More in ‘Auschwitz’

• Days after nixing the term “Rabba” for ordained female Orthodox rabbis, the Rabbinical Council of America agreed to the term “Maharat.” Agudath Israel called this “capitulation” “deeply dismaying.” [Press Release]
• David Kimche, a longtime Mossad member who rose to Foreign Ministry Director General, and who in later life backed the two-state solution and J ...

• The U.S. State Department asserted that Iran’s nuclear program is “anything but peaceful.” [Haaretz]
• Influential Chicago Rabbi Asher Lopatin (he has counted Rahm Emanuel as a congregant) is starting a community in Israel as part of an effort “to build a new type of religious Zionist.” [Chicago Tribune]
• Over 1500 cases of the mumps ...

Two subjects that even most conscientious readers know not enough about: concrete poetry and the German-language, postwar literary avant-garde. These subjects reach their dark syzygy in the work of Heimrad Bäcker, an Austrian poet, editor, and publisher of a certain generation whose transcript—the lowercase is not just correct but imperative—has recently been translated into English.
We’ll ...

• New (ostensibly peaceful) rocket test-fires and official revelations demonstrated that Iran has developed sophisticated satellite technology. [WSJ]
• At least two barrels containing explosives washed ashore on Israel’s Mediterranean coast, prompting Israel to close beaches up there and launch airstrikes in Gaza. [WSJ]
• Hamas suspended the indirect negotiations over kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit in protest ...

• The man who was arrested for shouting “Kill all the Jews!” on a Detroit-bound plane earlier this month pleaded not guilty to all counts. [AP/Vos Iz Neias?]
• Simon Monjack, the widower of actress Brittany Murphy, who was raised Orthodox in Britain, talks about his late wife and why he’s suing one studio for wrongful ...

• Led by Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota), the first Muslim congressman, 54 U.S. representatives signed a letter urging Israel to ease its Gaza blockade. J Street, Americans for Peace Now, and other liberal groups also signed. [Haaretz]
• Standing beside Israeli President Shimon Peres, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced it was time to stop being polite ...

• The Russian state nuclear company said the reactor it built in Bushehr, Iran, will be up-and-running by the end of the year. [Haaretz]
• Meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her E.U. counterpart said they would continue to try to impose upped sanctions on the Islamic Republic. [Haaretz]
• Elliott Abrams, who was George W. ...

• Turkey’s prime minister accepted a senior Israeli diplomat’s formal apology for humiliating Turkey’s ambassador, tentatively concluding the once-escalating tension between the countries. [NYT]
• The Iranian government explicitly blamed the United States for the death of the nuclear scientist slain in a Tehran bomb blast earlier this week. The White House press secretary called the ...

Polish police want to talk to two men in Sweden who allegedly were involved in last month’s pilfering of the wrought-iron “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign that graced the entrance to Auschwitz; one of the two is the apparent mastermind. (The sign was recovered, though it had been cut into three pieces.) The artifact was reportedly ...

• The Israeli Supreme Court ordered a West Bank highway to be opened to most Palestinian drivers. [NYT]
• A Lakewood, New Jersey, Orthodox man is the target of a $200 million fraud lawsuit, according to court papers. The plaintiffs are several Orthodox real estate investors who allege they were specifically targeted as part of an ...