Exotic animal-hide kippot impounded from J'lem boutique

Inspectors from the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA) have confiscated luxury snake and crocodile-skin kippot from a high-end Old City boutique in Jerusalem on the suspicion they were imported illegally and without the requisite permits.

 

Israeli law, prescribed by international treaties, forbids importing and trading items made of wild animals without their origins first being tested and approved by the INPA.

Alligator and snake-skin kippot were confiscated from the store (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)

A new Judaica store in the Old City's Jewish Quarter began selling these items for thousands of shekels, and prepared to import more kippot made from the hides of exotic animals.

The inspector who arrived at the store discovered that the items in question, including both kippot and mezuzahs, were imported to Israel without a permit.

According to the inspector, the importer could have been granted the required permit upon request, but his failure to comply with the regulations led to the confiscation of all the items.

  There are numerous animal habitats in the world dedicated to harvesting the animals' hides or other body parts. These habitats are intended to serve as a substitute for hunting the animals in the wild, and only in cases where the local government has approved the animal products are legitimately sourced can they be imported to Israel. "Our products are designs sent to us by an American firm. When we start regulated importing, it will naturally be coordinated with the proper authorities," said Eli Mordechai, the owner of the store.

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Jewish family assaulted in anti-Semitic robbery in France

A Jewish family was beaten, held hostage and robbed in their home near Paris because of their religion, French authorities and anti-hate groups said Sunday.

The three attackers burst into the house in the Paris suburb of Livry-Gargan late Thursday, cut the electricity and confined members of the family until one managed to escape and alert police, said anti-Semitism watchdog BNVCA.

It said the assailants told the three victims: "You are Jews, you have money. We take money from Jews to give to the poor."

Photo: Reuters

French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb promised a major effort to arrest those responsible "for this cowardly act (which) appears directly linked to the victims' religion". The BNVCA condemned the attack—in which the assailants made off with jewelry, cash and credit cards—as a "fresh assault that is clearly anti-Semitic". It said the family members were threatened with death, insulted and "violently beaten". Francis Kalifat, president of the CRIF umbrella grouping of French Jewish organizations, said "this horrible act is proof that Jews in France are particularly threatened in the street... and even in their homes." French Jews, the largest community outside of the United States and Israel, have been leaving France at a steady pace since around 2005. Some 5,000 departures in 2016 add to the record 7,900 who left in 2015 and 7,231 in 2014. In total, 40,000 French Jews have emigrated since 2006. The community was shocked in 2006 by the kidnapping and brutal anti-Semitic killing of a young Jewish man, Ilan Halimi, in the Paris suburbs, which was followed by a shooting in a Jewish school in the southwest city of Toulouse in 2012. Experts and members of the Jewish community in France say that the terror attacks in recent years—including one at a Kosher supermarket—are not the only reason people are leaving. Family, religious and economic reasons have also played a role in the decision to emigrate.

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Lost WWII-era letter teen wrote to sister found in Spain

A Holocaust-era missive a girl sent her twin sister—who made Aliyah and now resides in Israel—has only recently been recovered in Spain, decades later.

 

The events that led to the letter being written and eventually found begin in Germany during World War II, when the parents of Rachel and Fanny Gewertz—then teens—tried saving them from the clutches of the Third Reich. They were able to get Rachel a visa to Palestine, and she made Aliyah.

Fanny, however, was forced to stay in Germany. She survived the Holocaust and in 1944, only a year before Germany surrendered, escaped to Spain through the Pyrenees along with a group of 60 other Jews.

The lost WWII missive

She settled down in Sort, a small village there, and only then did she find the time to write the letter to her sister, with whom she was forced to part because of the war.

The missive made its way through Portugal and Egypt—where it was examined by the country's censors—but was never delivered to Rachel upon reaching Israel for an unknown reason, and was thus returned to sender.

Rachel and Fanny Gewertz

Meanwhile, Fanny moved to Barcelona but the letter was sent back to the inn where she lived with the other Jewish survivors, and the owner tucked it away in a storeroom.

A short time before Israel declared its independence in 1948, Fanny also made Aliyah, and was finally able to meet her long-lost sister Rachel.

The letter Fanny wrote her sister in the 1940s

The letter, however, gathered dust in the Spanish inn and only recently, when someone was tidying up, was it found and given to Spanish historian Joseph Calbet. Calbet was somehow able to track down Rachel, who's now 93 and residing in Rishon Lezion. Her sister had already passed away, but the historian was able to find her son, who also lives in Israel, and share the find with him. Israel's ambassador to Spain Daniel Kutner was also apprised of the letter's story, and was asked by the Spaniard to organize a ceremony in Israel finally delivering it to Rachel.

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Holocaust Museum 'horrified' by Myanmar attacks

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum stated it is horrified by the ongoing attacks on Rohingya civilians and is calling on Myamar's government to cease its military operations.

Cameron Hudson, director of the museum's Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, said that "government efforts to deny Rohingya citizenship rights, restrict their freedom of movement and the practice of their faith, and deny their basic human rights have all been identified as leading precursors to a genocide."

A Rohingya man escaping persecution (Photo: Reuters)

In 2012, the museum awarded Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi the Elie Wiesel Award, its highest honor. Now, it says the ideals that she inspired "appear absent" in the defense of Rohingya.

Suu Kyi (Photo: MCT)

The museum stated it implores Suu Kyi to use her position in government and her "even more powerful voice to uphold those very ideals and work to stop the longstanding persecution and violence that threaten the very existence of Rohingya in Burma." Meanwhile, the United Nations has reported that the it along with its partners plan to provide up to 300,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing from Myanmar to Bangladesh with food, shelter, water, health care and other services until the end of the year.

Rohingya refugees (Photo: Reuters)

UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters at UN headquarters on Friday that while many of the 270,000 Rohingyas who have fled violence in Rakhine state in the past two weeks initially arrived in Bangladesh by land, more are now making the journey by boat. Dujarric said five UN agencies have teams in Cox's Bazar where the Rohingyas are arriving and the $7 million released from the UN emergency fund will allow the UN and its partners to those in desperate need of aid.

Photo: AFP

Dujarric added that Secretary-General António Guterres spoke to Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday and delivered the same message to her that he said publicly. Gutteres told reporters Tuesday the government must end the "vicious cycle of violence" and immediately reverse its longstanding policy and give Rohingya Muslims either nationality or legal status so they can lead normal lives and freely move, find jobs, and get an education.

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J'lem Judaica store offers exotic animal-hide kippot

A Jerusalem Judaica store announced a new line of luxury kippot (skullcaps) made of exotic animal hide, such as alligator, python, cow and—coming soon—ostrich, with each one going for thousands of shekels.

 

"These kippot were born out of the desire to provide people who live in a world of luxury and brands a kippah befitting their lifestyle," explained Eli Mordechai, owner of the "Fifth Quarter" Judaica store in Jerusalem's Old City and importer of these specialty items. "A person wearing a 10,000-dollar Gucci suit won't be caught dead wearing a 50-dollar off-brand kippah."

Eli Mordechai, owner of high-end Jerusalem boutique offering exotic kippot (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)

The kippot are manufactured by David Reutmann, a businessman originally from Israel, who was on the lookout for "glam kippot" for himself but failed to find any. Determined to fill the apparent gap in the market, Reutmann opened a high-end Judaica product business. According to him, the kippot are made of the finest Italian leathers and come in luxurious wooden boxes. Compared to "regular" kippot, which are usually sold at affordable prices, Reutmann's kippot can go for thousands of shekels, with the alligator-skin kippah costing NIS 4,000, (approximately $1,100) and the python-skin one setting you back NIS 5,000 (approximately $1,400).

Who'd be willing to pay these exorbitant sums? "The primary audience is rich Russian oligarchs, but now it's any self-respecting people who wish to display their Jewish identity," said Mordechai before proudly bragging that "The business expanded to Europe and the US first, and we're the first place to sell them in Israel."

Alligator and snake-skin kippot (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)

So far, the kippot have gotten some mixed reactions. "Some people think it's too expensive and ask who needs it, but others are happy someone has finally taken it upon themselves to offer quality kippot," said Mordechai. As for the fact some of the kippot are made from the hides of animals that are not considered kosher, Mordechai insisted it poses no problem from the perspective of Jewish law. "The kippah itself isn't a ritual article like the tefillin, mezuzah or Torah, necessitating the use of the skin of only kosher animals. Fabric, leather or any other material is permissible."

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Israel to give $1 Million in aid to Houston's Jewish community

Israel will reportedly donate $1 million in emergency aid to Houston's Jewish community to aid in post-Hurricane Harvey recovery efforts.

Diaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett says in a statement that the funds will be earmarked to help the 60,000-strong community repair and rebuild schools, synagogues and a community center damaged in the storm and floods.

 

A Torah scroll is removed from the Houston Chabad House (Photo: Chabad.org)

"The city of Houston was hurt badly last week, and the Jewish community, 70 percent of which lived in the flooded neighborhoods, was hit hard," said Bennett. "Schools and synagogues were flooded and can’t be used. The old-age home and JCC were damaged, and hundreds of families will remain homeless. From talks we’ve had over the past week with the heads of the community and Israel’s Consul General we learned the damage is vast, and the rehabilitation will take years.

Photo: Chabad.org

"For years, the Jewish communities stood by Israel when it needed their help; now it is our turn to stand by Houston’s Jewish community," added Bennett.

Photo: Chabad.org

The aid money will be submitted for government approval at an upcoming Cabinet meeting.

Awaiting rescue (Photo: Reuters)

Hurricane Harvey struck on Aug. 25 and pounded the city with five consecutive days of heavy rains, causing an estimated tens of billions of dollars in damage. So far, 47 are known to have died as a result of the hurricane.

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Kashrut fees raised on Jerusalem business over new Russian partner

Gabriel Piamenta, the owner of the Jerusalem tea house Halita'tea, was shocked to learn he would have to pay more money for his kashrut certificate because his new business partner is of Russian descent.

Halita'tea has been in business for four years and has had no kashrut issues so far. Recently, when Piamenta decided to expand, take on a new business partner and move his business to a larger location across the street, he was surprised to learn the Jerusalem Religious Council raised the kashrut certification prices on him.

"We noticed the new kashrut certificate wasn't coming, so I called the kashrut supervisor to ask what happened," says Piamenta.

Gabriel Piamenta, left, and his business partner Leon Schwartz (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)

"He told me they won't issue a new certificate for us until we sorted out the financial issues because the new place was bigger and requires more work for the kashrut supervisor," he went on to say. Piamenta, who grew up in a religious house, was never happy with the work of the kashrut supervisor, who he says came to the business once a month "to collect his check and sit around for a little bit." "I told him this was merely a ploy, that the supervisor didn't do anything beyond checking that there is a kashrut certificate, and that even if the work in the kitchen increased fourfold, he was still only really coming to check the certificates," Piamenta went on to say. "And then he told me he had met my new business partner, Leon. He told me: 'I don't like the looks of him, he's Russian, I don't trust him,' and said this was why we were being charged more money." Leon Schwartz, Piamenta's new partner, says he was shocked to learn this. He made aliyah from Russia at a young age and has been living in Israel for almost 30 years. "When I was nine, I asked my father to be circumcised," he recounts.

"They're looking for excuses to take more money," Schwartz says. "A lot of the time they seem to forget that 'Though shall not steal' and 'Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor' are the basic tenets of the Ten Commandments. It just proves they're thieves and liars, and to me that makes me more Jewish than them. The basis of Judaism is to be a human being before anything else."

Schwatz and Piamenta at their tea house (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)

Piamenta says the tea house's dishwasher, who is of Ethiopian descent, was also marked by the kashrut department as reason to increase supervision of their kitchen. "He (the kashrut supervisor) stated the fact there's a 'negro' working in the kitchen, meaning our Ethiopian dishwasher. So (his claim was) if the supervisor is not present, there is no one to make sure (the dishwasher) doesn't touch the food. He treated him as 'black,' the same way he treated Leon as 'Russian,'" he explains. The two business partners decided to turn to their customers through Facebook and seek their opinion on whether the tea house should keep getting its kashrut supervision from the Chief Rabbinate. Following recommendations from many customers, Piamenta and Schwartz are now considering switching to the services of the Hashgaha Pratit (private supervision) organization. "In light of the kashrut supervisor's comments and the unpleasantness of working with him, we began looking for alternatives to the (Chief) Rabbinate. We're keeping the place kosher, just as it was before, and we're looking for a solution that would allow our customers to keep frequenting us," they said on Facebook. Rabbi Oren Duvdevani, the head of Hashgaha Pratit's kashrut supervision apparatus, said the organization was "already in contact with the business, and with God's help we will offer them the service we already provide dozens of businesses across Israel—kashrut, according to the Halacha (Jewish law), with accredited supervisors who, in addition to being highly professional and well versed in kashrut law, believe that proper behavior precedes the Torah." The Jerusalem Chief Rabbinate said in response, "The tea house operated on 5 Hillel Street under limited format and moved its location to 6 Hillel Street under a broader format, both in terms of space and supply. Therefore, the business must pay additional fees in accordance with the law. The claims the business owners made, while making cynical use of the media, are distorted and outrageous and are a failed attempt at winning the sympathy of certain publics."

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