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News Briefs |
Liquidation
Spain, which recently announced it would offer citizenship to Sephardic Jews who could prove their Spanish ancestry, is also rediscovering its rich Jewish past — a past long ignored. After expelling its long-established Jewish community more than 500 years ago, it is not only inviting the Sephardic Jews’ descendants back, but also making it easy to learn about their ancestors. One such sign of this is the Red de Juderías de España, the Network of Jewish neighborhoods, a non-profit association founded in 1995 that highlights the Jewish architectural, historical, artistic and cultural heritage of 24 Spanish cities, from Avila to Tudela. That city was the home of noted world traveler Benjamin of Tudela who wrote of his far-flung visits in the 12th century that may have taken him as far as China and India. The project, called Caminos de Sefarad (Spain’s Jewish Streets), allows users from around the world to visit and tour the cities of Spain’s Jewish past on the Web. It was unveiled Dec. 19 at the Centro Sefarad-Israel in Madrid. Caminos uses Google Maps technology so viewers can click on a landmark to reveal historical information about each site, and it enables a 360-degree view of the different locations, thanks to Google’s streetview technology. An intuitive search panel presents Jewish heritage sites by category, type, geographic zone and date. In total, 523 sites, 910 dates and 1,667 pictures are displayed. Learn more at http://googlepolicyeurope.blogspot.com/2012/ 12/celebrating-recovery-of-spains-jewish.html . — Paul Foer
Kiddush cups and 2,000 pieces of jewelry, among other items. The event was put together by Baltimorean Marla Lewis, a local marketing and sales professional. Lewis assisted the Jewish Bookstore of Greater Washington in the end of December in packing up its contents, transporting them from Silver Spring to Baltimore and then marketing the sale. She said several hundred people from the community attended. Lewis said she was unaware of plans for another, similar venue to the Jewish bookstore in Silver Spring; Youlus and his family had attempted to sell the store for several months, including four sales that fell through in the final hour. Unfortunately, said Lewis, Youlus’ parents, in their 80s, are simply too old to run the operation. — Maayan Jaffe See an expanded version of this article online at jewishtimes.com. Click on “Local News.”
Rabbi Menachem Youlus spun a web of lies that landed him in prison. On Dec. 25, his Silver Spring store was liquidated.
Kirsten Beckerman
For Spanish Inquisitors
Several thousands of dollars worth of merchandise were sold at unbelievabley low prices this past Christmas Day. The goods were the hundreds of final, must-go Judaica pieces of the Jewish Bookstore of Greater Washington, which was owned by the parents of and operated by Rabbi Menachem Youlus. Youlus admitted earlier this year, and was convicted in Manhattan Federal Court, of spinning a web of lies that ensnared synagogues and donors — including a billionaire philanthropist. Youlus created a bogus charity built on fictional tales of rescuing Holocaust-era Torahs, sold forgeries and pocketed the dough. He was sentenced in October to just over four years in prison, a term that he recently started to serve, leaving the bookstore without anyone to run it. The Dec. 25 sale, which ran from 8 a.m. to midnight at Congregation Shomrei Emunah, included some 50 chanukiot, 50 Seder plates, 200
Water Main Repairs for Greengate Pikesville’s Art Putzel knew his neighborhood had an issue with unreliable water mains. But Putzel, who has lived in the Greengate community for 25 years, didn’t realize the extent of the problem until the neighborhood experienced two water main breaks over a six-week span this past November and December. Putzel, along with other Greengate residents, reached out to the Baltimore County Department of Public Works for help. There have been 10 water main breaks in the community — seven along Sugarcone Road, two on Shefflin Court and one on
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Baltimore Jewish Times January 4, 2013
Pheasant Cross Drive — since 2001. Department of Public Works spokesman David Fidler said based on the number of water main breaks in the area, the county is moving forward with developing a plan to make the proper repairs. This includes spending approximately one year conducting surveys and doing design work to understand the full scope of the problem. Construction is tentatively set to begin sometime in 2014. “This stretch of road continues to be of concern, which is why we have scheduled the area for a replacement project,” Fidler said. “Completely fixing
the problem takes time, but the project is in the pipeline and will be addressed.” Putzel, a board member and past president of the Pikesville Greenspring Community Coalition, said he was impressed with how quickly the county responded. “I figured they would just move forward with a study,” Putzel said. “These water main breaks just seem to be getting worse, and I’m glad the county agrees with us that something needs to be done to rectify the situation.” — Ron Snyder