Comment on Stark: August is the silly season in journalism

(JNS) An Orthodox rabbi from the Netherlands has called on the country’s Jews to immigrate to Israel following mass antisemitic assaults in Amsterdam, accusing Dutch authorities of failure to address the root causes of the incident. Two rabbis from the country’s large Progressive community disagreed with the remarks by Rabbi Meir Villegas Henriquez, an Orthodox rabbi and mohel from Rotterdam’s Ohel Abraham beit midrash (Jewish study center). The debate reflects a growing sense of insecurity in the Netherlands, whose society is deeply divided on immigration and whose Jewish community is traumatized by its near annihilation in the Holocaust. In a video message recorded in his synagogue, Villegas Henriquez said, “We inhabit a new demographic reality that simply cannot be changed, not with the current political class.” On Nov.

By CHRISTINA LARSON WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s a treat to see a supermoon. But that bright glowing orb will still be almost full when the Leonid meteor shower peaks this weekend, likely obscuring all but the brightest meteors in most locations. The Leonids are known for their high-speed meteors, which can travel at up to 44 miles per second (70 kilometers per second). “Unfortunately this year, the viewing conditions will be affected” by a nearly full moon, said Shyam Balaji of King’s College London.

(JNS) Leaders of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement hosted a special reception honoring the president of the Berlin state parliament at the Jewish Learning Institute headquarters in Brooklyn, N. Y. About 50 guests gathered to honor Cornelia Seibeld, president of the Berlin State Assembly, and other German representatives to express gratitude for the government’s support of Israel and commitment to combating rising Jew-hatred throughout Europe. Yehuda Teichtal, chief Chabad rabbi in Berlin, presented Seibeld with an award in recognition of her decision to raise an Israeli flag over the state Parliament building in Berlin last month in commemoration of one year since the Hamas terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct.

‘Alter Ego’ by Alex Segura. Flatiron, 320 pages, $28.99 It’s been a while since comics and graphic novels were just for children. Look no further than the plethora of Marvel Universe movies that attract teens, and adults of all ages, and, of course, some children. The stories in comics and graphic novels make good on their promise of action-packed stories, heroic characters, the never-ending search for justice. Alex Segura returns to the comic book world in his emotionally charged “Alter Ego,” which evocatively looks at how art is created, as well as finance, sexism and dual personalities.

By TOM KRISHER, Associated Press Auto Writer DETROIT (AP) — Ford Motor Co. will pay a penalty of up to $165 million to the U. S. government for moving too slowly on a recall and failing to give accurate recall information. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in a statement Thursday that the civil penalty is the second-largest in its 54-year history.

(JNS) A 12,000-year-old tool used to spin fibers into yarn has been identified in an archaeological dig in northern Israel, highlighting humanity’s prehistoric drive for innovation, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem announced. The discovery of the ancient spindle whorls unearthed at Nahal Ein Gev in the Upper Jordan Valley, located at the middle of a stream that flows west to the Sea of Galilee, provides the earliest known evidence of fast-spinning technology in the Levant, predating previously known textile tools by 4,000 years, the university said. Round, weighted objects that are attached to a spindle stick, spindle whorls form a similar wheel-and-axle-like device to help the spindle rotate faster and longer, enabling it to efficiently gather up fibers such as wool or flax and spin them into yarn. The study, which was published in the peer reviewed PLOS One journal and is based on digital 3-D models of the stones, describes more than a hundred of the mostly limestone pebbles, which feature a circular shape perforated by a central hole. “These perforated stones are actually the first wheels in form and function—a round object with a hole in the center connected to a rotating axle, used long before the appearance of the wheel for transportation purposes,” said Hebrew University Professor Leore Grosman. This ancient spinning machines paved the way for future wheel-based rotational innovations that revolutionized human technological history such as the potter’s wheel and the cart wheel that appears 6,000 years ago, the study found. The Nahal Ein Gev II site with its permanent structures, lime-plastered burials and diversified tools, provides a rare glimpse into the end of the Natufian culture, which dates back to 15,000 to 11,500 years ago and the transition from a hunter-gatherer society to an agricultural one. To read more content visit www.jns.org