Yearly Archives 2014

Relatives and family members mourning in Tel Aviv during the funeral for Emanuel and Miriam Riva, the Israeli couple killed in the May 24 shooting attack at the Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels, May 27, 2014. (Ilia Yefimovich/Getty Images)

(JTA) — It was the threat that European authorities dreaded — and Europe’s Jews suffered the first blow. The suspect arrested in the attack last month at the Jewish museum in Brussels that left four dead was a French-born jihadist who had returned home from fighting in Syria. Now… Read more »

Thousands attend the blessing of the priests during the morning prayer on Shavuot at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City on May 15, 2013. (Silman Khader/Flash 90)

LOS ANGELES (JTA) — Rabbinic tradition teaches that when God spoke at Sinai, the world was silenced — birds did not sing, breezes did not rustle leaves in the trees. Out of that profound silence came the word, and were the world silent again, for even an instant, we could… Read more »

Ukraine's president-elect, Petro Poroshenko, speaking to the media during a news conference in Kiev, May 26, 2013. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Imrages)

(JTA) — To many of his voters, President-elect Petro Poroshenko represented hope for fixing Ukraine’s ailing economy because of the billionaire candy company founder’s success in business. Others believed that Poroshenko, who won 54 percent of the vote in last week’s presidential race, was the best candidate for negotiating… Read more »

Likkud Knesset member Rerven Riv;in meets with children at a Jerusalem school on May 30, 2014. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

TEL AVIV (JTA) — The front-runner in Israel’s presidential election has equated Reform Judaism with “idol worship” and refused to refer to Reform rabbis by their title. Former Knesset speaker Reuven “Ruby” Rivlin, considered a Likud party elder statesman, is one of six candidates running to succeed Shimon Peres in… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — In the charming movie “Groundhog Day,” Bill Murray’s character repeatedly relives the same day until learning from the repetition transforms him from lout to worthy wooer of his colleague, played by Andie MacDowell. The “Groundhog Day” of Presbyterian-Jewish relations is coming soon to a theater… Read more »

(Tucson, Arizona) May 23, 2014 – The Arizona chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America hosted a quilting bee May 24 in Tucson as part of The Mother’s Dream Quilt Project. This national campaign is bringing moms together to create a series of quilts from fabric submissions… Read more »

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, at far right, receives the Genesis Prize on May 22, 2014 at the Jerusalem Theater, where he is joined onstage by, from left, ceremony emcee and former "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; the chairman of the Jewish Agency, Natan Sharansky; and the chairman of the Genesis Prize, Stan Polovets. (Milner/Genesis)

JERUSALEM (JTA) — There were ballerinas, a full dance ensemble, soloists, a harpist, a video tribute to Jewish luminaries in multiple fields, a multimedia orchestra performance celebrating the enduring light of creation, a speech from the prime minister, stand-up from Jay Leno, and an audience packed with top Jewish… Read more »

Rabbi Thomas Louchheim

Rabbi Thomas Louchheim of Congregation Or Chadash was one of the 10 Tucson clergy who took part in an interfaith “Why Marriage Matters Arizona” event, voicing support for the freedom for all couples to be able to marry, on Tuesday, May 27 at 6 p.m. at Casas Adobes Congregational… Read more »

BRUSSELS (JTA) — The cold determination with which the shooter at Belgium’s Jewish museum murdered four people shocked many Belgians, but local Jewish leaders have long anticipated the possibility of such an attack on their community. The shooter who entered the Jewish Museum of Belgium on Saturday in central… Read more »

KIEV, Ukraine (JTA) — At an empty Chabad school near the banks of the Dnieper River here in Ukraine’s capital city, six uniformed Jews with handguns and bulletproof vests are practicing urban warfare. Leading the training last week is a brawny man who at irregular intervals barks Hebrew-language commands… Read more »

Pope Francis touches the wall that separates Israel from the West Bank on his way to celebrate a mass in Manger Square in Bethlehem, May 25, 2014. (Nour Shamaly/POOL/Flash90)

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Perhaps the most lasting image from Pope Francis’ trip to Israel and the West Bank will be the pontiff praying, eyes closed, with his head against a wall. It wasn’t the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Judaism’s holiest site and a necessary stop for visiting dignitaries. It… Read more »

Adults and children participating in a silent vigil outside the Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels for the four victims of a shooting there by an unidentified gunman, May 25, 2014. (Cnaan Liphshiz)

BRUSSELS (JTA) — Hunched over a small island of memorial candles for the victims of the attack on the Jewish Museum of Belgium, Paul Ambach is lost in thought. “Once again, Jewish blood in Belgium, which is no longer Belgium,” said Ambach, a well-known Jewish musician from Antwerp, as… Read more »

Philip Roth receives an honorary doctorate at the Jewish Theological Seminary's commencement in New York on May 22, 2014. (Ellen Dubin Photography)

(JTA) — “What is being done to silence this man?” an American rabbi asked in a 1963 letter to the Anti-Defamation League. He was talking about the novelist Philip Roth, whose early novels and short stories cast his fellow American Jews in what some considered a none-too-flattering light. Fast-forward… Read more »

SCOTT H. GAN, a shareholder of Mesch, Clark & Rothschild PC, has been elected a member of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. The academy was founded in 1990 to recognize outstanding appellate lawyers and promote the improvement of appellate advocacy and the administration of the appellate courts. Membership… Read more »

TEMPLE EMANU-EL PRESIDENT BONNIE GOLDEN recently joined 100 other presidents and presidents-elect from Reform congregations at the Union for Reform Judaism’s 16th Annual Scheidt Seminar. They discussed solutions to everyday congregational problems, explored Torah-based governance, improved leadership skills and networked. Speakers — and study partners — included URJ President… Read more »

Benjamin David Spiegel, son of Ester Vider-Spiegel and Ron Spiegel, will celebrate becoming a Bar Mitzvah on Saturday, May 31, 2014 at Temple Emanu-El. He is the grandson of Meira Spiegel and the late David Spiegel of Beit She’an, Israel, and Hanna Vider and the late David Vider of… Read more »

Saul Isaac Weintraub, son of Ellen Weintraub, will celebrate becoming a Bar Mitzvah on Saturday, May 24, 2014 with Rabbi Miri Fleming at the Westward Look Resort. He is the grandson of Deborah and Gerald Weintraub of Tucson and Lynda Apt of Tampa, Fla. Saul attends Orange Grove Middle… Read more »

(L-R) Donald Diamond, honorary capital campaign chair, with former JCC chairs Lex Sears, Tom Warne, Lynda Rogoff, Brenda Viner, Bill Viner, Dick Belkin, Larry Haas, Fran Katz and Gerry Tumarkin break ground for the JCC’s new sports and wellness facility upgrade. (Courtesy Bolchalk Frey Marketing)

JCC renovation groundbreaking The Tucson Jewish Community Center held a groundbreaking ceremony April 29 to usher in the renovation and expansion of the facility. Along with creating a larger space for gym equipment and classes, the renovation will allow the JCC to increase programming options. The 100,000 square foot… Read more »

Rabbi Ben Herman

We have now reached the series of Torah portions that is a mathe­matician’s dream. After all, this section of the Torah is called Numbers! In Parshat B’midbar, a census is taken of the Israelite men of military age who would later conquer the Land of Canaan. The total count… Read more »

Cyvia Evenchik, 81, died May 7, 2014. Mrs. Evenchik was preceded in death by her youngest child, Clark. Survivors include her children, Arthur Evenchik, Lynn Even­chik and Mark (Daphne) Evenchik; daughter-in-law Reena; nine grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. Mrs. Evenchik earned an LPN degree. She worked as an extra in… Read more »