This Week
News Digest
Bar-Ilan Plans Live
Online Learning
Olmert Backs
Sovereign Area
Ramat-Gan, Israel — Starting this
fall, Bar-Ilan University's Virtual
Jewish University will deliver live
Web lectures and instructor-led class-
es in Jewish studies, with real-time
teacher-student interactions, to col-
lege students and lifelong learners
around the world.
"Until now, long-distance univer-
sity programs, especially in Jewish
studies, have generally relied on
canned written and audio lectures
and material, which students study
in isolation, as well as e-mail, bul-
letin boards and chat rooms," said
Dr. David Schwartz, VJU director.
"Now, by using audioconferencing
and a variety of easy-to-use, multi-
user collaboration tools, students
around the world will be able to
bring scholars right into their homes
and interrelate as if they were sitting
in a real college classroom. All a stu-
dent needs to participate is a regular
Internet browser."
Some 700 students from 14 countries
are enrolled in VJU this academic year.
Jerusalem/JTA — The mayor of
Jerusalem voiced support for the first
time for the idea of declaring the area
around the Temple Mount to be under
"Divine sovereignty."
The Likud Party's Ehud Olmert
said that as long as Israeli police have
the right to enter the site, he is not
opposed to the idea, which would give
Muslims complete access to holy sites
in the area. The idea has been raised
among Israeli and Palestinian peace
negotiators as one possible way of
resolving the dispute over control of
Jerusalem and the Old City.
Harassment
Probe Continues
New York/JTA — A commission
investigating the way the Orthodox
Union handled complaints that a
youth group employee, Rabbi Baruch
Lanner, sexually harassed and molested
teen-agers expects to complete its
research by mid-September and then
complete its report.
The commission's chair, Richard
Joel of Hillel: The Foundation for
Jewish Campus Life, said the panel has
conducted over 125 interviews and
reviewed thousands of pages of docu-
ments.
Family Alleges
Wrongful Death
New York/JTA — The family of a
mentally ill Chasidic man in Brooklyn
killed last year by New York City
policemen filed a wrongful-death law-
suit against the officers involved in the
incident.
The officers involved in last week's
lawsuit were already exonerated by a
grand jury for shooting Gidone Busch,
who police say was threatening officers
with a hammer.
Scrolls Copyrighted
High Court Says
Tel Aviv/JTA — Israel's Supreme
Court recognized an Israeli scholar's
claim to the exclusive copyright over
the ancient text known as the Dead
Sea Scrolls because of his effort in fill-
ing in the gaps in the fragmented text.
Ben-Gurion University Professor
Elisha Qimron sued a U.S. magazine
publisher, Hershel Shanks, after he
printed Qimron's reconstruction in a
book without seeking his permission
or crediting him. Shanks argued that
the copyright to the work belonged to
the original author of the 2,000-year-
old text.
Joint Weapons
System Tests OK
Washington/JTA — A U.S.-Israeli
laser weapon system designed to
simultaneously shoot down multiple
rockets similar to those used by
Hezbollah in Lebanon was successfully
tested in New Mexico on Aug. 30.
The $250 million Tactical High
Energy Laser may be delivered to
Israel as early as February.
Florida Continues
Certifying Kosher
Florida commissioners will continue
regulating kosher food, despite con-
cerns by one official that government
involvement on this matter violates
the separation of church and state.
Broward County's decision to con-
tinue ensuring that restaurants and gro-
cery stores that advertise themselves as
kosher adhere to Orthodox require-
ments, which is seen as a way to protect
kosher consumers from fraud, comes a
month after a federal judge in Brooklyn
struck down New York's kosher food
regulations as unconstitutional.
Desert-Sturdy Trees
On The Horizon
Jerusalem/JTA — Scientists at the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem will
soon be able to genetically engineer
trees that can withstand barren, desert
conditions.
The university says the engineering
is necessary due to forecasts of global
warming and an increasing number of
deserts on the earth's surface.
News Reports Say
Saddam Has Cancer
New York/JTA — Iraqi leader Saddam
Hussein is suffering from endocrine
cancer and his son Qusay has assumed
many of his duties, according to news
reports.
Saddam appointed Qusay, who is
reportedly in charge of the govern-
ment's security apparatus, to head a
leadership committee in the event
Saddam dies or is unable to rule.
Saddam's health has deteriorated in
recent days, according to the reports.
Israeli Cabinet
Dismantles Ministry
Jerusalem/JTA — The Israeli Cabinet
approved the dismantling of the
Ministry of Religious Affairs and the
distribution of its power to various
government ministries and local
authorities.
Acting Religious Affairs Minister
Yossi Beilin, who proposed the idea,
said it was intended to separate poli-
tics from religious services.
Patriot antimissile battery on alert
because Iraq may threaten Israel dur-
ing the U.S. presidential campaign.
New Elections
Vote Scheduled
Jerusalem/JTA — A bill to dissolve the
Israeli Knesset and schedule new elec-
tions is to be heard on Oct. 3, which
is the opening of its winter session, the
sponsor of the legislation said.
Survivor Named
Polish Envoy
Jerusalem/JTA — The Israeli govern-
ment approved the appointment of for-
mer Knesset speaker Shevach Weiss to
be the country's ambassador to Poland.
Weiss, a Holocaust survivor born in
Poland, currently serves as internation-
al chairman of the Yad Vashem
Holocaust Memorial.
Tel Aviv
To Go Green
Jerusalem/JTA — Tel Aviv officials
declared Sept. 22 a "car-free" day,
when drivers will be able to park their
cars in lots on the outskirts of the city
and travel on pubic buses for free.
A number of new bike lanes on
some of the city's streets will also be
inaugurated.
Vatican Rejects
Religious Equality
New York/JTA — The Vatican reject-
ed what it described as ongoing
attempts to depict all religions as
equal.
The idea that "one religion is as
good as another" endangers the Roman
Catholic Church's message, according
to a declaration by the Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith.
No Concern
On Iraq Threat
Y.U. Makes
Top-50 List
Jerusalem/JTA — There is no reason
to be concerned that Iraq might attack
Israel during the coming months,
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak
said, but the government is monitor-
ing the situation.
Barak's comments came in response
to a report that the U.S. military put a
New York/JTA — For the fifth con-
secutive year, Yeshiva University was
ranked as one of the top 50 U.S. uni-
versities in the annual U.S. News and
World Report survey.
The survey ranked Y.U. in 45th
place, where it was tied with three
other universities.