Two Iranian warships that passed through the Suez Canal reportedly docked in Syria. The ships, a frigate and a supply ship, arrived at Syria\’s main port at Latakia on Wednesday night after becoming the first Iranian naval ships to pass through the canal since the 1979 revolution.
A program that is credited with creating a vibrant Orthodox community at UCLA needs to prove by the end of March that it can raise $80,000 annually to ensure its future on the Westwood campus. The Orthodox Union (OU) has paid the salaries for two professionals who founded and have been running Shabbat programming, Torah study and daily services at UCLA for ten years, and now OU (http://www.ou.org/) says Los Angeles needs to put up a share of the cost, as other communities have done to support the program at 15 campuses across North America.
A U.S. government contractor that the State Department says was assisting Cuban Jews will go on trial in Cuba next month. Alan Gross was charged on Feb. 4 with \”Acts against the independence and territorial integrity of the State.\” The charge carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence; he could have faced the death penalty according to Cuban law.
A new Holocaust-era restitution project will work to identify individuals whose property and assets were confiscated by the Nazis. Project HEART — Holocaust Era Asset Restitution Taskforce, a new initiative of the Jewish Agency for Israel with support from the government of Israel, was announced Wednesday.
A Los Angeles judge has tentatively denied Chabad of California’s $18 million claim against a philanthropist’s estate. Superior Court Judge Mary Ann Murphy said she found insufficient evidence that Roland Arnall promised the money to Chabad before his March 2008 death, according to the Contra Costa Times.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.