On the first day or Rosh Hashanah, a body of flowing water with fish and sime bread crumbs are all that's needed to begin the transformative process of tashlich. (Edmon J. Rodman) LOS ANGELES (JTA) — Can ridding oneself of a year’s sins really be as simple as tossing a piece of bread into the water? Basically that’s tashlich, or “casting away,” a custom that many Jews practice each year at the seashore, lakeshore, stream or even koi pond. Simply find… Read more »
Rabbi Lynne Goldsmith, left, and her husband, Rob Goldsmith, in front of their synagogue, Temple Emanu-El of Dothan, Ala. (Rob Goldsmith) CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (JTA) — Sometimes, Benjamin Rosenthal thinks about leaving the small town of Indianola, Miss., pop. 11,000, where he spent most of his life. He wants to go somewhere bigger, with more Jews. “It’s very easy to lose your identity in the Bible Belt in a town when… Read more »
Ann and Mitt Romney after his speech accepting the Republican presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., Aug. 30, 2012. (Romney campaign) TAMPA Fla. (JTA) — Republicans spent three evenings at their convention hammering home their message: After four years of leadership failures, Mitt Romney will restore America to a position of strength, confidence and unity — at home and abroad. In his Thursday night speech accepting the Republican presidential nomination,… Read more »
NEW YORK (JTA) — In July I traveled to Ghana with 17 American rabbis. We spent 12 days constructing the walls of a school compound in partnership with a local Ghanian community ravaged by hunger, poverty and labor exploitation. More important than our efforts to mix cement and schlep… Read more »
CHICAGO (Chicago Jewish News) — Shortly after I became a vegan, around 20 years ago, I ordered my first “vegan option” at a Jewish organizational dinner. It arrived: a plateful of raw celery and carrot sticks arranged around a cup of something ranch dressing-ish that probably wasn’t even vegan.… Read more »
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Philanthropist Charles Bronfman once told me, “Leaders lead. That’s what they do.” Years later I was sitting with his professional partner for philanthropic impact, Jeffrey Solomon. “Leaders lead,” Solomon said. “That’s what they do.” Like an old married couple who finish each other’s sentences, these two… Read more »
(Jewish Ideas Daily) — On July 10th, dignitaries from the U.S., German, and Israeli governments attended a celebratory ceremony at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum marking the 60th anniversary of the first agreement between the West German and Israeli governments and the Jewish “Claims Conference” to grant modest financial… Read more »
A demonstrator outside the New Theatre in Budapest was part of a crowd of more than 1,000 protesting the appointment of the theater's new director, Gyorgy Dornerr, Oct. 22, 2011. (B. Molnar/latogato.blogspot.nl) (JTA) – It’s a relieved Judit Csaki from Budapest that calls journalists with the anticlimactic news: The dramatic news conference on state-sponsored anti-Semitism that she had scheduled for next week is canceled, as Budapest Mayor Istvan Tarlos has just announced the scrapping of plans to stage an anti-Semitic play… Read more »
Cyber security developers like those seen here from Elbit, an Israeli defense electronics company, will need to play an increasingly integral role in halting more complicated computer viruses. (Courtesy Elbit Systems) TEL AVIV (JTA) — As the frequency of suicide bombings increased in the 1990s, Israelis began to realize that their conflicts had shifted from the conventional battlefield to their streets, buses and cafes. Now the country — along with the rest of the world — is adapting to a… Read more »
Rachel Corrie's parents, Craig and Cindy, await Haifa District Court Judge Oded Gershon's reading of the verdict in their suit against Israel over their daughter's 2003 death in Gaza, Aug. 28, 2012. (Ben Sales) HAIFA, Israel (JTA) — The verdict by an Israeli court in the case of Rachel Corrie, an American activist killed in Gaza by an Israeli military bulldozer in 2003, may have captured international attention and touched on a range of ethical issues at the center of Israel’s military operations.… Read more »
Mitt Romney speaking at the NASCAR Technical Institute in Mooresville, N.C., Aug. 11, 2012. (Mitt Romney official website) TAMPA, Fla. (JTA) — Whole barbecued pigs, cheerleaders and elegies to skinny-dipping farmers’ daughters. That was the organized noise Sunday night at the opening bash of the Republican National Convention at Tropicana Field, the home of Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg. For those seeking Jewish… Read more »
Members of ZAKA rescuing a Torah from Congregation Beth Israel after Hurricane Katrina hit, August 2005. (Courtesy ZAKA) (JTA) — Seven years ago an iconic picture for many Jews of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina was of men waist deep in a flooded synagogue carrying Torahs to safety. On Sunday, in a celebration of physical and spiritual unity, the Torahs of that congregation were carried into… Read more »
CONGREGATION ANSHEI ISRAEL has been accepted as one of 30 congregations nationally to participate in a new leadership program, “Sulam (ladder) for Emerging Leaders.” United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism piloted the program last year in 10 congregations. The six-week program for 30- to 45-year-olds will be facilitated by Rabbi… Read more »
ISABELLA PAULINE BRODY-CALIXTO, daughter of Sandra and Sol Brody, will celebrate becoming a Bat Mitzvah on Saturday, August 25 at Temple Emanu-El. She is the granddaughter of Bonnie and Bill Brody of Port St. Lucie, Fla., and Delia and Rafael Calixto of Columbia. Isabella attends St. Gregory College Preparatory… Read more »
Dr. Ruth Westheimer (Maxine Dovere) Born Karola Ruth Siegel in Frankfurt, Germany, the woman now known as “Dr. Ruth” saw her father arrested by Nazis and said a final goodbye to her mother as she boarded a Kindertransport rescue train to Switzerland. By 17, she was in the British mandate of Palestine on a… Read more »
The political cartoon in the Aug. 10 edition, which portrays Romney as “pandering to the Jewish vote” because he visited Israel, made positive statements about Israel’s importance to the USA as an ally and that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, is just another liberal attack on Romney. The… Read more »
As I write this, I am packing up my home and thinking about the eight years I called Tucson home. When I moved here, I thought Tucson would always be my home, but life has thrown me a curve ball that I did not expect. I have family reasons… Read more »
Give a little … Change a lot. That is the motto of the B’nai Tzdek Tucson teen philanthropy program, which will have its annual kickoff event Sunday, Sept. 9, 1-3 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. Teens contribute $180 to a B’nai Tzedek Fund at the Jewish Community… Read more »
Guy Gelbart It’s been a long hot summer! My summer began on May 18 on the way to Israel, waiting for the special security checks for an El Al flight to Israel from Los Angeles. I couldn’t help wondering why is it that only flights to Israel are required to go… Read more »
Rev. Dr. John Kitagawa, Jake Gordon and Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon celebrate Jake’s Bar Mitzvah in Jerusalem. ( Photo: Bruno Charbit Photography) Instead of a traditional Jewish mission to Israel, Temple Emanu-El and St. Philip’s in the Hills Episcopal Church joined forces to expand their congregants’ understanding of the Holy Land. Twelve Jews and 11 Christians participated in the interfaith mission led by Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon and Rev. Dr. John… Read more »
