Rabbi Norman T. Roman Beth Shalom Temple Center of Green Valley has hired Rabbi Norman T. Roman as its first part-time rabbi, beginning Jan. 1. Roman was rabbi emeritus at Temple Kol Ami in West Bloomfield, Michigan, after serving as senior rabbi there for 30 years. Roman, born in New York City and… Read more »
A son, Benjamin Meyer Ritzo, was born Nov. 20, 2019 to Joe Ritzo and Emily (Schwartz) Ritzo of San Carlos, California. Grandparents are Shelley and Bob Schwartz of Tucson, Patti Livingstone and Todd Finkle of Spokane, Washington, Dale and Christine Ritzo of San Carlos, California, and John Hight of… Read more »
Security cameras hang across the street from the Park East Synagogue in New York City. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — When I was about 19 years old, I took my first trip to Europe. I marveled at its beauty, its culture, its history and its architecture. On this trip and many others that followed, I shed many tears as I visited the numerous synagogues, Jewish museums… Read more »
A Hasidic man crosses the street near the JC Kosher Supermarket in Jersey City, N.J., Dec. 11, 2019. Six people, including a police officer and three civilians, were killed in gunfire between two armed suspects and law enforcement. (Rick Loomis/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES (JTA) — Another Jewish community has sustained a bloody attack that left Jews everywhere reeling. On Tuesday, a small enclave of Hasidic Jews in Jersey City, New Jersey had their worlds shaken and disrupted during a frightening siege. Schools were on lockdown, four people were murdered and people… Read more »
(JTA) — Are you stressing out about burning your latkes? Now there’s a quick way to assuage your fears. On Tuesday, The Nosher Jewish food site launched a hotline where readers can get all their latkes-related questions answered by Jewish food expert Shannon Sarna. Readers use their cellphone number… Read more »
The Iron Dome missile-defense system intercepts rockets that were fired from Gaza, Nov. 13, 2019. Congress is approving funds to continue financing this and other anti-missile systems. (Ilia Yefimovich/picture alliance via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — If where you spend your money is the clearest sign of your priorities, Congress seems to be saying that it remains invested in Israeli-Palestinian peace and in robustly supporting Israel’s defense systems. The House of Representatives threw its support this week behind a spending package that… Read more »
Jennifer Tamara Mendelsohn, 39, died Dec. 4, 2019. Ms. Mendelsohn was born in Tucson. She was preceded in death by her grandparents, Archie and Marjorie Mendelsohn of Tucson, Richard Temple of Kansas City, and Miriam Temple of Tucson. Survivors include her parents, Steven and Karen Mendelsohn; and brother, Jason… Read more »
Alvin Kivel, 93, died Nov. 30, 2019. Mr. Kivel was born in Loma Linda, California, and moved to Tucson when he was 2. He attended Mansfeld Jr. High and Tucson High School, graduating in 1944. After high school, he joined the Navy and then returned to Tucson to attend… Read more »
Hal Arkowitz, Ph.D., age 78, died Nov. 16, 2019. Dr. Arkowitz was an emeritus associate professor of psychology at the University of Arizona. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and his B.A. from New York University. His work was dedicated to understanding… Read more »
Rabbanit Jenna Englender dances with the Torah during her graduation ceremony from Yeshivat Maharat in New York, June 17, 2019. (Shulamit Seidler-Feller/Maharat)
NEW YORK (JTA) — Growing up in a Modern Orthodox community in South Africa, Sara Hurwitz never imagined that she would one day become a clergy member. The Conservative and Reform movements have been ordaining female rabbis for decades. But in the Orthodox world, women are barred from many… Read more »
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Thousands of immigrants to Israel from the former Soviet Union may have come only to receive an Israeli passport before moving back abroad. The Hebrew weekly Makor Rishon reported that a cottage industry of companies promising expedited Israeli citizenship, and the passport that comes with it,… Read more »
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Wild boars are stalking the streets of Haifa these days, and some residents say they feel like they “live in a jungle.” It all started when the northern Israeli municipality halted efforts to keep down the pigs’ population. While some city residents told the French news… Read more »
Friday night prayers at the Union for Reform Judaism Biennial featured a 78-person choir and screens projecting the words of the service, Dec. 13, 2019. (Rob Dicker/Union for Reform Judaism)
CHICAGO (JTA) — Josh Nelson sat onstage in front of 5,000 people, accompanied by eight other musicians and perched next to a ginormous video screen bearing the words to one of Judaism’s central prayers, the Shema. It was the largest Shabbat service in America and the apex of the… Read more »
Clive Owen excels in the complex role of a man torn between his talent and the need to remember. (Sabrina Lantos/Sony Pictures Classics)
(JTA) — “The Song of Names” is a heartwarming film about a Jewish violin virtuoso who renounces his faith in the aftermath of the Holocaust, only to rediscover it when he hears a song of remembrance. The violinist, Dovidl Rapaport, is shown in three stages of his life, the… Read more »
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Turkish government has allowed Hamas members to use the country as a safe haven from which to plan attacks against Israelis. The Daily Telegraph cited transcripts of Israeli interrogations of suspected Palestinian terrorists in its report Tuesday. Not only do Hamas members have free rein… Read more »
(JTA) — An Albanian Muslim man whose house was destroyed in an earthquake will have it rebuilt by a Holocaust commemoration group in honor of his father’s rescue of Jews. The home of Muhamet Bicaku, 83, was devastated during the Nov. 26 calamity that claimed the lives of at… Read more »
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Yosef Eshed, a 102-year-old Israeli who fought alongside the revered British soldier Orde Wingate to put down the 1936 Arab Revolt, can now register for kindergarten. Eshed, of the village of Motza, near Jerusalem, apparently was one of 20 Israelis over a century old to receive… Read more »
JERUSALEM (JTA) — A Ukrainian court ruling called for the reinstatement of a diplomat who was fired for making anti-Semitic remarks. Israel has expressed its consternation over the ruling, saying it was “confused.” Vasyl Marushchynets, then the Ukrainian consul in Hamburg, Germany, was dismissed last year after his social… Read more »
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, will visit Israel for the first time in an official capacity next month in order to attend the upcoming World Holocaust Forum at Yad Vashem. According to The Jewish Chronicle, the British royal will “undertake a number of engagements… Read more »
Colombians celebrate Dia de las Velitas at the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Bogota, Dec. 7, 2018. (Lokman Ilhan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
(JTA) — Jews in Colombia preparing for Hanukkah saw something earlier this month that no doubt looked very familiar. On the night of Dec. 7, streets, plazas, windows and porches across the country were lit by thousands of candles in honor of Dia de las Velitas (Day of the… Read more »
