Weekly roundup of world briefs

Fear forces Berlin Jews to hide their identity in community paper

By Nissan Shtrauchler

(Israel Hayom via JNS) — Growing security concerns have prompted the Berlin Jewish community to implement a protective measure: publishing only the first letter of community members’ surnames, rather than their full family names, in birthday announcements in the community newspaper, Bild reported on Friday.

The community’s monthly journal, “Jewish Berlin,” traditionally includes a section for “Mazel tov” wishes to members over 65 and announcements of children’s bar and bat mitzvah celebrations.

The publicat...