Section: Jewish Telegraphic Agency (USA)
Chisinau to restore Jewish cemetery destroyed in World War II
(JTA) — The mayor of Chisinau, Moldova, said he would restore a landmark structure, largely destroyed during the Holocaust, as a monument to local Jews who died in the genocide. Dorin Chirtoaca on Monday said he would restore the dome-shaped Tahara room located at one of Europe’s largest Jewish cemeteries to commemorate this year’s...
Dutch court: Israeli rabbi suspected of sex crimes can be extradited
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (JTA) — An Israeli rabbi who fought his extradition from the Netherlands for alleged sex crimes may be turned over to Israeli authorities, a Dutch court ruled. The ruling on Eliezer Berland, the founder of the Shuvu Bonim seminary, was made by a Haarlem tribunal on Thursday at the request of Dutch justice officials who...
EU official: No new sanctions against Israel in pipeline
(JTA) — The European Union and its member states do not envision passing any new sanctions against Israel, an EU official said in refuting reports to the contrary. The official spoke to JTA on Wednesday under condition of anonymity about a report that appeared the previous day on the Israeli news website Walla. The report quoted unnamed Israeli...
Ukrainian Jews catiously optimistic on Russia-brokered ceasefire
(JTA) — Leaders of Ukrainian Jewry reacted with cautious optimism to news that Russia and Ukraine have worked out an agreement designed to bring about a ceasefire along their border. Yaakov Dov Bleich, a chief rabbi of Ukraine, said he was “hoping for the best while remaining prepared for the worst” following statements by Russian President...
Jewish woman killed by shelling in eastern Ukraine
(JTA) — A Jewish woman was killed in the eastern Ukraine city of Donetsk when shells fired by pro-Russian insurgents hit her home. Irina Gregoryivna Shelkayeba, a retiree, was killed Tuesday night, Donetsk community chairman Yehuda Kelerman told JTA. She will be buried Thursday in the Jewish cemetery of Donetsk, Kelerman confirmed. The attack...
Rockets hit Jewish welfare center in Ukraine without exploding
(JTA) — Two rockets hit the building housing a Jewish social welfare center in the eastern Ukraine city of Kramatorsk but did not explode. The nine-story building housing the Hesed social welfare center was hit Tuesday, according to a statement by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, or JDC, which supports the Hesed center’s...
East Ukraine Jews to get $650,000 in emergency funding
(JTA) — The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews pledged $650,000 in emergency funding for Jews in the battle zones of eastern Ukraine. The emergency funding will provide Jews from cities such as Dontesk and Mariupol, who are caught in the crossfire between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian separatists, with medicine, food, housing and...
New project to help olim begin conversion process before aliyah
(JTA) — Several Israeli institutions are launching a project to ease the aliyah process for prospective immigrants from Ukraine and Russia before they depart for Israel. The project, announced on Wednesday by the Harry O. Triguboff Israel Institute of Conversion Policy, aims to assist Jews who immigrate to Israel under its Law of Return to...
Ukraine rebel leader uses anti-Semitic slur to describe country’s leaders
(JTA) — The leader of Ukraine’s pro-Russian rebels used an anti-Semitic insult to describe the country’s political leaders. Alexander Zakharchenko, leader of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, during a news conference on Monday called the country’s leaders “miserable representatives of the great Jewish people.” “I...
Swastikas again deface Babi Yar memorial monument
(JTA) — For the third time in recent months, Nazi swastikas were discovered on the Babi Yar memorial monument for Holocaust victims in Kiev. The latest incident was discovered Jan. 30 by employees of the National Historical Memorial Site in Babi Yar, where Nazi troops killed more than 33,000 Jews in 1941. The swastikas were daubed on a monument...
