Jewish Press of Pinellas County

Official: Force Iran to choose survival

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:56:41 +0000

NEW YORK – Israel’s strategic affairs minister expressed confidence that international pressure could force Iran to halt its nuclear program.

Moshe Ya’alon, speaking at the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said the West needed to force Tehran to choose between the survival of its regime and the pursuit of its nuclear ambitions.

U.S. workers barred from leaving Egypt

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:56:45 +0000

(JTA) – Egyptian authorities are preventing several Americans working for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from leaving the country, including the son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

British nun who saved Jews during Holocaust on way to sainthood

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:56:49 +0000

ROME (JTA) – A British nun who saved dozens of Jews in Rome during the Holocaust has been advanced on the road to sainthood. Britain’s Catholic Herald newspaper said the file on Mother Riccarda Beauchamp Hamrough, who died in 1966, was sent recently to the Vatican for investigation by the Congregation for Saints’ Causes.

Mystery swirls around Judaic manuscripts found in Afghanistan; shopped around the world

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:56:50 +0000

By BEN HARRIS JTA news service

NEW YORK (JTA) – It was said to be a finding of groundbreaking scholarly and historic significance, comparable in importance to the 19th-century discovery of the Cairo Geniza and rivaling the Dead Sea Scrolls for sheer drama.

U.S.-Cuba engage in prisoner swap possibility in case of Jewish contractor

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:56:56 +0000

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Jailed American Jewish contractor Alan Gross visited Cuba at least five times in one year to set up wireless Internet connections, according to a report citing leaked court documents.

Orthodox groups protest federal decision on contraception

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:56:56 +0000

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Two Orthodox groups protested the Obama administration’s decision to require some religiously affiliated institutions to cover contraception as part of their employee health plans.

Israelis vouch for Obama in new campaign video

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:56:58 +0000

WASHINGTON (JTA) – President Obama’s re-election campaign unveiled a video featuring testimonials from Israeli leaders a day after he raised $500,000 from Jewish donors.

RNC supports ‘one law for all’ in Israel’

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:56:58 +0000

WASHINGTON (JTA) – The Republican National Committee adopted a resolution calling for “a united Israel governed under one law for all people.”

Ukrainian historian makes career of leading Jews on search for ancestors

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:56:59 +0000

By ALEX WEISLER JTA news service

LVIV, Ukraine – Alex Dunai is not Jewish. But over 15 years of leading Jewish tourists searching for their roots in Ukraine, he’s built up a serviceable knowledge of Yiddish – though sometimes he has to make things up.