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Friday September 14, 2007

Shorts: U. S.

Embattled professor resigns from DePaul

A DePaul University professor who suggested Jews have exploited the Holocaust for political gain has resigned.

Norman Finkelstein quit after the university canceled his only remaining class. Finkelstein and DePaul announced the resignation in a joint statement Sept. 5, the day Finkelstein had vowed to present himself at his office and commit an act of civil disobedience if denied entrance. Finkelstein would not disclose the terms of his departure.

Finkelstein had drawn ire for his biting criticism of Israel and suggesting that the legacy of the Holocaust has been exploited. Earlier this year, Finkelstein was denied tenure at DePaul after a public campaign waged against him by Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz.

Finkelstein reportedly told supporters it was time to move on “for everybody’s sake.” — jta

Fla. charter school can teach Hebrew

A Hollywood, Fla., charter school will be allowed to resume teaching Hebrew, three weeks after the lessons were halted over concerns the Jewish faith was seeping into public classrooms,.

The Broward County school board voted to work with the Ben Gamla Charter School in Hollywood to create training programs for teachers and board members to ensure the separation of church and state. Lesson plans are required monthly for district review.

Hebrew instruction is to resume Monday, Sept. 17. — ap

Group calls for living on $21 for a week

To kick off a yearlong initiative on poverty, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs is enlisting people to live for a week on $21 — the national average for food stamps benefits. Among those participating are heads of local Jewish federations and Jewish community relations councils, as well as several lawmakers, including the only Muslim member of Congress, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.).

The poverty issue has essentially fallen off the radar screen for much of the Jewish community, said the JCPA’s executive director, Rabbi Steve Gutow.

“We are no longer connected to the communities from which the poor usually come,” Gutow said.

“We’re not as close to the Hispanic community or the African-American community, and we need to re-galvanize that. Part of our strength as American Jews is that we have always been able to connect with different groups, and we need to get back to that.” — jta

Rabbis see Clinton as ‘most supportive’

A plurality of rabbis named Hillary Clinton as the presidential candidate most supportive of Israel. A synagogue innovation and leadership organization called STAR, Synagogues: Transform-ation and Renewal, surveyed 200 rabbis of all denominations in its second annual pre-Rosh Hashanah survey.

Clinton also was ranked as most supportive of Jewish causes in America in general with 24 percent, followed by former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani with 10 percent and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) with 3 percent. — jta

Senate extends Russian immigration

The U.S. Senate extended a law that has enabled Jewish immigration from the former Soviet Union.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) noted the passage last week of an extension of the amendment named for him offering refuge in the United States to victims of religious persecution. — jta

Armenian Jews push on genocide bill

Armenian Jews called on the Anti-Defamation League to support a U.S. congressional resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide.

In a letter to the ADL, the chairman of Armenia’s Jewish community, Rimma Varzhapetian-Feller, applauded the organization’s “firm stand” recognizing the genocide. He lamented that the ADL refuses to support a resolution in Congress to recognize as genocide the World War I massacres of Armenians by Ottoman Turks. “

Other Jewish groups — including the American Jewish Committee and B’nai B’rith International — have similar positions, citing concerns about American and Israeli strategic interests in the Middle East and threats to the Turkish Jewish community. — jta

Hadassah holds Shabbat at Va. Tech

Hadassah members sponsored services and a Shabbat dinner at Virginia Tech. On Sunday, Sept. 9, the group held a ceremony honoring slain professor Liviu Librescu, who was killed in a massacre at the school in April. The ceremony also recognized Librescu’s wife, Marlena, for whom the Danville, Va., chapter of Hadassah planted 400 trees through the Jewish National Fund. — jta

OU presses airlines for kosher food

In response to complaints from travelers, the Orthodox Union Kosher Division last week called on eight major domestic airlines to make kosher meals and snacks available for purchase on their flights. Kosher passengers must now either bring meals on board or have nothing to eat.

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