Yearly Archives 2020

Synagogues should not arm ordinary congregants, Jewish security agency says
January 16, 2020 / Ben Sales, JTA

(JTA) — If synagogues hire armed guards, they should be trained police officers, a top Jewish security agency says in a new report. Armed congregants who are not law enforcement officers “are unlikely to have experience dealing with high-stress situations,” according to the report issued Wednesday by the Secure… Read more »

Meet the Jewish travel blogger who soon will have visited every country

Drew "Binsky" Goldberg, seen here in Kerala, India, makes a living traveling the world and posting about it on social media. (Courtesy of Goldberg)
January 16, 2020 / Josefin Dolsten, JTA

(JTA) —In 2012, Drew Goldberg spent part of his junior year of college studying abroad in Prague. It was only his second time leaving the United States — the other time was for Birthright, the free Israel trip for Jewish young adults. The trip to the Czech capital was… Read more »

Rockets fired at Israel from Gaza and Israel retaliates
January 15, 2020 / Marcy Oster, JTA

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s military carried out airstrikes on terror group installations in Gaza on Wednesday after terrorists launched rocket attacks on southern Israel. Four rockets launched in the afternoon sent Israelis in Gaza border communities running to bomb shelters. Two of the rockets were intercepted by the Iron… Read more »

500 rabbis and Jewish leaders call for action against climate change
January 15, 2020 / Josefin Dolsten, JTA

(JTA) — Five hundred rabbis and other Jewish leaders from around the world are calling for climate change action. The letter released earlier this month was signed by rabbis and leaders spanning the denominational spectrum — from Orthodox to Reform and secular — and from countries including the United… Read more »

Anti-Semitic incidents decreased by 27% in Ukraine in 2019, Jewish group says
January 15, 2020 / Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA

(JTA) — A Jewish organization in Ukraine said that the number of anti-Semitic incidents documented there last year decreased by 27 percent over 2018. The United Jewish Community of Ukraine, one of several groups representing Ukrainian Jewry, said in a report published Monday that it has documented 66 anti-Semitic… Read more »

Young people are responsible for most of New York City’s anti-Semitic attacks. Will Holocaust education help?

New York City Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza speaks at a news conference prior to a students' tour of the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City, Jan. 15, 2020. (Ben Sales)
January 15, 2020 / Ben Sales, JTA

NEW YORK (JTA) — Jyrell McGriff, an African-American eighth-grader who lives in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, doesn’t interact much with the many Orthodox Jews who share his neighborhood. He sees them on the street or on buses. He also has fond memories of a Jewish teacher from years… Read more »

Federation to host Super Sunday event in philanthropy center

Leslie Glaze, co-chair of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy Campaign for 2019, talks to Super Sunday volunteer Barbara Selznick, Jan. 27. (Photo: Debe Campbell/AJP)
January 10, 2020 / Phyllis Braun, AJP Executive Editor

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona is planning its annual Super Sunday phone-a-thon this year for Jan. 26. The event, which raises funds for the 2020 Community Campaign, will be held 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. in a new venue: the Deanna and Harvey Evenchik Center for Jewish Philanthropy at 3718… Read more »

Fast facts about the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona
January 10, 2020 /

Did you know … that in addition to the programs, synagogues, and agencies the Federation helps fund in Southern Arizona, it supports Jewish communities in Israel, the former Soviet Union, and more than 70 countries around the world? Did you know … that the Free Loan, a non-sectarian program… Read more »

On Hanukkah, like a moth to the flame
January 10, 2020 / AMY HIRSHBERG lederman Special to the AJP
Amy Hirshberg Lederman

It began as a typical Jewish Christmas Eve. To borrow a quote from Elana Kagan: “Like most Jews, I was at a Chinese restaurant.” As I walked through the restaurant, I passed table after table of Jewish friends and acquaintances happily sharing fried rice and eggrolls with family and… Read more »

Four steps to tackle our biggest issue now, starting with building bridges
January 10, 2020 / Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon, Congregation Beit Simcha
Rabbi Sam Cohon

The emergence of violent anti-Semitism as a widespread American scourge can leave no Jews with warm thoughts about the year that just passed. Until October 2018, just 15 months ago, there had never been a fatal attack on a synagogue in the United States. Now there have been two… Read more »

New bill proposes mandatory Holocaust education in all Arizona school districts
January 10, 2020 / Ellen O’Brien Jewish News, Phoenix
Michael Beller, left, and Josh Kay

Only 12 states currently require schools to teach students about the Holocaust. Michael Beller and Josh Kay, the founders of Arizona Teaching the Holocaust, want to make Arizona state number 13. “It’s important to me that Holocaust education stay at the forefront,” Beller said. “We want to ensure that… Read more »

Southern AZ community security vigilance continues
January 10, 2020 / Debe Campbell, AJP Assistant Editor
Paul Patterson

Continued attacks on Jewish targets are a reminder that individual organizations clearly need to be more attentive, and they are stepping up to that,” says Stuart Mellan, CEO and president of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona. “We see a higher level of vigilance than ever before.” “The Jewish… Read more »