Belgium - Antwerp, Jewish Rabbi assaulted and stabbed in the neck.

Belgium - Antwerp, Jewish Rabbi assaulted and stabbed in the neck. (Destandaard)[GoogleTranslate].

This morning a Jewish man was stabbed on the street in Antwerp. The victim was injured, but is not in life threatening condition.

The 31-year-old victim from Antwerp , possibly a rabbi walked around 9.20 am under the railway bridge towards the Pelican Street, in the Jewish quarter, when a passerby suddenly stabbed him with a sharp object in the neck. The man fell to the ground, the perpetrator walked away.

The man was injured and was taken to the hospital. However, he is not in danger.

The Antwerp police arrested shortly after the fact someone based on the description of the perpetrator, but that person has since been released. The man was not involved in the case.

Update more here from YNet News.

Russian Officials Order Deportation of Chief Rabbi of Omsk.

Russian Officials Order Deportation of Chief Rabbi of Omsk. (Forward).

The chief rabbi of Omsk in southern Siberia, Asher Krichevsky, was ordered deported by Russian officials, according to Russian media reports.

Krichevsky, 36, was told Tuesday that he and his family — a wife and six children — have 15 days to leave Russia.

The rabbi, who has Israeli citizenship, has worked in Russia as a Chabad emissary for 13 years.

The Federal Migration Service has accused Krichevsky of “illegal trading of alcohol,” Kommersant-Siberia reported Tuesday, but Krichevsky told the newspaper that he has not been told why he is losing his residency permit.

Local news organizations also reported that Krichevsky is under suspicion of spying for Israel, while others believe the decision is politically motivated.

Last month, Krichevsky was fined 2,000 rubles, or about $50, for selling kosher wine from the Chabad House without a liquor license, Kommersant reported.

Omsk Jewish leaders plan to appeal the deportation to Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling Krichevsky “an absolutely apolitical individual,” according to Kommersant.

The newspaper reported, however, that the rabbi may have made anti-government comments in private conversations and that the deportation may be intended to send a message to other religious leaders.

The rabbi has 10 days to appeal the decision. Hmmm.....In he 'good old days' they would send you to Siberia, now they send you to Israel?

Vladimir Putin To delegation of rabbis "Goebbels was a talented man,"

Vladimir Putin To delegation of rabbis "Goebbels was a talented man," HT: Forward.

Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked senior rabbis from Israel and Europe for what he called their help in Russia’s fight against the revival of Nazism.

Putin made the statement on Wednesday during a meeting in the Russian capital with over one dozen prominent rabbis, including Berel Lazar, a chief rabbi of Moscow, and Yitzchak Yosef and Israel Meir Lau, Israel’s Sephardic chief rabbi and former Ashkenazi chief rabbi, respectively.

“Of particular concern is the revival of Nazi ideas,” Putin told the delegation of rabbis, which included also Binyominn Jacobs, the chief inter-provincial rabbi of the Netherlands, and David Moshe Lieberman of Antwerp.

“I want to thank the Jewish community, non-governmental organizations that are both active and courageous; we see it in today’s world – how a struggle is being uncompromisingly waged against all manifestations of the Nazi ideology and any attempts to revive it,” said Putin.

A Kremlin transcript of Putin’s address at the meeting did not specify where he saw Nazism being revived.

In the past, Putin has called the leaders of the revolution that toppled the regime of Ukrainian former president Viktor Yanukovych “Nazis” and “neo-Nazis,” and cited what he said was their anti-Semitism to justify Russia’s actions in Ukraine since March, when it annexed Crimea from its western neighbor.

Many Ukrainian Jewish leaders and the country’s government have dismissed these assertions, saying that the claims about anti-Semitism are being made for political purposes.

Putin also spoke out against Holocaust deniers, calling them “not only stupid, but also shameless.” 

He added: “Unfortunately, just like 70 years ago, this shamelessness often achieves its purposes. After all, [Joseph] Goebbels had said, ‘The more improbable the lie, the faster people believe it.’ And it worked out; he was a talented man,” Putin said in reference to Nazi Germany’s propaganda chef.

The meeting on Wednesday took place ahead of a Holocaust commemoration event scheduled for Thursday in the Crimean city of Sevastopol, which is organized by the local Jewish community in memory of over 4,000 Jews killed by German troops in July 1942.

The annual commemoration has taken place there since 1992, but this week will be the first time it has been held since the Russian annexation.

Noting that the Kremlin has shown an interest in Holocaust commemorations for the past 15 years, Rabbi Boruch Gorin, a senior aide to Lazar and chair of Moscow’s Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center, added that

“There’s no denying that President Putin and the Kremlin want to demonstrate that anti-Semitism is not accepted and that everything is alright with the Jews there. And we don’t dispute that. We do our work. If it is used for diplomacy or propaganda — depends whom you ask – we’re not necessarily opposed. We think Jews in Crimea need to feel at ease and safe and stable, and prefer to stay out of politics.”

The World’s Oldest Kurd: A Beloved 114 year old Rabbi in the Heart of the Holy City.

The World’s Oldest Kurd: A Beloved 114 year old Rabbi in the Heart of the Holy City.
By Lazar Berman.

In a humble apartment in Yerushalayim’s Baka neighborhood, about a mile south of the walls of the Old City, the world’s oldest living Jew goes about his daily ritual.

As he has for over a century, the rabbi rises in the morning, puts on his tefillin with the help of one of his students, and says his morning prayers. Then, he sits to learn the Torah, Talmud, or kabbalah, examining it with the same fervor and passion he did when he started learning as a teenager.

In addition to being the world’s oldest Jew, Rabbi Zechariah Barashi, 114, is also the world’s oldest Kurd.
Barashi, still sharp and gregarious in his old age, remembers details from events 80 years ago with surprising clarity. He gives exact dates, names, and even prices of bus rides as he recounts his time growing up in the Badinan region of Kurdistan, and his journey to the British-controlled territory that would soon become Israel.

He was generous with his time to sit with me for three hours to answer questions and tell his story.
Born in Barashi in 1900, Zechariah was the last child born to Rabbi Eliyahu Barashi and his wife Simchah. Six of his siblings died in their childhood, leaving him with two older sisters, Sarah and Reichana.

His parents worked in traditional Jewish trades, including farming vineyards, dates, and nuts. Jews, Barashi told me in his home, also sewed Kurdish clothing, which were seen as especially well-made by their Muslim neighbors.

His family left Barashi six months after he was born, and settled in a small village four hours from Atrush. At the age of eight, Zechariah moved with his grandfather to Atrush itself. His father eventually joined them, becoming the rabbi of the Jewish community there, which only numbered about 100 people.

His family continued to move from village to village as Barashi’s father served the Jews living in the region’s small communities. “He would leave the house on Sunday and return on Friday,” Barashi recounted. “Sometimes he would come home after two weeks.”

Life was not easy for the Barashis. He remembers a difficult three-year famine after the First World War.
“The Turks looted whatever they could after the war,” he recalled, “and whoever survived the war died of hunger.”

It was also difficult for Jews to study Torah and Talmud, as there were no yeshivas, or study halls, in the region. However, the larger communities, like Duhok and Sindor, enjoyed large synagogues with opportunities for study.

But, as opposed to many other Jewish communities across the world, 90 percent of the Jews in Kurdistan could not read or write. Less than one in ten even knew how to pray. “Despite this,” Barashi emphasized, “the Jews kept the Sabbath and the holidays, family purity, a strictly Kosher home, fear of heaven and parents, and respect for their elders.”

Because of the lack of education, the rabbi had to explain the meaning of the Hebrew prayers in Aramaic or Kurmanji at the end of the service so the community would understand.

Despite the challenges, Rabbi Barashi has fond memories of his childhood. When he wasn’t studying the Torah with his father at home, he was out playing with the children of his village, Muslims and Jews together. “We had excellent relations with the Muslim Kurds, like brothers. We almost never fought. If there ever was a fight, they would quickly inform the Agha, who would warn the parents that if their child acted up again, he would expel the entire family.”

He sees no comparison between today’s tensions between Jews and Arabs in Israel, and the relationship between Jews and Muslim Kurds in Kurdistan. “It was like the Garden of Eden there,” he said. “Today, everything is madness.”

Last year, a Kurdish journalist came to Barashi’s apartment to film an interview with him for a Kurdish TV. The reporter, stunned by the purity of Barashi’s Kurdish, stayed for hours. He wrote down words that he had never heard before, and looked them up when he got home, discovering that they were old Kurmanji words that had fallen out of use.

Barashi is happy to share a blessing with his visitors, and is always ready to share his secret to a long life. “There are three things,” he says. “Always be happy, never jealous. Stay active. And never overeat - always leave the table a little hungry.”

But does he ever wish he could go back to the old villages in Kurdistan?
“No,” he says, smiling. “I have had the fortune of living in Jerusalem for 75 years. I’m in heaven.”
Read a full report at: RUDAW.NET

Video - Chabad Rabbi Wins First Mixed Martial Arts Fight, Ring Name ‘The Rabbi’

Chabad Rabbi Wins First Mixed Martial Arts Fight, Ring Name ‘The Rabbi’.HT: Matzav.

Rabbi Yossi Eilfort, 22, of Chabad of La Costa, California, recently won his first amateur Mixed Martial Arts bout, San Diego’s Fox News reported today. The rabbi said he had previously never hit anyone in his life.

Although not new to martial arts - for 12 years, the young rabbi had been studying Krav Maga, the self-defense system developed by Israel’s Defense Force - he entered his first “octagon” just six months ago via MMA fighter and judo specialist Thierry Sokudju, of Cameroon who trained him at Team Quest Gym, in Encinitas.

Eilfort told Fox News that he wanted the “physical, mental, personal challenge” of MMA, not to hurt people. Of his philosophy, Eilfort said, “I believe if we’re not challenging oursleves, than we’re wasting time.”
His coach said, “I never thought that a rabbi would be interested in fighting. But I was stoked. He never quits.”

Eilfort trained nearly every day while balancing his duties at Chabad of La Costa, Fox News reported. He even trained on Fridays, but had to forego a last round of preparation before his big match to observe the Shabbat.

The bout was at Mansion Fights, in a historic North Hollywood house, where he was dubbed “The Rabbi” on the fight bill. Ominously, Fox News said, before entering the octagon, he watched as a previous fighter was wheeled out on a gurney.

Some 20 friends, family and members of his Chabad congregation came to watch Eilfort swiftly take down his opponent, winning in the second round by technical knock out, or TKO.
“It was very uncomfortable hitting someone,” Eilfort told Fox News. “I actually held back, but I proved what I wanted.”
His next fight will be on January 26, in Thousand Oaks, California.Read the full story here.

“The Rabbi’s Cat,” - Cartoon about a cat who wants to become Jewish nominated for Award.

“The Rabbi’s Cat,” - Cartoon about a cat who wants to become Jewish nominated for Award.(TOI).A Cartoon about a cat who wants to become Jewish will face off against major Hollywood competition at one of the animation industry’s biggest awards shows. “The Rabbi’s Cat,” a French feature about a feline in 1920s Algeria, will compete against blockbusters including “Wreck-It Ralph,” “Brave” and “ParaNorman” for the top prize at February’s Annie Awards, handed out by the International Animated Film Association. In addition to a nomination in the best animated feature category, the film has also earned a directing nod for Joann Sfar. A French-Austrian co-production, the movie centers on a talking feline capable of debating the biblical story of creation. (The cat justifies his skepticism by citing carbon dating.) The plot also includes a trip across North Africa that the house pet hopes will lead to Jerusalem.

NY Times: “Ultra-Orthodox Jews Rally to Discuss Risks of Internet”.

NY Times: “Ultra-Orthodox Jews Rally to Discuss Risks of Internet”.(NYTimes).It was an incongruous sight for a baseball stadium: tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men, all dressed in black suits and white shirts, filing through the gates of Citi Field on Sunday, wearing not blue-and-orange Mets caps but tall, big-brim black hats. There was no ballgame scheduled, only a religious rally to discuss the dangers of the Internet. More than 40,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews were expected to attend - a sellout in a season where the average attendance at a Mets game has been barely half that. The organizers had to rent Arthur Ashe Stadium nearby, which has 20,000 seats, to accommodate all the interested ticket buyers. The organizers had allowed only men to buy tickets, in keeping with ultra-Orthodox tradition of separating the genders.
Viewing parties had been arranged in Orthodox neighborhoods of Brooklyn and New Jersey so that women could watch, too. For the attendees, many of whom said they came at the instructions of their rabbis, it was a chance to hear about a moral topic considered gravely important in their community: the potential problems that can stem from access to explicit content on the uncensored, often incendiary Web.
Inside the stadium, a dais was set up by the back wall of center field, where rabbis led the packed stadium in evening prayers and offered heated exhortations to avoid the “filth” that can be found on the Internet. English translations of the speeches appeared on a jumbo digital screen, beneath an enormous “Let’s Go Mets!” sign. Still, many attendees readily conceded that the Internet played a big role in their lives. Shlomo Cohen, 24, of Toronto, said he used the Internet for shopping, business and staying in touch with friends - “Everyone needs e-mail,” he said.Mr. Cohen said he came to Citi Field on Sunday because the rally was a good way to remind his community to keep temptation at bay. “Desires are out there,” Mr. Cohen said, adding that men could be particularly susceptible. “We have to learn how to control ourselves.” For an event billed as taking aim at the Internet, signs of the digital age seemed to pop up everywhere.The rally was also a hot topic on many Twitter feeds on Sunday evening. The gathering had the feel of a gigantic family reunion, but many guests had arrived with only a friend or two. “It may look like a community because we all look the same,” said Mr. Cohen, of Toronto. “But I don’t know almost any of the people here.” For some attendees, the dangers of the Internet seemed more in line with the usual complaints voiced by any New Yorker tethered to a BlackBerry or besieged with Twitter messages. Raphael Hess, 29, of New Jersey, pointed at his LG phone and said he found peace in simply keeping its Internet connection turned off. “Life is more pleasant without it sometimes,” he said with a shrug.Read the full story here.

Video - Did you hear & see the one of Biden and A Rabbi.