From puppets to muppets in this week’s world round-up

With Russian Jewish theatre and UNESCO inspectors, we’ve got everything from puppets to muppets this week, as we bring you yet another dose of world Jewish news – dated 7 October 2013.

Russia

Moscow’s new Jewish museum has launched a virtual exhibition on Russian Jewish theatre. The project is in cooperation with Google as part of its Milestones in History series. An English-language website shows pictures, posters, programmes and Hebrew and Yiddish historical literature.

Austria

Jerusalem musician Chaim Gold’s new music video for hit song Vea-ha-vatcha has been released and shows him singing to fellow Jews he meets across the Austrian capital of Vienna. The 27-year old says his musical inspirations derive from Breslev, Chabad and Carlebach music.

The Netherlands

El Al agents racially discriminated against dark-skinned passengers, according to a Dutch government watchdog. The Netherlands Institute for Human Rights, a legal review board, say El Al reps performed racial profiling on five passengers because of their appearance and race.

Czech Republic

One of the few surviving village synagogues in the Czech Republic has been rededicated after a 20 year restoration. A Torah scroll found in the attic of the synagogue in the southern village of Ckyne was used in the service. The shul was used until 1895, when the community disbanded.

France

The UNs’ cultural body UNESCO has passed six resolutions against Israel with the help of Russia and France. The Paris meeting condemned Israel for cancelling inspectors, re-working Mughrabi Bridge and naming Rachel’s Tomb and the Cave of the Patriarchs as Israeli national heritage sites.

United States

The US government shutdown threatened to halt a Washington, D.C. exhibit on Iraqi Jewish heritage this week. The collection of tens of thousands of rare and ancient documents were salvaged from the flooded basement of the Mukhabarat, Saddam Hussein’s feared intelligence service.