Chief rabbi challenges Stephen Hawking in row over origins of universe
Sep 2nd
Lord Sacks accuses astrophysicist of logical fallacy in book excluding possibility of supernatural creation
The chief rabbi, Lord Sacks, hit back at Stephen Hawking after the astrophysicist said God did not create the universe.
In his new book, The Grand Design, published next week, Hawking concludes that science excludes the possibility of a deity and that it is unnecessary to "invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going".
But his finding were described by Sacks as an "elementary fallacy" of logic.
Writing in the Times, the chief rabbi said: "There is a difference between science and religion. Science is about explanation. Religion is about interpretation. The Bible simply isn't interested in how the universe came into being."
Sacks also said the mutual hostility between religion and science was one of "the curses of our age" and warned it would be equally damaging to both.
"But there is more to wisdom than science. It cannot tell us why we are here or how we should live. Science masquerading as religion is as unseemly as religion masquerading as science."
In an earlier book, A Brief History of Time, Hawking was apparently more open to the idea of God, suggesting that a scientific understanding of the universe was not incompatible with a creator. "If we discover a complete theory … it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason – for then we should know the mind of God," he wrote.
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Church of Finland deposes traditionalist bishop
Sep 2nd
The Church of Finland has defrocked the leader of the church’s traditionalist movement, the Luther Foundation, saying that by accepting consecration at the hands of foreign Swedish and African Lutheran bishops, Bishop Matti Väisänen had violated his ordination vows to the state church. On Aug 11, the Diocese of Tampere removed Bishop Väisänen from the [...]
Study shows Salvadoran majority supports president’s pro-life decision
Sep 2nd
Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal’s Mossad past
Sep 2nd
Revelations that Simon Wiesenthal once worked for Mossad suggest that Israel did more to catch war criminals than was previously believed, according to one of the late Nazi-hunter’s associates.
In a book released this week, Israeli historian Tom Segev claimed that in the 1960s Mr Wiesenthal gave the intelligence agency details of Nazis working on Egypt's rocket programme .
Mr Segev also alleged that in 1948 Mr Wiesenthal was involved in Mossad’s efforts to capture Adolf Eichmann.
Dr Efraim Zuroff, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Israel and author of the book Operation Last Chance, said the claims had come as a real shock.
He told the JC: “I have no reason to doubt it, but I thought I knew just about everything there was to know about him.
He added: “It doesn’t in any way change our perception of him or our understanding of his mission.
“But it does show that Israel made much more of effort to find and prosecute Nazi war criminals than we were aware of.”
Mr Wiesenthal, a Holocaust survivor who died in 2005, dedicated his life to pursuing Nazis and gathering evidence for the war crimes trials.
Homecoming for Libyan Jews after 33 years
Sep 2nd
Two Italian Jews are to return to their homes in Libya for the first time in more than 30 years.
The women, both of whom were born in Libya, emigrated with their families to Italy in 1967 as Jewish–Arab relations deteriorated in the wake of the Six Day War.
Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi, known for his attacks on Israel, has reportedly agreed to let some Jewish people visit the country. In August the first Jew from Libya officially returned home. Raphael Luzon and his 87-year-old mother travelled to their former home of Benghazi as government guests.
Libya’s centuries-old Jewish community once numbered 20,000, but the population declined after Israel gained independence and it is believed the last Jewish person left in 2003.
When Colonel Gaddafi seized power in 1969, debts to Jews were cancelled Jewish property was confiscated.
Between the 1940s and 1970s an estimated 800,000 Jews fled their homes in Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa because of persecution.
In August an Israeli-Tunisian photographer imprisoned in Libya for five months was released and flown to safety.
We survived, but we were penniless: A Libyan Jewish refugee shares her story
Homecoming for Libyan Jews after 33 years
Sep 2nd
Two Italian Jews are to return to their homes in Libya for the first time in more than 30 years.
The women, both of whom were born in Libya, emigrated with their families to Italy in 1967 as Jewish–Arab relations deteriorated in the wake of the Six Day War.
Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi, known for his attacks on Israel, has reportedly agreed to let some Jewish people visit the country. In August the first Jew from Libya officially returned home. Raphael Luzon and his 87-year-old mother travelled to their former home of Benghazi as government guests.
Libya’s centuries-old Jewish community once numbered 20,000, but the population declined after Israel gained independence and it is believed the last Jewish person left in 2003.
When Colonel Gaddafi seized power in 1969, debts to Jews were cancelled Jewish property was confiscated.
Between the 1940s and 1970s an estimated 800,000 Jews fled their homes in Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa because of persecution.
In August an Israeli-Tunisian photographer imprisoned in Libya for five months was released and flown to safety.
We survived, but we were penniless: A Libyan Jewish refugee shares her story
Spain Muslims outraged at Mecca discotheque
Sep 2nd
The inauguration of a discotheque called Mecca in Spain infuriated Muslims in the country and raised questions about the position of Muslim workers offered jobs in the controversial place.
Women bishops: valid sacraments and catholicity
Sep 2nd
Two more articles on this subject from Modern church by Jonathan Clatworthy. Women bishops and valid sacraments This article focuses on a central concern of opponents, the conditions for the validity of the sacraments, expressed for example in Simon Killwick’s...
Fatwa bans Morocco’s candid camera
Sep 2nd
Morocco’s candid camera stirred controversy in religious circles and triggered the issuing of a fatwa that prohibits the show for alleged violation of Islamic principles.
Airline stop rabbi for ‘suspicious’ shofar
Sep 2nd
An Israeli rabbi narrowly escaped arrest after being stopped by security officers at Munich airport for carrying a shofar.
Airport officials pulled aside the man, in his late 50s, and asked him to explain the religious article while arriving on a flight from Tel-Aviv on Monday night. He was visiting his daughter who lives in Nuremberg and works as an Israeli emissary in the city.
"He was in a bit of a panic," said Gigi Mechlowitz, a fellow Jewish passenger from Manchester, who stopped to help.
“They told him to open his bag and loads of security guards came around. The rabbi asked me how to say shofar in German.”
Mr Mechlowitz said: “Officers escorted the rabbi to a customs area suspicious the ram's horn was a trophy from a protected animal.
“The rabbi told them in English 'sixty years ago you knew exactly what it was and we got liquidated because of religious items'.
“I thought he was going to be arrested,” added Mr Mechlowitz, who defused the situation by suggesting the customs officials Google the item.
After some investigations airport guards returned and asked the rabbi one final test to ensure the item was safe - a full blowing of the shofar.
Mr Mecholowitz said: “He didn't just give a quick toot, but a whole tekiah teruah thing. About 20 to 30 people, mainly airport staff and a few passengers, looked up in awe.
“It got a nice round of applause from everybody.”
