Free Republic

... 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...

(IsraelNN.com) Members of Knesset and ministers slammed Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpe on Thursday following Wolpe’s harsh criticism of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert during an “SOS Israel” session on Tuesday. During the session Rabbi Wolpe called Olmert a traitor, and accused Olmert his helpers of aiding the “Nazi” terrorists by giving them weapons and releasing terrorist killers from prison. According to Israeli law, he said, Olmert, Vice Premier Chaim Ramon, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, and others should be hung for granting assistance to Nazis. MK Chaim Oron (Meretz) called on the government to ban Chabad activities on IDF bases, while minister...

I have been away for 16 days. Were it not for the actions of one man, it may have been much longer before I could be here, writing this, and maybe this writing may not have been possible. On December 3rd I was mugged by a falling tree, at least that is what the eyewitnesses say. My memory of the events begins only much later, when I here the voice of Rabbi Yehoshua Kaganoff telling me not to move, that everything is O.K., that the EMT crew is on the way - as sat holding me, with one arm around...

Last Updated: 2:04am GMT 16/12/2007 Britain is losing its identity because of over-zealous political correctness and a failure to deal with immigration, the Chief Rabbi has warned. Sir Jonathan Sacks said that the drive for a multi cultural society had left Britain increasingly intolerant and that too many people were embarrassed about their history. In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, he stressed that the historic Union with Scotland and the concept of Britain must be preserved. Backing the Telegraph's Call Yourself British campaign, he endorsed plans for a British Day, suggested a more inclusive national anthem should be created...

The controversy surrounding the recently released film, The Golden Compass, is in part because of the author's avowed atheism and in part because of the message of the film and its potential effect on children. This is a "fantasy Western," complete with Sam Elliot in a cowboy hat. There are good guys and bad guys with a confrontation and battle between the two (good wins). In addition to the human beings, there are also demons and witches and goblins — some good and some bad. Compare The Golden Compass to the first Star Wars film and to the Harry Potter...

Having given fair warning to the women who are planning an "ordination" ceremony this weekend, Archbishop Burke is now doing his best to preserve the faithful of the St. Louis archdiocese from the confusion that event will cause. Maybe a deft editor could improve on the archbishop's statement, but it wouldn't be easy. He hits all the main points-- hard-- and yet he writes with charity; his genuine pastoral concern is unmistakable. Archbishop Burke makes it clear that he cannot fail to speak out, because his silence would be dereliction of his duty as spiritual leader. He feels the...

Two Catholic women are being ordained by Roman Catholic Womenpriests here Nov. 11, prompting outrage from Catholic officials -- outrage that, surprisingly, is directed less at the women aspiring to the Catholic priesthood, or at the movement ordaining them, than toward a rabbi who agreed to host the event. The women to be ordained are Elsie Hainz McGrath, a retired writer and editor for a Catholic publishing house, and Rose Marie Dunn Hudson, a former teacher. Bishop Patricia Fresen, who was for many years a Dominican nun, ordained the women as deacons Aug. 12 and will perform the ceremony here....

The sign that Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz held up Tuesday night at the Tannenbaum Chabad House read "Please keep off the the grass." When the 40 people in the audience were asked if the sign read "Please keep off the grass," half of them raised their hands. "It's because you're so used to the phrase 'Keep off the grass,' " Kravitz said. "That's what you're accustomed to seeing, so that's what you read." Kravitz identified this behavior, known as "auto-pilot," as an example of methods of persuasion and brainwashing, in his lecture titled, "The Power of Persuasion: What do Cults, Telemarketers...

(IsraelNN.com) A rabbi suffered critical wounds after being severely beaten in the latest of several anti-Semitic attacks that have hit the community of Lakewood, New Jersey, home of the world-famous Lakewood Yeshiva. Rabbi Mordechai Moskowitz, age 53, was stabbed, reportedly by a black man, as he was walking to a synagogue. The attacker wielded an aluminum baseball bat and inflicted critical wounds on his head and other parts of the body. Several weeks ago, attackers pelted a group of orthodox Jewish youth with eggs in a nearby community. Tension in the city has increased fears among the Jewish community. One...

Police investigating the stabbing of Rabbi Zalman Gurevitch, co-director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Frankfurt, arrested a German man of Afghan descent, the Associated Press reported over the weekend. The 22-year-old Frankfurt resident was arrested Thursday night following tips from users of an online bulletin board. The suspect apparently described in detail the events surrounding the Sept. 7 attack on Gurevitch, who was walking home from synagogue services when an Arab-looking youth allegedly stabbed him, shouting, "I'm going to kill you." Many high-profile German politicians and Jewish community leaders visited Gurevitch in the hospital last week. He remained there over Rosh Hashanah...

A Brooklyn rabbi already facing trial for allegedly molesting two students was charged yesterday with fondling a third. Rabbi Joel Kolko, an administrator and a teacher at a Midwood yeshiva, posted $25,000 additional bail a few hours before sundown signaled the start of Rosh Hashanah. He had been free on $5,000 bail, awaiting trial on charges he touched a 6-year-old boy in one of his classes, as well as a now-31-year-old former student who confronted the rabbi about abuse he claimed occurred decades ago. The new sex-abuse and child-endangerment charges focus on a 2005 incident in which Kolko alleged fondled...

FRANKFURT, Germany: A 42-year-old rabbi was stabbed in the stomach by another man on a Frankfurt street in what appeared to be a spontaneous attack, police said Saturday. The rabbi underwent surgery after the Friday night attack and appears to be out of danger, police said. The rabbi, whose name was not disclosed, was walking with two other people when they encountered the assailant and two women, a police statement said. The man, whom witnesses described as possibly Arab, spoke to the rabbi — who was wearing a Jewish head-covering — in what sounded like Arabic.

Rabbi Michael Weisser will begin a one-year term as “rabbi-in-residence” at First-Plymouth Congregational Church. His full title will be “Rabbi-in-Residence: Teacher of Hebrew Scriptures and Interfaith Respect,” reported Tammy Alvis, associate for new program development at the church. Weisser taught classes on the Hebrew scriptures and led a Passover Seder dinner at First-Plymouth last spring. He will teach classes on three different topics from September through May: * “A Journey Through the Literature of the First (Old) Testament” — two identical classes, 9:30-11 a.m. and 7-8:30 p.m. Tuesdays, beginning Sept. 4. * “Comparative Religion” — noon-12:50 p.m. Tuesdays, beginning Sept....

Rabbi Jacob Neusner Rabbi Jacob Neusner of Rhinebeck has been an internationally sought news source lately, mostly because of the attention paid to him in Pope Benedict XVI's current book, "Jesus of Nazareth." By extensively weighing and debating Neusner's analysis of Jesus' life in the book, the pope triggered a flurry of interview requests and additional writing assignments for Neusner. While accepting some of the offers, Neusner is a little self-conscious."I ... don't want to exploit the pope, or pretend that there's a relationship that hasn't been realized," he said.Neusner is also trying to avoid politicizing his time in...

Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri A controversy is raging in Israel, in evangelical circles in the U.S. and on kabbalah web forums worldwide following the posthumous release of what a revered Sephardic rabbi claimed to be the name of the Messiah. When Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri died in February 2006, somewhere between the age of 106 and 117, 300,000 attended his funeral in Jerusalem. The Baghdad-born kabbalist had gained notoriety around the world for issuing apocalyptic warnings and for saying he personally met the long-awaited Jewish Messiah in November 2003. Before Kaduri died, he reportedly wrote the name of the Messiah on...

ROME, May 8, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Italian homosexual leaders are accusing Riccardo Di Segni, Rome's chief rabbi of “racism” for his stand defending the traditional family. Di Segni was speaking against proposed legislation that would create de facto civil unions for homosexual partners and cohabiting persons with equivalent rights to natural marriage.  De Segni spoke out against the “strange silence” of Jewish leaders “on this hotly debated issue,’ in an article to appear in the Jewish monthly Shalom.   The ANSA news agency quotes Di Segni: “Society is about to make a decision which, according to our traditions, abundantly exceeds permitted...

Mystic rabbi sets out on journey of prayer around country in order to remove decree of wicked Haman of our generation - Iran's president The prayers for the Purim holiday have begun: The mystic Rabbi David Batzri, head of the “Hashalom” Yeshiva in Jerusalem, began a round of prayers around the country last week in order to remove the decree of the wicked Haman of our generation, who according to him is the president of Iran , Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Batzri arrived at the Sukkat David Yeshiva in Jerusalem. He turned to the children and said: “Your prayers are helping your...

Israel (Eugenio) Zolli (1881-1956): Chief Rabbi of Rome an scholar of biblical and semitic literature; converted from Judaism in 1945, and out of respect for Pope Pius XII, took his first name, "Eugenio," as his own Christian name. (This biography is from a monthly letter from Abbaye St. Joseph de Clairval, Flavigny, France, and is used with permission.  Their website, www.clairval.com,  contains many other inspirational biographies as well as information on the monastery,  how to receive their monthly letter, and the Ignation retreats which they offer.) Israel, a young Jew, got along well at school with Stanislas, a young Christian....

In 1973, Eric Karl Swenson was ordained in the Presbyterian Church and went to work doing what he’d always dreamed of: ministering to a congregation of the Southern Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. More than 20 years later, one dream almost ended when another began. When the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta discovered in 1996 that Swenson had finally fulfilled another lifelong desire—having sex-change surgery to become a woman—it started proceedings to revoke Swenson’s ordination.At the time of her “transition,” Swenson did not resist the church’s questions nor blame its reluctance. “I had been in the closet for 30 years, learning to...

Both donor, recipient say although people feel religion a barrier to organ donation, saving lives is encouraged Reuters Published: 01.20.07, 19:15 When a New Jersey Methodist minister heard a local rabbi needed a kidney transplant, religious differences did not stop her from stepping forward to offer him one of her own. Rabbi Andrew Bossov is one of nearly 70,000 Americans currently awaiting a kidney transplant, and is set to receive a kidney from minister Karen Onesti on January 23., at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. "I asked him how he was, he said he needed a...

First rabbi to be ordained in Germany since WWII claims there's still fear of anti-Semitism in streets Reuters Published: 01.16.07, 16:14 The first rabbi to be ordained in Germany since the Holocaust is so worried about being identified as a Jew that he often wears a baseball hat over his skull cap. "It's a fact - it isn't smart to display I'm Jewish. This is a problem and we have to face it," German-born Daniel Alter, 47, told Reuters in an interview. He is worried about neo-Nazi attacks and says anti-Semitism in Germany - still tortured by memories of the...

I am certainly not a Churchill. I am not even a Revel. I am having enough trouble just trying to be a Lapin. But I am issuing a very serious warning about deep consequences, just as they did. It is a warning about the earliest stages of what could become a cataract of disasters if not resisted now. During the 1930s, Winston Churchill desperately tried to persuade the English people and their government to see that Hitler meant to end their way of life. The British ignored Churchill, which gave Hitler nearly 10 years to build up his military forces....

The Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church hired Jewish rabbi Joshua Martin Siegel to provide his spiritual and theological input to conference Christian Methodist affairs. From the Baltimore-Washington Conference website (originally, it says, from the New York Jewish Times): http://www.bwcumc.org/news_detail.asp?PKValue=2242 Rabbi carries on teaching tradition with Methodists BY IRA RIFKIN Special to the UMConnection It takes a certain chutzpah for a Jew to lecture believing Christians about the New Testament’s spiritual message; even more so when church officials are in attendance. Yet that’s the core of an experiment in spiritual cross-pollination involving one of the nation’s leading Protestant denominations...

The Christmas spirit has returned to Sea-Tac Airport. The Port of Seattle, which had been battered internationally for removing 14 Christmas trees last week in response to a rabbi's threat of a federal lawsuit, began reinstalling the displays Monday night.

There will be no more Christmas trees at Sea-Tac Airport this season after the Port of Seattle received at least one complaint about them. For more than 25 years, the airport has celebrated the holidays with Christmas trees over its entrances. But overnight, the Port of Seattle ordered all 15 trees removed. "I think it's very unfortunate. Why lose the Christmas spirit? Christmas is for kids," said passenger Lisa Jones. The Port allowed "holiday" decorations to remain but decided to take down all the Christmas trees after a Jewish religious leader complained they were offensive. "It's a Christmas tree! It's...

Today and tomorrow I'll be out of commission observing the Jewish New Year. I thought before checking out I would repost this item that we originally ran on September 30, 2003. It reported (courtesy of our friend Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg) an otherwise uncovered event and provided a glimpse of an important side of President Bush. Making adjustments for the changes in circumstances between then and now, I think it remains timely. During the 10-day period between the Jewish New Year and the Day of Atonement -- the "days of awe" that are the holiest on the Jewish calendar -- the...

A stray dog which refused to budge from the home of a recently deceased rabbi has finally moved on after a "redemption ceremony" at an Israeli cemetery. The dog, pictured in Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper Monday, showed up at the house of the late Rabbi Nahman Dubinky. Rabbis expert in Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism, concluded the animal could be possessed by a tortured soul seeking redemption. Ultra-Orthodox Jews traditionally do not keep dogs as pets. "Sometimes the souls of sinners, such as adulterers or people who slept with non-Jews, enter the body of a dog," Rabbi Yitzhak Basri, a Kabbalah scholar,...

Britain must regain a pride in its identity, Chief Rabbi warns By Jonathan Wynne-Jones (Filed: 17/09/2006) A crisis of national and social identity is undermining Britain's efforts to integrate its immigrant population, according to the Chief Rabbi. Sir Jonathan Sacks told The Sunday Telegraph that multiculturalism had led to segregation and a country that was no longer confident of what it stood for. Sir Jonathan: 'Britain used to know who and what it was' It needed to regain a sense of pride in being British, he said, but must be less afraid to allow ethnic minorities to contribute to society,...

BERLIN, Sept. 14 -- The first rabbis since the Holocaust were ordained in Germany on Thursday, the latest marker in the gradual return of Judaism to a nation where most vestiges of Jewish life were once eradicated. At a synagogue in the eastern city of Dresden, three rabbinical students were formally received as the first graduates of a small Jewish seminary founded to train religious leaders throughout central Europe, but especially in Germany, which has relied exclusively on foreign-trained rabbis to serve its burgeoning Jewish population.

Pope Benedict’s recent visit to Auschwitz helped rekindle the controversy over the actions of Pope Pius XII during the Holocaust. Although some Jewish leaders and Catholic writers often condemn Pius XII today, the wartime Jewish press had a favorable opinion of the pope. In March 1939, many Jewish newspapers in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and Jerusalem welcomed Pope Pius’s election and described him as a friend of democracy. In an editorial (March 6, 1939), The Palestine Post, the predecessor of The Jerusalem Post, observed, "Pius XII has clearly shown that he intends to carry on [Pius XI’s] work...

© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com A rabbi has launched a defense of D. James Kennedy, whose new television special this weekend will raise an alarm about the bloodshed credited to the influence of Darwin's theories of evolution, and has been attacked because of its message. Did Hitler practice Darwinism? The program is "Darwin's Deadly Legacy", a Coral Ridge Ministries production featuring more than a dozen experts in various fields talking about the connections between Darwin's theories, eugenics, Hitler and abortion. Its premise is that Darwin's thinking changed the world's perception of people, so instead of considering them made in God's image, they...

The Talmud famously says that a man is known in three ways. What he says when he is drunk, what he says when he is angry, and what he spends his money on. On all three counts, it appears that Mel Gibson has sadly shown his true colours. Upon getting arrested for drunk driving, in his inebriated state, he allegedly said something to the effect that "f---ing Jews are responsible for all the world's wars." In his anger, he asked the arresting deputy if he himself was Jewish. And, of course, he spent $25 million (U.S.) of his own money...

This morning as the sun rose over Jerusalem, my wife Leah gave birth to a beautiful baby girl at the Hadassah Medical center. A few hours later I drove to the southern Israeli city of Kiryat Malachi where my wife's parents live.After packing several personal items that my wife will need for her hospital stay, I set out to drive back to Jerusalem. As I passed the central bus station in Kiryat Malachi, I saw an Israeli soldier waiting to get a ride. I rolled down the window and asked him where he needed to go. He said his...

Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar on Tuesday sent a letter to The Holy See. What's in the letter? Neither a request for world peace nor a common prayer for merging Judaism and Christianity into one faith. In the letter, the rabbi asks Pope Benedict 16 to assist in efforts "to thwart the event of the world gay parade which will take place next month in Jerusalem."