Yearly Archives 2010

Wallner-Saltzman wedding

Jennifer Wallman and Adam Saltzman were married March 14, 2010 at The Westward Look Resort, with Rabbi Billy Lewkowicz officiating. Jennifer is the daughter of Renee and Michael Wallner and the granddaughter of Susan and the late Sidney Drucker, all of Tucson. She attended Tucson Hebrew Academy, Hebrew High… Read more »

Israeli doctors set aside emotions in treating flotilla passengers

WASHINGTON (Washington Jewish Week) — The call came early on a recent morning: A helicopter carrying those wounded during a deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla would soon arrive at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem. But as doctors began unloading the injured, they quickly realized it wasn’t Israeli… Read more »

Tom Friedman must apologize for slandering Israel

NEW YORK (JTA) — I don’t often read Tom Friedman in The New York Times. True, he is one of the most lucid writers in America, and his crystal-clear prose helps in understanding some of the world’s most intractable conflicts. He can also be repetitive, tiresome and a little… Read more »

Repairing a world shattered by Agent Orange

NEW YORK (JTA) — The Vietnam War looms large in America’s collective memory. Yet for most of us, that’s where the war remains: in memory. Not so for the Vietnamese. Thirty-five years after its conclusion and 15 years since our countries re-established diplomatic ties, the daily lives of many… Read more »

In Venice, a Jewish disconnect between locals and visitors

Chabad yeshiva students gather near the Chabad House on the main square of the Venice Ghetto. (Ruth Ellen Gruber)

VENICE, Italy (JTA) — It was a Friday afternoon in the heart of the historic Venice Ghetto, and I was chatting with the city’s chief rabbi, Elia Richetti, when his cellphone beeped. “It’s a text message from Gam-Gam Goodies, the Chabad-run pastry shop around the corner,” said the bespectacled… Read more »

Prosecution was overzealous in Rubashkin case

Menachem Genack. (courtesy of the Orthodox Union)

NEW YORK (JTA) — The unusually severe sentence of 27 years in prison for Sholom Rubashkin is a victory for a prosecution that from the outset pursued a win-at-all-costs strategy. But the success comes at a price, and not just to the 51-year-old man now facing a virtual life… Read more »

Bork turns Kagan process into fight over Israeli justice

Aharon Barak, formerly Israel's top justice, recently became an issue in Elana Kagan's Supreme Court confirmation process. (Yossi Zamir/Flash 90)

NEW YORK (JTA) — It was an unexpected headline in an otherwise relatively mundane U.S. Supreme Court confirmation process: Bork tries to Bork Barak’s Elena Kagan with Barak card. Like a ghost from confirmations past, failed Reagan nominee Robert Bork grabbed headlines last week when he spoke out against… Read more »

Jewish sparklers light up the Fourth

Bruce Zoldan standing in the Youngstown, Ohio, retail showroom of his fireworks company. (B. J. Alan company of Youngstown)

LOS ANGELES (JTA) — Millions of Fourth of July fuses waiting to be lit are a good sign for Bruce Zoldan and his family business, the B.J. Alan Company, the second largest importer and wholesaler of consumer fireworks in the United States. But it’s already been a pretty hectic… Read more »

Only Israel making the effort toward peace

Alan Solow

CHICAGO (JTA) — Like the people and governments of Israel, the pro-Israel community in the United States has long sought a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through direct negotiations between the parties that would lead to a lasting peace agreement and Israel’s acceptance by all its neighbors. The Israeli… Read more »

New Zealand Jews plan to fight for shechitah

Chickens being kosher slaughtered on New Zealand's South Island in 2009. A new law banning shechitah is being challenged by the country's Jews.

SYDNEY, Australia (JTA) – Barring a last-minute policy reversal, Jewish leaders in New Zealand appear certain to launch legal action against the government over its controversial new law banning kosher slaughter. Six Jewish leaders were granted a 30-minute meeting a week ago with Prime Minister John Key, the son… Read more »

With school controversy, secular-Haredi tensions reach boiling point

Tens of thousands of haredi Orthodox Israelis take to the streets in Jerusalem to protest a court order requiring haredi parents to send their daughters to an Emanuel school , June 17, 2010. (Abir Sultan / Flash90 / JTA)

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The showdown between the Supreme Court and the parents of students at a haredi Orthodox school found guilty of discriminatory practices against Sephardic girls has brought already strained secular-religious relations in Israel to a fever pitch. A remark by Supreme Court Justice Edmond Levy that the… Read more »

Stopping torture needs unswerving commitment

WASHINGTON (JTA) — A recent report by Physicians for Human Rights has found that in the period after Sept. 11, 2001, the U.S. government engaged military and civilian health professionals in “human research and experimentation on prisoners in U.S. custody.” Appalled by these findings, a number of religious leaders… Read more »

Books that made a difference – Eileen Warshaw

To submit  your “Books that made a difference” entry,  mouse over “Contact” and  select “Books that made a difference” from the drop-down menu.. Submissions will be posted online and selected entries will appear in the AJP Rosh Hashanah issue on Sept. 3. The book that changed my life: “This… Read more »

Judith “Yehudit” Lerman

Judith “Yehudit” Lerman, 64, died June 20, 2010. Born in Chicago, Ill., Mrs. Lerman grew up in Milwaukee, Wisc., and celebrated her Bat Mitzvah in 1953. During college, she spent one summer in the south registering blacks for voting rights. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin with a… Read more »

Business Briefs — June 18, 2010

LORI RIEGEL, Temple Emanu-El Youth Education Director, will attend the Mofet Institute Seminar for Community Leaders and Educators in Israel later this month. The program is designed to build leadership and management skills and strengthen ties between leadership in Israel and the Diaspora. EEGEE’S is holding its annual coupon… Read more »

Books that made a difference – Bob Kovitz

To submit  your “Books that made a difference” entry,  mouse over “Contact” and  select “Books that made a difference” from the drop-down menu.. Submissions will be posted online and selected entries will appear in the AJP Rosh Hashanah issue on Sept. 3. In Basic Training for the U.S. Army,… Read more »

Dog therapy contributes to local senior’s post-op recovery

Irving Silverman with Jagger

If “Jagger” evokes an image of the frenzied gyrations of the Rolling Stones lead singer, the Tucson dog bearing his name had an opposite, calming effect on 90-year-old Irving Silverman, who participated in dog therapy with Jagger at Tucson’s St. Joseph’s Hospital. Following surgery for a benign brain tumor… Read more »

Joanne Lefty

Joanne Lefty, 79, died June 9, 2010. Along with her husband, Mrs. Lefty co-owned the Shoe City Shoe Store in downtown Tucson for 30 years. Mrs. Lefty was preceded in death by her husband, William. Survivors include her son, Marty (Kathy) Lefty of Glen Ellyn, Ill.; stepsons, William F.… Read more »

Louis Getz

Louis Getz, 74, died June 8, 2010. Born in Altoona, Pa., Mr. Getz taught mathematics at Syosset High School for 35 years. After retiring, he moved to Tucson and taught at Pima Community College. Survivors include his wife, Sandra; son, Mark D. (Rene) Getz of New York City; brothers,… Read more »

Beatrice Martin

Beatrice M. Martin, 92, died June 5, 2010. Born in Boston, Mass., Mrs. Martin was a former educator and philanthropist. Mrs. Martin was preceded in death by her husband, George in 1996. Survivors include her children, Roberta (Robert) Friedman of Bellevue, Wash., and Avraham (Sarah) Martin of Sefad, Israel;… Read more »