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Today, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America - the nation's largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization - expressed its opposition to the decision of the California State Supreme Court to overturn two laws defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The UOJCA had joined with other traditional groups in filing a legal brief in this case. Nathan J. Diament, director of public policy for the UOJCA stated: The Jewish tradition has always recognized the sanctity and special nature of the institution of marriage, and that only the relationship between a man and a woman can...

January 23, 2006 -- Faye and Shlomo Cisner are a typical procreative Borough Park couple: They have eight kids, and more could be on the way. "It is a possibility," Faye Cisner. "Thank God. God gives. We accept." Faye is 33, Shlomo 35. They have six boys and two girls — including a set of twins. The youngest, Chaim, is 10 months old. There's also Joseph, 2; Reuben, 4; Rachel, 5; Meir, 7; Jacob, 8; and twins Nisson and Yocheved, who are 10. The Cisners, who are Orthodox Jews, said they are carrying on the Jewish tradition of having many...

Evangelical Christians aren't the only ones making evolution and intelligent design a cause célèbre: Leading Orthodox Jews have the topic in their sights as well -- some of them gathering for a three-day conference this week in South Florida. At least two area Jewish groups have booked heavy hitters to discuss the issues this month. And, they say, Jews have a stake in the outcome. Intelligent design holds that some structures of life -- such as blood clotting or the flagella of some microbes -- are so complex, they could not have developed without a purposeful designer. "This is one...

There is an exquisite parallel to be drawn from the French government`s proclamation on Tuesday, giving curfew powers to regional authorities and the power to carry out raids when police suspect that weapons are being stored in poor city suburbs that have been at the center of the current unrest. Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin told national television late Monday that the curfew and other powers would be invoked under a 50-year-old law first enacted in an unsuccessful attempt to quell an Islamist insurrection in Algeria, at a time when that North African country was a French colony. Although there...

The lobbying scandal that may lead to the downfall of Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay — a conservative evangelical Christian purportedly sabotaged by his friendship with an Orthodox Jewish lobbyist, Jack Abramoff — is of interest for what it says about the value of honesty in the political and media elite. Abramoff is depicted as the epitome of the mendacious, greedy Washington influence peddler. Two Senate committees are investigating him, and he may go to prison — for breaking laws, the precise nature of which remains largely unclear.. Accounts of Abramoff's sins center upon reports that he wildly overcharged...

Rabbi Yehuda Levin has issued the following statement on behalf of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada: "We urge President George Bush and Florida Governor Jeb Bush to take immediate, decisive action to save the life of Terri Schindler-Schiavo. We appreciate the pro-life statements of President Bush and Governor Bush. Yet, their efforts have thus far not been successful. We therefore urge the President and Governor Bush to take immediate and decisive action - either jointly or separately - to save the life of Terri Schindler-Schiavo before it is too late. "When evil becomes 'legally'...

Jan. 19, 2005 18:44B> Jews attacked in England By DOUGLAS DAVISEight ultra-Orthodox Jews have been injured, some seriously, in a spate of anti-Semitic attacks in the London district of Stamford Hill over recent weeks, a senior Jewish official in Britain told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday. He also revealed that gravestones in the Jewish section of a municipal cemetery in Aldershot, Hampshire, including those of ex-servicemen, were desecrated over the past few days. This was the second such incident at the cemetery in two months. In the latest attack by vandals, a total of 12 headstones were defaced with Nazi...

JERUSALEM -- Azzam looked at each of us in turn, and quietly asked "Why did you come?" Moshe answered: "Because you suffered for eight years as an Israeli, and we wanted to show you support. We thank you for supporting the state." Azzam smiled. "Yes," he said. "I suffered because I am Israeli. And, I am proud to be an Israeli. This is the best country in the world. God bless the state of Israel."

Sarah Jessica Parker has been ordered to cover up after her Lux billboard advert offended Israel’s Orthodox Jews. Within 24 hours of the billboard being displayed, a senior rabbi contacted the Israel office of consumer magnates Unilever to threaten a boycott of the company's entire range of products, not just Lux. With this potentially devastating boycott in mind, Unilever decided to appease the rabbis by drawing up new posters that conceal the 39-year-old’s exposed flesh.

(New York-WABC, April 8, 2004) — A unique day under the big-top. Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus played to a crowd of more than 16,000 Hasidim on Thursday at Madison Square Garden. That meant some of the flashier performances had to be cut -- and some of the performers had to stay away. Jeff Rossen has the story. It's a first for Ringling Brothers. The first time one group, here Orthodox and Hasidic jews, bought every seat in the house. Chaim Biberfeld, Circus Fan: "It's a brand new thing that the community is doing, it's the Jewish community...

Conservative Episcopalian bishops and church leaders are organizing a network of socially conservative parishes in order to stem the tide of liberalism within the Episcopal Church USA. Frank Griswold, the leader of the movement, emphasizes that the members of the new network will remain Episcopalian and that their mission is both religious and political. The new group, The Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes, joins the diverse group of religious conservatives commonly known as "The Religious Right." In "The Orthodox Alliance" (November/December 1995), Fred Barnes discusses how theological conservatives of Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant churches, who now have more...

When will Jesus return? Posted: December 23, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com "For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness. From then on and forevermore. ..." Isaiah 9:6-7 (NASB) As we celebrate the birth...

Britain's Jews Get Space on Sabbath Tue Aug 20, 3:54 PM ET By JANE WARDELL, Associated Press Writer LONDON (AP) - After a decade of debate, 84 steel posts and 1,000 yards of fishing line will soon bring new freedom for Orthodox Jews to participate in the life of their north London neighborhood on the Sabbath. The posts and wire will help mark the boundary of Britain's first eruv, an area that is a symbolic extension of the home and thus allows Orthodox Jews to do things which otherwise would violate a religious ban on carrying objects outside the house...