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Friday November 2, 2007

Shorts: U.S.

Big bat mitzvah spender arrested

The business owner who spent more than $8 million on his daughter’s bat mitzvah was arrested last week.

David Brooks, 53, of Old Westbury, N.Y., the former chief executive of DHB Industries, was arrested on charges that he bilked his company of $185 million. He faces up to 25 years in prison on each of eight counts. His publicly traded firm sold body armor to the U.S. military.

Brooks has not been with the firm, which changed its name to Point Blank Solutions, for more than a year.

Rock stars ranging from Tom Petty to the Eagles, Aerosmith, 50 Cent and Kenny G performed at the lavish 2005 bat mitzvah of Brooks’ daughter Elizabeth. — jta

Secular Humanists get new dean

Rabbi Adam Chalom has been named dean of the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism, succeeding Rabbi Sherwin T. Wine, who was killed in an automobile accident while vacationing in Morocco this summer.

Upon graduating cum laude from Yale University with a bachelor’s in Judaic studies, Chalom attended the University of Michigan, where he earned a master’s and doctoral degree in Near Eastern studies. He was ordained a rabbi by the IISHJ in October 2001.

Yankees sign two from IBL

The New York Yankees have signed two players from the Israel Baseball League to minor league deals.

Outfielder Jason Rees and catcher Eladio Rodriguez took part in the IBL’s first season this year. Rees hit .362 with a league-leading 17 homers and 50 RBI for the Beit Shemesh Blue Sox. Rodriguez led the league with a .461 batting average for the Modi’in Miracle. — ap

Lantos’ comment riles the Dutch

A comment by Rep. Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo, has angered Dutch officials.

Lantos, the chair of the House of Representatives’ foreign affairs committee, told Dutch officials that Europe is reacting far more harshly to the detention facility in Guántanamo Bay than it did to Auschwitz, disrupting diplomatic talks.

The Dutch believed the physical conditions in the prison were acceptable, but said their concern was for the prisoner’s legal rights. Most advocated shutting down Guantanamo.

Lantos, a Holocaust survivor, made the remarks shortly after Dutch officials toured the facility. — jta

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