Tens of thousands gather at Western Wall for priestly blessings

Tens of thousands of worshippers gathered at the Western Wall plaza in Jerusalem on Wednesday to receive a blessing from members of Judaism's priestly caste.

 

The priests, known as "Kohanim", were joined by US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman.

The Western Wall in Jerusalem (Photo: AFP)

"It's an opportunity to bless the people of Israel," Friedman, an Orthodox Jew, told reporters.

The Kohanim gathered and began chanting the Priestly Blessing.

(Photo: Eli Mendelbaum)

"May the Lord bless you and keep you/ May the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you/ May the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace," the blessing reads.

The ceremony is held during the Sukkot holiday celebrated this week.

(Photo: Reuters)

According to Jewish tradition, Kohanim are descendants of Aaron, Moses's brother, whose offspring served as priests in the biblical temple in Jerusalem.

Many Jews with surnames such as Cohen, Kahan and Katz are Kohanim.

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Pope warns Lithuanians against rebirth of anti-Semitism

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As part of Vatican City head of state's tour of the Baltics, Pope Francis visits former Jewish ghetto in Vilnius to remember Jews who were killed by Nazis and urges country, where neo-fascist parties are making gains, to refrain from temptation to be superior or dominant to others again. Pope warns Lithuanians against rebirth of anti-Semitism : https://ift.tt/2MY0brW

Prominent Polish rabbi's grave desecrated in Poland

Unidentified vandals desecrated the grave of a the prominent 19th and 20th century Hassidic rabbi, Rebbe Yechiel Meir, who was appointed rabbi of the south-central Polish city of Ostrowiec.

 

The gravestone in the city was recently erected by the rebbe's descendants and by Jewish Holocaust survivors from the city, with the assistance of the "J-nerations", an organization working to preserve the remnants of the Jewish communities in Poland and elsewhere in Europe.

Grave of Rabbi Y.M. of Ostrowiec (Photo: Meir Bulka)

This is the second case of anti-Semitism in Poland reported over the past week, after a man threw a stone into a synagogue in Gdansk on Yom Kippur.

The desecrated gravesite is situated in the Jewish cemetery which has been turned into a public park, used by local residents to walk their dogs daily. It is not unusual for the dogs to defecate on the Jewish graves.

(Photo: Meir Bulka)

Meir Bulka, the founder of “J-nerations” who visited the cemetery this week, noticed that the gravesite of the rabbi, who passed away 90 years ago, was vandalized by drunkards who shattered the windows of the mausoleum and struck the walls with hammers. Several glass bottles were also smashed at the site.

(Photo: Meir Bulka)

Bulka called the police who said that they routinely patrol the area.

The Ostrowiec cemetery is at the center of a lawsuit submitted by Bulka against the state, demanding that Poland take responsibility for the desecration of the cemetery and the violation of Jews’ sensitivities. Bulka has also urged authorities to prevent further acts of vandalism.

(Photo: Meir Bulka)

“The Poles cannot understand that it is important for us to preserve the cemetery. They only respect Catholic cemeteries," Bulka said. “As far as they are concerned, it is just another place for dogs to defecate.

“We are witnessing a rise in anti-Semitism on a daily basis. Under these circumstances it is not possible to preserve the thousand-year heritage of Polish Jewry. On the one hand the government turns a blind eye to vandalism against Jews; on the other hand, tales of Holocaust heroes which have been refused recognition by Yad Vashem due to inconsistencies in the testimonies are circulating,” Bulka said.

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Jews erect Sukkot in preparation for holiday

Israeli Jews began preparations on Thursday for the festival of Sukkot by putting up temporary huts covered by leafy branches a day after the end of the holy Yom Kippur fast day.

 

Sukkot is the third part in the autumn holiday period that began earlier this month with the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashanah, followed by Yom Kippur last Wednesday.

 

Jewish family builds Sukkah (Photo: Adiel Cohen)

Throughout Israel, Jews from all walks of life, but predominantly from the devout population, began building a sukkah on apartment balconies, in gardens or in streets and parking lots next to their homes, to celebrate the seven-day festival that begins at dusk on Sunday.

Sukkot in Meah Shearim, Jerusalem (Photo: Shutterstock)

During the time of Jerusalem's ancient Jewish temples, Sukkot was one of three annual pilgrimage festivals, with the others being Passover and Shavuot. Jews believe that the sukkah symbolizes the temporary dwellings used by the Israelites who were led by Moses on their 40-year exodus through the desert from ancient Egypt to the Land of Israel. Sukkot celebrants eat in their tabernacle and some even sleep in it. Children decorate it with tinsel streamers and drawings and hang fruit from the branch coverings.

Karaite sukkah in Holon (Photo: Asaf Kemer)

Many restaurants and hotels also put up Sukkot for devout visitors who want to be able to celebrate the tradition.

Sukka by Tel Aviv Port (Photo: Gal Ya'ari)

Part of the festival ritual includes a daily blessing by men of the "four species": an aromatic "etrog" or citron lemon, a date-palm frond (lulav), sprigs of myrtle (hadasim) and willow branches (aravot).

In preparation for the holiday, vendors set up market stalls in Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox Mea-Shearim neighborhood where "four species" were on sale on the days leading up to the holiday.

4 Species market (Photo: Motti Kimchi )

Men took many minutes to scrutinize etrogs and palm fronds with magnifying glasses to ensure they buy the very best, blemish-free produce. High-quality items can fetch higher prices, one vendor said.

Purchasing an etrog (Photo: Yaron Brenner)

A customer examines myrtle branches for their quality (Photo: AFP)

"We try to give our clients the most amazing quality 'four species'," said Peretz Scheinerman. A large, blemish-free etrog, the most valuable of the "four species", can sell for as much as 300 shekels ($84).

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Polish police looking for man who threw stone into synagogue

Polish police are looking for a man who threw a stone into a synagogue in Gdansk as members of the Jewish community were praying at the end of the Yom Kippur holiday. On Thursday, police released security footage of the incident, which shows a man in a dark shirt walking to the New Synagogue in Gdansk and throwing a stone into a window.

In a statement, police said Wednesday's incident occurred at 6pm local time (1600 GMT) in the Baltic port city of Gdansk, and appealed to anybody who recognizes the man to contact police.

Anti-semitism in Gdansk    (באדיבות משטרת גדנסק)

They said they had spoken to witnesses and were working to determine if the act was a "hooligan prank" or one motivated by religious hatred.

Gdansk Mayor Pawel Adamowicz said he was "appalled" especially because it took place during the prayers ending Yom Kippur, the day of atonement.

(Photo: Youtube)

"Such things should not happen in the city of freedom and solidarity," Adamowicz said, referring to Gdansk's history as the cradle of the Solidarity movement that helped topple communism.

He called on residents to gather Thursday evening outside the synagogue in a show of protest.

(Photo: Jewish Community of Gdańsk)

Poland’s chief rabbi, Michael Schudrich, said the last such incident in Poland occurred more than 20 years ago when a firebomb was thrown into the Nozyk Synagogue in Warsaw.

“What happened should never happen and must be condemned in clear and strong terms. Yet this does not represent the true face of Gdansk, the birthplace of Solidarity and freedom,” Schudrich told The Associated Press.

(Photo: Jewish Community of Gdańsk)

He said that people were gathering for prayers when the rock was thrown and that a few people were nearby, but that nobody was hurt.

The World Jewish Congress said it was "shocked and dismayed."

(Photo: Youtube)

It said that the throwing of the rock, which entered the women's gallery, evoked "the terrible tragedies that occurred in German-occupied Poland during the years of the Holocaust." "In recent years, Jews in Poland have been able to worship with a sense of security, and we hope that this attack does not herald negative change in that positive environment," president Ronald Lauder said.

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UK PM vows to defend Jews and Israel, in dig at Labour's Corbyn

UK Prime Minister Theresa May pledged on Monday to protect British Jewish identity and Israel's right to defend itself, in an attack on opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn in the run-up to his Labour Party conference next weekend. May told a United Jewish Israel Appeal dinner she was "sickened" by the idea that some Jews questioned whether Britain was a safe place to raise their children. Labour has been angrily divided this year over pockets of anti-Semitism which Corbyn himself has acknowledged. Critics suggest he should step down for failing to tackle the issue.

PM May at UJIA dinner (Photo: AP)

A poll in Britain's Jewish Chronicle earlier this month said that 40 percent of Jews would consider emigrating if Corbyn won power in a national election. In August Britain's former chief rabbi Jonathan Sacks called Corbyn an anti-Semite and said comments about Zionists made by him in 2013, before he was Labour's leader, were the most offensive by a senior UK politician in half a century. Corbyn said five years ago that British Zionists "don't understand English irony" despite "having lived in this country for a very long time".

(Photo: AFP)

"If we are to stand up for the values that we share—then one of the things we need to do is give young Jewish people the confidence to be proud of their identity—as British, Jewish and Zionist too," May said. "There is no contradiction between these identities and we must never let anyone try to suggest that there should be."

Corbyn, a veteran campaigner for Palestinian rights who has moved Labour to the left, has pledged to eradicate anti-Semitism. This month Labour adopted an internationally accepted definition of anti-Semitism in hopes of ending the row.

However, it also said that freedom of speech on Israel must be permitted, indicating that his hardline opposition to the country's policies would remain unchanged.

Jeremy Corbyn (Photo: EPA)

Last month, Corbyn said in his 2013 comments he had been describing some pro-Israel activists as Zionists, an explanation which failed to calm the furor. May said in her speech on Monday "nothing excuses anti-Semitism—not comedy, not satire, not even irony". May said she was committed to strong economic ties between Britain and Israel. "You can also count on my commitment to Israel's security, she said. "I am clear that we will always support Israel's right to defend itself." Current opinion polls show Labour roughly level with May's Conservatives.

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Jewish collector's descendant gets Nazi-looted Renoir back

The granddaughter of a Jewish art collector whose paintings were stolen by the Nazis had a family reunion with one of the works on Wednesday after almost eight decades, an impressionist piece by Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

 

Sylvie Sulitzer saw "Two Women in a Garden" for the first time at New York's Museum of Jewish Heritage after unveiling it at a ceremony that included law enforcement officials representing the offices that helped get the painting back to her, her grandparents' only living descendant.

Sulitzer with the returned painting

"I'm very thankful to be able to show my beloved family, wherever they are, that after what they've been through, there is justice," Sulitzer said tearfully. The reunion, though, will probably be short-lived. She will likely auction off the painting to pay back compensation she previously got for missing artwork. She was joined by Geoffrey Berman, the US attorney for Manhattan, and William Sweeney Jr., the assistant director in charge of the New York office of the FBI. Sulitzer's grandfather, Alfred Weinberger, was an art collector in Paris. Sulitzer said he fled the city to avoid being pressed into service by the Nazis for his art expertise.

He put some of his paintings in a bank vault before fleeing the Nazis, who took possession of the works in December 1941. The Nazis made a regular practice of looting artworks and other items of cultural and financial significance, and in the decades since World War II, efforts have been made to find the objects and return them to their owners if possible, with varying levels of success. Weinberger died when Sulitzer, now 59, was a teenager, without ever getting the Renoir and a handful of other paintings returned to him. She had no idea of the paintings' existence, Sulitzer said, since they weren't discussed in her family. "The war was a taboo subject; we never talked about that," said Sulitzer, who owns a delicatessen in the south of France near where she lives in Roquevaire. But Weinberger had registered his missing property with authorities, and it was included in a database that had gone online in 2010 of looted art, based on records compiled by the Nazis themselves of what they had amassed. Sulitzer learned in 2013 that the painting, which had surfaced periodically through the decades at various auctions, was once again up for auction. Her attorneys contacted the auction house, which in turn went to the FBI division that looks into situations of this sort.

The painting had been all over the world in the years since the Nazis took hold of it, including Johannesburg, London and Zurich, said Sweeney. "The extraordinary journey this small work of art has made around the globe and through time ends today," he said. The owner of the piece voluntarily gave it up to be returned to Sulitzer, officials said. The painting is on display at the museum through Sunday and will go back to Sulitzer's possession after that. She wasn't sure for how long, though—she has to pay back some money from the French and German governments she got in connection with the stolen works, since one of them has been returned, and she said she can't afford to and will likely auction off the painting. Despite that, she said, she was thrilled to have it back, saying it was important for the memory of her family, and she thought her grandfather would consider it justice. "I would have loved him to be here, instead of me," Sulitzer said. She wished other families looking for their own lost works to be as lucky as she has been. "I hope everybody will, one day or another, have the justice as I had," she said.

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Former Sex and City star accused of anti-Semitism

A former "Sex and the City" star Cynthia Nixon, who is running for governor of New York state, cried foul on Monday over a pro-Andrew Cuomo mailer paid for by the Democratic Party that suggests the Hollywood actress called to boycott Israel, with the candidate calling on the governor to apologize to New Yorkers.

 

The mailer says Nixon opposes funding for Jewish schools, supports "racist, xenophobic" calls to boycott Israel over its treatment of Palestinians and that she has been "silent on the rise of anti-Semitism."

"With anti-Semitism and bigotry on the rise, we can't take a chance with inexperienced Cynthia Nixon, who wouldn't stand strong for our Jewish communities," the mailer reads.

Cynthia Nixon (Photo: Reuters)

Nixon, who has two children being raised in the Jewish faith, called the mailer "dirty, sleazy politics" and said Cuomo's explanation that he didn't know about the mailer isn't believable.

"The idea that they would accuse me of being soft on anti-Semitism is an outrage," she told Buzzfeed's news show AM To DM on Monday. "The idea that Andrew Cuomo didn't know this was happening is completely bogus and I think he actually owes an apology not just to say it was a mistake, but that it's factually wrong...This is fear-mongering for political gain at its worst." Cuomo controls the state Democratic Party and recently transferred $2.5 million to its account for election-related expenses. He said Sunday he wasn't aware of the mailer until angry voters began complaining about it and still hasn't seen it. State Party Executive Director Geoff Berman has called the mailer a "mistake" and offered to use party money to pay for a Nixon mailer of her campaign's choosing. Nixon says it's too late to send a mailer and on Sunday suggested that Cuomo instead hold a press conference to apologize. The state party hasn't said who approved the mailer, or how many were sent out to voters. Messages left with the Cuomo campaign and the state party were not immediately returned Monday. A poll released Monday suggests Cuomo has widened his lead over Nixon, an education activist and former "Sex and the City" star. According to the survey, Cuomo now leads Nixon 63 to 22 percentage points. The poll was taken before questions surfaced about the anti-Nixon mailer—or before the state was forced to close the second span of the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge just a day after Cuomo held a celebratory ribbon cutting. The second span was supposed to open to the public on Saturday but crews disassembling the nearby old Tappan Zee Bridge discovered that it had destabilized and could fall, potentially hitting the new span. The span is expected to reopen to traffic Tuesday evening.

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As Rosh Hashanah begins, Jewish world population on the up

The number of Jews around the world stands at 14.7 million on the eve of the Jewish new year of Rosh Hashanah, according to the Jewish Agency, marking an increase of 100,000 since 2017. Around 8.1 million Jews live outside Israel, 5.7 million of whom reside in the United States, a little shy of the 6.6 million Jews living inside Israel.

With 453,000 Jews, France is home to the second largest Jewish population outside the US, followed by Canada, in which 391,000 Jews live.

Britain has the second largest population of European Jewry with 290,000 Jews while in South America, Argentina is in the lead with 180,000 Jews.

(Photo: AFP)

Russia is home to 172,000 Jews while Germany's Jewish population falls behind at 116,000, the Jewish Agency figures show. Australia’s Jewish population stands at 113,000.

Muslim countries contain the fewest number of Jews, with none of the Jewish population figures reaching beyond 4 digits. 8,500 of the total 27,000 Jews spread throughout the Arab countries reside in Iran, while 2,000 live in Morocco and 1,000 live in Tunisia. In total, 98 countries around the globe host 100 Jews or more.

(Photo: Uri Davidovitch)

In all, Israel’s population stands at approximately 8.907 million as the country heads into the new year, up from 8,743,000 compared to the same period in 2017, according to data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).  The CBS report also predicts that Israel’s population will reach 10 million by the end of 2024, and 15 million residents by the end of 2048. “By the end of the projection period, in 2065, the population of Israel is expected to grow to 20 million,” the fresh statistics reports says.

(Photo: EPA)

The report also breaks down Israel’s demographic composition, with the Jewish population accounting for 74.4% of the total population at approximately 6.625 million. The number of Arabs living in Israel is said to be approximately 1.864 million (20.9%), while those registered as “other” account for approximately 418,000 (4.7%). “Since Rosh Hashanah last year, the population of Israel has grown by approximately 162,000. The annual population growth rate in 5778 was 1.9%, similar to the rate in previous years,” the report noted. “During the year, approximately 175,000 babies were born and approximately 43,000 people died. Approximately 29,000 people were added to the population of Israel in the migration balance. Of those, approximately 25,000 were new immigrants,” the report summary added.

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German Jewish group condemns 'strongly rooted' extremism

Germany's Central Council of Jews says the attack on a kosher restaurant in Chemnitz by masked neo-Nazis shows problems in the region are deeper than simply concerns over new migrants.

Council president Josef Schuster said Sunday it's time to "call the problem by its name."

President of Germany's Central Council of Jews Josef Schuster (Photo: AP)

He says the events of the last two weeks show "how strongly rooted right-wing extremism is in the region," adding that "attempts at appeasement and a lack of distancing from the right-populists play exactly into the hands of these forces."

The owner, Uwe Dziuballa, standing in front of his restaurant (Photo: AFP)

The attackers injured the owner of the Shalom restaurant, shouting "Jewish pig, get out of Germany," on the sidelines of an Aug. 27 far-right protest sparked by the killing of a 35-year-old German man.

The police arrested two asylum seekers from Syria and Iraq on suspicion of murdering the German man while conducting a search for the third suspect.

German media reported Saturday that German authorities are investigating the anti-Semitic attack on the Jewish-owned restaurant that took place in the eastern city of Chemnitz.

According to Die Welt newspaper's reports, on August 27, a mob of around a dozen people, wearing black with their faces covered, hurled rocks, bottles and a metal pipe at the restaurant, smashing one of its windows and vandalizing the entrance.

The masked demonstrators stormed the restaurant and shouted "Get out of Germany, Jewish pigs." Many chanted “We are the people,” a slogan used by far-right supporters.

The restaurant's owner, Uwe Dziuballa, suffered an injury to the shoulder during the attack, the reports said.

Violent far-right, anti-immigration demonstrations in Chemnitz (Photo: EPA)

"Schalom" restaurant, which opened in 2000, has been attacked several times before. A spokesman for the German Federal Ministry of the Interior confirmed that the reports are being investigated on suspicion of being motivated by anti-Semitism, but no clear conclusion has been drawn.

The Chemnitz attack is the latest in a series of violent crimes by refugees that have garnered massive media attention and stoked anger at German Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to allow in more than one million migrants and refugees since 2015.

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Anti-Israel signs pop up all over London

Pro-Palestinian activists recently posted anti-Israeli adverts on bus stops across London, with a caption reading "Israel is a racist endeavour" written in the colors of the Palestinian flag.

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan ordered the removal of the posters while a spokesman for Transport for London said: "These adverts are absolutely not authorized … we have instructed our contractors to remove any of these posters found on our network immediately."

 

London bus stop with an unauthorized advert reading 'Israel is a racist endeavor'

The provocative posters were placed on the bus stops in a reference to the British Labour Party's decision to adopt the definition of anti-Semitism as defined by the International Organization for Holocaust Remembrance (IHRA).

Point five of the definition defines "Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour" as anti-Semitism.

The British Daily Mail reported that some London residents said the posters are disturbing and anti-Semitic. "I'm sure Jews passing by the signs will be offended," Jonathan, a London resident, said.

 

A spokesperson for the London mayor noted that the posters were unlawfully put up, and therefore constitute acts of vandalism. 

"These offensive adverts are not authorized and are acts of vandalism which Transport for London and its advertising partner takes extremely seriously. They have instructed their contractors to remove any posters found on their network immediately," the spokesperson said. 

The pro-Palestinian organization "London Palestine Action" also posted several pictures of adverts across London with a caption reading "Created by ethnic cleansing; maintained by ethnic exclusion."

The campagin was also not limited to the public domain, with anti-Israel slurs being posted on Twitter.

"1.8 million Palestinians, mainly refugees, locked in Gaza for being the wrong ethnicity," read one tweet. 

In addition, in a tweet about Britain's actions regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the group wrote: "70 years of UK government-approved dispossession, destruction and displacement. Israel is a racist endeavour."

Amid reports concerning the statements and conduct of the British Labour Party's leader, Jeremy Corbyn—a staunch critic of Israel—the party tried to put an end to the anti-Semitic tumult by adopting the international definition of anti-Semitism, while adding the caveat that "free speech" was permissable when it came to Israel. 

The party was harshly criticized last July after it adopted major parts, but not all, of the IHRA's definition of anti-Semitism.

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Neo-Nazis attack kosher restaurant in Germany

German media reported Saturday that German authorities are investigating an anti-Semitic attack on a Jewish-owned restaurant that took place during the far-right demonstrations at the end of August in the eastern city of Chemnitz.

Police in Saxony confirmed that they had received a complaint of the attack on the kosher restaurant "Schalom" on the sidelines of the demonstrations.

According to Die Welt newspaper's reports, on August 27, a mob of around a dozen people, wearing black with their faces covered, hurled rocks, bottles and a metal pipe at the restaurant, smashing one of its windows and vandalizing the entrance.

The owner, Uwe Dziuballa, standing in front of his restaurant (Photo: AFP)

The masked demonstrators stormed the restaurant and shouted "Get out of Germany, Jewish pigs." Many chanted “We are the people,” a slogan used by far-right supporters.

The restaurant's owner, Uwe Dziuballa, suffered an injury to the shoulder during the attack, the reports said.

Far-right demonstration in Chemnitz    (צילום: רויטרס)

"Schalom" restaurant, which opened in 2000, has been attacked several times before. A spokesman for the German Federal Ministry of the Interior confirmed that the reports are being investigated on suspicion of being motivated by anti-Semitism, but no clear conclusion has been drawn.

The German Federal Commissioner to Combat anti-Semitism, Felix Klein, called on the police and the State Prosecutor's Office to bring the perpetrators to justice and show that similar cases in the future will be severely punished.

Violent far-right, anti-immigration demonstrations in Chemnitz (Photo: EPA)

  

"If the reports are true, this is a new level of anti-Semitism. It's impossible not to compare this to what happened in the 1930s," Klein said.

Chemnitz has been convulsed by violent far-right, anti-immigration demonstrations since the a German man was stabbed to death, allegedly by asylum-seekers, on August 26. The police arrested two asylum seekers from Syria and Iraq on suspicion of murdering the German man, 35, while conducting a search for the third suspect.

German police at the riot in Chemnitz (Photo: EPA)

 

The Chemnitz attack is the latest in a series of violent crimes by refugees that have garnered massive media attention and stoked anger at German Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to allow in more than one million migrants and refugees since 2015.

Far-right groups and thousands of local citizens have taken to the streets since the stabbing, mainly at night, with some seen flashing the illegal Nazi salute. In several cases violent riots were reported that included attacks on police officers, journalists and passers-by who were suspected of being migrants.

(Photo: EPA)

 

Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the demonstrations and said that the scenes from Chemnitz "convey a message of hatred towards innocent people."

“That was a horrible incident. What we saw afterwards is something that has no place in a state under the rule of law,” she told a news conference in Berlin.

“We don’t tolerate such unlawful assemblies and the hounding of people who look different or have different origins, and attempts to spread hatred on the streets,” Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert told a regular news briefing.

 

(Photo: EPA)

"That has no place in our cities and we, as the German government, condemn it in the strongest terms. Our basic message for Chemnitz and beyond is that there is no place in Germany for vigilante justice, for groups that want to spread hatred on the streets, for intolerance and for extremism," Seibert concluded.

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Ukrainian city remembers Jews on Holocaust anniversary

LVIV, Ukraine — The Ukrainian city of Lviv, once a major center of Jewish life in Eastern Europe, is commemorating the 75th anniversary of the annihilation of the city's Jewish population by Nazi Germany and honoring those working today to preserve what they can of that vanished world.

 

City authorities honored recipients during Sunday's ceremony with 75 sculptured glass keys modeled by an American artist on an old metal synagogue key that she found at a Lviv market. The ceremonies, including a concert amid the ruins of synagogues, come amid a larger attempt to revive the suppressed memories of the Jews who were once an integral part of life in the region.

Volunteers clean an old Jewish cemetery in Rohatyn

 

"God forbid our city once suffered such a misfortune," Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadoviy said at the ceremony. "Today we cannot even imagine for a moment the pain, humiliation and grief that thousands of Lviv's people suffered in the last century." Iryna Matsevko, deputy director of the Center for Urban History of East Central Europe and one of the organizers, said it was the first time the western Ukrainian city has acknowledged the efforts in such an extensive way. She said it comes amid a growing consciousness in Ukrainian society of the need to remember the Jews who were annihilated by Nazi forces during their occupation of Eastern Europe, which occurred with the participation of local people in some cases. The new efforts have included Jewish history courses at universities, new research by young Ukrainian scholars and grassroots efforts by local teachers and other volunteers that otherwise get little attention. Volunteers have also worked to recover Jewish gravestones that were used to pave roads and return them to cemeteries.

Marla Raucher Osborn, a Jewish heritage project leader, left, and Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadoviy, present a glass copy of an old metal synagogue key at a ceremony commemorating the 75th anniversary of the annihilation of the city's Jewish population by Nazi Germany in Lviv

"This is part of the process of reviving the memory of the Jewish heritage. Of course, this process is slow. I want it to be quicker, but for the last 10 years we have seen how the Jewish heritage is returning to people's consciousness and a lot of activities are taking place," Matsevko said. "It is very important that people are being acknowledged for their work in Jewish heritage." Before World War II, Lviv and the surrounding area belonged to Poland. Then called Lwow, it was the third largest Jewish community in prewar Poland after Warsaw and Lodz, with most working as merchants, manufacturers or artisans. Before World War I, Lviv and the surrounding area were part of the eastern Galicia region of the Austro-Hungarian empire and the city was called by its German name, Lemberg. In June 1941, Germany attacked the Soviet Union, its former ally. As soon the German forces entered the city they and their Ukrainian collaborators massacred Jews in the city and countryside. While occupying the area, Germans murdered Jews in the ghetto, the Belzec death camp and a forced labor camp, Janowska, with the final annihilation occurring in 1943, the anniversary that was being marked Sunday. Of a population of about 150,000 Jews, only an estimated 1 percent survived. In the postwar years, with Ukraine part of the Soviet Union, the memories of the murdered Jews began to vanish. Historian Omer Bartov has called the area a "land of memory and oblivion, coexistence and erasure, high hopes and dashed illusions." The remembrance work is taking place as Ukraine finds itself mired in crisis and conflict following Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and with a Russia-backed insurgency in the east. With Ukraine under attack, nationalism has been on the rise, with some lauding the Nazi-affiliated irregulars who fought against the Soviet Army in World War II. To what extent this has led to greater anti-Semitism is a matter of dispute, but many of those working in the area of Jewish remembrance feel that anti-Semitism is exaggerated and part of a Russian propaganda effort. The glass keys are the work of New Mexico-based artist Rachel Stevens, who found a rusted synagogue key at a street market in Lviv in February while seeking remnants of Jewish culture in eastern Galicia as part of a research project. She reproduced them in glass, which in Jewish tradition "represents the fragility of life," she said, explaining that the "glass synagogue keys became a tangible way for me to express my grief about the past and my hope for the future." "The idea for this artwork seems almost mystically delivered to me," Stevens said.

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Former chief rabbi warns of 'existential threat' to UK Jews

Britain's former chief rabbi has warned that Jewish people are thinking about leaving the country because of anti-Semitism. Jonathan Sacks told the BBC on Sunday that for the first time in the 362 years Jews have been in Britain many question whether it is safe to raise children here. He singled out Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn for failing to address anti-Semitic attitudes in the main opposition party, saying Corbyn would pose a danger as prime minister unless he expresses "clear remorse" for past statements.

Jonathan Sacks

Sacks said "when people hear the kind of language that has been coming out of Labour, that's been brought to the surface among Jeremy Corbyn's earlier speeches, they cannot but feel an existential threat."

Corbyn at an anti-Israel rally

Gordon Brown, the most recent Labour Party leader to serve as prime minister, added his voice to the chorus of party figures calling for Labour to endorse an internationally agreed-upon definition of anti-Semitism rather than the more limited one now in place. He told the Jewish Labour Movement conference the change should be made immediately. "It is needed now to deal with practical threats, to confront gathering dangers and on-the-ground realities of very real, week-by-week threats to Jewish communities that demand an unequivocal response and unqualified resolve," he said. The party's executive committee is set to discuss its definition of anti-Semitism in the coming days. Corbyn has said anti-Semitism has no place in the Labour Party.

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Russia's chief rabbi paid secret visit to Tehran

The chief rabbi of Russia made a secret visit to Tehran almost half a year ago as part of a larger mission dispatched by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.

Rabbi Berel Lazar, who enjoys a close relationship with the Russian leader, was part of the delegation headed by Vyacheslav Viktorovich Volodin, who has served as chairman of the State Duma since 5 October 2016.

Rabbi Lazar with President Putin

Lazar made the visit, which lasted a mere 24 hours, as part of a trip by the large Russian delegation which held a series of discussions in the Iranian parliament.

The decision to include Lazar in the Russian mission was personally taken by President Putin, a move that was met with opposition from Iran.

Despite the objections, Russia is said to have made the delegation’s visit dependent on Lazar’s participation as Tehran and Moscow seek to improve trade relations.

During the visit which took place on April 9, immediately after the Jewish holiday of Passover, Rabbi Lazar departed with one of his assistants, bringing with them kosher food for the plane journey.

Rabbi Lazar took the opportunity during his brief soujourn to pay a visit to Jewish community institutions in Tehran.

(Photo: Irina Ermolieva, Vladimir Klimov, and Artem Kozvonin)

He visited the central synagogue in the capital, along with a Jewish school, which employs some Shi’ite Muslim women teachers who wear the Hijab.

Hanging on the walls of the Jewish schools were also biblical quotes in Hebrew, juxtaposed alongside portraits of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, an avowed enemy of Israel.

During his visit, Rabbi Lazar’s activities were strictly restricted to assisting the Jewish community and to ensuring that Jews were able to observe laws of kashrut in the Shi’ite Islamic republic.

He met with Jewish community leaders in Tehran, heard of some of the difficulties faced by some of the members and watched Jewish children making their way to community centers to eat breakfast before beginning their day at school.

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