'Haunted' Indian station reopens

By Subir Bhaumik
BBC News, Calcutta

A Indian railway station which was abandoned for 42 years because of fears that it was haunted has reopened in the eastern state of West Bengal.

Locals and railway workers say they lived in fear of a female phantom who frequented Begunkodor 260km (161 miles) from the state capital, Calcutta.

In 1967, a railway worker is said to have died days after he saw a "woman ghost" draped in a white sari.

Officials say the story was made up to avoid postings at the remote station.

They argue that it was primarily railway employees who expressed fears about the "woman ghost" at Begunkodor.

"Soon all railway employees fled Begunkodor and trains stopped stopping there. It made life very difficult for locals," said Basudeb Acharya, former chairman of the parliament's standing committee on railways.

Mr Acharya says employees "cooked up the ghost story " to avoid a posting at such a remote station.

Celebrations

Begunkodor is 43km (26 miles) from the district headquarters in Purulia, the westernmost district of West Bengal. Purulia is home to the Santhal tribe and is also a Maoist stronghold.

On Tuesday, the Ranchi-Hatia express stopped at Begunkodor, the first train to draw into the station for 42 years.

India's railway minister Mamata Banerji has dismissed all reports of an apparition.

When she announced new trains for West Bengal she wanted the Ranchi-Hatia Express to stop at Begunkodor because locals had pleaded with her to reopen the station during the election campaign in May.

"I don't believe in ghosts. It is all man-made," Mamata Banerji is reported to have told railway officials when the new trains were being scheduled.

The reopening of the station became "an event for local celebrations", according to railway commercial inspector, Dilip Kumar Ghosh.

He said people gathered in large numbers and "danced in joy" as the train arrived.

"I have never seen a train stop here since I have grown up," said Begunkodor resident Govinda Mahato.

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Largest-ever collection of coins from Bar-Kokhba revolt found by cave researchers in Judean hills

The largest cache of rare coins ever found in a scientific excavation from the period of the Bar-Kokhba revolt of the Jews against the Romans has been discovered in a cave by researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Bar-Ilan University.

The coins were discovered in three batches in a deep cavern located in a nature reserve in the Judean hills. The treasure includes gold, silver and bronze coins, as well as some pottery and weapons.

The discovery was made in the framework of a comprehensive cave research and mapping project being carried out by Boaz Langford and Prof. Amos Frumkin of the Cave Research Unit in the Department of Geography at the Hebrew University, along with Dr. Boaz Zissu and Prof. Hanan Eshel of the Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Bar-Ilan University, and with the support of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.

The some 120 coins were discovered within a cave that has a "hidden wing," the slippery and dangerous approach to which is possible only via a narrow opening discovered many years ago by Dr. Gideon Mann, a physician who is one of the early cave explorers in modern Israel. The opening led to a small chamber which in turn opens into a hall that served as a hiding place for the Jewish fighters of Bar-Kokhba.

Most of the discovered coins are in excellent condition and were overstruck as rebels' coins on top of Roman coins. The new imprints show Jewish images and words (for example: the facade of the Temple in Jerusalem and the slogan "for the freedom of Jerusalem"). Other coins that were found, of gold, silver and bronze, are original Roman coins of the period minted elsewhere in the Roman Empire or in the Land of Israel.

Bar-Kokhba coins of this quality and quantity have never before been discovered in one location by researchers in the Land of Israel, although over the years antiquities looters have found and sold large numbers of coins from this period. The high value of such coins has served as an incentive for thefts in recent decades, especially in the Judean hills, where many such caves exist.

Prof. Frumkin points out the significance of this particular cave, owing to its size, its proximity to Betar, and the large collection of coins found there. Ancient Betar was the site of the "last stand" of the rebels led by Bar-Kokhba in their struggle against Roman rule in Judea from 132-35 CE.

"This discovery verifies the assumption that the refugees of the revolt fled to caves in the center of a populated area in addition to the caves found in more isolated areas of the Judean Desert," said Prof. Frumkin. He also noted that the discovery adds significantly to our knowledge of the Bar-Kokhba revolt, about which there is not a great deal of historical information.

Dr. Zissu points out that one of the fascinating aspects of the Bar-Kokhba revolt is the intensive use of the rebels and Jewish refugees of natural and man-made caves as hiding and refuge places in the face of extensive Roman search-and-destroy missions. Those who fled to the caves took with them food, weapons, drinks, coins and various documents. Sometimes they even took with them the keys to their houses that they abandoned in the hope that one day they would be able to return to them.

Apparently, the people who left behind the cache of coins that has now been found did so during the period of the revolt, following their flight from their homes or from battle with the Romans; however they were unable to return to their hiding place to recover their valuables.

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New York Rabbis Go On Armed self-defence courses

The self-defence classes are run by the International Security Coalition of Clergy, a group set up by Gary Moscowitz, a Queens rabbi and former police officer.

Practising with toy pistols, fellow rabbis and other worshippers are taught basic techniques such as bringing down an assailant by the neck or using a table as cover from gunfire.

More advanced combat moves include performing a running somersault while drawing a gun.

Mr Moscowitz, who also passes on his knowledge as a karate black belt, admitted few people took him seriously until police exposed an alleged plot by Muslim converts to blow two synagogues in the Bronx.

He said he had since been inundated with calls and had set up a 100-hour synagogue self defence course as a result.

Mr Moscowitz, 52, said police officers were unable to protect temples effectively as they were unable to recognise congregation members.

"A terrorist could put a yarmulke on, say, 'Happy holidays', and blow the place up," he told the New York Post.

"Jews are not like Christians. If I turn my cheek, I'm coming around to make a kick." Stuart Rosenberg, who provides martial arts training for the group, said: "Our idea is you can't be spiritual if you're dead. You have to be able to fight back to live another day." Mr Moscowitz stressed that the important Jewish festivals of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are approaching, adding that the FBI regularly issued synagogues with terror alerts.

The rabbi has called for a New York state law that would allow at least five people at a house of worship to carry a gun if they have been trained.

A New York police spokesman said Mr Moscowitz was fired from the department in the 1990s.

Asked to comment on his new project, the spokesman told the Post: "Blessed are the tight of lip for they shall resist speaking ill of the ill-informed."