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Anne Frank Sapling Stolen; When Madoff Cried

Plus 58 cases of measles among Hasidic Jews in 2013, and more in the news

by
Stephanie Butnick
December 11, 2013
Sign outside Frankfurt's Anne Frank School.(Inspire Academies)
Sign outside Frankfurt's Anne Frank School.(Inspire Academies)

• A sapling from the chestnut tree outside Anne Frank’s hiding place in Amsterdam was stolen from outside outside Frankfurt’s Anne Frank School, where it was planted in 2008. [JTA]

• In more troubling news on the anti-vaccine front, of the 175 cases of measles in the United States in 2013—triple the national average—58 cases were among Hasidic Jews in the observant Brooklyn enclaves of Borough Park and Williamsburg. [Times of Israel]

• An Israeli initiative seeks to allow same-sex couples to become parents through an Israeli surrogate, an option currently only available to heterosexual couples. [Haaretz]

Time has named Pope Francis the 2013 Person of the Year. Mazel tov. [Washington Post]

• Marriage equality crusader Edith Windsor, meanwhile, was a runner-up. [Time]

• Convicted felon Bernard Madoff, who five years ago confessed to the largest Ponzi scheme in history, apparently cried while admitting his massive fraud. How sweet. [NY Post]

Stephanie Butnick is chief strategy officer of Tablet Magazine, co-founder of Tablet Studios, and a host of the Unorthodox podcast.