Roundup from page 10

"We know that the swastika has, for
some, lost its meaning as the primary
symbol of Nazism and instead become a
more generalized symbol of hate," ADL
National Director Abraham Foxman said.
"So we are being more careful to include
graffiti incidents that specifically target
Jews or Jewish institutions as we con-
tinue the process of re-evaluating and
redefining how we measure anti-Jewish
incidents!'
Major incidents included the shooting
attack on the U.S. Holocaust Memorial
Museum in Washington, D.C., by an avowed
Holocaust denier, which led to the death of
a security guard; a thwarted plot by four
Muslim converts to bomb synagogues in
Riverdale, N.Y.; and the repeated picketing
of institutions and community centers by
members of the avowedly anti-Semitic,
Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church.
The states with the highest number of
incidents were California, with 275 inci-
dents; New York, 209 incidents; New Jersey,
132 incidents; and Florida, 90 incidents.
The audit noted that 2009 was marked
by a severe intensification of anti-Semitic
expression on the Internet, including a
significant increase in the amount of anti-
Semitism found on online social network-
ing sites such as Facebook and MySpace
and user-generated content sites such as
YouTube.

Verify Scrolls' Origins
BALTIMORE (JTA) -- A nonprofit group
that rescues and restores Torah scrolls
has agreed that it will only describe the
origins of a Torah if it is independently
verifiable.
In an agreement with state officials
made public last week, the Maryland-
based Save a Torah said it would describe
the origins of its rescued Torahs only "if
there is documentation or an independent
verifiable witness to such history'
The agreement comes several months
after the American Gathering of
Jewish Holocaust Survivors and their
Descendants requested that the Maryland
attorney general probe the work of Rabbi
Menachem Youlus and Save A Torah Inc.,
a nonprofit foundation that supports the
rabbi's finding, purchasing and restoring
of European Torahs.
A Washington Post article published
in January suggested that the dramatic
stories told by the rabbi of the scrolls'
origins were false. Questions also arose
in 2008 after an article in the New York
Times reported on allegations that a Torah
scroll donated to the Central Synagogue
in Manhattan was not actually saved by
a Polish priest during World War II after
Jewish prisoners entrusted it to him, as
Youlus had stated.

12

August 5 • 2010

Nazi-Era Murders
BERLIN (JTA) -- Germany has filed charg-
es against the No. 3 man on the Simon
Wiesenthal Center's list of most-wanted
Nazis for helping to murder 430,000 Jews
during World War II.
Samuel Kunz, 90, was charged in
Dortmund, according to the French news
agency AFP. He reportedly has admitted
working in the Belzec extermination camp
in occupied Poland.
Kunz, who denies having personally
murdered anyone, also is charged in con-
nection with two incidents at Belzec in
which 10 Jews were killed. He is also a wit-
ness in the war crimes trial against John
Demjanjuk, who is charged as an accom-
plice in the murders of 27,900 Jews while
serving as a guard at the Treblinka death
camp in Poland.
The new case underscores claims by
Nazi hunters, including the Wiesenthal
Center's Jerusalem director Efraim Zuroff,
that war criminals are living free more
than 60 years after the end of World War
II.
Zuroff, director of the Wiesenthal Center
in Jerusalem, had long maintained that
those tempted to call Demjanjuk's case
"the last big Nazi trial" were wrong.
Two men under investigation of Nazi-
era war crimes died this month before
going on trial. Former SS officer Erich
Steidtmann, 95, accused of leading Nazi
police battalions that committed mass
murder of Jews in Eastern Europe, died
last week in Hanover, where he lived.
Adolf Storms, 90, indicted reportedly for
killing 57 Jewish men in Austria in March
1945 at the end of World War II, died in
his home city of Duisburg. He allegedly
forced the men, slave laborers, to hand
over their valuables before he shot them.

ADL Opposes N.Y. Mosque
NEW YORK (JTA) -- The Anti-Defamation
League has issued a statement opposing
the building of a mosque near the World
Trade Center memorial site.
The proposed construction of Cordoba
House, a Muslim center at 45-47 Park Place,
just two blocks form the former World
Trade Center, has sparked a heated debate.
Supporters of the plan accuse opponents
of bigotry, slamming them for equating all
Muslims with the 9-11 terrorists.
In its statement last Friday opposing
the plan, the ADL called the bigotry that
has surrounded the decision "unfair and
wrong!' Nonetheless the ADL opposes the
construction, it says, out of sensitivity to
those who had family members killed on
9/11.
"There are understandably strong pas-
sions and keen sensitivities surrounding
the World Trade Center site. We are ever

mindful of the tragedy which befell our
nation there, the pain we all still feel —
and especially the anguish of the families
and friends of those who were killed on
September 11, 2001:' the statement reads.
"The controversy which has emerged
regarding the building of an Islamic
Center at this location is counterproduc-
tive to the healing process. Therefore,
under these unique circumstances, we
believe the City of New York would be bet-
ter served if an alternative location could
be found."
The ADL statement also evinces con-
cern about the motivation behind the
proposed mosque.
"In recommending that a different
location be found for the Islamic Center,
we are mindful that some legitimate
questions have been raised about who is
providing the funding to build it, and what
connections, if any, its leaders might have
with groups whose ideologies stand in
contradiction to our shared values:' it said.
"These questions deserve a response,
and we hope those backing the project
will be transparent and forthcoming. But
regardless of how they respond, the issue
at stake is a broader one!'
The ADL in the past also has opposed
the construction of a convent at Auschwitz.

Large Israeli Oil Field
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- A commercially
sized oil field has been identified in cen-
tral Israel, an oil prospecting firm said.
Tests on the Meged Five drill site near
the central town of Rosh Ha'ayin have
determined that the site can produce
about 470 barrels of oil a day, the Givot
Olam Oil prospecting and production firm
announced late Wednesday.
The well will be ready for production by
Aug. 15, the Israeli daily Globes reported.

Israel's Counter-Terrorism Bureau can-
celed the warning Tuesday afternoon fol-
lowing "calm and a lack of massive rallies
against Israel!'
Israelis in Turkey are still warned to stay
away from rallies and avoid having politi-
cal arguments with local residents.
Prior to the warning, Turkey was a
popular vacation spot for Israelis.

Beth Ahm Holiday Classes
The month of Elul, which begins sun-
down Monday, Aug. 9, is a time for Jews to
prepare spiritually for the High Holidays
through introspection and Torah study.
In accordance, Congregation Beth Ahm
in West Bloomfield is offering a variety of
study opportunities for all.
A series of KISS (Keep It Short and
Simple) informal learning sessions will
take place 10:30-11:15 a.m. Sundays,
Aug. 8, 15, and 22; and 2:30-3:15 p.m.
Wednesdays Aug. 11, 18, 25 and Sept. 1.
Each session will include two or three 15-
minute learning segments.
Also, on Shabbat Ki Tetzeh, Saturday, Aug.
21, teens and adults are invited to a tra-
ditional beit midrash (study hall) , 10:30-
11:15 a.m. as part of Shabbat services.
Later in Elul, Beth Ahm will be showing
a DVD produced by the Ziegler Rabbinical
School in Los Angeles on Saturday night,
Sept. 4, as part of its annual pre-High
Holiday Selichot service.
For more information about Beth Ahm's
Elul learning initiatives, contact Rabbi
Steven Rubenstein's assistant, Nancy
Kaplan at (248) 737-1931 or by e-mail at
nancyellen879@att.net .

Ritz Carlton Goes Kosher
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- The Ritz Carlton
hotel chain will build its first kosher
hotel in Herzliya. The $160 million proj-
ect, which will include a hotel and six
floors of luxury condominiums, will be
outfitted with Shabbat elevators and an
upscale kosher restaurant, according to an
announcement Wednesday.
The hotel will be located on the coast-
line overlooking the Herzliya Marina.

Turkey Travel Ban Lifted
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Israel has lifted an
advisory warning its citizens against trav-
eling to Turkey.
The warning was issued following
Israel's May 31 interception of an pur-
ported aid flotilla from Turkey bound for
Gaza, in which nine Turkish passengers
were killed.

JN In Jerusalem

Barbie and Mark Edwards of Sarasota,
Fla., and West Bloomfield recently
traveled to Israel to attend the wed-

ding of their daughter Shana to Israeli

native Rotem Tibi of Moshav Lappidot,
near Haifa. The Edwardses are shown
with the Detroit Jewish News in front

of the Western Wall in Jerusalem.