Free Republic

I was privileged this week to preview, before its release to the public, what may well prove to be a masterpiece of the documentary film-making art—a new look at the Biblical story of the Exodus from Egypt in the light of contemporary archeology and politics in the Middle East. Filmmaker Tim Mahoney´s "The Exodus Conspiracy",[1] due to be released within a few months, seeks to demonstrate the historical accuracy of the Biblical narrative of the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt on the basis of recent archaeological discoveries and geographic explorations. A secondary thesis of the film is...

Conversions to Judaism among African-Americans are growing in a way that could affect the presidential election. Atlanta - Like many of the growing numbers of Protestant blacks in America and Africa converting to Judaism, Elisheva Chaim grew up believing she had a "Jewish soul." As a black woman and a Baptist in the South, that was a peculiar, somewhat troubling realization. But when she turned her doubts about Christianity into a search for answers, the truth became evident: She had to go deeper than the Old Testament. She had to convert. "It's odd to see black people convert to Judaism,...

U.S. imam calls for Neturei Karta ban at Saudi-run interfaith conference. by Walter Ruby Special to The Jewish Week Madrid­­­— A top American Muslim leader and American Jewish groups formed an unlikely alliance this week against a fiercely anti-Zionist chasidic group at an interfaith conference in Madrid, spearheaded by Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah. Dr. Sayyid Syeed, national director of the Islamic Society of North America, said he was upset by the planned participation in the conference, which opened this week, of Rabbi Yisrael Dovid Weiss, a representative of Neturei Karta from upstate Monsey. Rabbi Weiss was to be the only...

Monday and Thrsday mornings, 7/14 and 7/17Kohen--Numbers 25:10-12Levi--25:13-15Yisra'el--25:16-26:4 Strday 7/19--Shabbat Parashat PinechasMORNING Kohen--Numbers 25:10-26:4Levi--26:5-51Shelishi--26:52-27:5Revi`i--27:6-23Chamishi--28:1-15Shishi--28:16-29:11Shevi`i--29:12-30:1Maftir--29:35-30:1Haftarah--I Kings 18:46-19:21 EVENING Kohen--Numbers 30:2-9Levi--vs. 10-13Yisra'el--vs. 14-17

July 11 Rabbi David Dalin His latest book, Icon of Evil: Hitler’s Mufti & the Rise of Radical Islam and Ambassador John Bruton Former Prime Minister of Ireland and the current EU Ambassador to the United States

ISRAEL’S PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE By Reverend Dr. ELDER CUMMING (At Glasgow Conference, June, 1894) Let us return to Romans 9:3-5: "For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsman according to the flesh," &c. this is one of the most eloquent, and it is, without doubt, the most solemn passage in the writings of St. Paul. For what he declares them that passage is, that he has been brought into such sympathy and fellowship with Christ to that, if it were possible, which he well knows it is not, it is in his...

Ba'alei Teshuva --- sometimes translated to mean "penitents," but, more commonly used to refer to Jews from secular backgrounds who have become religiously observant, often hareidi or ultra-Orthodox --- have been held in high regard by Jewish tradition. [Snip] Try telling that to Avigal Meizlik who recently wrote a controversial article in Mishpascha, a highly regarded English haredi magazine about "issues" BTs face when they try to affilliate with various hareidi communities in Israel. According to Ms. Meizlik, when it comes to register their children in mainstream hareidi schools, BT's are rejected, finding, to their dismay, that they were never...

The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory and President Ronald Reagan enjoyed a deep relationship for many years. National Day of Reflection By the President of the United States of America Amid the distractions and concerns of our daily existence, it is appropriate that Americans pause to reflect upon the ancient ethical principles and moral values which are the foundation of our character as a nation. We seek, and steadfastly pursue, the benefits of education. But education must be more than factual enlightenment-it must enrich the character as well as the mind. One shining example for people of...

Monday and Thrsday mornings, 7/7 and 7/10Kohen--Numbers 22:2-4Levi--vs. 5-7Yisra'el--vs. 8-12 Strday 7/12--Shabbat Parashat BalaqMORNING Kohen--Numbers 22:2-12Levi--22:13-20Shelishi--22:21-38Revi`i--22:39-23:12Chamishi--23:13-26Shishi--23:27-24:13Shevi`i--24:14-25:9Maftir--25:7-9Haftarah--Micah 5:6-6:8 EVENING Kohen--Numbers 25:10-12Levi--25:13-15Yisra'el--25:16-26:4

This is a selection of important events from a week of religious history. July 6 In 1535, Sir Thomas More was executed. More, once King Henry VIII's chief minister and friend, had refused to take the oath of supremacy accepting the English monarch as head of the church. A Roman Catholic martyr, he was beatified in 1886 and canonized in 1935. In 1906, Parliament passed the Lord's Day Observance Act to prohibit work, entertainment, sport and almost all commerce on Sundays. The law remained on the books until the Supreme Court of Canada struck it down in 1985. July 7...

Islam Factor is a bold experiment in Muslim freedom of expression, freedom of speech and cooperation with people from all walks of life. Some who follow, agree with or are amicable to Islam and some who are opposed. Whether you agree with or follow Islam or not, whether you oppose Islam or not, no matter the nation, race, religion or creed we are from, we all have one thing in common. We all are human-beings with the same basic needs, hopes and emotions. Our forum hopes to promote an almost unheard of tolerance (that eludes many Muslim groups) that transcends...

For Marisa Hester, a Pentecostal Christian from Prattville, Ala., choosing an outfit for an ultra-Orthodox Crown Heights wedding wasn’t easy. Sorting through her two sets of formalwear, she eventually opted for a knee-length floral skirt and a high-necked black chiffon blouse, embellished with sparkling beads. She worried, however, that her slightly sheer sleeves were too revealing and would insult her newfound family. But at the June 24 wedding, the bride and her relatives could not have been less offended. A year ago, Hester, 26, gave an invaluable gift to the bride’s father, Hershey Fellig, 47, whose struggle she had read...

Pop icon Madonna is using kabbalah to brainwash Yankee star Alex Rodriguez into believing they are "soulmates," the ballplayer's estranged wife is telling friends. Cynthia Rodriguez, who has bolted to rocker Lenny Kravitz's Paris pad to avoid the limelight, is blaming the Material Girl for breaking up her five-year marriage, a close friend told the Daily News. The 34-year-old stunner has revealed to close confidants that she discovered a note her husband wrote professing his true feelings to Madonna. "I believe he was having an affair with Madonna," she told a friend, who spoke anonymously for fear of angering A-Rod....

Tomorrow is our nation’s 232nd birthday. Two months ago Israel celebrated its 60th birthday. I feel that more honest arithmetic would have had the small beleaguered country actually celebrating its 3,320th birthday. What happened three millennia ago which brought the people of Israel into existence? Ancient Israel became a nation with an eternal destiny when it received its constitution, the Torah, from God on Mount Sinai and formally adopted it. “And (Moses) took the Book of the Covenant, and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said...

Monday morning, 6/30Kohen--Numbers 19:1-6Levi--vs. 7-9Yisra'el--vs. 10-17 Thrsday 7/3--First Day Ro'sh Chodesh TammuzKohen--Numbers 28:1-3Levi--vs. 3-5Shelishi--vs. 6-10Revi`i--vs. 11-15 Frday 7/4--Second Day Ro'sh Chodesh TammuzKohen--Numbers 28:1-3Levi--vs. 3-5Shelishi--vs. 6-10Revi`i--vs. 11-15 Strday 7/5--Shabbat Parashat ChuqqatMORNING Kohen--Numbers 19:1-17Levi--19:18-20:6Shelishi--20:7-13Revi`i--20:14-21Chamishi--20:22-21:9Shishi--21:10-20Shevi`i--21:21-22:1Maftir--21:34-22:1Haftarah--Judges 11:1-33 EVENING Kohen--Numbers 22:2-4Levi--vs. 5-7Yisra'el--vs. 8-12

Monday and Thrsday mornings, 6/23 and 6/26Kohen--Numbers 16:1-3Levi--vs. 4-7Yisra'el--vs. 8-13 Strday 6/28--Shabbat Parashat QorachMORNING Kohen--Numbers 16:1-13Levi--16:14-19Shelishi--16:20-17:8Revi`i--17:9-15Chamishi--17:16-24Shishi--17:25-18:20Shevi`i--18:21-32Maftir--18:30-32Haftarah--I Samuel 11:14-12:22 EVENING Kohen--Numbers 19:1-6Levi--vs. 7-9Yisra'el--vs. 10-17

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),...

Ancient Methods of Keeping Records Lenet H. Read, “How the Bible Came to Be: Part 2, The Word Is Preserved,” Ensign, Feb. 1982, 32 There were several ways to record and preserve records anciently—none of them easy. The most common was to use papyrus, made from pith scraped from the papyrus plant, then wetted and pressed together. Scribes could write on both the front and back. (See Ezek. 2:10.) For more space, additional scrolls could be pasted at the bottom, the whole being rolled around rods. Some rolls may have reached as long as thirty-five feet, though such length would...

A certain Christian man laboring in India offered to give interested natives a copy of the Bible. After hearing of its message, many eagerly responded. One old man, looking upon the Bible with reverence, asked, “How long has this book been in the world?” When he learned it had existed for centuries, he sorrowfully shook his head. “I am an old man. All my friends have died hopeless. … And all this time the book was here and nobody brought it to me.” 1 How quickly he sensed the worth of his new possession: a record of God’s dealings with...

It is by now a well-documented fact that liberal Protestant denominations in the United States have fallen on hard times. In the mainline churches that once dominated American religious life—and from which emerged the country’s political and cultural elites—the pews have been emptying since as long ago as the 1960’s.1 As the average age of churchgoers edges ever upward, the challenge of recruiting both members and qualified clergy looms larger still, adding to the general sense of demoralization and desuetude. In the meantime, membership in conservative Christian denominations, particularly the evangelical churches, has been swelling. Against this backdrop, the seeming...

Monday and Thrsday mornings, 6/16 and 6/19Kohen--Numbers 13:1-3Levi--vs. 4-16Yisra'el--vs. 17-20 Strday 6/21--Shabbat Parashat Shelach-LekhaMORNING Kohen--Numbers 13:1-20Levi--13:21-14:7Shelishi--14:8-25Revi`i--14:26-15:7Chamishi--15:8-16Shishi--15:17-26Shevi`i--15:27-41Maftir--15:37-41Haftarah--Joshua 2:1-24 EVENING Kohen--Numbers 16:1-3Levi--vs. 4-7Yisra'el--vs. 8-13

Once upon a time, Jews who found Judaism cumbersome simply declared the Torah obsolete and went about their lives as they pleased. They weren't inclined to intellectual contortions. Some "progressive" Jews today, though, choose instead to twist and torture the Jewish canon, in an attempt to force it to "yield" what they wish it actually did. In a way, their reluctance to just jettison the Torah and Talmud is admirable. Other words, though, come to mind for their merciless manipulation of the Jewish religious tradition. A recent example of such intellectual anarchism is Hillel. The campus organization, that is, not...

JERUSALEM, JUNE 8, 2008 (Zenit.org).- For a Hebrew-speaking Catholic living in Israel, fostering Jewish-Catholic relations isn't simply a part of the faith, it's a way of life, according to an Israeli priest. Jesuit Father David Mark Neuhaus, who comes from a Jewish family, is the secretary-general of the Hebrew-speaking Catholic Vicariate in Israel and serves as the priest in charge of the Hebrew-speaking Catholic community in Haifa. In this interview with ZENIT, Father Neuhaus comments on the history, mission and challenges facing the Hebrew-speaking Catholic community in Israel. Q: You say on your Web site that being a Hebrew-speaking Catholic...

What support is there for the claim that God spoke to all the Jewish people at the foot of Mount Sinai?Who did God give the Torah to at Mount Sinai? Most people reply, "God gave the Torah to Moses." And what were the Jewish people doing while Moses was receiving the Torah? "Worshipping the Golden Calf." Correct answers -- but NOT according to the Bible. The above answers come from Cecil B. DeMille's classic film, "The Ten Commandments." Amazing the impact one movie can have on the Jewish education of generations of Jews. It's a great film, but DeMille should...

Monday 6/9--First Day Shavu`otKohen--Exodus 19:1-6Levi--19:7-13Shelishi--19:14-19Revi`i--19:20-20:17Chamishi--20:18-26Maftir--Numbers 28:26-31Haftarah--Ezekiel 1:1-28; 3:12 Tsday 6/10--Second Day of Shavu`otMegillah--The Book of RuthKohen--Deuteronomy 15:19-23Levi--16:1-3Shelishi--16:4-8Revi`i--16:9-12Chamishi--16:13-17Maftir--Numbers 28:26-31Haftarah--Habakkuk 2:20-3:19* *A liturgical poem, Yetziv Pitgam (found in most prayerbooks), is inserted in the Haftarah reading between 3:1 and 3:2. Thrsday morning 6/12Kohen--Numbers 8:1-4Levi--vs. 5-9Yisra'el--vs. 10-14 Strday 6/14--Shabbat Parashat Beha`alotkhaMORNING Kohen--Numbers 8:1-14Levi--8:15-26Shelishi--9:1-14Revi`i--9:15-10:10Chamishi--10:11-34Shishi--10:35-11:29Shevi`i--11:30-12:16Maftir--12:14-16Haftarah--Zechariah 2:14-4:7 EVENING Kohen--Numbers 13:1-3Levi--vs. 4-16Yisra'el--vs. 17-20

A question arises time and again from prilgrims visiting the Holy Land: What was the language that Jesus spoke? They ask: What was the language of Palestine in the times of Jesus? What languages did Jesus speak? Were there any indications found in the Gospels? Palestine, given that it was always a crossroads for entire peoples in their spontaneous, and often times forced, migrations, was by necessity a multi-lingual land. It was a place where they spoke several languages at the same time. That is, in the times of Jesus, there were no less than two local languages spoken and...

Monday morning 6/2Kohen--Numbers 4:21-24Levi--vs.25-28Yisra'el--vs.29-37 Wdnsday 6/4--Ro'sh Chodesh SivanKohen--Numbers 28:1-3Levi--vs. 3-5Shelishi--vs. 6-10Revi`i--vs. 11-15 Thrsday morning 6/5Kohen--Numbers 4:21-24Levi--vs.25-28Yisra'el--vs.29-37 Strday 6/7--Shabbat Parashat Naso'MORNING Kohen--Numbers 4:21-37Levi--4:38-49Shelishi--5:1-10Revi`i--5:11-6:27Chamishi--7:1-41Shishi--7:42-71Shevi`i--7:72-89Maftir--7:87-89Haftarah--Judges 13:2-25 EVENING Kohen--Numbers 8:1-4Levi--vs. 5-9Yisra'el--vs. 10-14

A recent fire has led to an outpouring of generosity for a struggling synagogue that lost its Torah in the blaze. A Broward County woman who wants to honor her dead parents, and a couple who commute between Miami and New York, are donating new Torahs to a beleaguered Jewish congregation in Miami Beach whose synagogue was ravaged in a recent fire. ''These show people that we're going to come back stronger after a tragedy,'' said an appreciative Rabbi Zev Katz, the head of Miami Beach's Chabad Shul, part of Judaism's Orthodox Hasidic movement. Miami Beach police and fire officials...

May 25 In 1085, Alfonso VI of Castile captured Toledo, Spain, bringing the Moorish centre of science into Christian hands. In 1521, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V pronounced Protestant Reformation leader Martin Luther an outlaw and heretic for refusing to recant his teachings while at the Diet of Worms, held the previous month. In 1793, Stephen T. Badin, 25, was ordained in Baltimore, Md. He was the first Roman Catholic priest to be ordained in the newly independent United States. He later served as a frontier missionary and played a key role in establishing Catholicism in Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee...

Monday and Thrsday mornings, 5/26 and 5/29Kohen--Numbers 1:1-4Levi--vs. 5-16Yisra'el--vs. 17-19 Strday 5/31--Shabbat Parashat BeMidbarMORNING Kohen--Numbers 1:1-19Levi--1:20-54Shelishi--2:1-34Revi`i--3:1-13Chamishi--3:14-39Shishi--3:40-51Shevi`i--4:1-20Maftir--4:17-20Haftarah--Hosea 2:1-22 EVENING Kohen--Numbers 4:21-24Levi--vs.25-28Yisra'el--vs.29-37

Thirty-three days following the first day of Passover, Jews celebrate a "minor" holiday called Lag B'Omer, the thirty-third day of the Omer. It is an oasis of joy in the midst of the sad Sefirah period that passes almost unnoticed by most contemporary Jews. Yet it contains historic lessons of such gravity that our generation must attempt to unravel its mystery. We may well discover that our own fate is wrapped in the crevices of its secrets. The seven weeks between Passover and Shavuos are the days of the "Counting of the Omer," the harvest festivities which were observed in...

Messianic Jews in Israel say they want an inquiry into the burning of hundreds of copies of the New Testament by Orthodox Jews in Or Yehuda last week. The books were given to the town's Ethiopian Jews by the Messianic Jews, who believe in Jesus as a saviour. Or Yehuda's deputy mayor says he received complaints about the books, and arranged for them to be burnt. He has now apologised (...) Proselytizing to Ethiopian Jews is sensitive because historically they were the target of missionaries who converted many to Christianity in Ethiopia - though they later argued the conversion was...

Britain's Jewish community is enjoying a demographic revival for the first time in 50 years because of massive growth in its haredi population. Almost three out of every four Jewish babies in the UK are born to ultra-Orthodox families, who account for 46,500 out of the estimated 280,000 Jews in the UK, according to Dr. Yaakov Wise of Manchester University's Center for Jewish Studies. By the second half of this century, haredim will outnumber secular ones, he said. "Though Britain's Jewish population is the fifth largest in the world, it has declined by 40 percent, from over 450,000 in 1950...

Orthodox Jews set fire to hundreds of copies of the New Testament in the latest act of violence against Christian missionaries in the Holy Land. Or Yehuda Deputy Mayor Uzi Aharon said missionaries recently entered a neighborhood in the predominantly religious town of 34,000 in central Israel, distributing hundreds of New Testaments and missionary material. After receiving complaints, Aharon said, he got into a loudspeaker car last Thursday and drove through the neighborhood, urging people to turn over the material to Jewish religious students who went door to door to collect it. "The books were dumped into a pile and...

Monday and Thrsday mornings, 5/19 and 5/22Kohen--Leviticus 26:3-5Levi--vs. 6-9Yisra'el--vs. 10-13 Strday 5/24--Shabbat Parashat BeChuqqotayMORNING Kohen--Leviticus 26:3-5Levi--26:6-9Shelishi--26:10-46Revi`i--27:1-15Chamishi--27:16-21Shishi--27:22-28Shevi`i--27:29-34Maftir--27:32-34Haftarah--Jeremiah 16:19-17:14 EVENING Kohen--Numbers 1:1-4Levi--vs. 5-16Yisra'el--vs. 17-19

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...

Poland paused this week to pay tribute to Irena Sendler -- a Catholic social worker who risked her life during World War II to smuggle 2,500 children from the Warsaw Ghetto, saving them from the ravages of the Holocaust. Sendler died Monday at 98, and after a large crowd flocked to her funeral at a Warsaw church yesterday, Poland's Orthodox chief rabbi offered prayers at her graveside. Yad Vashem chairman Avner Shalev said: "Irena Sendler's courageous activities rescuing Jews during the Holocaust serve as a beacon of light to the world, inspiring hope and restoring faith in the innate...

Albert Einstein described belief in God as "childish superstition" and said Jews were not the chosen people, in a letter to be sold in London this week, an auctioneer said Tuesday. The father of relativity, whose previously known views on religion have been more ambivalent and fuelled much discussion, made the comments in response to a philosopher in 1954. As a Jew himself, Einstein said he had a great affinity with Jewish people but said they "have no different quality for me than all other people". "The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of...

(IsraelNN.com) A new study carried out at Brandeis University finds that as the liberal Jewish community empowers its women, its men appear to be losing interest in their Jewishness. According to a report in JTA, which publishes parts of the study, "outside the Orthodox world, men are becoming less and less engaged in every aspect of Jewish life, from the home to the synagogue to communal organizations. Numerous studies show that fewer boys than girls go to non-Orthodox youth groups, religious schools or summer camps, fewer go into the rabbinate and cantorate, and fewer serve on synagogue or federation committees....

Monday and Thrsday mornings, 5/12 and 5/15Kohen--Leviticus 25:1-3Levi--vs. 4-7Yisra'el--vs. 8-13 Strday 5/17--Shabbat Parashat BeHarMORNING Kohen--Leviticus 25:1-13Levi--25:14-18Shelishi--25:19-24Revi`i--25:25-28Chamishi--25:29-38Shishi--25:39-46Shevi`i--25:47-26:2Maftir--25:55-26:2Haftarah--Jeremiah 32:6-27 EVENING Kohen--Leviticus 26:3-5Levi--vs. 6-9Yisra'el--vs. 10-13

May 11 In 1189 Emperor Frederik I Barbarossa and 100,000 crusaders left Regensburg in southern Germany for the Holy Land. In 1421, Jews were expelled from Styria in Austria. In 1610, Italian Matteo Ricci, a renowned Christian missionary in China, died. In 1676, beggars were told that they needed permission from priests to beg in Montreal and Quebec City. In 1816, the American Bible Society was founded in New York. In 1921, Tel Aviv was declared the first all-Jewish municipality. In 1949, Israel was admitted to the United Nations as the world body's 59th member. In 1960, Israeli security forces...

Discourse on the Restoration of the Jews, Delivered at the Tabernacle, N. Y., Oct. 28, and Dec. 2, ­1844, by M. M. Noah. New York, 1845, 8vo. pp. 55. The address of Judge Noah on the Restoration of the Jews, has excited a good deal of attention among our Christian fellow­citizens, more so at least than among ourselves; and the subject has also been noticed by the conversion paper in England, as well as the Voice of Jacob. We are not aware as yet whether other European papers have spoken of it, which however, is, likely enough, as Judge Noah...

LONG BEACH - It's been more than 60 years but the memories of the Holocaust are etched in the minds of those like Hank Snapper who survived it. Hundreds gathered Sunday at The Alpert Jewish Community Center in Long Beach for "Yom Ha'Shoah, Day of Remembrance 2008/5768, Remember the Holocaust and Honor the Righteous." Each year, the Jewish community - and other faiths - comes together to remember the estimated 6 million Jews whose lives were lost during the Holocaust, which began under the rise of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party in 1933. "It's important for human beings to...

Monday 5/5--First Day Ro'sh Chodesh 'IyyarKohen--Numbers 28:1-3Levi--vs. 3-5Shelishi--vs. 6-10Revi`i--vs. 11-15 Tusday 5/6--Second Day Ro'sh Chodesh 'IyyarKohen--Numbers 28:1-3Levi--vs. 3-5Shelishi--vs. 6-10Revi`i--vs. 11-15 Thrsday morning 5/8Kohen--Leviticus 21:1-6Levi--vs. 7-12Yisra'el--vs. 13-15 Strday 5/10--Shabbat Parashat 'EmorMORNING Kohen--Leviticus 21:1-15Levi--21:16-22:16Shelishi--22:17-33Revi`i--23:1-22Chamishi--23:23-32Shishi--23:33-44Shevi`i--24:1-23Maftir24:21-23Haftarah--Ezekiel 44:15-31 EVENING Kohen--Leviticus 25:1-3Levi--vs. 4-7Yisra'el--vs. 8-13

(IsraelNN.com) There is a strong possibility that at least some rabbis and Orthodox candidates will skip the International Bible Quiz, which takes place on Israel Independence Day, this Thursday. Several Rabbis, including Rabbi Shlomo Aviner of Bet El, have called for a boycott of the event because of the inclusion of a candidate whose family is said to have close ties to the Christian missionaries. Other rabbis who have called for a boycott of the event include Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, chief rabbi of Safed and son of former Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, and Rabbi Ya'acov Yosef, son of former Chief...

New York, NY, April 29, 2008 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today issued the following statement regarding the controversial film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. The film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed misappropriates the Holocaust and its imagery as a part of its political effort to discredit the scientific community which rejects so-called intelligent design theory. Hitler did not need Darwin to devise his heinous plan to exterminate the Jewish people and Darwin and evolutionary theory cannot explain Hitler's genocidal madness. Using the Holocaust in order to tarnish those who promote the theory of evolution is outrageous and trivializes the complex factors...

A group of religious Zionist rabbis have called for a boycott of this year's International Bible Quiz after discovering that one of the four finalists from Israel is a Messianic Jew who believes Jesus is the true Messiah. "Messianics are missionaries who proselytize in very sophisticated ways," said Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, one of the rabbis calling to boycott the quiz. "It is forbidden to give them legitimacy by allowing them to take part in the quiz." Other rabbis that have called to boycott the quiz include Shmuel Eliyahu, chief rabbi of Safed, Ya'acov Yosef, son of Shas mentor Rabbi Ovadia...

For the first time, an American rabbi will be traveling to Iran Tuesday on a mission of interfaith dialogue and understanding. Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, one of the early forces behind the Jewish Renewal movement in America, will co-lead a delegation of 21 peace activists to the Islamic Republic on a mission "to humanize the face of Iran, lest we end up with a disaster of global proportions we cannot imagine," she told The Jerusalem Post by phone on Monday. Gottlieb, a longtime peace activist and recent cofounder of the Shomer Shalom Institute for Jewish Non-Violence, said her participation in the...

Monday and Thrsday mornings, 4/28 and 5/1Kohen--Leviticus 19:1-4Levi--vs. 5-10Yisra'el--vs. 11-14 Strday 5/3--Shabbat Parashat QedoshimMORNING Kohen--Leviticus 19:1-14Levi--19:15-22Shelishi--19:23-32Revi`i--19:33-37Chamishi--20:1-7Shishi--20:8-22Shevi`i--20:23-27Maftir--20:25-27Haftarah--Amos 9:7-15 EVENING Kohen--Leviticus 21:1-6Levi--vs. 7-12Yisra'el--vs. 13-15