News Round Up Dec 21, 2009

1. Auschwitz "Arbeit Mach Frei" Stolen Sign Recovered in 3 pieces, 5 arrested.


2. Majority of Israelies view the settlers as "Modern Day Macabees" (YNET)

Poll: To the question "Who are the Maccabees of our day?", 55% responded "the settlers," 20% chose the social activists, 13% chose IDF officers, 6% chose members of Knesset, and 6% chose environmental activists. In an analysis of those who chose the settler response according to religious affiliation, shows 50% of haredim, 51% of the seculars, 58% of the traditionalists, and 69% of the religious believe that the settlers are the modern-day Maccabees.

And who are the Hellenists of the 21st Century? Thirty percent believe "those who insert words from foreign languages into Hebrew or those who name their children Latin names." Some 28% said that those who want to make money at any price are the modern-day Hellenists, while 26% said people who are brand-conscious. Another 16% responded that people who watch a lot of television are manifestations of modern-day Hellenism.

3. Scribe ascends Masada to write Sefer Torah -- will be viewable by webcam. He'll come down in the evenings and for Shabbat/weekends, but will be up there the rest of the time, writing a new Torah Scroll.

Shai Abramovich, a Torah scribe from Safed, will write the first Torah scroll in modern times in a room in the ancient synagogue at Masada. He will work there every morning, but will have to leave when the site closes for about a year. In January people will be able to see him at work online. "This is where Yigael Yadin found the scrolls that the people on Masada hid from the Romans. We're writing the Torah on the same parchment to show everyone we're the people of eternity," said Rabbi Shimon Elharar. (Haaretz)

4. The Arad Hesder Yeshiva announces it is leaving the "Association of Hesder Yeshivot" in protest over Defense Minister Barak's attack on the Har Bracha Yeshiva and its leader, R' Melamed. R' Yinon Ilani, head of the Arad Hesder Yeshiva said that his yeshiva would leave the "Hesder" framework and look for an alternative.

I wonder how many students are going to remain in the Arad Yeshiva...
(sourced from here)

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