Judaism

School Board Criticized for Mishandling Suit over Religious Songs Sung by School Choir

May 27, 2001

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

On May 27, 2001, The Columbus Dispatch published an opinion piece that charges the Columbus school district with being "seriously out of tune on the issue of religion in the schools...Last June student choirs at Columbus Alternative High School and Fort Hayes Arts and Academic High School sang songs with a Christian theme...As a result, several parents complained that the performances amounted to school sponsorship of religion...School board members didn't want to come up with a policy" limiting the religious content of choral...

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Offensive Term in House Testimony Increases Worries about Faith-Based Initiative

May 25, 2001

Source: The New York Times

On May 25, 2001, The New York Times reported that the Rev. John D. Castellani, president of the drug-treatment program Teen Challenge International U.S.A., used the term "completed Jews" in testimony before a House subcommittee. "The term 'completed Jews' is now in use by some evangelical Christians and Jewish converts to describe Jews who have accepted Jesus as their savior. To many Jews it is offensive...Jewish and civil liberties groups are using the testimony as fresh evidence that the president's initiative will result in...

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Rabbi Gives Walton Baccalaureate Speech at Civic Center

May 23, 2001

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On May 23, 2001, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported that 1,000 people came to hear Rabbi Steven Lebow deliver his baccalaureate address to Walton High School's graduating seniors inside the Cobb County Civic Center. "Lebow's speech has been the talk around the lockers and lunchrooms of Walton High for weeks, said...a graduating senior...'I thought it was wonderful,' she said. 'Very appropriate and very well thought out.'"

Minister Bars Rabbi from Giving Baccalaureate Services

May 23, 2001

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On May 23, 2001, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported that 1,000 people came to hear Rabbi Steven Lebow deliver his baccalaureate address to Walton High School's graduating seniors inside the Cobb County Civic Center. "Lebow's speech has been the talk around the lockers and lunchrooms of Walton High for weeks, said...a graduating senior...'I thought it was wonderful,' she said. 'Very appropriate and very well thought out.'"

Leader of Syrian Catholic Church Speaks in L.A. about Middle East Conflict

May 23, 2001

Source: Los Angeles Times

On May 23, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported that "congregants of the city's only Melkite Church welcomed Syria's new Catholic leader to Los Angeles, comparing the visit by black-robed Gregory III to an appearance by the Roman Catholic pope...The 67-year-old 'patriarch of Alexandria, Jerusalem and all the East,' stopped briefly in Los Angeles to greet parishioners and draw attention to unrest in the Middle East... One of the largest of the Eastern rite churches, the Melkite Church has been called a 'voice for the East within the...

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Rabbi Gives Walton Baccalaureate Speech at Civic Center

May 22, 2001

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On May 22, 2001, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported that "Walton High School's long-awaited and contentious baccalaureate ceremony will be at 7 tonight at the Cobb County Civic Center...The baccalaureate originally was slated to be held at Mount Bethel United Methodist Church in east Cobb. But...the Rev. Randy Mickler, pastor of Mount Bethel, vetoed [Rabbi Steven] Lebow making his speech from Mount Bethel's pulpit."

Minister Bars Rabbi from Giving Baccalaureate Services

May 22, 2001

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On May 22, 2001, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported that "Walton High School's long-awaited and contentious baccalaureate ceremony will be at 7 tonight at the Cobb County Civic Center...The baccalaureate originally was slated to be held at Mount Bethel United Methodist Church in east Cobb. But...the Rev. Randy Mickler, pastor of Mount Bethel, vetoed [Rabbi Steven] Lebow making his speech from Mount Bethel's pulpit."

Editorial Claims Bush Is Losing Trust of American Muslims

May 21, 2001

Source: The Baltimore Sun

On May 21, 2001, The Baltimore Sun published an editorial by Muqtedar Khan, the director of international studies at Adrian College in Michigan, which criticized Bush's stance toward Muslims in the Middle East. Khan quotes Bush as saying, "My administration will be steadfast in supporting Israel against terrorism and violence." He complains that "promises to Muslims were made before the [presidential] election and promises to American Jews are being made after the election...Nowadays the White House does not acknowledge letters...

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Seminar at UCLA Explores How to Bring Peace to Middle East

May 19, 2001

Source: Los Angeles Times

On May 19, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported that "a daylong seminar on ways to bring peace to the Holy Land...held...at UCLA by a coalition of liberal Jewish peace activists, Muslim organizations and Christians." The seminar is called "The Israeli-Palestinian Crisis: New Conversations for a Pluralist Future."

ACLU Sues City in Nebraska for Display of Ten Commandments in Public Park

May 18, 2001

Source: Omaha World-Herald

On May 18, 2001, the Omaha World-Herald reported that "Nebraska's American Civil Liberties Union chapter sued to force the City of Plattsmouth to remove a Ten Commandments marker that has stood in a city park for 36 years...The lawsuit alleges that a marker in Plattsmouth's Memorial Park, which lists the Ten Commandments and includes Jewish, Christian and American symbols, violates the First Amendment's prohibition of an 'establishment of religion.'" The lawyer representing the city said that "there is absolutely no constitutional...

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Interreligious Dialogue in New York City Illustrates Depth of Middle East Conflict

May 18, 2001

Source: Newsday

On May 18, 2001, Newsday reported that "after an unusual effort to hold an interreligious dialogue about conflict in the Middle East, [New York City] clergy said that they hoped to meet again in hopes of finding ways to help ease tensions. But the Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders who met at Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan said their intense, private discussion gave a sense of how deep the conflict runs."

Orthodox Jews Face Prejudice In New Jersey Town

May 15, 2001

Source: The Record

On May 15, 2001, The Record reported that "lawyers for the Orthodox [Jews in Tenafly, New Jersey] introduced into evidence a pile of photographs...of signs that churches had posted on the right of way in the borough...The leader of Tenafly's Orthodox community demonstrated to the court that the borough allows some groups to use the right of way, but not the Orthodox, who need the utility poles to mark the boundaries of the eruv." One councilman said he voted to take down the eruv because "he sensed 'a lot of fear and hatred' coming...

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Orthodox Jews Face Prejudice In New Jersey Town

May 9, 2001

Source: The Record

On May 9, 2001, The Record reported that Judge William G. Bassler at the federal courthouse in Newark decided that the Tenafly Council voted against allowing Orthodox Jews to maintain an eruv both as "an act of discrimination that stripped Tenafly's Orthodox Jews of their right to religious freedom" and to "uphold its municipal ordinance...Bassler instructed both sides to consider case law that classified utility poles as a 'non-public forum.'...Bassler also asked the attorneys to consider relevant case law that applies when a...

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New Book Strains Relations Between Jews and Muslims

May 5, 2001

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

On May 5, 2001, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that "relations between Jews and Muslims in the United States...have been strained further by the release of Children of Abraham: An Introduction to Islam for Jews, a book whose stated purpose, paradoxically, is 'to enhance mutual understanding and reduce mutual ignorance and suspicion.'" The full version of this story can be found online at http://www.jsonline.com.

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