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"I disagree with many policies of the Obama administration, but I know that President Barack Obama and [White House Chief of Staff] Rahm Emanuel believe that what they are doing is good for Israel," says Rabbi Asher Lopatin, who for the past 15 years has been the spiritual leader of one of Chicago's most active Jewish communities, the Anshe Shalom Bnai Israel congregation. "Rahm is a tough guy - and I'm not sure he's the best diplomat," he adds, "but I think that ultimately they think what they are doing is good for Israel." Emanuel had to leave the community...

RABBI FIRST U.S. VICTIM OF JIHAD KAHANE CEREMONY OFFENSIVE TO OBAMA thelastcrusade.orgAny commemoration in the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) of the anniversary of Rabbi Meir Kahane's assassination would be harmful to the peace process, the American Embassy told The Jerusalem Post.The American comments came after the Jerusalem Post obtained e-mails in which an embassy official told Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin's office that any plans for such a ceremony was "something that Senator [George] Mitchell and his team are following with concern."The e-mails also implied that such a ceremony would be frowned upon by President Barack Obama who is attempting to...

The world is against Israel because of its own moral weakness and not because of alleged human rights violations, according to Rabbi Yaakov Medan, rabbi of Har Etzion Yeshiva, located in Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem. “Islam is strong, and it is convenient for people to go with strength,” the rabbi explained in an interview with Arutz-7.

(IsraelNN.com) The world is against Israel because of its own moral weakness and not because of alleged human rights violations, according to Rabbi Yaakov Medan, rabbi of Har Etzion Yeshiva, located in Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem. “Islam is strong, and it is convenient for people to go with strength,” the rabbi explained in an interview with Arutz-7. He added that the world’s preoccupation with individual rights, as well as the infiltration of Western culture into Israel, are “illnesses” that have led to “an erosion of obligations to the country and of the significance of Israel as a nation.”

He who is merciful to the cruel, will become cruel to the merciful. Al Taqyyaa and political correctness are recipes for irreversible damage to the values of freedom and liberty, which are the foundation of our US constitution and other Western liberal democracies. There is nothing "progressive" about covering up misogyny, there is nothing "progressive" about defending oppression and attacking courageous voices like Dr. Wafa Sultan.

An Oscar-winning rabbi is condemning the actions of Jane Fonda, Danny Glover and Eve Ensler -- claiming their decision to boycott the Toronto International Film Festival is "an attack on the heart and soul of Israel." It's all over a program featured in the festival called "City to City" -- which honors Tel Aviv's 100th anniversary by spotlighting 10 Israeli films. Fonda, Glover and Ensler have decided to boycott the festival and signed their name to a letter sent to festival officials -- a letter that claims Tel Aviv was built on "thousands of destroyed Palestinian villages" and that the...

MYFOXNY.COM/ AP - The arrests by the FBI of five ultra-Orthodox Jewish leaders in New York and New Jersey is making international headlines particualarly in Israel. All three of the country's major newspapers feature pictures of the men busted.

A synagogue, and 96 other "charities," laundered money at this lovely Bedford Avenue residence. L. Ron Hubbard famously (supposedly) said the way to make a million dollars is to start a religion." But like so many lurcrative frauds before it, the immense corruption scandal that upended New Jersey politics yesterday is a powerful reminder that piggybacking on an old religion works even better. Start a synagogue like Congregation Sheves Achim, pictured above courtesy The Jewish Channel, and you don't even need a congregation to get into the lucrative business of racketeering and money laundering! At least 96 other nonprofits are...

When Rabbi Aaron Katz walks the streets of Warsaw's former Jewish quarter, scenes of that lost world fill his imagination: Families headed to synagogue, women in their kitchens cooking Sabbath meals, his father as a boy with the sidecurls of an Orthodox Jew. But Katz's life could hardly be more different from that prewar eastern European culture, at least in one key respect: He is Poland's first openly gay rabbi. Born in Argentina 53 years ago to parents who fled Poland before the Holocaust, Katz is the latest rabbi to play his part in reviving a once vibrant Jewish community...

I was on vacation with my family in Iceland when my office called and shared the terrible news of Michael Jackson's passing. My wife and children were with me in the van. We could scarcely believe what we had heard. The children all remembered Michael fondly. He had given them their dog Marshmallow who is a member of our family until today. My daughter teared up. And while I was heartsick at the news, especially for his three young children, I was not shocked. I dreaded this day and knew it had to come sooner rather than later. In the...

A rabbi at a Pompano Beach synagogue is ready to say mazel tov to the first Jewish gay marriage in Broward county, if only he could find a happy kosher couple. Temple Sholom recently shed its ultra-conservative image and is ready to perform the first ever commitment ceremony in the county.  Rabbi David Mark has been placing ads in Jewish newspapers to find two people who want to get hitched, something not possible just a few short years ago."There was a need out there among the public for something like this," Mark told the Sun-Sentinel. "It hurt me so much to my...

Claiming that “some Jews may be naïve, but we are not stupid” former Navy and Marine Corps officer and Chaplain Rabbi Dr. Morton Pomerantz has blasted Barack Obama for “creating a climate of hate” against Jews. In a breaking Newsmax.com story, Pomerantz delivers a blistering assault on president Obama’s troubling and dangerous game of moral equivalency: “Obama’s clever construct comparing the mass genocide of six million Jews to the Palestinian struggle will not be lost on the estimated 100 million Muslims who tuned in to hear him [in Cairo]. Perhaps it was not lost on James W. von Brunn, the...

Our new president did not tell a virulent anti-Semite to travel to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington to kill Jews, but he is most certainly creating a climate of hate against us. It is no coincidence that we are witnessing this level of hatred toward Jews as President Barack Obama positions America against the Jewish state. Just days ago Obama traveled to Cairo, Egypt. It was his second trip in a short time to visit Muslim countries. He sent a clear message by not visiting Israel. But this was code. In Cairo, Obama said things that pose a...

A St. Paul rabbi ignited a tidal wave of protest Wednesday when he was quoted in a Jewish magazine as advocating the killing of Arabs. "Destroy their holy sites. Kill men, women and children," wrote Rabbi Manis Friedman of the Bais Chana Institute of Jewish Studies. "With their holy sites destroyed, they will stop believing that God is on their side. " He quickly retreated from that position when the comments were assailed by both Muslim and Jewish groups. He posted a blog entry saying that his words were "misleading" because they were the answer to a different question than...

Dereliction of Duty: Riverdale Rabbi Avi Weiss did in effect resign when he made his feckless comments quoted by the N.Y. Daily News... All these events highlight the abject failure to confront the menace of theologically-motivated Islamic Jew hatred. Despite continuous interfaith “dialogue” sessions, Jewish leaders in both Europe and America never demand a mea culpa from their Muslim interlocutors for the living legacy of doctrinal Islamic Jew hatred whose ugly sequelae are evident on a daily basis. Their dereliction of duty is shameful.

Schwartz for News Rabbi Avi Weiss speaking at an earlier event in support of Israel. He told congregants at the the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale Saturday not to blame Islam for the recent plot to bomb synagogues. In the Bronx neighborhood targeted by a terror plot, a prominent rabbi cautioned Sabbath worshippers Saturday against condemning the Muslim religion. "We dare not condemn Islam over this one act," Rabbi Avi Weiss told congregants at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale. Weiss' temple was not targeted in the alleged conpsiracy, but two other Riverdale synagogues were. The four Jew-hating suspects were homegrown...

A teacher who worked at two Queens yeshivas and a Long Island elementary school was arrested after cops found child pornography on his home computer, cops said yesterday. Two online tipsters told state police that Timothy Holt, 44, of Baldwin, sent child pornography over the Internet last month. Cops seized the divorced father's computer and allegedly found nine videos and pictures depicting sexually explicit images of children. Holt, who pleaded not guilty to felony child-pornography raps on Friday, worked as a third-grade teacher's assistant at the Birch Elementary School in Merrick and taught Earth science at Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim and...

Pope Benedict XVI Rome, Italy, Mar 18, 2009 / 02:13 am (CNA).- Contrary to comments attributed to an Israeli rabbi, Pope Benedict XVI will not be barred from entering the holy area of Jerusalem’s Western Wall while wearing a cross.On Tuesday the Jerusalem Post quoted Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, who oversees worship matters at the Western Wall, as saying that the Pope should not wear a cross during his visit to the area.“It is not fitting to enter the Western Wall area with religious symbols, including a cross,” the rabbi reportedly said, according to SIR.Mordechay Lewy, Israel’s Ambassador to the...

<p>A rabbi in Jerusalem has one request for Pope Benedict XVI when he visits the Western Wall in May: Leave the cross at home.</p> <p>Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, who will meet the pontiff when he visits the Holy Land on May 12, said that a cross is not proper when visiting the Jewish religious site, The Jerusalem Post reported.</p>

Catholic League president Bill Donohue today accused the New York Times of showing a bias against the Catholic Church:“In today’s New York Times, there is a 524-word story about six protesters who held a news conference on the steps of St. Patrick’s Cathedral criticizing the current New York Archbishop, Cardinal Edward Egan, and his newly named successor, Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan. On the opposite page, there is a picture of a demonstration at City Hall by union members; in a caption below the photo, there are 39 words explaining the event. But there is no story about it. Other New...

Albert Kahn is America’s forgotten architect — even though in his lifetime, he (and his firm) produced more buildings than any other architect, and his design and production method changed the face of the country. Eighty years before the bailout of the auto industry, just before the Great Depression, Kahn built the most opulent of Detroit’s new corporate skyscrapers — the Art Deco-style Fisher Building. Facing the GM headquarters, Kahn’s grandest expression of civic architecture defined the unique American union of commercial and civic identity. Detroit Auto Show 2009 this month pinned its hopes for a twenty-first century transformation of...

Following Rabbi's Murder, Extremists Surround Jewish Homes in Yemen: No action from Yemeni government Following our earlier report on the sectarian murder of a Jewish rabbi, a group of Muslim extremists (associated with the murderer) are surrounding the houses of several Jewish families, throwing rocks and preventing them from leaving their homes. The government has taken no action and in desperation, the murdered man's brother called a local news outlet.

It’s clear the young Lubavitcher couple murdered by the terrorists, Rabbi Gavriel Holzberg and his wife Rivka, were the finest of human beings. They were dedicated to promoting goodness in the world in the deepest spiritual sense. They wished only the best for all humanity and also did their best to encourage it, in fact gave their lives for it. You don’t have to believe in G-d or even God to understand that. Their horrifying deaths reminded this agnostic that there is indeed something called evil in the world. So now what do I do? What, indeed, do we all...

Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, delivers his address at the memorial service for Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg at the Chabad House in Westwood California.

We're all in pain. We're all stunned. But you are asking questions you know you cannot answer. Why? How will that help anyone? What we need now is strength and courage. What we need now is to regather our forces and to rebuild. We knew beforehand that we are at war with an enemy. We knew that the world needs to be healed, that it oozes with a venomous darkness, and that darkness will not sit passively as we steal away its dominion. We knew that the more we fight this darkness, the harder it will fight back. We didn't...

(IsraelNN.com) Details of the tragic aftermath of the terrorist massacre in Mumbai's Chabad House have become available. WARNING: some readers may find the descriptions disturbing. The bodies of Chabad-Lubavitch emissary, Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, and kashrus inspector Aryeh Leibish Teitelbaum, were found in the Mumbai Chabad House library, with holy books in front of them. According to ZAKA emergency service, the body of the Rabbi's wife Rivka was found covered with a tallit, which her husband had managed to cover her with. The bodies of the two other women who were killed along with Rivka Holtzberg were found tied with telephone...

Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivki were murdered, along with three other hostages, at the Chabad community center which they ran in Mumbai. And as much as I am hurting over their deaths, I am more devastated by the scope of the terror (over 160 dead and more than 350 wounded) than the fact that among them was a rabbi. Even the fact that some appear to have been targeted because they were Jews does not make me so profoundly angry and sad. What is going on in Mumbai is bigger than that. And while I appreciate that fellow-blogger,...

Chabad rabbi and wife reportedly killed | Jewish Journal Nov 27, 2008 ... ... Lights remained off at the Chabad House, and Indian commandos appeared ... http://www.jewishjournal.com/thegodblog/item/chabad_rabbi_and_wife_reportedly_killed_20081127/

It’s little wonder that biographer Judith Cabaud considers Eugenio Zolli one of the most remarkable men of the twentieth century. Born in 1881 in Ukraine, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Zolli's baby boy was given the first name Israel. Sixty years later he was chief Rabbi of Rome. In 1944, while in the synagogue celebrating Yom Kippur, Zolli experienced a mystical vision of Jesus Christ. Within a year he was baptized a Catholic at which time he changed his first name from Israel to Eugenio, the same Christian name as Pope Pius XII. He did this to honor...

ALBANY — An Albany area rabbi has been arrested on sex abuse charges stemming from alleged incidents involving a 13-year-old boy.Albany police detectives arrested Yaakov Weiss, 28, of Loudonville Monday and charged him with two counts of third-degree sex abuse and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, all misdemeanors.Details pertaining to the case were not immediately available, but Albany police spokesman Det. James Miller said the charges have to do with Weiss' alleged involvement with the boy on at least two occasions — one in November 2007 and the other earlier this year.The arrest was part of...

Iran's jailed Ayatollah Sayyid Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi has written a letter to Pope Benedict XVI and other religious leaders asking them to help secure his release. The ayatollah asked the pontiff to "...defend the divine credibility and spiritual sacredness" by asking the Iranian authorities to respect human rights. The letter was reportedly smuggled out of jail and distributed by the ayatollah's representative in Europe. It was also addressed to Israel's chief rabbi, the grand mufti of al-Azhar and the Saudi ulema of Dar al-Fatwa. Addressing the Muslim leaders, Kazemeini says that "Political Islam is erasing the word of God and...

VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 25, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The rabbi who will address the upcoming synod of bishops says the invitation to participate in the meeting is a message of love.Shear Yashuv Cohen, chief rabbi of Haifa and co-chairman of the Jewish-Catholic bilateral commission, will be a "fraternal delegate" at the 12th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. The Oct. 5-26 synod will focus on the theme "The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church."The rabbi will participate on Oct. 7, leading a discussion on the Hebrew Scriptures."It is an invitation that implies a message of...

"This phenomenal woman, pro-life, pro-normal marriage ... a woman's woman... a reflection of the Jewish midwives in the book of Exodus,they kept the babies alive." NEW YORK, NY (LifesiteNews) - In response to recent claims that Gov. Sarah Palin's strong religious views may be "a cause of concern" for the Jewish community, noted Rabbi Yehuda Levin has issued high praise for Palin, saying that anti-Semitic claims could not be farther from the truth for "this phenomenal woman," whom he calls "a gift from God" to America. "Sarah Palin's caring about the security of the residents of Israel is certainly important...

... On Sunday, this Garden Grove couple will finally realize their dream of making their relationship official. Allen and de los Reyes will be the first Jewish gay couple to get married at Temple Beth David, a Jewish reform congregation in Westminster. "And this time, it'll stand because it's now state law," says Allen. The California Supreme Court in May struck down the state's ban on same-sex marriage. The question still looms whether a ballot measure in November could overturn that decision. ... Allen, formerly a Charismatic Christian missionary, converted to Judaism 12 years ago and "came out" about eight...

Scores of heavily armed federal agents last month stormed into Agriprocessors, which produces up to 70 percent of all kosher meat in America. The feds seized almost 400 of the plant's 900 workers in the largest single roundup of illegal immigrants to date, charging about 300 of them with identity theft and using stolen Social Security cards. Some of those workers have since sued the company, alleging abuse, fraud and sexual coercion. Postville, which once sold T-shirts boasting of the peaceful coexistence of its many cultures, has been left "absolutely shattered," said the Rev. Paul Ouderkirk of the town's St....

Shortly before he died, one of Israel's most prominent rabbis wrote the name of the Messiah on a small note which he requested would remain sealed until now. When the note was opened, it revealed what many have known for centuries: Yehoshua, or Yeshua (Jesus), is the Messiah. A few months before he died, one of the nation’s most prominent rabbis, Yitzhak Kaduri, supposedly wrote the name of the Messiah on a small note which he requested would remain sealed until now. When the note was unsealed, it revealed what many have known for centuries: Yehoshua, or Yeshua (Jesus),...

Jewish allies of the Rev. John Hagee rushed to his defense yesterday to say the Texas evangelist is not anti-Semitic despite Sen. John McCain campaign's repudiation Thursday of the evangelist's endorsement. "John Hagee is one of the Jewish people's best friends," Los Angeles talk show host Dennis Prager said on the air yesterday morning. "Identifying John Hagee with anti-Semitism would be like identifying Raoul Wallenberg, the great Swede who saved thousands of Jews in the Holocaust, with anti-Semitism." Orthodox Rabbi Aryeh Scheinberg, of Congregation Rodfei Sholom in San Antonio, appeared at an afternoon press conference yesterday to say Mr. Hagee's...

A German court has jailed a Muslim of Afghan origin for three and a half years for stabbing an Orthodox Jewish rabbi in the stomach in the street. The court in the south-western city of Frankfurt convicted Sajed Aziz, 23, of grievous bodily harm. Witnesses said he had shouted anti-Semitic insults at the victim, Rabbi Zalman Gurevitch, 43. The case sparked a discussion in Germany about whether there were no-go areas for Jews in some cities. Passing the sentence, Judge Klaus Drescher said there had not been enough evidence to support the original charge of attempted manslaughter. Rabbi Gurevitch's injuries...

5/7/2008 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- The candle flame danced a slow mesmerizing dance as it flickered from one side of the wick to the next. The light softly illuminated his face as his silhouette became a portion of the projection behind him -- images of Holocaust victims. Soft-spoken yet with a stern demeanor, Rabbi (Capt.) Raphael Berdugo's eyes glistened as he solemnly lead a prayer in Yiddish. More than 30 servicemembers bowed their heads to pay their respects during the Holocaust Remembrance Vigil held here May 2, to remember the more than 6 million lives lost during World War...

Hynes’ office dissuaded families ready to let their children testify about alleged abuse. Questions about Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes’ willingness to press cases in the Orthodox community are now being reignited. by Hella Winston and Larry Cohler-Esses In a surprise move, Rabbi Yehuda Kolko, the Brooklyn yeshiva teacher charged with having sexually molested his students, pleaded guilty Monday to two lesser counts of child endangerment and was sentenced to three years’ probation. Under the plea agreement, Rabbi Kolko, 62, made no admission of sexual wrongdoing. He will not have to register as a sex offender, and pleaded guilty only to...

Rabbi Dov Lior issues Halachic ruling stating that government's decision to allow transfer of 25 Russian armored vehicles to Palestinian forces in West Bank akin to aiding the enemy, calls on IDF commanders to obstruct move "It is strictly forbidden to transfer arms of any kind to the Arabs, and those who authorize it or take part in this act in any way – are 'spillers of blood' and are aiding the enemy," Rabbi Dov Lior, chairman of the Yesha Rabbinical Council, said in a ruling he issued following the government's decision to allow Russia to transfer 25 armored vehicles...

Chief Rabbi of Safed Shmuel Eliyahu called on the state of Israel on Wednesday to hang the sons of the terrorist who killed eight yeshiva students at Mercaz Harav. "A state that really respects the lives of its citizens would have hung the ten sons of the terrorist on a tree 50 amot [25 meters] tall so that others would see it and be afraid," wrote Eliyahu, referring to the Book of Ester's depiction of the way the Jews of ancient Persia took revenge against Haman and his ten sons by hanging them. Eliyahu's comments will appear this weekend in...

CHICAGO — Having grown up in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Capers C. Funnye Jr. was encouraged by his pastor to follow in his footsteps. Instead, he became a rabbi. His congregation on the Far Southwest Side of Chicago is predominantly black, and while services include prayers and biblical passages in Hebrew, the worshipers sometimes break into song, swaying back and forth like a gospel choir. As the first African-American member of the Chicago Board of Rabbis and of numerous mainstream Jewish organizations, Rabbi Funnye (pronounced fun-AY) is on a mission to bridge racial and religious divisions by encouraging Chicago’s...

In fiery newsletter, rabbi encourages women to resist any form of sexual harassment Kobi Nahshoni Published: 03.02.08, 23:18 / Israel Jewish Scene Fight off your attacker: Women attacked by rapists are permitted to kill them to ward off the attack, Beit El Chief Rabbi Shlomo Aviner ruled in a newsletter published Saturday. “In either word or deed, fight him off. Yell out loud so that everyone can hear you. If he touches you, slap him. If he attempts to do worse, and there is no other choice, you can kill him…yes, kill him,” Rabbi Aviner wrote. The rabbi also noted...

A chief rabbi of Russia concemned Kosovo's independence. Berel Lazar, of the Chabad-led Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, said at a news conference Tuesday that Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia could further contribute to world instability, according to a report by Interfax. He said a "totally wrong approach," had been taken in deciding Kosovo's future. "Today it is Kosovo, tomorrow it will be someone else or Kosovo itself will be divided in two, and there will be no end to this process," he said. Kosovo, a province of Serbia that has been administered by the United Nations since...

A Rabbi Who Talks With Jesus By Dinesh D'Souza Monday, February 11, 2008 Pope Benedict has a favorite rabbi, none other than the distinguished Jewish scholar Jacob Neusner. At first glance this is a puzzle. Many years ago Neusner wrote a book called A Rabbi Talks With Jesus. In it, he noted, "I explain why, if I had been in the land of Israel in the first century, I would not have joined the circle of Jesus' disciples." Neusner sent his book to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, asking him to write a blurb. Ratzinger agreed, and then even more remarkably, praised...

SCHENECTADY -- To commemorate Tuesday's 35th anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling that affirmed a woman's right to an abortion, clergy blessed this city's new Planned Parenthood clinic in a ceremony dubbed "On Sacred Ground.""Today is more than about the building and about bricks and mortar," Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Linda Scharf said. "It's a blessing to demonstrate the support of the clergy." Since Jan. 22, 1973, when the high court handed down the landmark Roe vs. Wade decision, two sides of the issue have squared off. Opponents have campaigned to overturn unrestricted abortion laws, while proponents have stood firm for...

by Steven Ertelt LifeNews.com Editor January 24, 2008 Albany, NY (LifeNews.com) -- In an act that is sure to generate guffaws from the pro-life community, a group of pro-abortion clergy in Schenectady held a ceremony at a local abortion business to bless it and call it "sacred ground." Religious officials who are pro-life call the ceremony sacrilegious by blessing a place that kills the life God creates.

In a letter handed to US President George Bush Thursday, former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu admonished the US president to avoid any course of action that would harm the Jewish nation. “The Jewish nation is eternal, and forever remembers those that have aided it throughout history, as well as those that have done it harm. Please let your name go down in history as a president who aided the Jewish nation, who worked alongside God and not against him,” wrote the rabbi. The Rabbi furthermore urged Bush in his letter to utilize his visit to strengthen and bolster the...

JERUSALEM, January 2, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Chief Rabbinate of Israel ruled on December 24 that abortion is a grave sin and that abortion is delaying the coming of the messiah. The Chief Rabbinate decided that it would establish a special committee to lobby to reduce the number of abortions carried out in Israel, and was supported in its ruling by Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar and Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger. Dr. Eli Schussheim, director of the anti-abortion organization Efrat, made a presentation to the Chief Rabbinate in which he presented the figures concerning abortion in Israel. According to...