Free Republic

'Silver scrolls' are oldest O.T. scripture, archaeologist says Feb 27, 2004 By Gary D. Myers Significant scrollGabriel Barkay, in silhouette, shows a picture of how one of the silver scrolls looked shortly after it was removed from the tomb at Ketef Hinnom. Scholars determined that the scrolls were inscribed with the ‘priestly blessing’ found in Numbers 6:24-26. Photo by Gary D. Myers NEW ORLEANS (BP)--While excavating a burial tomb near Jerusalem in 1979, Gabriel Barkay uncovered the oldest known copy of Old Testament scripture. The priestly blessing, recorded in Numbers 6:24-26, was discovered on two small silver scrolls dated to...

Police have apprehended a man they believe committed a string of hate crimes in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. According to the New York Times, Rubin Ublies was taken into custody Wednesday in connection with the burning of 11 mezuzahs inside an Ultra-Orthodox Jewish apartment complex in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn on Monday, which was Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day. An additional mezuzah was discovered burned inside the apartment building next door a day later. Authorities say they used facial recognition to identify Ublies. Police say Ublies has an extensive criminal history that includes nearly 50 arrests on robbery, drug,...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed a law last month that would require homeowner associations to permit religious displays on residents’ doors, including mezuzahs. According to the law, the religious item must be under 25 inches and remain in the doorway. The law was introduced after a Conservative Jewish couple was ordered to remove a mezuzah from the door of their rental apartment and then fined when they refused. The couple sued to be allowed to keep the mezuzah up and lost; they moved from the building when their lease was up. They then turned to Houston Rep. Garnet Coleman to...

A 26-inch-long stone box—about six times bigger than the kind Jewish families typically use to affix a tiny Torah scroll to their doorframe—is being marketed as a Texas-sized “Rick Perry mezuzah.” Earlier this summer, the Texas governor signed a law protecting religious displays outside homes, inspired by the case of a Jewish couple in Houston asked by their homeowners association to take down their small mezuzah. MezuzahStore.com is honoring Perry by naming their largest mezuzah after him, designed to be just longer than the 24-inch allowance given by the new Texas law and costing $999. The store clarifies they do...

A federal appeals court in Chicago has ruled that fair-housing laws do not extend to permitting a Jewish resident to nail a mezuzah to a door frame, prompting an outcry from the Jewish community. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 ruling on Thursday (July 10), decided the federal Fair Housing Act does not accommodate a resident’s religious requirement to affix the Jewish emblem to a doorway, if the ban on hallway displays applies to everyone regardless of religious beliefs. The case stems from the condominium association at Shoreline Towers, a Chicago housing complex, enforcing a rule...

(IsraelNN.com) An American court of appeals has ruled in a split decision against the right of Jews to post the traditional mezuzah on the doorposts of a condominium apartment if the bylaws of the building prohibit signs and objects on outside doors. The mezuzah contains parchment with verses from the Torah and is an ancient tradition commanded by the Torah before the Exodus of Jews from Egypt. We cannot create an accommodation requirement for religion. In the 2-1 decision, the court stated, "The hallway rule ... is neutral with respect to religion. It bans photos of family vacations, political placards,...