London - Chabad plans to double the number of full-time representatives it has at UK universities have angered the University Jewish Chaplaincy. "We think it's vital to avoid duplicating resources and are disappointed at the lack of discussion that has taken place over these plans," said University Jewish Chaplaincy chief executive Rabbi Yoni Sherizen. "Sadly, there have been experiences of...

Baltimore, MD - A Reisterstown-based spice company must pay a kosher certification agency $300,000 for using its distinctive symbol without permission. U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake dealt harshly with The Wilder Spice Co., which also forged a “letter of certification” from the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America. The award is three times the statutory amount that...

Brooklyn, NY - A former mortgage lender pleaded guilty today to conspiring to commit fraud in a $44 million theft of payoff proceeds for refinanced mortgage loans funded by Fannie Mae. L. P., whose Olympia Mortgage Corporation originatedand serviced mortgage loans owned by Fannie Mae, admitted in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn to a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. A grand jury...

Washington - The speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, has detailed her father's support for a World War II-era rescue group that worked to save the Jews of Europe in a new book. US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi's father, the late US congressman Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr. of Maryland, was a fervent Roosevelt Democrat, but he broke ranks with FDR by supporting the Bergson...

New York City - The key word is “proactive,” with participating schools determined to be on the cutting edge of prevention. The policy includes guidelines for incorporation into current school procedures where they Already exist, or may be utilized as stand-alone documents in schools that have not previously formulated a formal response. The Safe Schools Policy was created as a...

Borough Park, NY - The Bobover Rebetzin Freida Halberstam, The wife of Rabbi Shlomo Halberstam Zt'l just passed away in Maimonides hospital at the age of 84 The Levaya will be held 8:45 PM at Bobov Shul in Borough Park 15th Ave and 48th Street ...

Lakewood, NJ - After a week long delay all schools in Lakewood have been given the go ahead to open. The controversy started last week when six girls where not placed in a classrooms prompting the Vaad to follow halachic ruling by Gedolim from israel that states all schools need to work as a one team, and not a single school can open until every child is accepted one way or the other in any of...

Manhattan, NY - On the eve of a season focused on aspiring to spiritual heights, Congregation Shearith Israel on West 70th Street is celebrating a more physical ascension. The historic congregation, founded in 1654 by Sephardic Jews and commonly known as the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, was granted permission on Aug. 26 from the city’s Board of Standard and Appeals to build a controversial...

Washington - Peviously unseen footage emerged Thursday showing U.S. presidential candidate John McCain as a proud, stoic prisoner of war in Hanoi on the day he was released by his Vietnamese captors to the U.S. military. A former reporter from Swedish broadcaster SVT, 71-year-old Erik Eriksson, told The Associated Press he found the video in the network's archives while researching a book he...

London - Dealing with a divorce refuser, UK style. Israeli Newspaper Yediot Ahronot recently received a document describing the ordeal of a woman whose husband refused to grant her a divorce for five years. The husband declared he would never give his wife a divorce, the judges in Israel's religious courts were indifferent, and then the man fled to Britain with the help of his family, leaving...

Brooklyn, NY - The leadership of Williamsburg ’s Jewish community extends its congratulations to Senator-Elect Daniel Squadron on his victory in yesterday’s Democratic primary, and we hope and expect to work closely with him. Williamsburg has always showed its gratitude to the elected officials who have served us so well and for so long. Senator Connor deserves our respect and accordingly...

New York - Imagine that you and your spouse decided to treat yourselves to a high-end cruise for your fiftieth anniversary. Never having done this before, you are blown away by the luxurious setting and are thoroughly enjoying every moment. In your information packet, you were informed to dress formally for dinner on the first evening of the cruise, so you put on the best clothing from your...

Borough Park, NY - On Tuesday September 9th the democratic primary for New Yorks 21st Senate district took place and in a stunning display of voter apathy Councilman Simcha Felder failed to unseat incumbent Kevin Parker. With all the polling sites in the number broke down with 49% to Kevin Parker, 36% to Simcha Felder and nearly 14% for Kendall Stewart and only 2340 votes separating Mr. Felder...

New York, NY - Bank robberies are up 50% this year, and the NYPD says it's the banks' fault. The number of bank jobs hit 265 by Sept. 2, compared with 177 by the same time last year. Police say the problem isn't that crooks are working harder - it's that banks aren't doing enough to protect their money. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly is expected to call in bank execs in the coming weeks...

Williamsburg, NY - Opponents are calling on the city to put the breaks on a one-and-a-half-mile portion of a bike lane that would stretch from Newtown Creek to Sunset Park — saying Williamsburg doesn’t need more bike lanes. “There is already a bike lane a Bedford Avenue and a bike lane on Wythe Avenue — now they want a bike lane on Kent Avenue?” Simon Weisser, a member of Community...