MISSING YESHIVA STUDENT
Jerusalem police search for missing US student
LAKEWOOD, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey political leaders and a rabbi are calling for the safe return of a U.S. religious student who disappeared in Israel.
Republican Congressman Chris Smith joined a news conference Tuesday in Lakewood, where Aharon Sofer (AH’-run SOH’-fur) grew up. Smith says U.S. and Israeli officials are “leaving no stone unturned” as they try to find the 23-year-old rabbinical student.
Sofer has been missing since Friday when he went hiking with a friend in the Jerusalem Forest. Israeli police say they have interviewed the friend and are pursuing all avenues in the investigation, including the possibility that Sofer may have been attacked by Palestinian militants.
Sofer’s parents have flown to Israel, where their son is an ultra-Orthodox student at a Jewish religious school. A family friend, New Jersey Rabbi Yisroel (yees-ROH’-ul) Serebrowski, says they’re in anguish, wondering if he’s being tortured or held captive.
Sound:
247-a-09-(Zachary Reiner, reading a statement from New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez, at news conference)-“sacred Jewish texts”-New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez, in a statement read by Zachary Reiner, says no one had a reason to harm Aharon Sofer. (26 Aug 2014)
< 245-w-35-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor, with Rabbi Yisroel Serebrowski and Congressman Chris Smith, R-N.J.)–New Jersey political leaders and a rabbi are calling for the safe return of an American rabbinical student who disappeared in Israel. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (26 Aug 2014) < 246-a-05-(Rabbi Yisroel (yeez-ROH’-ul) Serebrowski, a Sofer family friend, at news conference)-“he being tortured”-Rabbi Yisroel Serebrowski, a Sofer family friend, says the missing student’s parents are in anguish with worry. (26 Aug 2014) < 162-a-10-(Representative Chris Smith, R-N.J., at news conference)-“find him now”-New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith says an aide to Secretary of State John Kerry has assured him that the U.S. is making an all-out effort to find Sofer. (26 Aug 2014) < 161-a-13-(Committeeman Meir Lichtenstein (MY-ur LIHK’-ten-steen), Lakewood, N.J., at news conference)-“are being considered”-Lakewood Committeeman Meir Lichtenstein says an extensive search for Sofer is under way in Israel. (26 Aug 2014) < 163-a-11-(Representative Chris Smith, R-N.J., at news conference)-“along those lines”-New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith says investigators are pursuing all avenues in their search for Aaron, including “nationalistic motives” by Palestinian terrorists. (26 Aug 2014) < 164-a-12-(Committeeman Meir Lichtenstein (MY-ur LIHK’-ten-steen), Lakewood, N.J., at news conference)-“Aaron’s safe return”-Lakewood Committeeman Meir Lichtenstein, reading a statement from the family, expresses gratitude for much public support. (26 Aug 2014) < INDIA-JEWISH CENTER Jewish center reopens 6 years after Mumbai attacks MUMBAI, India (AP) — Rabbis from across Asia are celebrating the reopening of a Jewish center targeted by rampaging Pakistani gunmen who stormed through Mumbai on a 60-hour killing spree in 2008. The attacks on the Chabad (hah-BAHD’) center and other locations in India’s financial capital left 166 people dead, including the orthodox Jewish center’s Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife. Rabbi Israel Kozlovsky, who now runs the center, said the rebuilt six-story Nariman House will house a $2.5 million Jewish Museum as well as Mumbai’s first memorial to those slain in the attacks. Rabbis based across Asia for the orthodox Jewish group Chabad-Lubavitch (hah-BAHD’ loo-BAH’-vich) attended Tuesday’s reopening. Holtzberg’s father, Rabbi Nachman Holtzberg, called on people to remember those slain and “celebrate their lives and the message of light that they spread.” Sound: 221-a-13-(Rabbi Israel Kozlovsky, director of Chabad-Lubavitch (hah-BAHD’ loo-BAH’-vich) of Mumbai, at dedication ceremony)-“here in Mumbai”-Rabbi Israel Kozlovsky, director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Mumbai, says dozens of rabbis took part in the reopening of the Jewish center. (26 Aug 2014) < 220-a-15-(Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, vice chairman of the educational arm of Chabad-Lubavitch (hah-BAHD’ loo-BAH’-vich), at dedication ceremony)-“goodness and kindness”-Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, vice chairman of the educational arm of Chabad-Lubavitch, says the Mumbai Jewish center has recovered from the 2008 terrorist attack. (26 Aug 2014) < ISLAMIC CONFERENCE-CARTER President Carter, Gov. Snyder to speak in Detroit DETROIT (AP) — Former President Jimmy Carter and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder will speak at an Islamic conference in Detroit this week. Snyder is scheduled to speak at the opening ceremonies Friday. The nation’s 39th president is expected to talk during a Saturday luncheon about his latest book titled “A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence and Power.” The 89-year-old Carter is set to visit Michigan again on Sept. 22 as part of Grand Rapids Community College’s Diversity Lecture Series. MLive.com reports that Snyder previously addressed Muslims during the Michigan Muslim Community Council’s Unity Banquet in Livonia last year. He criticized what he said was a “dumb” system that draws smart Islamic students to Michigan universities but then tells them “to get out” when they graduate. CHURCH-EMBEZZLEMENT Priest indicted on embezzlement charges WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — A Roman Catholic priest is scheduled to appear in court to answer to charges that he stole more than $230,000 from the Massachusetts parish where he served as pastor to support a gambling habit. The Rev. Stephen Gemme, former pastor of St. Bernadette Parish in Northborough, faces arraignment in Worcester Superior Court on Wednesday following his indictment by a grand jury last week on five counts of larceny. The Worcester Diocese announced last October that Gemme had stolen from two accounts since 2008. The thefts went undetected until a member of the school’s advisory board flagged a financial irregularity in a school account and informed Worcester Bishop Robert McManus. Gemme acknowledged a gambling problem and offered his resignation, which was accepted, according to a letter from McManus to parishioners. ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE-DIOCESE Va. diocese discourages donations to ALS group ROANOKE, Va. (AP) — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond is discouraging Virginia parishes and schools that participate in the ice bucket challenge from sending money to the ALS Association. WDBJ-TV reports the diocese is sending a letter to 29 Catholic schools advising them to send donations to another organization that combats ALS. In the letter, the diocese says the ALS Association uses embryonic stem cells to conduct research on ALS. The diocese said it supports adult stem cell research. The Catholic Church relates the use of embryonic stem cells in research to abortion and says it violates the sanctity of human life. ALS is a neurodegenerative disease that causes paralysis and almost certain death. It’s also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Last week, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati told its 113 schools to cease any plans to raise funds for the association and to instead direct donations to another organization that combats ALS. SEX ABUSE LAWSUIT-SEVENTH DAY ADVENTISTS Lawsuit: Church knew abuser ran youth program PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Two 50-year-old men allege that the Seventh-day Adventist Church put a man known to abuse children in charge of its youth program in the 1970s and kept him in that position, even after learning that he was accused of abusing a child in the program. The men filed suit in Oregon on Tuesday, seeking $15 million from the Maryland-based church and its Oregon branch, alleging sexual battery, the inflicting of emotional distress, fraud and negligence. The men say they were abused in the 1970s but only discovered in 2012 that the church knew it had a convicted child molester in its ranks and did nothing. The lawsuit contains photocopies of several indictments and convictions of the former youth program leader, who is not being named by The Associated Press because he is not a defendant in the lawsuit. SZOKA-FUNERAL Detroit funeral held for Cardinal Edmund Szoka DETROIT (AP) — Catholic leaders and faithful have packed the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit for the funeral of Edmund Szoka (SHAH’-kuh), an American cardinal who served as governor and financial administrator of the Vatican. The Mass was held Tuesday morning, with Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron (VIG’-neh-ron) officiating. Szoka died of natural causes on Wednesday at Providence Park Hospital in Novi, Michigan. He was 86. Szoka was a confidant of Pope John Paul II. In addition to leading Detroit-area Catholics, Szoka later served as governor of Vatican City. Since his retirement from active ministry in 2006, Szoka had been living in the Detroit suburb of Northville. MYANMAR-SHWEDAGON SWEEPERS Sweeping the Shwedagon: An act of merit YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Every evening, more than a dozen men and women walk in a tight row in front of Myanmar’s most revered Buddhist pagoda, sweeping the vast marble terrace in unison in hopes of keeping it clean for barefoot pilgrims. To these volunteers, this is not a chore but a noble act they carry out eagerly in an effort to gain spiritual credit. Situated on a hilltop in the old capital of Yangon, the 326-foot high Shwedagon draws hundreds of visitors every day. With the opening up of Myanmar after a half-century of dictatorship four years ago, American, French and Australian tourists are now among those flocking to the pagoda, built 2,600 years ago and said to enshrine eight strands of hair belonging to the Buddha. It is covered in gold plates with a main spire said to contain 4,531 diamonds, including a single 72-carat diamond at the top.
