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Israel’s chief Ashkenazi rabbi visits Taiwan in milestone moment for the country’s Jewish community
TAIPEI (JTA) — In what is likely a first, an Israeli chief rabbi visited Taiwan last week, marking a milestone both for the island nation and the Jewish community there.
Last week, the Jeffrey D. Schwartz Jewish Community Center in Taipei welcomed Israel’s Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau on a three-day visit which included a dedication ceremony for the community center, a regional summit of rabbis and a meeting with Israeli and Taiwanese officials.
About 30 rabbis from the region, including from Sydney, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Cambodia, attended the summit to promote cultural exchange throughout the region and celebrate the opening of the Jewish center, according to the Jeffrey D. Schwartz and Na Tang Jewish Taiwan Cultural Association, or JTCA.
COVID-19 travel restrictions had delayed Lau’s original plan to attend the official opening to the public in 2021.
“It was an honor to visit Taiwan and meet with the Jewish community here. I was impressed by their dedication to Jewish culture and traditions, and I am confident that the community will continue to thrive in the years ahead,” Lau said after the event in a statement.
Over the past decade, Taiwan’s Jewish community has undergone a dramatic revival thanks to the arrival of Rabbi Shlomi Tabib, who is affiliated with the Hasidic Chabad-Lubavitch movement, in 2011, and the efforts of the Taiwan Jewish Community, a nondenominational community with its own vibrant congregation in Taipei. Jeffrey Schwartz, a local businessman, split from the Taiwan Jewish Community group to start his own association and the $16 million center, which houses Tabib and his family.
The synagogue in Schwartz’s center is now used as an event venue by both Schwartz’s Chabad-run congregation and the Taiwan Jewish Community, which for years remained separated over intra-community squabbles.
With a goal of promoting cultural exchange between Jews in Taiwan and non-Jewish locals, Schwartz’s community center includes a Judaica museum, a mikvah and kosher restaurant, and it hosts tours and events open to the Taiwanese public. The volume of visits from local Taiwanese visitors over the center’s first year of operation is “one the most heartwarming accomplishments,” Schwartz said.
He added in an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that he hopes Lau’s visit will also help strengthen ties between Israel and Taiwan.
Don Shapiro, one of the earliest members of the TJC, which first officially registered with the government in 1979, attended the ceremony on Feb 21.
“I never imagined I would ever see a visit to Taiwan by the chief rabbi of Israel, let alone as part of a conclave of rabbis from all around the Asia-Pacific region,” he said. “It was a testament to how the Jewish community in Taiwan — now home to two vibrant religious congregations and a Jewish cultural association — has been thriving in recent years after a period of great uncertainty.”
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The post Israel’s chief Ashkenazi rabbi visits Taiwan in milestone moment for the country’s Jewish community appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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120th anniversary of the Forverts advice column “Bintel Brief”
מזל־טובֿ! דעם 20סטן יאַנואַר 2026 איז געוואָרן 120 יאָר זינט דער גרינדונג פֿון „אַ בינטל בריוו“ — דער עצות־רובריק פֿונעם פֿאָרווערטס. די רובריק איז פֿאַרלייגט געוואָרן פֿונעם גרינדער און לאַנגיאָריקן שעף־רעדאַקטאָר אַב קאַהאַן אין 1906.
כּדי אָפּצומערקן דעם יום־טובֿ ברענגען מיר אײַך צוויי זאַכן:
• ערשטנס, אַן אַרטיקל וועגן אַ טשיקאַווען בריוו וואָס איז אָנגעקומען אין דער פֿאָרווערטס־רעדאַקציע אין יאַנואַר 1949, פֿון אַ לייענער וועמעס זון האָט חתונה געהאַט מיט אַ קריסטלעכער פֿרוי
• צווייטנס, אַ פֿאָרווערטס־ווידעאָ אויף ייִדיש וועגן דער געשיכטע פֿון „אַ בינטל בריוו“, מיטן געוועזענעם פֿאָרווערטס־רעדאַקטאָר באָריס סאַנדלער און דער פֿאָרווערטס־אַרכיוויסטקע חנה פּאָלאַק.
The post 120th anniversary of the Forverts advice column “Bintel Brief” appeared first on The Forward.
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Report: Khamenei Moved to Underground Bunker in Tehran
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks in a televised message, after the ceasefire between Iran and Israel, in Tehran, Iran, June 26, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Amid tense expectation of US strike on key assets of the Islamic regime, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was moved into a special underground bunker in Tehran, the Iran International website reported on Saturday.
The report further added that the supreme leader’s third son Masoud Khamenei has taken over day-to-day management of the leader’s office, functioning as the de facto main channel for coordination vis-à-vis the executive branches of the government and the security forces.
The report describes Khamenei’s hideout as a “fortified site with interconnected tunnels.”
On Thursday US President Donald Trump said that a “massive” naval force was heading toward Iran.
“We have a lot of ships going that direction just in case. We have a big flotilla going in that direction. And we’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters.
“We have an armada. We have a massive fleet heading in that direction, and maybe we won’t have to use it. We’ll see,” Trump added.
The USS Abraham Lincoln, along with three destroyers, was spotted making its way to the Middle East from Asia, according to ship-tracking data.
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Israel, Syria to Finalize US-Brokered Security Deal ‘Soon,’ as ‘Developments Accelerate Noticeably’
Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a Ministerial formation of the government of the Syrian Arab Republic, in Damascus, Syria, March 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
i24 News – Syrian and Israeli officials are expected to meet soon under US mediation, perhaps in Paris, to finalize a security agreement between Damascus and Jerusalem, a source close to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa told i24NEWS on Saturday.
According to the Syrian source, the talks will also focus on various potential joint strategic and economic projects in the buffer zones between the two countries.
“There is very optimistic talk suggesting the possibility of even opening an Israeli embassy in Damascus before the end of this year, given the significant progress in the prospect of Syria joining the Abraham Accords,” the source said.
The original Syrian plan was limited to a security agreement and the opening of an Israeli liaison office in Damascus without diplomatic status, the source tells me. “But developments are accelerating noticeably under pressure from the United States, and specifically by President Trump, and amid growing Syrian openness.”
If Damascus manages to reach an integration agreement with the Druze in southern Syria, similar to its agreement with the Kurds in the northeast, and Israel commits to respecting Syria’s unity and territorial integrity, then al-Sharaa would be open to elevate the status of the agreement with Israel to more than just a security agreement, to also include diplomatic relations and an Israeli embassy in Damascus.
“The al-Sharaa government believes that a viable compromise to advance a peace process with Israel would include a 25-year lease for the Golan Heights, similar to the one Jordan previously signed with Israel over the border enclaves, turning it into a ‘Garden of Peace” of joint economic ventures,” the source said.
The source close to al-Sharaa also tells me that US President Trump is seeking to bring Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Al-Sharaa together for a peace agreement signing ceremony.
It should be noted that Israel has repeatedly rejected returning any part of the Golan Heights, let alone the entire territory.
On another front, the source stated that Damascus intends to adopt a new local administration system based on expanded administrative decentralization to enhance participation in local communities across all Syrian governorates.
According to the source, this solution would resolve persisting disputes with the Druze, Kurds, Alawites, and other minorities. A new Syrian government is expected to be formed within the next three months, the source added.