Manhattan, NY - On Friday evening before Sabbath services and dinner, Rabbi Shaya Gansbourg dons his best black fedora and long silk coat and sets out chairs and prayer books. The rich aroma of his wife's matzo ball soup drifts through the hall, a tempting, olfactory invitation to pray. The Gansbourgs know their food has to be good if they want to attract a crowd. Not all their congregants...

Brooklyn, NY - Williamsburg cyclists are on a roll. City officials said yesterday they won't eliminate the Brooklyn neighborhood's bike lanes despite concerns by the Hasidic community that they attract scantily clad hipster cyclists who go at dangerous speeds. Scott Gastel, a Department of Transportation spokesman, said the lanes "increase safety." ...

Tacoma, WA - Rabbi Zalman Heber looks at a garage and sees a synagogue. His neighbors see a problem. The proposed site for the new home of Chabad of Pierce County, has sparked controversy in a quiet corner of Tacoma’s West End. Proponents see the placement of the synagogue as vital to worship practices, but some neighbors worry about impact on traffic, views and property values. The...

Berlin, Germany - A statue of Adolf Hitler was back on display at a Berlin waxworks on Saturday, two months after its head was wrenched off by an irate visitor. The effigy of the Nazi dictator was seated behind a desk at Madame Tussaud's, a popular tourist attraction on Berlin's well-known Unter den Linden boulevard. The controversial display was protected by a glass wall and security staff...

Los Angeles, CA - At least 24 people were killed in the head-on crash of a commuter train and a freight train near Los Angeles that officials on Saturday attributed to the failure of the passenger train engineer to stop at a red light. The crash, which occurred in the Los Angeles suburb of Chatsworth, was the worst U.S. rail tragedy since 1999. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said...

Camarillo, CA - A 20-year-old Camarillo man has been arrested on suspicion of spray-painting swastikas and other hate-crime graffiti at a Jewish preschool and other locations. Jonathan Samuel Latino was arrested on suspicion of felony vandalism and a hate crime and was being held in Ventura County Jail. Several homes, businesses, vehicles and other properties in Camarillo, including the Gan...

New York - An article that appears in the current issue (September 12) of the New York Jewish Week contains the following sentence, referring to bills aimed at preventing child abuse in Jewish schools. “Agudath Israel, an umbrella group of ultra-traditional Orthodox organizations, is opposed to both the mandated reporting and finger printing, and background check legislation.” An...

Williamsburg, NY - A group of Hasidic Jews meted out swift street justice in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to a man they say threatened to shoot a neighborhood storekeeper. At about 5:30 p.m. Thursday, the man threw two watermelons to the ground at the Division Mini Mart on Clymer Street when he began cursing at the storekeeper, cops said. "I hate Jews!" the store manager - who gave only his...

Israel - A 9-year-old boy from the West Bank settlement of Shalhevet, near Yitzhar, was stabbed near his home early Shabbat morning by a Palestinian intruder who torched an empty home. The boy was lightly wounded and was taken to Schneider Medical Center in Petah Tikva for treatment. A preliminary investigation  revealed that a Palestinian man entered Shalhevet and torched an emptoy home. As...