The AP reports that in Portugal, a 16th-century synagogue (built during the time King Manuel I put forth measures to forcibly convert Jews in that country to Catholicism) has been discovered behind a false wall in a four-story house.
Congress has passed a bill including $600 million for US-Israeli defense projects and purchase for the 2006 fiscal year, reports Globes.
(JTA) Seventy-three U.S. senators signed a letter urging President Bush to call on the Palestinian Authority to disarm Hamas before elections next month. "If terrorist groups gain a substantial foothold in the Palestinian legislature, it will make it exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, for there to be any progress on the 'road map' or on the road to achieving a two-state solution," the letter sent Wednesday said, referring to an internationally backed peace plan. The Bush administration opposes Hamas' inclusion in the Jan. 25 legislative elections, but prefers to leave the decision to the Palestinians. The letter follows a House of Representatives resolution last week warning of policy consequences if Hamas joins the Palestinian government. Congress has oversight powers over U.S. funding to the Palestinians, and the Senate letter echoes the warning. "There would be even more severe policy implications if any such groups were then brought into the Palestinian Authority," it says.
Arutz Sheva reports that with the arrival of an additional 200 new olim from the US this week, the number of those making aliyah from the US in 2005 will exceed 3,000.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will undergo an angioplasty some time in the next two - three weeks, according to Haaretz.
(JTA) The Orthodox Union applauded the Senate for a hurricane compensation package that could provide $1.5 million to Jewish schools. Compensation amounting to $6,000 per displaced student will be paid to schools that absorbed Katrina refugees, whether or not they're public, according to the year's final appropriations package, passed Wednesday by the Senate. The House of Representatives is expected to pass the package by the end of this week. Civil libertarians said the package circumvented bans on funding for religious schools, but it had wide bipartisan support in the Senate. Key sponsors were Sens. Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.). "The Orthodox Jewish community is very pleased that those who sought to cruelly exclude non-public schools and families from this program saw their discriminatory views repudiated," the Orthodox Union said in a statement. The Anti-Defamation League opposed the package, saying it did not "include necessary prohibitions against using these funds for religious education - or even worship services."
The al-Aksa Martyrs' Brigades has announced that it possesses a rocket with a range of 25 kilometers, whereas previously the range has been 15 kilometers (one rocket landed near a kindergarten Chanukah party that 50 children had been attending at a kibbutz near Gaza), reports the Jerusalem Post.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Israel's Housing Ministry has approved construction of 228 homes in the West Bank; officials say this has been in the planning stage for the last five years and will take place in areas that will be retained by Israel after final peace agreements.
(JTA) A Jewish group is opening the first of 85 playgrounds planned for areas of Sri Lanka devastated by last year's tsunami. The ceremony for the playground, built by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in conjunction with the U.S. Agency for International development, the Bush-Clinton Tsunami Fund and a Sri Lankan nonprofit group, will take place Dec. 26, the anniversary of the tsunami, which killed more than 200,000 people. The JDC has raised $18.5 million in tsunami relief money.
China officially permitted a Chanukiah to be lit near the Great Wall; a group of about 200 witnessed the event there last night, according to Haaretz.
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On Dec. 20, hundreds of members of the New Orleans Jewish community jammed the Uptown Jewish Community Center for a Chanukah party, the first major "welcome home" event since the community was evacuated due to Hurricane Katrina. The Hiddur Mitzvah project of artist Gary Rosenthal brought about 300 Chanukiahs and 800 dreidels that had been made by Jewish communities across the country, and donated to families in New Orleans. There was also a giveaway of toys for Chanukah, family Chanukah packages and bags of school supplies. Rosenthal said this project was personal, because of his close friendship with Dashka Roth, who owns a Judaica art store in the French Quarter.
Rosenthal announced an upcoming celebration for those who missed their Bar/Bat Mitzvah parties because of the hurricane, and plans for a "national" Jewish music festival to be held in New Orleans in April.
It is estimated that close to 1,000 of the 3,600 Jewish households in the New Orleans area have come back.
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Above: Painting the walls at the Goldring/Woldenberg Jewish Community Campus in Metairie. The gym floor is expected to arrive next month, and the JCC hopes to reopen by March. The Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans is already open on the third floor, but the New Orleans Jewish Day School, housed in the building, will not resume classes until Fall 2006.
Below: Laying carpet in the sanctuary at Shir Chadash in Metairie. The congregation will rededicate the repairs and renovations that have been completed at a Dec. 26 "Chai-Nese" buffet.
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Biloxi's Beth Israel Congregation held its Chanukah party on Dec. 18 in its new temporary home, Beauvoir United Methodist Church. The congregation's building was heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina, and several congregants lost their homes. Many Jewish volunteers who had come to the region for Winter Break also attended the party, during which gifts from across the country were distributed to the local Jewish community.
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A year ago, Birmingham's Knesseth Israel held a groundbreaking for a new building at its current Montevallo Road location.
On Dec. 12, the congregation voted instead to build a new facility on Overton Road. The three-to-one vote in favor of moving was presented to the congregation's board on Dec. 13.
The Orthodox congregation will now design a new building, demolishing the church currently on the site, and likely start construction this summer. The goal is to be in the new building for the 2007 High Holy Days.
The choice to move came after fundraising fell short of the amount needed to both build a new facility and provide a comfortable endowment to run the congregation. It was estimated that to do both would require close to $8 million. The campaign raised about $5.4 million, which was still considered impressive for the 100-family congregation.
The current location is across from the Birmingham Country Club's golf course, surrounded by homes that have gone up in value tremendously. By selling the highly-desirable current site and moving, the congregation expects to come out significantly better financially.
The lack of affordable housing within walking distance of the congregation was also cited as a factor that keeps the congregation from growing. The new site, at 3100 Overton Road, is within walking distance to apartment complexes as well as more moderately priced homes.
On the other hand, there was a concern for members who currently live within walking distance who would have to move if they wish to walk to services on Shabbat.
The new location is a few doors down from the Bais Ariel Chabad Center, and across from a Publix that has vastly expanded the kosher food offerings available in Birmingham.
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With Chanukah on the way, internationally-known Judaica artist Gary Rosenthal is making sure that hundreds of Jewish families in New Orleans are equipped to celebrate the holiday.
The Hiddur Mitzvah Project from the Gary Rosenthal Collection has teamed with congregations across the country to provide more than 500 unique Chanukah menorahs and dreidels to replace pieces that were lost in the hurricane.
The pieces will be distributed at the New Orleans Uptown Jewish Community Center's Chanukah party on Dec. 20, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Rosenthal, who will attend the party, is teaming with Dashka Roth to present the hand-crafted pieces.
Roth, whose Judaica and jewelry store is located in the French Quarter, said "the event will be a homecoming for the Jewish people of New Orleans and mark our community's resilience."
Debbie Pesses, Jewish enrichment director at the Uptown JCC, said the celebration "means so much to our community... so many people here have lost so much, but for this one evening we will have the opportunity to celebrate our Judaism, reconnect with other Jewish families, and return to a bit of normalcy."
Groups at synagogues across the country made cut-glass mosaics that were sent to Rosenthal's Maryland workshop, where they were melted, fused and mounted onto menorahs and dreidels.
Rosenthal said the project's activities "work to teach Jewish youngsters about the role art plays in Jewish ritual, but also, we hope to teach them about the responsibility of helping others, especially in times of need."
Among the congregations participating are Anshei Israel in Tucson, Ariz.; B'nai Jeshurun in Pepperpike, Ohio; the Cherry Hill JCC in New Jersey, the Denver JCC, Jess Schwartz Jewish Community High School in Phoenix; Schechter Krieger Day School in Baltimore; Temple Aliyah in Needham, Mass.; Temple Bat Yahm in Newport Beach, Calif.; and Temple Beth Shalom in Roslyn Heights, N.Y.
In Denver, Jewish families from around the area made 150 menorahs. In addition to the JCC, Denver B'nai B'rith Youth and Shalom Denver's sheltered workshop held events, as did over 350 Jewish, Christian and Muslim artists at the Windows to the Design art show.
After the Chanukah party, the project hopes to donate Shabbat candlesticks, tzedakah boxes and other items.
Leslie Fischman, assistant executive director at the Uptown JCC, said the JCC in Stamford, Conn., sent Chanukah gifts that will also be distributed. A Mitzvah project coordinated 150 wrapped toys, 150 book bags with school supplies, and 150 Chanukah kits including candles, gelt and latke mix. "It is a really wonderful donation," she said.
Other toys have been donated to the JCC and Jewish Family Services. They will work with Jewish Children's Regional Service on distributing them at the Dec. 20 party. "All the kids are going to get Chanukah presents to take home," Fischman said.
The authors of "Images of America: The Jewish Community of New Orleans" will be at the party signing copies of their book, which was published in late July. Irwin Lachoff is the associate archivist of Xavier University of Louisiana, and Catherine Kahn is archivist of Touro Infirmary, and project chair for Jews of New Orleans: An Archival Guide.
The party will also include hot dogs and latkes.
With more families expected to move back to New Orleans in mid-December, in advance of schools reopening in January, Fischman said "we hope we'll have a lot of people back to enjoy it."
Pesses said, "We are so appreciative of Gary Rosenthal's efforts to make sure that Jewish families in New Orleans have the opportunity to celebrate Chanukah this year."
The homecoming events will continue on Jan. 8 at 4 p.m., as the JCC hosts a Rick Recht concert and free spaghetti supper.
Reopened JCC
The Uptown JCC reopened its fitness center in late October, along with several other services. Fischman said the JCC plans to have its entire program up and running by the first of the year, including resuming regular hours. The JCC lost roughly 40 percent of its staff after Katrina, and the professional staff of 18 is currently down to eight.
The Metairie campus is being repaired following the flood. While the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans offices are open on the third floor, reopening of the rest of the facility will likely be in March or April.
The Uptown JCC will offer its summer day camp, and expects a full enrollment by picking up campers from facilities that will not be reopened. Likewise, the nursery school will reopen on Jan. 3, and Fischman said because several others in the area will still be closed, such as the one run by Tulane University for its faculty's use, they expect to be full.
About 150 members are using the fitness center each day. Aerobics classes and YABL and Mellowball have also started meeting, with league games expected to begin in January.
FEMA is also using the Mintz Auditorium as an operational headquarters.
The JCC is already offering the "Katrina Recovery Daycare Center," which has about 40 children ages 1 to 5 enrolled. While the facility hasn't offered day care in the past, as families began moving back, many called to see if the JCC could offer a program. Enough nursery school teachers returned early that they were able to set it up.
Fischman explained that this helps parents who are resuming work in the area, or who are working on renovating their homes and don’t need to look after young children while they are trying to work in that environment.
"Winter Welcome Home Mini Camps" will be held the weeks of Dec. 19 and Dec. 26, for Kindergarten through sixth grade.
The JCC is also making changes in its membership policy by introducing monthly membership, instead of annual membership. "So many people don’t know what they are doing one minute to the next," Fischman said. Many have moved into Uptown from other areas, while many Uptown residents have moved away.
"We're trying to make life as normal as possible for the community," Fischman said.
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Deep South File :: Pic from Joshua Nelson 'Kosher Gospel' Concert at BJF Campaign Kickoff, Birmingham
12.12.2005
(Above) Joshua Nelson, who performs "Kosher Gospel,"
headlined the Birmingham Jewish Federation's campaign
kickoff event on Dec. 11 at Temple Beth-El.
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(Above) Doing the limbo at the N.E. Miles Jewish Day School's
Maccabee Jamboree on Dec. 11. There was a variety of games
and crafts for children and their parents, as a way of introducing
families to the school.
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Federation Sets Up Referral System
Many groups from across the country are offering to come to the New Orleans area to help with rebuilding, so the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans has created the Volunteer Referral Program.
One such group is an adult mitzvah corps from Temple Shalom in Succasunna, NJ, which has offered to come down the week of December 26 to assist individual homeowners or businesses that need help. The group has build five Habitat for Humanity homes, and has liability coverage.
Those desiring their assistance can contact Teri Gross at the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, 713.729.7000, ext. 364, or email terigross {at} jewishnola {dot} com. The service is offered on a first-come, first-served basis.
The Federation is providing volunteers with the names of homeowners, agencies, and congregations that requested assistance. The volunteers will then contact those requesting assistance. A volunteer's agreement, assumption of risk and release of liability will be required, and all other arrangements will be between the volunteers and the recipients.
Those who want assistance can complete the assistance request form, available from Gross, or online at www.jewishnola.com.
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BP Images
Medics carry off one of the fatalities after a suicide bombing by a Palestinian terrorist in Netanya on Dec. 5.
By Dan Baron, JTA
Another Palestinian suicide bombing has sown tragedy in Israel and raised the stakes in a national leadership race.
An Islamic Jihad terrorist blew himself up Monday outside the Sharon Mall in Netanya, which has seen several such attacks due to its proximity to the West Bank. At least five people were killed and more than 50 wounded.
The bomber was identified as a 21-year-old man from the West Bank.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, already under pressure following a weekend of rocket salvoes into Israel from the Gaza Strip, convened his government’s top brass for consultations.
Guards identified the bomber as a potential terrorist as he approached the mall around 11:30 a.m., and pinned him against the wall. But he managed to detonate explosives in his bag, killing a security guard and several other people nearby.
"The fact that the security guard and policemen managed to identify the bomber meant that they prevented a major disaster," Israel Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi said.
Netanya Mayor Miriam Fierberg said the day started out as a perfect one for her city. The weather was unseasonably warm and she was hosting a party at city hall celebrating the decision by Elbit, a major Israeli high-tech firm, to move to Netanya.
Then her cell phone rang and she got word of the attack.
"This is the way we have to live here and to cope," she said in a conference call with Jewish federation officials in Cincinnati, Netanya's sister city, between visits to the hospital to check on the wounded.
It was the third attack on the shopping mall, Fierberg said. The mall presents an attractive target because it is at the entrance to the city, and the facilitators who drop off the bombers are able to make a quick getaway. Netanya is located close to Israel’s pre-1967 border with the Palestinian territories.
The Israel Defense Forces was preparing Monday evening for a wide-spread retaliatory operation in the West Bank and strikes in the Gaza Strip. Ha'aretz reported that the operation could last up to a month.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz ordered security forces to wage an intensified crackdown on Islamic Jihad in the northern West Bank. Reinforced army units are expected to reoccupy villages where Islamic Jihad terrorists are hiding. The army will also severely restrict travel in the West Bank, and Israel has clamped a near-complete closure on the territories, the Jerusalem Post reported.
The U.S. State Department said the attack underscored the need for the Palestinian Authority and Syria, which hosts Islamic Jihad, to crack down on terrorist groups.
"The Palestinian Authority must take immediate steps to prevent these attacks, to end the violence, and to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism," spokesman Adam Ereli said Monday.
Sensing that the situation could spiral out of control, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the Netanya bombing and pledged to arrest those responsible.
But belying Abbas' words, Islamic Jihad held a press conference in Gaza City, which is under full P.A. control, to celebrate the attack. Sharon's right-wing rivals in the Likud Party - which he left last month, founding a new, centrist party to compete in March 28 general elections - lost no time in condemning him.
"Thanks to Sharon, we risk seeing a terror base being created right next to the Dan region," legislator Uzi Landau told reporters. "Today's terror attack is only a sign of things to come."
Landau withdrew from the Likud primary race Monday to endorse the front-runner, Benjamin Netanyahu. Other candidates include Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and Mofaz.
Sharon's new Kadima Party also faces a challenge from the left, from Labor Party leader Amir Peretz.
A former trade union chief with little experience in making war or peace, Peretz was quick to call for an "all-out crackdown on terror." But he also has appealed to Israeli doves by vowing that, if he’s elected prime minister, he’ll withdraw from large areas of the West Bank.
Sharon has a strong lead in popularity polls, thanks in large part to his alliance with veteran diplomat Shimon Peres, who left Labor last week after losing a leadership primary to Peretz.
When he was Labor chairman, Peres helped Sharon push through the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip this summer, a move intended to kick-start moribund peace efforts with the Palestinians. But there have been two suicide bombings since the pullout, as well as salvoes of rocket fire from Gaza at Israeli border towns.
The latter tactic appears to be extending its reach. On Saturday, two rockets struck Shuva, a moshav five miles from the Gaza boundary that had not been hit until now.
Mofaz ordered a resumption of air strikes aimed at killing Palestinian terrorists involve in producing and launching rockets.
Centennial Weekend for Congregation Beth El in Lexington, Miss.
Montgomery Scholar in Residence Weekend. Dennis Shulman, speaker. “When Joseph Answered Cain.” Temple Beth Or. 7:30 p.m.
Presentation on Interfaith Mission to Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia. Rabbi Jonathan Miller, Rev. Stephen Jones and Rev. Ed Hurley, speakers. Temple Emanu-El, Birmingham. 5:45 p.m.
December 3
Congregation Beth El, Lexington, Centennial Weekend. Rabbi David Ellinson, speaker.
Montgomery Scholar in Residence Weekend. Dennis Shulman, speaker. “Genesis as Poetry.”Agudath Israel-Etz Ahayem. 11:30 p.m. luncheon. “The Meaning of Life: Answers from the Hebrew Bible,” 4:30 p.m.
December 4
“The Fab Four Sabras” Israeli Shlichim in Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile and Pensacola. Temple Beth El, Pensacola. 8 p.m.
Birmingham Hadassah Tzedakah Luncheon. Shelly Goldstein, entertainer. Temple Beth-El. 12:30 p.m. Minimum $125.
North Louisiana Jewish Federation, Monroe Campaign Brunch. 11 a.m. Location TBA.
Program on Identity Theft. Ahavas Chesed, Mobile. 10 a.m.
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