Kyiv declares Rabbi Nachman tomb a heritage site
(JNS) — The Ukrainian government announced on Wednesday the recognition of the tomb of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov in Uman as a national heritage site, a decision that is expected to lead to increased security at the site for the safety of Jewish worshippers.
The decision on the matter was made in recent days and was announced during Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s visit to the European nation.
“I want to thank you for recognizing the site in Uman, the resting place of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, as a heritage site,” Sa’ar said on Wednesday during a joint press conference in Kyiv with his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha.
Israeli Air Force helps Cyprus battle raging wildfires
(JNS) — Israel will dispatch assistance to Cyprus on Thursday using Israeli Air Force aircraft to help combat the fires sweeping through mountain villages in the island nation.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar instructed security and emergency authorities to prepare aerial support for Cyprus, the ministry said in a statement.
The IAF aircraft were scheduled to depart on Thursday evening.
“The State of Israel stands with Cyprus, a close friend and neighbor, and remains committed to offering assistance in times of emergency,” the statement concluded.
52 Jewish kids kicked off plane in Spain for singing in Hebrew
(JNS) — More than 50 French Jewish youths were removed from a Vueling flight in Valencia, Spain, on Wednesday, allegedly following their singing in Hebrew.
Vueling claimed that the teenagers were being “disruptive.”
Amichai Chikli, Israel’s minister for Diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism, accused the Spanish airline in a post on social media of being responsible for “one of the most serious … severe antisemitic incidents [seen] recently.”
Chikli was commenting on a video that shows a young woman lying face down on what appears to be a boarding bridge, as one Spanish police officer handcuffs her and another instructs the person filming to move away.
Chikli identified the woman as an instructor of the Kineret Club, a summer camp operated for Jewish families by the Matana charitable association.
European rabbis undergo Krav Maga training in the Netherlands
(JNS) — Dozens of European rabbis underwent Krav Maga hand-to-hand combat training in the Netherlands on Tuesday, as part of the professional training program of the Rabbinical Centre of Europe (RCE).
The training in the city of Eindhoven was “pretty basic, teaching community rabbis from across the continent the key moves, in the hope that they’ll follow up in their own communities,” Akiva Komisar, a Chabad rabbi from Amsterdam, told JNS.
His Chabad House in central Amsterdam began offering Krav Maga lessons to community members after Nov. 8, when dozens of Arab and Muslim men carried out a coordinated attack on Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam for a match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and the Ajax team.
