Shorts: U.S.

U.S. chaplains now can't mention Jesus

washington (jta) | The U.S. Congress rescinded language in Pentagon orders that allowed military chaplains to mention Jesus in official prayers.

Controversy over including similar language in the Defense Authorization Act, a critical spending bill, dogged attempts to pull the bill out of a Senate House of Representatives conference before Congress suspended for midterm elections. The conferees ultimately decided to strike the language and order the Pentagon to rescind its earlier instructions.

Mikey Weinstein, a former U.S. Air Force officer who led the battle to remove the language, applauded the decision. "We welcome the opportunity Congress has afforded to discuss the appropriate role of religion and chaplains in the military," Weinstein, who is Jewish, said Friday, Sept. 29 in a statement issued by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which he founded. "The passage of this bill will be a victory for those of us who have been fighting so assiduously to protect both the rights of the men and women in our armed forces and the United States Constitution."




Palestinian act fails in Congress

washington (jta) | Democrats in Congress and Jewish community leaders said that pro-Israel lobbyists launched a last-ditch lobbying effort Monday, Oct. 2 to pass the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act, which would prohibit direct funding to the Palestinian Authority until it renounces terrorism. Negotiations to resolve differences between versions of the bill in the House of Representatives and Senate stalled passage this summer.

This week's effort focused on getting Republican leaders to include the Senate version — considered more moderate because it grants the president greater flexibility in applying the sanctions — in an omnibus bill before Congress adjourns this weekend.

Sources said the effort was shot down by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who called Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), chairman of the Senate's Rules Committee, and told him the White House opposed it.




Cleveland voting place upsets some

cleveland (jta) | Some Jewish voters in Cleveland are objecting to being asked to vote in a church.

Local Jewish officials say some voters in a heavily Orthodox neighborhood in Cuyahoga County might not feel comfortable casting their ballot in the church in the November election.

The elections director in the county, Michael Vu, said the county has polling places in 149 churches and one synagogue.




Clinic closed on Shabbat accused of bias

new york (jta) | The NAACP filed a complaint accusing a New York dental clinic of religious discrimination because it is closed on Shabbat.

The complaint, filed Sept. 6 with the New York state Division of Human Rights, accuses the Ben Gilman Medical and Dental Clinic in Spring Valley, N.Y., of imposing its religious beliefs on others by remaining closed on Saturdays, the Rockland Journal News reported. The clinic's operators declined to comment on the matter.




Films about Lubavitcher rebbe to be preserved

new york (jta) | A grant from the U.S. National Film Preservation Foundation will help preserve three films about the sixth and seventh Lubavitcher rebbes.

The $2,500 will go to efforts by Jewish Educational Media, which is affiliated with Chabad-Lubavitch, to preserve the three films featuring Rabbi Joseph Isaac Schneerson and Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. The films date from 1929, 1949 and 1957.




Jewish retirement home model goes federal

washington (jta) | A Jewish federation model to facilitate care for the elderly in their home communities will be included in federal grant legislation.

The United Jewish Communities, the umbrella body for North American federations, launched the "Aging in Place" initiative in 2002, helping 40 communities in 25 states obtain federal dollars for Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities, or NORCs. The models were featured in a U.S. Senate hearing this year to consider reauthorization of the Older Americans Act.

As a result, a federal grant program for NORCs is included in language agreed to by conferees from the Senate and House of Representatives, guaranteeing passage when Congress reauthorizes the act this weekend. "These programs create solutions enabling older Americans to maintain their independence, security, dignity and quality of life as they age," said William Daroff, vice president for public policy for the UJC, which considers NORCs its signature program.




Camp guard loses U.S. citizenship

pittsburgh (jta) | A U.S. court revoked the citizenship of a man who served as a Nazi concentration camp guard.

The U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh took the action Friday, Sept. 29 regarding Anton Geiser, of Sharon, Pa. A guard at Sachsenhausen and other camps during World War II, Geiser, 81, immigrated to the United States from Austria in 1956 and became a citizen in 1962.

The action against Geiser was initiated by the Office for Special Investigations, the U.S. Justice Department's Nazi-hunting unit, in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security.




General promoted despite controversy

washington (jta) | The U.S. Senate promoted a U.S. Air Force commander who promoted evangelical Christianity at the Air Force Academy.

Brig. Gen. Johnny Weida was brought in to reform the Colorado Springs, Colo., academy in 2003, after a sexual harassment scandal. He soon was embroiled in charges of religious coercion after he told cadets their first duty was to God and encouraged them to observe the national day of prayer. The actions contributed to what some cadets said was a coercive atmosphere.

Weida apologized in June 2005, saying he "fell short." Last week, the Senate promoted him to major general at the Air Force's behest.

Mikey Weinstein, a former Air Force officer who is Jewish and who has campaigned against evangelism in the military, condemned the promotion.

"Weida has repeatedly imposed his own fundamentalist Christian biblical worldview on those attending mandatory military events and non-sectarian events," Weinstein said. "Weida's promotion sends the message that this illegal behavior is not only acceptable, but is applauded by our country's current leadership."