Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responds to President Obama's address in New York, Sept. 24. (Kobi Gideon/ via Getty Images) The good news for Israel in President Obama’s speech at the United Nations was his insistence that any steps Iran might take to solve the standoff over its nuclear program must be transparent and verifiable. The bad news was that Obama wasn’t clear about what those steps should be.… Read more »
Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon Back when I was a student at UCLA my college job was working part-time as a cantor, leading services Friday night and Saturday morning and all festivals. I was in a “Jewish fraternity,” AEPi, where I also lived. But that did not mean that all members of the house… Read more »
"The Goldbergs" premiered Sept. 24 on ABC. (ABC/Bob D'Amico) HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (JTA) — Some were psyched for the nostalgia of “The Goldbergs,” a new ABC sitcom about a boisterous, outspoken American family set in the 1980s. But Wednesday’s premiere was a little too loaded with references to that neon-colored, big-haired decade — think REO Speedwagon, Sam Goody, hair… Read more »
Mayim Bialik NEW YORK (6NoBacon) — Sarah Silverman revealed in a recent appearance on W. Kamau Bell’s show “Totally Biased” that she was hurt by the jokes made about her age at the Comedy Central roast of James Franco. It was somewhat surprising — not because the jokes weren’t offensive, but… Read more »
Once a symbol of the promise of Israeli-Palestinian peace, the Oasis Casino in Jericho has been shuttered for 13 years. (David Silverman/Newsmakers) JERICHO, West Bank (JTA) — The Intercontinental Hotel Jericho’s towering brick palazzo, flanked by a row of palm trees leading to an ornate archway entrance, seems the very epitome of desert luxury. But inside, the hotel lobby — replete with marble floors and plush armchairs — stands empty on… Read more »
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The story that this year’s J Street conference schedule tells is, typically enough, about getting Israel and the Palestinians to a two-state solution. Between the lines is another narrative as urgent as peacekeeping to the liberal pro-Israel group: getting J Street into the establishment. The second… Read more »
The “Seeking Kin” column aims to help reunite long-lost relatives and friends. BALTIMORE (JTA) — The photograph shows a lighthearted moment at the end of a war that four decades later still prompts analysis and evokes somber reflections. Snapped just after Israel and Egypt had signed an agreement ending… Read more »
Former Baptist Sunday school teacher designing for the frum fashionista. (JTA) — Just before Maria Patricia de Sousa set out for a yearlong stint at a seminary in Jerusalem seven years ago, she stopped by the house of an Orthodox Jewish woman in her home city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. She wanted to find out about life in Jerusalem… Read more »
TANA JONES, director of development at the TUCSON JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER, has been honored with a 40 Under 40 award by the Arizona Daily Star and the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Jones joined the JCC in March 2011. After receiving a scholarship from the local chapter of the… Read more »
Recent photographs by CY LEHRER will be on display at the Tucson International Airport Lower Link Gallery through Dec. 31. It will include works from four projects: “Digital Noir,” “More Postcards from the Strip,” “Non-Objective Abstraction Group” and “The Walls of Buenos Aires: Collage.” A reception will be held… Read more »
Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, left, meets with Israeli President Shimon Peres at the presidential palace in Baku, June 28, 2009. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO via Getty Images) BAKU, Azerbaijan (JTA) — With less than a month to go until presidential elections, the moustachioed smile of Ilham Aliyev stares down at his countrymen from giant posters scattered around this bustling metropolis on the Caspian Sea. The Azerbaijani president has been in office since 2003 and is widely… Read more »
Téa Elianna Weiner, daughter of Naomi and Tamir Weiner, will celebrate becoming a Bat Mitzvah on Sept. 28, 2013 with Congregation Bet Shalom at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. She is the granddaughter of Liliane and the late Alexander Blumenberg of Tucson; Betty and the late Ira Weiner of… Read more »
Yonatan Eliezer Weiner, son of Naomi and Tamir Weiner, will celebrate becoming a Bar Mitzvah on Sept. 28, 2013 with Congregation Bet Shalom at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. He is the grandson of Liliane and the late Alexander Blumenberg of Tucson; Betty and the late Ira Weiner of… Read more »
ALIYA MALKA MARKOWITZ, daughter of Ilana and Neil Markowitz, will celebrate becoming a Bat Mitzvah on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2013 with Congregation Chaverim at the Westward Look Resort. She is the granddaughter of Jana Klenburg of New York, Barbara Potashkin of New Jersey, the late Herb Potashkin, the late… Read more »
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The reader opened with a recitation of Psalm 48 followed by a contemporary poem before yielding the floor to five male dancers, all wearing the standard haredi Orthodox uniform of black pants and white button-down shirt. One had bushy earlocks but no yarmulke. So began the… Read more »
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington, Aug. 9, 2013. (Win McNamee/Getty Images) WASHINGTON (JTA) — Pro-Israel groups suspended their high-profile lobbying effort for a strike on Syria now that the United States and Russia have struck a deal to strip the Assad regime of its chemical weapons. A spokesman for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which organized a Capitol Hill… Read more »
A Chabad volunteer helps people clear damaged goods from their homes in Colorado. (Courtesy of Chabad) DENVER (IJN) — Before the start of Yom Kippur, a flood of historic proportions swallowed Boulder, Colo., and surrounding areas, displacing families, damaging synagogues and threatening services on the holiest day of the Jewish year — until determination came to the rescue. Orthodox Boulder Aish Kodesh hit the Internet… Read more »
Devorah Blachor wondered whether staying home after the birth of her daughter Mari was just a convenient way of surrendering to her fears and not facing the world. JERUSALEM (JTA) — At a recent kids-included party in Jerusalem, I spent much of the time either on the floor with my daughter Mari or trailing her around to make sure she didn’t eat anything toxic. A successful American journalist living here chatted with me for a few minutes,… Read more »
NEW YORK (JTA) — It’s not that often that Labor Day and Rosh Hashanah fall so close together on the calendar. This year they are but three days apart, providing an opportunity for some introspection on an issue that should be of concern to the entire American Jewish community:… Read more »
NEW YORK (6NoBacon Staff) — From Shanah Tovah shoutouts to on-set shofar blowing, here’s how some of the more famous and attractive among us recognized the new year. 1. What to do when filming your Kickstarter-funded project gets in the way of Rosh Hashanah? Celebrate at work, of course!… Read more »
