Original article Published On The Jerusalem Post
Sarajevo: Dating from 14th-century Catalonia, the Sarajevo Haggadah made its way via Italy to Bosnia, where it was acquired but kept hidden for safety by the national museum in 1894. It was secreted away from the Nazis by a Muslim professor, and survived the Bosnian war of 1992-95. Now, through the graces of the United Nations Trust Fund, the haggadah, its 109 pages handwritten on bleached calfskin — a small wine stain on one of its pages, a small child’s handwriting on another — has gone on public display for the first time at Sarajevo’s National Museum. It is housed in a climate-controlled room shared by manuscripts of Islam and Orthodox Christianity. “That’s proof that here not only we can live together, but we used to live together for centuries and hope to continue to live together,” Jakob Finci, head of the country’s Jewish community, told the Associated Press. “The story of how the haggadah was saved during its long history has become almost a legend here.”
Minneapolis: Under the terms of a $1.1 million settlement of a lawsuit charging anti-Semitic discrimination and retaliation against those opposing anti-Semitism, St. Cloud State University will pay over $300,000 to 31 faculty members (three will share $265,000) and establish a Jewish Studies and Resource Center. It will also require anti-Semitism awareness training for faculty, and other procedures to redress claims of prejudice on campus. The suit claimed that administrators tried to dissuade students from taking courses by Jewish professors, and denied Jewish faculty promotions and equal pay. The school will spend up to $125,000 a year for five years on the new Jewish center.
Miami: Miami Heat basketball fans will now be able to enjoy glatt kosher hot dogs, knishes and water at non-Saturday home games at the American Airlines Arena. The Toronto-based Olde Spadina Avenue company, which runs the kosher food cart at the Arena, also has stands at Pro Player Stadium, home of football’s Miami Dolphins and baseball’s Florida Marlins, and at the Miami Convention Center.
Riga: A municipal committee has finally agreed to note the participation of Latvian security police and Riga city police in the murder of 30,000 Jews in Rumbula, outside the Latvian capital, in the fall of 1941, in an inscription on a newly unveiled monument on the site of the murders. Latvian President Vaira Freiburga helped solve the impasse that arose following the committee’s repeated refusal to accede to the Jewish community’s request that the role of local Latvian collaborators be mentioned in the commemoration.
Prevlaka, Croatia: A group of Israeli investors is planning to invest $110 million in a luxury hospital and rehabilitation center with an attached marina, in southern Croatia, on the Adriatic peninsula of Prevlaka. Local tourism authorities are hoping the center will become popular amongst celebrities, royals and VIPs. It is estimated that the complex, which will include 40 operating theaters and hundreds of private rooms, will be built within the next five years.