A local foundation has given $2.5 million to a program that sends young Jews to Israel to learn more about their roots.
The grant, announced this week by the Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego, is from the Viterbi Family Foundation, which is named for Andrew Viterbi, co-founder of Qualcomm. The grant was given to Taglit-Birthright Israel, which provides Jews ages 18 to 26 with a free trip to Israel.
The money will be used to help alleviate the waiting list in San Diego. Nearly 1,500 young people from San Diego have gone on these trips since 2000, although another 1,000 applicants have been turned down because of a lack of funds, according to the Jewish Community Foundation.
In the past eight years, an estimated 145,000 young adults from 52 countries have traveled to Israel for the first time on Taglit-Birthright Israel trips.
– Sandi Dolbee
Church bishop sees a 'double standard'
Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori says other members of the Anglican Communion hold a “double standard” against the U.S. church for having an openly gay bishop and blessing same-sex unions.
Other provinces in the 77-million-member communion have gay bishops and blessing ceremonies, Jefferts Schori told BBC Radio in an interview broadcast Tuesday, but are not as open about it.
“There is certainly a double standard,” she said.
The election of V. Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire in 2003 prompted deep divisions among the family of Anglican churches over sexuality and the Bible. The Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch of the communion.
But Jefferts Schori said Robinson “is certainly not alone in being a gay bishop; he's certainly not alone in being a gay partnered bishop. He is alone in being the only gay partnered bishop who's open about that status.”
Jefferts Schori also said other Anglican provinces hold same-sex blessing ceremonies.
“Those services are happening in various places, including the Church of England, where my understanding is that there are far more of them happening than there are in the Episcopal Church,” Jefferts Schori said.
– Religion News Service
Priest, 98, guided parish for 63 years
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – A Roman Catholic priest died Christmas Day after leading his parish for 63 years, ending what is believed to be the longest active tenure at a U.S. Catholic church. He was 98.
Monsignor Heliodore Mejak became a priest in 1935. He said his first Mass at Holy Family Church on Aug. 1, 1944, and never left. The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas believes Mejak was the nation's oldest active priest.
He celebrated Mass until about a week before his death despite failing health and eyesight.
“He couldn't see,” said Kevin Fogarty, a Wyandotte County firefighter who had attended the church for about 10 years. “He wore 'welding goggles' with huge magnifiers. When he said Mass, it was obvious he was reciting from memory. He couldn't read it at all.”
Holy Family, a Slovenian parish, drew parishioners who shared Mejak's theological conservatism. He resisted attempts to have laymen serve Holy Communion and said it should be served only from a priest's hand, not in the hand of the recipient.
Mejak also ignored a Second Vatican Council recommendation for parishioners to shake hands or hug as a sign of peace during Mass, saying it distracted from the Eucharist.
– Associated Press
Biblical text put on dot of a surface
JERUSALEM – Israeli scientists have inscribed the entire Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible onto a space less than half the size of a grain of sugar.
The nanotechnology experts at the Technion institute in Haifa say the book was etched on a surface that measures less than 0.01 square inch. They chose the Jewish Bible to highlight how vast quantities of information can be stored on minimum amounts of space.
“It took us about an hour to etch the 300,000 words of the Bible onto a tiny silicon surface,” Ohad Zohar, the university's scientific adviser for educational programs, said.
The Technion's microscopic bible was created by blasting tiny particles called gallium ions at an object that then rebounded, causing an etching affect.
He said the technology will in the future be used as a way to store vast amounts of data on bio-molecules and DNA.
The tiny Bible appears to be the world's smallest.
The previous smallest known copy of the Bible measured 1.1 x 1.3 x 0.4 inches, weighed 0.4 ounces and contained 1,514 pages, according to Guinness World Records spokeswoman Amarilis Espinoza. The tiny text, obtained by an Indian professor in November 2001, is believed to have originated in Australia.
– Associated Press
