Dov Jakobovitz, 85, lives in an old-age home in a poor neighborhood of Tel Aviv. He survived Auschwitz and fought in two Israeli wars, but now he doesn't have enough money for food. (Ben Sales) TEL AVIV (JTA) — Breakfast costs Dov Jakobovitz $2. Lunch costs him $2.25. Both are served in the public old-age home in south Tel Aviv where he lives. But the food is not to his liking. Jakobovitz longs for the dishes he ate as a child in Transylvania —… Read more »
Edwin Black WASHINGTON (JTA) — As the current round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks flounder and seek to regain momentum, many are wondering what America can do with its prodigious economic resources to encourage peace and reconciliation between the parties. For this reason, it may astound many that American taxpayers already are… Read more »
Colorado State University freshman Andrew Schneeweis sinks a half-court shot at a pep rally to win a year’s free tuition. (John Eisele/CSU Photography) BALTIMORE (JTA) — The basketball goal that Ellen Schneeweis bought for her four sons as a Hanukkah present in 2008 drew Andrew, the second oldest, to practice shot after shot. Some attempts came from a pretty fair distance — like the sidewalk in front of his neighbors’ house in… Read more »
Sen. Mark Kirk, shown here with Sen. Kelly Ayotte testifying before a Senate committee on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on Nov. 5, 2013, has been a leader in pushing for Iran sanctions. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images) WASHINGTON (JTA) — They want to brandish a new stick against Iran, but hawks in Congress aren’t going to use it — yet. For all the disappointment they expressed following the deal on Iran’s nuclear program, skeptics in Congress appear to be willing to give the agreement brokered… Read more »
Liad Shoham TEL AVIV (JTA) – “You and I, we need to have a little talk about sex,” my editor said in a deep voice. I was in the midst of writing my first thriller about a geeky lawyer suspected of murder, and I was waiting for my editor’s verdict about… Read more »
Manager Brad ausmus, right, and two of his coaches, Shawn Green, left, and Gabe Kapler, constituted the all-Jewish, Major Leagie-pedigree leadership of Israel's 2012 tean competing for a World Baseball Classic bid. (Israel Association of Baseball) BALTIMORE (JTA) – Almost from the moment they met him, several officials and players with Israel’s national baseball team said they saw manager Brad Ausmus headed for the major leagues. They cited his communication skills, command of the game and preparation — not to mention his 18-year playing career… Read more »
Let us remember … that in the end we go to poetry for one reason, so that we might more fully inhabit our lives and the world in which we live them, and that if we more fully inhabit these things, we might be less apt to destroy both.… Read more »
JERUSALEM (JTA) — It is a cause that elicited cheers from a roomful of participants at the Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly. Leading politicians have long championed it and are now trying to push it through a divided Knesset. Nearly two-thirds of Israelis support it, and activists… Read more »
President Obama makes a statement announcing an interim agreement on Iran's nuclear program at the White House on Nov. 23, 2013. (T.J. Kirkpatrick-Pool/Getty Images) TEL AVIV (JTA) — For the first time in a decade, the United States and a coalition of world powers have reached an agreement with Iran to curb the country’s nuclear program. The deal requires Iran to limit its nuclear enrichment and freeze most of its centrifuges for six… Read more »
The Christians for Israel menorah being mounted in Nijkerk near Amsterdam on Nov. 25, 2013. (Sara van Oordt, Christians for Israel) BERLIKUM, Netherlands (JTA) — In a windswept parking lot near the North Sea shore, Klaas Zijlstra stands motionless as he admires his latest creation. It’s the first time he is testing the 36-foot menorah he has spent weeks designing and building in the shape of a Star of David… Read more »
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement, in his office in Jerusalem, Nov. 24, 2013 regarding the agreement reached in Geneva a few hours earlier between Iran and six world powers. (Haim Zach/GPO/Flash90) TEL AVIV (JTA) — With an interim agreement on Iran’s nuclear program in place, President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu each face formidable challenges ahead. For Obama, the goal will be to move from the interim agreement to a broader and more permanent deal within six… Read more »
CONGREGATION ANSHEI ISRAEL has received the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism’s Centennial Schechter Commendation for the creation of mobile applications for Apple and Android devices that put synagogue communications, programs and events, including Shabbat and holiday information, at users’ fingertips. Congregant Gary Windham created the apps in 2012 after… Read more »
Hannah Sarah Baker, daughter of Rachael and Barry Baker, will celebrate becoming a Bat Mitzvah on Dec. 14 with Congregation Or Chadash at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. She is the granddaughter of Alice and Paul Baker of Tucson, Fran and Arnold Freed of Los Angeles and Barbara Freed… Read more »
Cipora Anjy Cohon, daughter of Rabbi Samuel and Wendy Weise Cohon and Rhody Downey, will celebrate becoming a Bat Mitzvah Saturday, Nov. 30, at Temple Emanu-El. She is the granddaughter of Rabbi Baruch and Claire Cohon of Los Angeles, and Benjamin and Brenda Schneider of Tucson. Cece attends Orange… Read more »
Jared Bowen post-New York marathon
Tennis anyone Last month, Mary Alderman traveled to Israel for the eighth time, one of 24 participants on the Israel Tennis Center’s 5-Star Israel Experience. The ITC is a nonprofit organization that since 1976 has been helping children and teens living in poverty, new immigrants, at-risk youth and those… Read more »
Daniel Perez The Hillel Foundation, that ubiquitous symbol of Jewish life on college campuses in America and across the globe, turns 90 this year. I know this because it came up in a recent exchange I had with the University of Arizona Hillel Foundation’s executive director, Michelle Blumenberg. I’m an alumnus,… Read more »
Norman Neipris, 85, died Oct. 15, 2013. Born in Malden, Mass., Mr. Neipris graduated from Malden High School and attended one year at the University of New Mexico. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. Three weeks after he was discharged, he married his wife, Judith,… Read more »
Rabbi Israel Becker Names are very important in Judaism. When parents give a name to a child it should be carefully chosen. The names of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and all the 12 tribes of Israel were specifically chosen not only to commemorate an event but to trigger a response within us… Read more »
Tova Kinderlehrer and her husband, Micah Simmons, are hoping to draw 10 Jewish families to their farm in rural Pennsylvania. (JTA) For most of the seven years Tova Kinderlehrer lived with her young family in Pittsburgh, she wished she were somewhere else. Her son wasn’t doing well in school, her husband’s construction career had stalled and Kinderlehrer, though part of a “massive” urban community, felt isolated. She dreamed of escape.… Read more »
Statistics can be overwhelming and the results can be taken out of context. Tucson rabbis and academics sought to put the recent Pew Research Religion & Public Life Project’s “A Portrait of Jewish Americans” into perspective during a panel discussion at Congregation Anshei Israel on Nov. 3. “Before we… Read more »
