President Donald Trump and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, May 23, 2017. (Flash90)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Trump administration is encouraging the Palestinian Authority to assume control of the Gaza Strip and leaving the door open for a role by Hamas in the subsequent Palestinian government. But if such a move was once seen as a traditional predicate to a two-state… Read more »
Police dispersing a crowd in Sant Julia de Ramis, Spain, Oct. 1, 2017. (David Ramos/Getty Images)
(JTA) — Seeing armed police in riot gear outside a school in Barcelona, the Israeli lawmaker Ksenia Svetlova felt the instincts kick in from her days as a Middle East reporter for Russian-language media. “One look was enough to see these officers were preparing for something bad,” said Svetlova, a… Read more »
Dr. Avi Rivkind. in scrubs, cares for an injured person. Rivkind has pioneered treatments for terror victims based on his experience in Israel. (Courtesy of Hadassah Medical Center)
(JTA) — When Dr. Avi Rivkind landed in Las Vegas three years ago to lecture as a trauma care expert, he saw something that troubled him. The airport, McCarran International, felt too open, almost exposed. He felt no less comfortable on the city’s Strip while watching crowds flow from… Read more »
Josh Gad, left, and Chadwick Boseman in a scene from “Marshall.” (Barry Wetcher)
(JTA) — Actor Josh Gad may be best known for voicing Olaf in the animated Disney hit “Frozen” and originating the role of Elder Arnold Cunningham in the Tony Award-winning musical “The Book of Mormon.” He’s also been a correspondent for “The Daily Show,” co-starred with Billy Crystal in the… Read more »
Mark Feuerstein as Josh, Liza Lapira as Eve, David Walton as Andrew, Linda Lavin as Judy and Elliott Gould as Harry in a scene from "9JKL." (Cliff Lipson/CBS Broadcasting Inc.)
CHICAGO (JUF News via JTA) — A grown man moves into a New York apartment sandwiched between his meddlesome, boundary-less parents on one side and his brother, wife and their newborn baby on the other. Sounds kind of like a sitcom, right? It is. But the premise also happens to… Read more »
Children sitting at the Park East Synagogue, a Modern Orthodox congregation in New York City, March 3, 2017. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
NEW YORK (JTA) — The Orthodox Jewish world is even more fragmented than you think. That’s the key takeaway from a study published Thursday of Modern Orthodox Jews in the U.S., a group that adheres to traditional Jewish law while engaging with the secular world. Some of them think women… Read more »
(L-R) Christopher Younggren as Felix and Lawrence Fuller as Oscar in a rehearsal for the Arizona Rose Theatre’s production of Neil Simon’s classic comedy, “The Odd Couple.” Arizona Rose Theatre will present “The Odd Couple” on Oct. 14, 15, 20, 21 and 22. The theatre is located in the… Read more »
The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee is responding to the devastating 7.1 earthquake in Central Mexico, immediately supporting the search, rescue, and emergency aid efforts of CADENA, its Mexican Jewish humanitarian partner, in hard-hit Mexico City. This work, as well as the tracking of Hurricane Maria’s impending impact in… Read more »
Menashe Lustig as Menashe and Ruben Niborski as Rieven in ‘Menashe’ (Courtesy The Loft Cinema)
On a sidewalk crowded with people moving at the pace of a typical New York day, nobody stands out. Eventually a man appears in the back of the frame who gradually attracts our attention. There’s nothing extraordinary about him except he’s a bulky man, and he’s laboring more than… Read more »
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu takes his seat before President Donald Trump's speech to the General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, Sept. 19, 2017. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
ANALYSIS Why Trump‘s UN speech thrilled Netanyahu — for the moment, anyway By Ron Kampeas WASHINGTON (JTA) — The number of times President Donald Trump mentioned Iran or its derivatives in his U.N. speech? Twelve, and each time to emphasize its threat. The number of times he mentioned the Palestinians or derivatives?… Read more »
Spiced lamb and butternut squash burekas
By the time Sukkot arrives, and we are three weeks into nonstop Jewish holiday mode, some people might be a little tired of cooking. I don’t blame these people one bit. But Sukkot probably is my favorite holiday of the season to cook for — I love sitting outdoors… Read more »
MARVIN J. SLEPIAN, M.D., will receive the AZBio Pioneer Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Arizona Bioindustry Association at its 2017 awards ceremony on Oct. 11. Slepian is a cardiologist, inventor, entrepreneur and educator. At the University of Arizona, he serves as professor of medicine, professor and associate department… Read more »
Rabbi Robert Eisen presents Lynne Falkow-Strauss with a courtyard paver inscribed with her name. Congregation Anshei Israel dedicated its Lynne Falkow-Strauss Courtyard and Foyer on Sunday, Sept. 10 in conjunction with its annual end of summer welcome back party. The renovated courtyard and foyer honor Falkow-Strauss, who has been the director of CAI’s Esther B. Feldman Preschool/Kindergarten for the past 45 years and… Read more »
PETER MARCUS, owner of ALLEGRA PRINT-MAIL-SIGNS OF TUCSON ON PARK, was recently awarded two annual sales awards by the Alliance Franchise Brands network. His center received the Sales Excellence Award, which recognizes the top 10 sales leaders in the Alliance Franchise Brands international network of marketing and print services… Read more »
Eleanor Tikva Sevy, daughter of Libby Quinn and Gabriel Sevy, will celebrate becoming a bat mitzvah on Saturday, Sept. 23 at Temple Emanu-El. She attends Khalsa Montessori School where her favorite subject is Reading Zone. Nora participates in teen choir, drama chug (circle), and a youth group at Temple… Read more »
CONGREGATION CHAVERIM has named ITAL IRONSTONE as education director. Ironstone has a bachelor’s degree in Judaic Studies from the University of Arizona. She attended Hebrew school at Chaverim, was president of Tucson’s Kadimah BBYO chapter and studied at Tucson Hebrew Academy. JULIA H. LEVINE has been named operations manager… Read more »
“Til I Am: A Lyric Memoir” by JEN MAIDENBERG was chosen as a finalist for the Autumn House Press full-length book prize for the second year in a row. Maidenberg, a former assistant editor at the Arizona Jewish Post, currently lives in New Jersey.… Read more »
Russell Cohen, M.D., with Stryker’s Mako robotic-arm assisted surgery system (Courtesy Stryker)
People are living longer than ever before — but living with a painful joint can restrict daily activities and decimate quality of life. In the 1950s, few retirees lived beyond their mid-60s, but today the average length of retirement is 18 years. During that time, joints often degenerate. As… Read more »
Dr. Ronald S. Weinstein demonstrates telepathology during a teaching session at the University of Arizona.
When it comes to healthcare in rural areas, the overarching question is how to level the playing field between geographically isolated healthcare facilities and their urban counterparts, says Ronald S. Weinstein, director of the Arizona Telemedicine Program at the University of Arizona. That’s exactly why the Arizona Telemedicine Program… Read more »
Sarah Chandler leads a twist on the kapparot ritual in which participants hug chickens rather than swinging them over their heads. (Courtesy Chandler)
Picture services for the High Holidays: A roomful of congregants sitting with heavy books in their laps listening to a rabbi sermonize or a cantor chant is what likely comes to mind. Baking pizza? Embracing a chicken under a tree? Not so much. But those are some of the… Read more »
