French priest interviews Hitler's willing executioners in Ukraine - Haaretz - Israel News

French priest interviews Hitler's willing executioners in Ukraine

By Cnaan Liphshiz

Tags: jewish world, Holocaust

A horrific page of history unfolded last Monday in Ukraine. It concerned the gruesome and untold story of a spontaneous pogrom by local villagers against hundreds of Jews in a town south of Ternopil in 1941. Not one, but five independent witnesses recounted the tale, recalling how they rushed to a German army camp, borrowed weapons and gunned down 500 Jews inside the town's Christian cemetery. One of them remembered decapitating bodies in front of the church. Read All at :

French priest interviews Hitler's willing executioners in Ukraine - Haaretz - Israel News

'KOSHER' GPS DEVICE

'Kosher' GPS device gets official launch

By ETGAR LEFKOVITS

(jewishworld.jpost.com)

It lists thousands of kosher restaurants and includes the Book of Psalms, the three daily prayer services, the Traveler's Prayer, a Hebrew calendar, and two versions of Grace After Meals.

Welcome to the "kosher" GPS device.

The state-of the art electronic gadget geared to the religious public will be unveiled Thursday morning at a Tel Aviv press conference in the office of the city's Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, who will "give his blessings" to the device.

The device, which was developed over the last year by Mio Technology, will also list thousands of other points of interest in Israel, including holy sites, synagogues, cemeteries, and ritual baths.

In keeping with the strictest religious sensitivities, the device, aptly dubbed Mio Ma'amin ("Mio Believer"), will use only a man's voice and does not have telephone functions or allow Internet access.

Some of the device's attractions will only be available in either Hebrew or English, while the blessings and prayers are currently only in Hebrew.

"These are new tidings for millions of mitzva-observant people in Israel who are looking for suitable solutions for their lifestyle," said Guy De-Piccotto, director general of Ronlight Digital, the exclusive marketer of Mio Technology products in Israel.

"It has already been proven that you can use the most advanced technologies for a traditional lifestyle, and we have done so again with this GPS."

The price of the kosher GPS starts at NIS 990.

PORTUGUESE CHEESE GETS KOSHER SEAL

For first time since Inquisition, Portuguese cheese gets kosher seal

By Cnaan Liphshiz


Tags: Israel news, Jewish World

For the first time since the Spanish Inquisition in Portugal, a dairy product has been given an official kosher certificate. The ground-breaking product is a hard, goat's milk cheese, manufactured by the descendant of Anusim (Jews who were forced to convert to Christianity).

Last year, Jose Braz, owner of the Queijos Braz factory, contacted Daniel Litwak, the chief rabbi of Portugal's second-largest city, Porto, and asked him to arrange a kashrut certificate for Serra da Estrela cheese, which Braz manufactures. Braz believes that his own family were members of Portugal's Jewish community in the 14th and 15th centuries, but like many others were forced to convert to escape persecution by the Inquisition.

"When I spoke to Jose, he told me he wanted to reconnect to his Jewish roots - this was the reason for contacting me," says Litwak, who was born in Argentina. "I was surprised because his brand was doing rather nicely all over Europe. He did not need the certificate to increase his turnover."
New York-born Michael Freund, the chairman of Shavei Israel, a Jerusalem-based organization that helps people with Jewish roots become more involved in their Jewish community, who immigrated to Israel some 10 years ago, told Haaretz that Portugal "is seeing a Jewish revival over the past few years."

"Recently, the first kosher wine in Portugal since the Inquisition has become available, then the first olive oil and now the cheese," Freund says. "I see a definite connection between how many of the Anusim are rediscovering their roots and the increased interest."

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NOT ENOUGH !!!

ADL chief: Pope Bendedict's condemnation of Holocaust denial not enough

By Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondent


Tags: Jewish World, Abe Foxman

Abe Foxman, the head of the Anti-Defamation League, sought to temper the enthusiastic responses expressed by Jewish leaders following their meeting on Thursday with Pope Benedict XVI over the reinstatement of a bishop who denies the Holocaust.

"The problematic and controversial chapter of the church and the matter of Holocaust denial do not end with the pope's declaration condemning Holocaust denial," Foxman told Haaretz.

Foxman, who was present at the meeting in the Vatican, refused to echo the compliments which other Jewish leaders feted the pope over his forceful denunciations of Holocaust denial.

"A meeting between Jews and the pope is always an important, historic event," Foxman said. Yet, "as long as the church allows an anti-Semitic bishop who denies the Holocaust to continue in his post under the aegis of the church, this means that the church is saying one thing yet doing another.

" Foxman, himself a Holocaust survivor, seeks to emphasize that he appreciates the pope's condemnation and his moving statements on his planned visit to Israel. Yet, in his words, "you cannot say that you are against anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial when you allow an anti-Semitic bishop and Holocaust denier to continue serving in the clergy."

"The church gave the bishop enough time to recant," Foxman said. "But he asked for forgiveness only from the pope and he said he is waiting for proof that indeed six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust and the Nazis used gas chambers."

"Holocaust denial is a crime by law in key countries," Foxman said. "Only after the church recants from the rehabilitation and restores his prior standing as excommunicated can we say that the matter of the church and Holocaust denial has been solved."

The ADL is the largest Jewish organization active in the United States.

HE MUST BE JOKING WITH OUR FACES - "IT WILL TAKE TIME" (to examine the evidence of nazi's mass killings) HE SAYS !!!

Report: Bishop who denied Holocaust to examine evidence on Nazi killings

By The Associated Press


Tags: vatican, Jewish World

A bishop who faces a Vatican demand to recant his denial of the Holocaust said he would examine the evidence of the Nazis' mass killings, but it will take time, a German magazine reported Saturday.

Richard Williamson is one of four bishops from the ultraconservative Society of St. Pius X whose excommunication was lifted by the Vatican last month. The decision sparked outrage because Williamson had said in a television interview he did not believe any Jews were gassed during the Holocaust.

On Wednesday, the Vatican demanded that Williamson recant his denial before he can be admitted as a bishop into the Roman Catholic Church. Williamson made clear he does not plan to comply immediately, the weekly Der Spiegel reported.

"Since I see that there are many honest and intelligent people who think differently, I must look again at the historical evidence," the British bishop was quoted as saying.

"It is about historical evidence, not about emotions," he added, according to the report. "And if I find this evidence, I will correct myself. But that will take time."

Der Spiegel said Williamson, who lives in Argentina, insisted on having questions faxed to him and sent his replies by e-mail. It said their authenticity was confirmed in a phone call by Williamson and a lawyer for the Society of St. Pius X.

Williamson has apologized to Pope Benedict XVI for having stirred controversy, but has not repudiated his comments, in which he also said only 200,000 to 300,000 Jews were killed during World War II and none was gassed.

"I was convinced that my comments were right on the basis of my research in the '80s," Der Spiegel quoted Williamson as saying. "I must now examine everything again and look at the evidence."

The magazine suggested that he could make a personal visit to the former Auschwitz death camp. Williamson replied: "I will not go to Auschwitz," it said.

ADL HEAD DECRIES "PANDEMIC OF ANTI-SEMITISM" FOLLOWING GAZA OFFENSIVE

ADL head decries 'pandemic of anti-Semitism' following Gaza offensive

By Reuters


Tags: Gaza, Jewish World, Hamas

Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip has unleashed the worst outbreaks of anti-Semitism in decades, the U.S. head of the Anti-Defamation League said on Friday.

"This is the worst, the most intense, the most global that it's been in most of our memories. And the effort to get the good people to stand up is not easy," Abraham Foxman told Jewish community leaders in a speech in this south Florida resort city.

Foxman said Israel's military offensive against the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which began in the Gaza Strip in late December, had been answered with hatred and attacks against Jews "from Austria to Zimbabwe."

Most governments were doing too little to stem "an epidemic, a pandemic of anti-Semitism," he said.

The Israel Defense Forces invaded Gaza in a three-week offensive launched in late December, which was intended to stop Hamas from launching rocket attacks on Israel from the small territory.

Palestinian medical officials said the Israeli offensive killed 1,300 Palestinians, including 700 civilians, prompting widespread international complaints that Israel had used excessive force.

The Anti-Defamation League said recent anti-Jewish attacks triggered by the Gaza conflict ranged from the shooting of two Israelis by a man of Palestinian descent in Denmark to attacks on synagogues in Venezuela, Greece, Chicago and elsewhere.

In Turkey, an Israeli basketball team fled from the court after a crowd turned on them, calling them "killers." In Toulouse, France, last month an attack on one synagogue involved two cars packed with fire bombs.

Foxman said that in protests around the world, the Star of David had been equated with the Nazi swastika and Jewish leaders were threatened. There had also been calls for boycotts of Jewish businesses in South Africa, Italy, Turkey and France.

"We need to insist that the civilized world stand up and say 'No' in every single country in the international arena to condemn this vicious, hideous violence," said Foxman, whose organization is a global leader in the fight against anti-Jewish crime.