Yearly Archives 2012

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The debate over an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities has heated up in recent weeks, with several current and former Israeli security chiefs coming out against an attack. Here are some of the debate’s most prominent figures, plus what President Obama and his Republican challenger,… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — On the ground floor of a building on a leafy residential street in southern Jerusalem, two men squeeze past each other in a crowded foyer. One is wearing a small, flat, glistening black hat and a long coat, the typical dress of some Chasidim even in… Read more »

Shaul Stampfer, one of Israel’s foremost experts on Eastern European Jewry, is the most unlikely of iconoclasts. A thin, quiet, unassuming man, he gives the impression that he would have been happy as a simple melamed (elementary school teacher) in the shtetls he describes. He seems to revel in challenging common… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — Orthodox groups expressed disappointment in the decision by the New York City Board of Health to require parental consent for a controversial circumcision ritual but gave no indication that they would mount legal challenges to the new regulation. On Sept. 13, the health department voted… Read more »

Left to right, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyah, President Obama and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressing the U.N. General Assembly in 2011. Israeli officials told the Israeli media that Obama's refusal to meet with Netanyahu at this year's General Assembly is a sign of tension over Iran policy. (Courtesy U.N./design by Uri Fintzy)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Between the red lines, the deadlines, the diplomacy and the dress downs, the vaunted cooperation between Israel and the United States on whether and when to strike Iran seems to be in a free fall. In an unusually blunt outburst, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sept.… Read more »

(JTA) — Don’t turn off your phone — it’s not an announcement typically heard as religious services begin. But congregants at a Miami Beach High Holidays service for young adults will be asked to use their cellphones to send text messages to the rabbi during parts of the Rosh… Read more »

(JTA) — The greatest Jewish success story in a quarter century has become unknown to many in less than a generation. On Dec. 6, 1987, when Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrived in Washington, more than a quarter-million American Jews — Democrats and Republicans, observant and secular, and individuals representing… Read more »

French citizens in Israel voting at the French consulate in Tel Aviv during the first round of a presidential election. April 22, 2012. (Gideon Markowicz/FLASH90)

NETANYA, Israel (JTA) — On a street off Independence Square, storefronts advertise “La Creperie Galette,” “Nouvel’hair” and “Agence Immobiliere.” Families lounging under parasols at cafe tables chat in French and enjoy a sunny afternoon, Nearby, the Mediterranean waves lap up against tranquil beaches. But in the local language, Independence… Read more »

Left to right, Dayan Chanoch Ehrentreu and newly ordained Rabbis Dani Fabian, Reuven Konnik, Naftoly Surovtsev and Jonathan Konits, following their ordination ceremony at the Synagogue Community Center in Cologne, Germany, Sept. 13, 2012. (Photo by Uri Strauss)

(JTA) — For four men in Germany, this Jewish New Year will be like no other. It will be their first year as ordained rabbis, working to help build Jewish life in the very country that nearly succeeded in wiping out European Jewry. In ceremonies held Thursday at the… Read more »

Right to left: Jakob Staszevski, Tyson Herberger and Rebecca Herberger at Kalatowki Lodge in southern Poland, Sept. 6, 2012. (Cnaan Liphshiz)

ZAKOPANE, Poland (JTA) — In southern Polish woods, an unfamiliar blast alarms hikers and wildlife as it pierces the still of a misty morning. It has been a long time since a shofar echoed in these mountains. At the narrow end of the traditional Jewish horn are the puckered… Read more »

Palestinians demonstrating against the high costs of living in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Sept. 11, 2012. (Issam Rimawi/Flash90/JTA)

TEL AVIV (JTA) – Could the Palestinian Authority’s budget woes end up costing Israel? Growing economic protests in the West Bank could lead to increased regional instability and perhaps even the end of the Palestinian Authority, experts are warning. At this point, however, they say the protests are unlikely… Read more »

Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens was one of four U.S. diplomats killed in a rocket attack in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012. (U.S. Department of State)

NEW YORK (JTA) — There was no Israeli-American real estate developer named Sam Bacile, and the 100 Jews he claimed had financed his anti-Islam film were fictitious as well. Both fabrications were offered to the media apparently to hide the true identity of the Egyptian Christian from Southern California… Read more »

One way to keep things even and even-tempered in your sukkah this holiday and election season. (Edmon J. Rodman)

LOS ANGELES (JTA) — In an election year, a sukkah divided against itself cannot stand. Especially in the swing states, where each party is basically claiming that if the other wins we’ll all be living in sukkahs, political dinner conversation this Sukkot could really topple an already shaky house.… Read more »

Emily and Ashley Feig on a camel in the Judean Desert

Under rabbinic supervision Leroy and Bobbie Feig waited two years for Congregation Anshei Israel’s Rabbi Robert Eisen to lead another congregational tour to Israel, which he did from June 18 to 29. Just as the rabbi is inspired by seeing Israel through the eyes of others, the Feigs wished… Read more »

David H. Seltzer, 81, died Aug. 22, 2012. Mr. Seltzer graduated from Long Island University. He served in the Korean War and was decorated. Mr. Seltzer owned several businesses including all the Morrow’s Nut Houses in Tucson and the original Famous Sam’s on Prince Road and First Avenue. Mr.… Read more »

Gilad Shalit is greeted by cheering crowds as he finally returns to his family home in Mitzpe Hila, Israel after five years in captivity, Oct. 18, 2011. (IDF spokesperson)

  NEW YORK (JTA) — JTA follows and updates some of the stories on which it reported during 5772. * Skeleton competitor Bradley Chalupski followed through on his plans to make aliyah, moving to Israel from Lake Placid, N.Y., where he had spent two years practicing on the bobsled… Read more »

TRISH WINTER-HUNT has been named the new director of marketing, communications and public relations for the TUCSON JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER. Raised in Tucson, she earned her bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies from the University of Arizona. Her experience includes building integrated marketing communications strategies for local, regional and national… Read more »

DIANE WEINTRAUB will be honored as the Tucson recipient of the Kipnis-Wilson/Friedland Award during the 2012 International Lion of Judah Conference in New York, Sept. 10-12. The award is named for Norma Kipnis-Wilson and the late Toby Friedland, who founded the Lions of Judah, a Jewish Federations of North… Read more »

David Cutler announces the engagement of his daughter, Shana Diane Cutler, to Mickey Amster, son of Rabbi Moshe and Natalie Amster of Los Angeles. Shana is the daughter of the late Felicia Cutler and the granddaughter of Lois and Ev Broder of Tucson and Esther Gross of Baltimore, Md.… Read more »

Michael and Barbara Heisler announce the engagement of their daughter, Laura Shayna Heisler, to Scott Philip Cogan, son of Jesse and Sandy Cogan of Livingston, N.J. Laura graduated from St. Gregory College Preparatory School and the University of Arizona with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. She is currently… Read more »