Poughkeepsie, NY - A court battle that began last holiday season in Poughkeepsie over the city’s involvement in the erection and lighting of a 22-foot menorah has evolved into a debate over what the city should - or should not - do to accommodate holiday displays this year. The lighting of the menorah, owned by Chabad of the Mid-Hudson Valley, a local Jewish congregation, went on as planned...

Moscow - A Russian archaeologist says he has found the lost capital of the Khazars, a powerful nation that adopted Judaism as its official religion more than 1,000 years ago, only to disappear leaving little trace of its culture. Dmitry Vasilyev, a professor at Astrakhan State University, said his nine-year excavation near the Caspian Sea has finally unearthed the foundations of a triangular...

Washington - Steven Chasin is the first to admit he isn't the world's most observant Jew. Tattoos, a Jewish taboo, cover his burly body, while his shaved head goes bare. He doesn't go to synagogue every Shabbat or keep all the laws of kashrut. He doesn't even hold what he calls a "Jewish type of job," like being a doctor or a lawyer. "I'm not the perfect Jew," is how Chasin, a...

New York - Executive Vice President & CEO John S. Ruskay of UJA Federation will appear at 1 AM as a Special Guest on Talkline with Zev Brenner to discus the recent controversy of uninviting Gov. Sarah Palin at the Iran rally. the show airs over WMCA Radio 570 AM or via internet www.talklinecommunications.com...

Vilnius, Lithuania - Controversial findings of human remains in the former Jewish neighborhood of Snipiskes in Vilnius, Lithuania, have prevented development of high-end apartments. The plans for the condos are on the former site of a 400 year old Jewish cemetery. During the Soviet era, the cemetery was 'removed' after already closed by a Russian czar. The Jewish community received some...

Chicago, IL - Congregants at the KAM Isaiah Israel synagogue across the street from Obama's home in Chicago won't have to worry about being searched when they attend services for Rosh Hashana this month and Yom Kippur in October. Since the Illinois senator became his party's presidential nominee, the Secret Service has boosted security near his Hyde Park home. That has meant spot checks for...

Islamabad, Pakistan - A Suicide truck bomber killed at least 100 people in the centre of Islamabad last night and injured up to 250 when he drove his pickup into the upmarket Marriott hotel in the centre of the city. The huge blast was caused by a one-ton bomb driven into the heavily guarded high-security sector of the city, which includes all the principal government buildings. The blast...

Goshen, NY - The race for Orange County Surrogate Court is taking a detour into state Supreme Court, with the two candidates each filing suit over the result of last week’s Independence Party primary. Republican Robert Onofry won the right to appear on the crucial small-party ballot line. But Democrat Stephen Hunter sued, asking Supreme Court Justice Joseph G. Owen to throw out the results...

Montreal, Canada - Dozens of people were out protesting this afternoon in the Plateau district. They're protesting the expansion of a synagogue on Hutchison street. The Plateau borough council approved a 400-thousand dollar project to renovate and expand the 60-year-old synagogue...which belongs to an orthodox sect called Gate David of Bobov. Some locals say it will bring more traffic and...