1,000-year-old Jewish marriage contract goes on display in Jerusalem
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) In honor of the wedding season that began after Lag Ba’Omer this month, the National Library of Israel is launching an exhibition about the ketubah, the Jewish marriage contract, featuring a rare 1,000-year-old ketubah that testifies to the presence of a Jewish community in 11th century Safed.
The ketubah, written in Aramaic, has been dated to Nov. 28, 1023. It was written in what was then the city of Tzur. The scribe is named as Yosef Hacohen, son of Yaakov, and the couple is named as Natan Hacohen, son of Shlomo, and Rachel, from Safed.
“This is one of the first and only existing artifacts that testifies to the Jewish community in Safed during that period,” said Dr. Yoel Finkelman, the National Library’s Judaica curator.
He said all ketubahs include a section detailing the husband’s duty to provide for and take care of his wife and outlining what her rights are in the event of divorce.
“Along with that, some included additional sections. For example, a well-off family may offer to provide more financially in order to marry a woman from a well-respected family, or a family of Torah scholars,” he said.
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Israeli unemployment rate drops to historic low of 4.9 percent
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Unemployment in Israel has fallen to an all-time low, the country’s Central Bureau of Statistics said Monday.
According to the bureau’s data, the April jobless rate was just 4.9 percent, below the psychological threshold of 5 percent. Unemployment among men dropped from 5.2 percent in March to 4.9 percent in April, and unemployment among women dropped from 5.4 percent to 4.7 percent in the same months.
The report also said the number of employed Israelis reached an all-time high in April of 60.9 percent, or 3.64 million, and the workforce now numbers 1.9 million men and 1.74 million women. Workforce participation in March was 60.2 percent.
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Dore Gold to be new Israeli Foreign Ministry director general
(JNS.org) Former diplomat and political adviser Dr. Dore Gold was appointed Monday as director general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is also serving as foreign minister.
Gold most recently served as an adviser to Netanyahu during his last term in office. His appointment was set to be presented for government approval on Tuesday. He was Israeli ambassador to the United Nations in 1997-1999 and an adviser to Netanyahu in 1996-1997, when he represented the prime minister in missions to Egypt, Jordan and Gulf states.
Following many years of work in public service, Gold went on to become president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs public policy think tank, which he has headed since 2000. In his capacity at the center, Gold presented Israel’s perspective at international forums and held dialogues with the representatives of several Arab states. His best-selling book, “The Fight for Jerusalem: Radical Islam, the West, and the Future of the Holy City,” was translated and published by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
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New Israeli deputy FM tells diplomats that all of Israel’s land belongs to Jews
(JNS.org) Israel’s new deputy foreign minister, Tzipi Hotovely, said in an address to the Jewish state’s diplomatic core that all of the land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people.
“Many times it seems that in our international relations, more than emphasizing the rightness of our cause, we are asked to use arguments that play well diplomatically,” she said in a broadcast to Israel’s 106 diplomats serving abroad. “But at a time when the very existence of Israel is being called into question, it is important to be right.”
Hotovely, who is the highest-ranking official at the Israeli Foreign Ministry due to the fact that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not appoint a foreign minister, added, “The international community deals with considerations of justice and morality. We need to return to the basic truth of our right to this land.”
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Islamic State claims responsibility for Saudi Arabia attack, eyes Golan Heights
(JNS.org) The Islamic State terrorist group claimed responsibility for a bloody attack that killed 19 people at a Shi’a mosque in Saudi Arabia on Friday.
On Twitter, a group calling itself Islamic State’s “Najd Province,” which refers to the central region of Saudi Arabia, claimed responsibility for the attack. Last week, Islamic State terrorists seized control of the historic Syrian city of Palmyra, one of the best-preserved ancient Roman cities in the Middle East and a UNESCO world heritage site. Islamic State now controls roughly half of Syria’s territory.
Additionally, Islamic State has recently attempted to gain a foothold near Syria’s border with Israel in the Golan Heights, Yedioth Ahronoth reported. The first such attempt by Islamic State occurred two weeks ago near Quneitra, where Syrian rebels were able to push back against an Islamic State-affiliated group called Jaysh al-Jihad.
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