The Chmielnicki massacres weren’t particularly funny. From 1648 to 1651, nearly 100,000 Jews were slaughtered throughout Ukraine by Bohdan Chmielnicki and his roving bands of Cossacks. It was arguably the worst pogrom in history, leaving hundreds of Jewish communities in ruins.
The European Union approved wide-ranging sanctions against Libya as world leaders urged Moammar Ghadafi to step down. Sanctions levied Monday following a meeting in Geneva include an arms embargo, a visa ban and a freeze on Libyan assets.
An Orthodox Jewish plaintiff in a medical malpractice trial will be allowed a retrial after he missed part of the trial for a religious holiday. The Maryland Court of Appeals ruled Feb. 24 that by not rescheduling the court date so that Alexander Neustadter could appear, his opponent went unchallenged, prejudicing the trial.
A self-proclaimed rabbi who counseled his followers to commit acts of child abuse and abused several children who lived with him was sentenced to 24 years in prison. Elior Chen was sentenced Monday in Jerusalem District Court to 24 years in prison and damages of $192,000 to his victims, eight children of the woman with whom he lived, a follower whose husband had given her over to the charismatic leader.
Actor Charlie Sheen\’s rant against the executive producer of his hit TV sitcom is \”borderline anti-Semitism,\” the Anti-Defamation League\’s Abraham Foxman said. Sheen, in a radio interview Feb. 24 and in a letter posted on the TMZ website, called the \”Two and a Half Men\” executive producer Chuck Lorre a \”contaminated little maggot,\” said he was a \”clown\” and \”stupid,\” and referred to him several times as Chaim Levine.
Iran is removing the nuclear fuel from its Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant. Iran told atomic inspectors from the United Nations nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency last week that the plant had a serious problem, the New York Times reported Feb. 25.
Suzy Braun, who actively worked for the Chicago Jewish community for nearly 60 years, has died Braun died Friday in Chicago; she was 84. Braun began her involvement in the Jewish United Fund’s Young Peoples Division in the late 1940’s.
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