Monday, December 15, 2025
After the synagogue was burned, holy books were buried
Hundreds of sacred Jewish books that were damaged and burned in a fire at the historic Sadigora Hasidic synagogue in Ukraine were laid to rest this week in a special burial ceremony held in the city.
The blaze erupted last week at the synagogue known as the "Kloiz Kadisha," a 200-year-old structure that served for generations as a central spiritual hub of Hasidic life. Initial findings raised suspicions that the fire was the result of an antisemitic arson attack.
An emergency delegation led by the Rebbe of Sedigora, Rabbi Mordechai Shalom Yosef Friedman, arrived at the site following the fire. Together with members of the local Hasidic community, the remains of burned Torah scrolls and other holy books were gathered and buried near the synagogue, in a solemn ceremony accompanied by prayers and supplications.
"These scenes are reminiscent of the Holocaust," participants in the ceremony said.
Moshe Kreiz, a Jewish resident who lives nearby, described the devastation. "The arsonist did not steal the charity box, which was full of money. His only goal was to harm us," he said. "He came to carry out a pogrom. Everything is completely burned. The synagogue will have to be rebuilt from scratch."
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Thursday, December 11, 2025
Threats Against Jewish Academics Raise Alarms at City, University of London
The recent return of Israeli hostages and the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas has offered a brief glimmer of relief to Jewish students across UK campuses. But the recent disruptions to learning and calls for violence on the City, University of London's campus reminds us that the battle is far from over.
As reported by British media, masked thugs stormed into Professor Michael Ben-Gad's lecture and sought to create a threatening and hostile environment in order to pressure the university into taking action against him. A member of the security team at the event independently verified that one of the protesters threatened to chop off the professor's head.
Despite being employed by the university since 2007, the professor has only recently been targeted by the non-university affiliated group, 'City Action for Palestine'.
The intruders claimed Ben-Gad was 'part of the genocide in Gaza' and chanted slogans including the infamous' From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free'. This phrase has been widely condemned since October 7th as grossly antisemitic and calls for Israel's destruction. The phrase denies the right to self determination for Jewish people and does a disservice to all those in the region who seek peace.
The most concerning element of this saga is their justification. The masked thugs deemed him a 'terrorist', because he was a soldier as a young man in the early 1980s, earned an academic degree at one Israeli university and taught at another. Due to the many existential threats that Israel has faced since its inception and continues to this day, national and/or military service is mandatory for all citizens. By their definition, every single Israeli adult "deserves" to be murdered in cold blood and threatened in public. This is not a legitimate moral position; it is a precursor to another genocide of Jews.
Ben-Gad is not the only victim of these vicious campaigns at City, University of London. Prof Sir Anthony Finkelstein was also targeted by the same group despite not having any direct ties to any Israeli institutions. In his case, the stated reason was that he oversees the institution's multi-million pound investments in Israeli companies and happens to be Jewish. What an interesting coincidence.
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Tuesday, December 09, 2025
Nanny charged with trying to poison French Jewish family
French prosecutors have indicted a 42-year-old Algerian woman for allegedly trying to poison the Jewish family that had employed her, Le Parisien newspaper reported on Monday.
The defendant is scheduled to appear before a judge in Nanterre near Paris on Tuesday for actions attributed to her in January 2024, and which were allegedly motivated by Jew-hatred, according to the report.
The defendant, identified only as "Leila Y" in the French media, had worked for the family in Paris for two months under a false Belgian identity. In fact, she was under orders to leave France, a measure often employed against those found to have overstayed their visa permit. The family had three children, then aged 2, 5 and 7.
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Monday, December 08, 2025
Prominent Belz hasid travels for granddaughter's wedding and passes away
Rabbi Benzion Rabinowitz, a prominent Belzer hasid in Jerusalem, died over Shabbat (the Sabbath) at a US hospital.
He was 87.
Rabbi Rabinowitz arrived in the US last week for his granddaughter's wedding, which took place on Tuesday in Williamsburg. On the night of the wedding, he began feeling unwell, and after dancing the traditional "Mitzvah Tanz" dance with the bride, he went to rest.
On Friday night, he was hospitalized after contracting a virus and passed away the following morning, during the week of the "sheva brachot" celebrations.
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Wednesday, December 03, 2025
NYC principal denies request for Holocaust survivor to speak at school
A Brooklyn middle school principal denied a parent's request to have a Holocaust survivor speak to students about antisemitism — saying the victim's pro-Israel views are not appropriate for a public school.
MS 447 Principal Arin Rusch wrote to the parent Nov. 18 claiming Nazi labor camp survivor Sami Steigmann's opinions would not be "right" for the Boerum Hill school.
"In looking at his website material, I also don't think that Sami's presentation is right for our public school setting, given his messages around Israel and Palestine," Rusch claimed.
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