Denver Academy of Torah teacher Benjamin Levy, center, is rooting for his hometown Seattle Seahawks, but is mindful of his students' passion for their native Denver Broncos. (Courtesy Benjamin Levy) BALTIMORE (JTA) — Rabbi Daniel Alter expects some added fervency during daily prayer services at the Denver Academy of Torah in the days leading up to the Super Bowl. Alter, the academy’s head of school, recalls that when the Colorado Rockies faced the Boston Red Sox in the 2007… Read more »
(JTA) — The call came one evening in August. I was in Jerusalem staying with my oldest sister, Goldy, for the summer. “It’s for you,” Goldy shouted from the kitchen. “Aunt Fraidy!” Aunt Fraidy had been my host in my last year of high school. My parents, concerned about… Read more »
Examples of Anne Frank abound in Japanese popular culture. (Courtesy of Alan Lewkowicz) AMSTERDAM (JTA) — She speaks only Japanese and is not entirely sure what country she’s in, but 18-year-old Haruna Matsui is happy to stand in the rain for an hour with two friends to see the home of a person she has never met yet nonetheless considers her soul… Read more »
Mosab Hassan Yousef, right, is the subject of "The Green Prince" by filmmaker Nadav Schirman, left, a documentary about Yosef's work spying for Israel and his friendship with his Israeli handler Gonen ben Itzhak, center. (Larry Busacca/Getty Images) PARK CITY, Utah (JTA) — Perhaps the most difficult thing about watching the new documentary “The Green Prince” is feeling that you should not be there, that everyone in the theater should be asked to leave before any more Israeli intelligence secrets are divulged. When the Israeli newspaper Haaretz… Read more »
The Taglit-Birthright Israel program has expanded eligibility for its free 10-day trips to Israel for Jewish young adults ages 18-26, JNS.org has learned. Teenagers who went on an educational trip to Israel during high school were previously not eligible for Birthright trips, but can now participate, confirmed Noa Bauer,… Read more »
An enthusiastic London Fletcher being introduced as a starter for the Washington Redskins. He holds the NFL record for consecutive starts by a linebacker with 216 while playing for three teams. (Courtesy Washington Redskins) BALTIMORE (JTA) — The rain dripping from his uniform provided an unceremonious end to London Fletcher’s career as the Washington Redskins linebacker headed to the locker room following a recent road loss to the New York Giants. His team’s last-place finish was hardly the idealized final walk off the… Read more »
The 2006 kidnapping and murder of Ilan Halimi, who is pictured here, is the subject of a forthcoming feature film from the director Alexandre Arcady. (Courtesy of Stephanie Yin) SAINTE-GENEVIEVE-DES-BOIS, France (JTA) — The phone calls from Africa, the calm demeanor of the suspects and their extreme caution left no doubt in the minds of detectives working the Ilan Halimi case: They were up against an international ring of professional kidnappers. It would be more more than three… Read more »
Sen. Robert Menendez WASHINGTON (JTA) — In previous AIPAC vs. White House dustups, the pro-Israel lobbying group’s strategy was to speak softly and let Congress carry the big stick. But in the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s face-off with the Obama administration over new Iran sanctions, congressional support may not be so… Read more »
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper meeting with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, in Ottawa in 2012. TORONTO (JTA) — It took seven years, but one of Israel’s staunchest allies among world leaders has made his maiden voyage to the Jewish state. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper arrived in Israel on Sunday with his wife, Laureen. On Tuesday, Harper and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed… Read more »
(L-R): Melissa Hall, Nancy Cohen and Rosa Cohen at the blackjack table Margie Fenton award Some 200 people gathered on Sunday, Jan. 5 at Mercado San Agustin for the annual meeting of the Jewish Community Relations Council and to celebrate 10 years of the Jewish Latino Teen Coalition, a program of the JCRC and the Office of Congressman Raul Grijalva. Eileen… Read more »
ADAM LEHRMAN, a.k.a. Tucson Foodie (www.tucsonfoodie.com), has established two new online businesses. Quizine.com gives dining deals to participants who relate feedback to restaurateurs in real time via their smart phones. Soapbox.sm is a marketing company based on the use of social media to promote businesses. ORI PARNABY and HILARY… Read more »
RABBI BILLY LEWKOWICZ recently completed the Tucson Marathon. Known in his native South Africa as the “Running Rabbi,” he ran marathons, “ultra marathons” including the famous “Comrades Marathon” of 56 miles and a charity run of 100 miles. Since immigrating to Tucson in1994, he had not run a marathon.… Read more »
Zoey Simcha Leipsic, daughter of John and Staci Leipsic, will celebrate becoming a Bat Mitzvah on Saturday, Jan. 25 with Congregation Or Chadash at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. She is the granddaughter of Jack and Cynthia Krupinsky of Vail, Ariz., Dyanne Krupinsky of Boynton Beach, Fla., Susan Storch… Read more »
Juliet Elizabeth Webster, daughter of Nancy Tepper and Patrick Webster, will celebrate becoming a Bat Mitzvah on Friday, Jan. 31 at Congregation Chaverim. She is the granddaughter of Sheila and Jack Tepper of Tucson and the late Robert and Beverly Webster. Juliet attends Dodge Middle School where she is… Read more »
Rena Susanne Blum, 83, died Dec. 28, 2013. Born and educated in New York, Mrs. Blum married in 1951 and worked as a real estate agent. She was active in Hadassah. She and her husband retired to Boca Raton in 1989 and moved to Tucson in 1998. Mrs. Blum… Read more »
Herbert Julius Schwager, 88, died Jan. 3, 2014. Born in New York, Mr. Schwager moved to Tucson in 1943. He worked as a stock broker at E.F. Hutton. He was a member of Temple Emanu-El, Congregation Anshei Israel and Congregation Young Israel. Mr. Schwager was preceded in death by… Read more »
Ernest Allen “Ernie” Cohen, 76, died Jan. 8, 2014. Originally from Brooklyn, Mr. Cohen and his wife, Marsha, raised three children in Teaneck, N.J. before moving to Tucson in 1986. He served as president of the Teaneck Political Assembly, a non-partisan organization. He ran as a Democratic candidate for… Read more »
Oshrat Barel Pluralism in Israel Israel is known for its pluralism, yet there is still room for improvement. Lately, two different events made me realize that Israel is making progress even more rapidly. First, a national monument that honors 15,000 Jewish and non-Jewish victims of the Holocaust who were persecuted by… Read more »
Ariel Sharon’s development as a leader was very similar to that of Menachem Begin. In the final years of their political careers, both men came to realize the limits of relying on force alone. These realizations led to historic decisions: While Begin gave up the Sinai Peninsula — an… Read more »
Adi Meyerson It was 11 o’clock on a chilly September night and I was coming home from a gig — my first in New York City. I had just moved to Manhattan from Jerusalem a couple of months before to become a professional jazz bass player and would take any job… Read more »
