrong?" I asked. "My heart tells me," she responded. In a nutshell, that's the major reason for the great divide within America and between America and much of Europe. The majority of people use their heart — stirred by their eyes — to determine what is right and wrong. A minority uses their mind and/or the Bible to make that determination. Pick...

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - A Jewish leader expressed concern to Pope Francis on Monday over attempts to make a saint of World War Two-era Pope Pius XII, who has been accused of turning a blind eye to the Holocaust. Francis made no mention of his wartime predecessor during his talks with members of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC), but the pontiff repeated the Roman Catholic Church's condemnation of anti-Semitism. "The Jewish community continues to be concerned about efforts to canonize Pope Pius XII while innumerable documents pertaining to the history of the Church and the Jewish people...

The 2012 Israeli film “Fill the Void,� now being released in the U.S., is almost unique in being about haredi Jews and directed by a member of that sector. Haredi Jews are that sector of orthodox Jews who isolate themselves as much as possible from gentile, and indeed from all non-haredi society. The English term that is used is ultra orthodox but this, I think, is misleading. What distinguishes them from non-haredi orthodox Jews (known as modern orthodox) is not greater religious observance but the aforementioned isolationism. Put it this way, a modern orthodox Jew is more likely than a...

A new film, Under the Roman Sky, starring James Cromwell as Pius XII, details the heroic efforts of Pius XII to save the Jews of Rome from the Nazis, after Rome came under Nazi occupation subsequent to the fall of Mussolini following the Allied invasion of southern Italy in 1943.Rabbi David G. Dalin, in his review of a Moral Reckoning, a tome by Daniel Goldhagen which sought to blame Catholicism for the Holocaust, details the efforts of the Pope to save the Jews of Rome:Goldhagen’s centerpiece is the outrageous allegation that Pius XII “did not lift a finger to forfend...

The mystique of Bris Milah is as old as Judaism itself. Throughout the generations, this mitzvah has been the pilot light, making sure that our spark would never be extinguished. For no matter how high the assimilation rate would rise, the importance of Bris, the seal of a covenant with God dating back to Abraham, was never questioned. Bris remained sacred to Jews of all stripes. But now, for the first time in our history, that reassuring flame has begun to flicker. "My husband and I are both Jewish, not practicing in the traditional sense, and we are debating whether...

So it seems the Pope may be considering pulling together representatives of the three major Abrahamic religions to discuss why it's not appropriate to kill others in the name of God. There's a few problems I see right off and that seems to be who do you speak to as a representative of Islam who would have any say that would resonate with the Islamic world. I could give a million reasons why something like this wouldn't work but one must never underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit in the cause of peace. Pray that if the Pope decides...

The aim is to articulate that God does not sanction anyone to killIsraeli government sources claim Francis is apparently thinking of calling a meeting between leaders and faithful of the world’s three biggest monotheistic religions, in Rome, to launch a message of peace, countering violence and the use of God’s name to justify hatred and terrorist acts. The sources say the Pope announced his intentions during an Audience on April 30, but there was no mention of this in the communiqué the Holy See’s issued after the Audience. President Shimon Peres of Israel “told the pope that there are people...

Wooden beams from the time of Herod’s Temple Mount in secondary use in the Al-Aqsa MosqueWhat happened to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount when the Romans destroyed Herod’s Temple in 70 C.E.? There is no report of any building left on the Temple Mount by the time the Muslims erected the iconic Dome of the Rock and the gray-domed Al-Aqsa Mosque in the late seventh and early eighth centuries. Did the wooden beams from Herod’s Temple Mount survive? In the May/June 2013 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, Peretz Reuven studies beams removed from the Al-Aqsa Mosque to reveal the storied history of...

Warning: this is very obscure and somewhat turgid. Only read it if you are Biblically and historically hardcore. Dear Rev. Know-it-all, Apollos is said to have “vigorously refuted the Jews in public, establishing from the scriptures that the Messiah is Jesus.� Do you know any resource where the argument that Apollos made can be found? Thanks, Judy Eizer Dear Judy, First let’s look at the passage you quote from Acts the 18th Chapter (24-28):  Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man had been instructed in...

Footsteps is a Jewish organization that helps Hasidic Jews wishing to leave their ultra-orthodox community become integrated members of secular society and work through the profound difficulties of leaving behind their past and, in most cases, being disowned by their families.PBS and A Journey Through NYC Religions report the varying responses of current members of the Hasidic community and individuals who have chosen a new way of life.Sol Feuerwerker is glad he left. I think thatÂ’s what surprises most people, you know, most outsiders, is that how can something this insular be happening right here in the middle of New...

WHEN is a Jew not a Jew? When he’s a Karaite. Or so says Israel’s chief rabbinate, which, after 65 years of relative harmony with an ancient Jewish sect, is reopening an old and bitter schism. In recent months, rabbis working for Israel’s ministry of religion have deemed Karaite marriages invalid, fined their butchers for claiming to be kosher, and demanded that Karaites marrying Orthodox Jewish women should convert, sometimes having to undergo tavila, or baptism. “We are already Jews,” protests Moshe Firrouz, a computer engineer who heads the Karaites’ Council of Sages. “The rabbinate is denying us our religious...

An interview with Cardinal Kurt KochOn May 14, 1948, the British occupation of Palestine ended and the State of Israel was proclaimed. On the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the founding of that State, Oliver Maksan of the international Catholic charity “Aid to the Church in Need” (ACN) spoke with the president of the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, Cardinal Kurt Koch, about the current status of the Vatican dialog with Judaism. The original German-language interview was posted at the Austrian Catholic news website www.kath.net. English translation by Michael J. Miller with permission of Aid to...

The Women of the Wall would have us believe that they are defending the Western Wall for everyone. Considering that after 25 years and massive public relations efforts the group can hardly gather 100 women on a good month, the assertion sounds ludicrous. Can you imagine so small a fringe group demanding to do as it pleases at the Vatican? Westminster Abbey? St.Patrick’s Cathedral in New York? Mecca? At any place of worship in the world? That’s not freedom of religion, that’s anarchy! The Women of the Wall can argue all they want that the Kotel is not a synagogue...