World Roundup: Irish Jews and a 500-year old Brazilian skeleton
From frosty new community centres to the naming and shaming New York’s Orthodox perverts, we bring you the latest in Jewish news from around the world – dated 22 July.
Brazil
Archaeologists have unearthed the perfectly-preserved 500-year-old skeleton of a Jewish man in Recife, northern Brazil, where Portuguese Jews in 1636 built the first known synagogue in the New World. The man was buried with hands alongside his body in simple shroud without jewellery.
United States
The Brooklyn District Attorney has revealed the identities of 46 people convicted in a four year clampdown on sexual abuse within the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. The most high-profile case saw a religious counsellor sentenced to 103 years for molesting a 12-year old girl.
Ireland
The chairman of the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland said Irish Jews had ‘followed the call’ by returning for a celebration of their heritage at this weekend’s Irish Jewish Gathering. There are less than 2,000 Jews in Ireland but an estimated 50,000 Irish Jewish people around the world.
Serbia
Serbian police suspect three youths of desecrating 39 Jewish graves in the northern city of Subotica, near the border with Hungary. The president of the local Jewish community in Subotica said the culprits left no signs or messages, and that a similar attack happened at the cemetery in 2009.
United States
Alaska has opened its first Jewish museum in Anchorage, the state’s largest city. Rabbi Yosef Greenberg and his wife Esty led a group of Alaskan Jews who conceived the project, but which was only completed after Chicago philanthropists Morris and Delicia Esformes agreed to match donations.
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