Los Angeles
photo courtesy Friends of Western Galilee Hospital
Courtesy BBCi photo
At least three people have been shot dead in attacks at a Jewish community site and a retirement home in Kansas City in the US Midwest. MORE>
LABOR LEADER ED MILIBAND VISITS ISRAEL
Courtesy photo BBCi
US REFUSES VISA FOR IRAN'S UN ENVOY CHOICE HAMID ABOUTALEBI
Mr Aboutalebi denies being part of the core group that took the US diplomats hostage in 1979, BBCi
The White House has refused to issue a US visa to Iran's nomination for UN ambassador, who was involved in seizure of the US embassy in 1979. MORE>
'HITLER CUPS' RECALLED IN GERMANY OVER NAZI STAMP
As the swastika is a banned symbol in Germany, officials are checking whether the mugs' sale was illegal, BBCi
A German furniture store chain has apologized for selling mugs with Adolf Hitler's face on them. The ceramic cups feature a faint image of a Nazi-era postage stamp with Hitler's profile on it, postmarked with a swastika stamp. MORE>
BBI RELEASES RESULTS OF ANNUAL AUDIT ON ANTI-SEMITISM
TORONTO -- On the eve of the Jewish festival of Passover during which Jews around the world join together to recall their on-going struggle for freedom and national Jewish liberation, the League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith Canada, is announcing the results of its Annual Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents. MORE>
GERMANY TO RELEASE ART SEIZED FROM CORNELIUS GURLITT
A second claimant has come forward to declare ownership
of Matisse's Femme Assise, BBCi
Prosecutors in Germany are to release 1,280 works of art confiscated two years ago from the Munich apartment of collector Cornelius Gurlitt. MORE>
CONFERENCE OF PRESIDENTS LEADERS URGE INTENSE EFFORT TO FREE US CITIZEN ALAN GROSS HELD IN CUBAN JAIL
Robert G. Sugarman, chairman, and Malcolm Hoenlein, CEO, of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations on last week called on the governments of the United States and Cuba to immediately renew negotiations to gain the release of Alan Gross, an American citizen who [was] on a hunger strike in his Cuban prison. Gross has been held for more than 52 months on spurious charges related to his employment by USAID. MORE>
RABBI'S CORNER
SUNSHINE!
By RABBI YAACOV HABER
Our characters have been marked with Poland, Hungary, Germany, Spain, Amsterdam, Morocco and Turkey. All of our ancestors have traveled through the desert. Our character has been altered -- how could it not be? In this week's parsha, we find the Jews journeying deep into the desert. They were between countries. They were not Egyptians anymore and they were not yet Israelis. MORE>
US CONTRACTOR ALAN GROSS ON HUNGER STRIKE IN CUBAN JAIL
Alan Gross was arrested in Cuba in 2009. Judy Gross says she is concerned for her husband's health, BBCi
The Bar Mitzvah boy with Yad L'Achim activist
Rabbi Moshe Cohen
TEL AVIV -- American fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger visited Beit Hatfutsot and was greeted by Dan Tadmor, CEO, Irit Admoni Perlman, director of Israel Friends of Beit Hatfutsot, Professor Yuli Tamir, president of Shenkar College, and Leah Peretz, head of fashion design at Shenkar. MORE>
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BUSINESS/LEGAL
JP Morgan has paid some $20bn to regulators over the past year, BBCi
In US banking giant JPMorgan Chase has reported a sharp fall in profits at the start of 2014, which it blamed on declines in its mortgage business. MORE>
BOXER, MIKULSKI URGE SSA NOT
TO PENALIZE TAXPAYERS FOR
DECADES-OLD SOCIAL SECURITY
OVERPAYMENTS
U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) on last week called on the Social Security Administration (SSA) to end the policy of seizing taxpayers’ refunds to hold them accountable for decades-old errors made by the agency that led to the overpayment of benefits. MORE>
PANEL SORTS OUT NUTS AND BOLTS
OF TRAINING RULES FOR NEW
LAWYERS
UC Berkeley School of Law Professor Eric L. Talley requires his students to subscribe to The Wall Street Journal. That way when they enter corporate practice, they’ll more easily comprehend the world of business and finance in which their clients are steeped. MORE>
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TSA PREPARING FOR PESACH AT
NATION'S AIRPORTS
(l-r) Haim Saban, Corporal Aviva, Ludmila Bess, M.D., 2nd Lt. Elnatan, Major Ortal Amar, Staff Sgt. Vlad Kazachkov,
photo by Orly Halevy
LOS ANGELES -- The Russian community of Los Angeles, in conjunction with Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) Western Region, recently gathered at the Beverly Hilton Hotel for the annual Saving Lives Gala. The event raised an unprecedented $330,000, which it maintains will go to support the well being of the brave men and women who serve in the IDF. MORE>
BEVERLY HILLS – The City of Beverly Hills hosted a dedication event for New Garden at Historic Greystone Mansion this past weekend, which included the Boy and Girl scout troops, gardening enthusiasts, Beverly Hills Mayor Lili Bosse, Gary Jones of Armstrong Garden Centers, Eliberto Gamino of Whole Foods Market of Beverly Hills, and Barbara Linder, the official Greystone Garden Girl and a host of others garden enthuasists. MORE>
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SPECIAL REPORT
Preparation for Passover, which begins on the evening of 14 Nissan (eve of April 14), is underway in earnest with only a few weeks to Passover for Jewish communities around the world. MORE>
PREPARING THE RIGHT DISH
FOR PESACH
By EILEEN GOLTZ
I had the most interesting conversation with my neighbor’s 4-year-old granddaughter. She explained to me that during the Seder at her Zayde’s house you find the afikomen then you eat chocolate because (according to the book her zayde got her that’s all about the a crazy Seder in outer space) when the Jews left Egypt they could only bring matzo and chocolate. Something must have gotten lost in the translation but to tell you the truth, I kinda like her version better than the one where they got the manna." MORE>