Mikveh Israel Among Historic Congregations in Archiving Projects
Congregation Mikveh Israel is among nine Philadelphia historic religious organizations whose archives will be digitized under a $385,205 grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
The project will digitize more than 41,000 records from the archives of Philadelphia’s oldest congregations and aggregate them in a database accessible to the public. The documents, which date from 1708 to 1870, “provide more clues to the relationship between religion and politics in the colonial era than any other published body of work,” according to a news release from the Christ Church Preservation Trust.
Aside from Mikveh Israel, the other organizations whose records will be digitized include Christ Church, St. George’s Methodist Church, Gloria Dei, African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, Episcopal Dioceses Archives, Presbyterian Historical Society, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church and the American Baptist Historical Society.
Delta Sued for Alleged Anti-Jewish Attitudes
Some Delta Air Lines flight attendants — both current and former — have sued the airline, contending that company management displays “an anti-Jewish, Hebrew and ethnic Israeli attitude,” JTA reported.
Filed Jan. 2 in U.S. District Court in New York, the suit alleged that, among other things, Delta “through words and deeds, operate under an express assumption that ethnic Jews and Israelis, as employees and passengers, cannot be trusted, are aggressive and inappropriate, and engage in what are deemed to be ‘strange’ behaviors by conducting prayers on the flight and requiring special dietary accommodations (kosher meals).”
The four plaintiffs, two of whom are Jewish, were flight attendants on the airline’s New York to Tel Aviv route.
Delta “strongly condemns the allegations of discrimination described in this suit and will defend itself vigorously against them. As a global airline that brings people across the world together every day, Delta values diversity in all aspects of its business and has zero tolerance for discrimination,” a statement read.
French Children’s Magazine Claims Israel Not a ‘Real’ Country
The French children’s magazine Youpi pulled its January 2018 issue “after admitting it made a ‘mistake’ by claiming that Israel is not a ‘real’ country,” JNS.org reported.
The issue featured a map of the world and the text, “There are 197 countries, like France, Algeria or Germany. There are a few more, but not all other countries in the world agree that they are real countries (for example the state of Israel or North Korea).”
Both the company that published Youpi and its news editor, Bertrand Fichou, apologized, with the latter saying it wasn’t his intention to challenge Israel’s legitimacy.
Ringo Starr to Perform in Tel Aviv in June
More than 50 years after The Beatles were prohibited from playing in Israel — in the 1960s, the government was worried the music would corrupt youngsters — drummer Ringo Starr will perform in Tel Aviv, JNS.org reported.
Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band are scheduled to perform on June 23 and 24 in the Menorath Mivtahim Arena.
Starr isn’t the first Beatle to play in Israel — fellow surviving bandmate Paul McCartney played there in 2008.
