Posts By Lauren Bookwalter

NEW YORK (JTA) — A bus carrying approximately 40 teenage boys from a Hasidic town in upstate New York to a weekend retreat flipped over, injuring 18. The incident occurred around 1:20 p.m. on Friday. The bus was coming from the village of New Square and heading into the… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — It’s less than two weeks to the first nominating contest, the Iowa caucus, which means that congressional endorsements of presidential candidates are beginning to trickle in. A lawmaker backing a candidate this early in the race may reflect a desire to tap into the White House wannabe’s… Read more »

(JTA) — Jewish Argentine tennis star Diego Schwartzman is currently rolling at the Australian Open. After beating Serbian Dušan Lajović in straight sets on Friday, he has made it into the round of 16 for the second time in his career. He has yet to drop a set in… Read more »

(JTA) — Lakewood Township in New Jersey is getting its first Orthodox Jewish police officer, local media reported. Michael Wolf was sworn in Wednesday in a ceremony with 12 other new police officers following a year-long training, Asbury Park Press reported. Lakewood Police Chief Greg Meyer said he hoped… Read more »

(JTA) — Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli named her son David. Refaeli’s third child and first son joins sisters Liv and Elle. The boy’s name was announced Tuesday. Refaeli is married to Israeli businessman Adi Ezra. David, who was born on Jan. 14, was named after Ezra’s father, Mako reported.… Read more »

BLYTHE, Calif. (J., the Jewish News Weekly of Northern California via JTA) — James A. “Sneaky” White Jr., a Jewish inmate convicted of murder and imprisoned for nearly four decades, is now a free man. As he stepped out of prison on Jan. 21 to begin his life anew, his many… Read more »

(JTA) — Gil Landau and Yael Cohen, the two core members of Lola Marsh, don’t seem to care much about any of it — the pressure of being Israel’s biggest indie band, the baggage that comes with being labeled as Israeli occupiers in some of the places they perform,… Read more »

MISGAV, Israel (JTA) – As more than 20 men wearing blue-and-white baseball uniforms walked along Tel Aviv’s bustling Allenby Street on a recent Tuesday, a motorcyclist called out in Hebrew and English. “Good luck! We’re behind you!” the man shouted to the group, members of the baseball team that… Read more »

(JTA) — Restorers working on a building that used to house a synagogue near Krakow, Poland, found a chest inside a wall containing precious silverware and Jewish artifacts. More than 350 items were found about two months ago in Wieliczka, the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper reported last week, including silver-plated… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Donald Trump said he may unveil his long-awaited plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace before a planned meeting next Tuesday in Washington with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Benny Gantz. “Probably we’ll release it a little bit prior to that,” Trump told reporters traveling… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — Relentless campaigns calling for curricula reform in the nation’s yeshivas. Misleading headlines about educational standards at Orthodox schools. Zoning efforts aimed at keeping large Jewish families out of suburban towns. Some see a direct link between such things and the anti-Semitic violence that has erupted… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — American teen Ezra Schwartz will never play on the baseball field in Raanana that bears his name. But hundreds of Israeli young people, including some of Ezra’s cousins, will have the chance. In doing so, they will be honoring the memory of a young man who… Read more »

(JTA) — A mosque in Jerusalem was burned down in an apparent hate crime. The torching of the mosque in the Sharafat area on Thursday right resulted in no injuries. But nearby, spray painted in Hebrew, was the message: “Wreck Jewish — enemy homes will be wrecked.” Graffiti… Read more »

(JTA) — Swastikas were found painted on and around a synagogue in Wellington, New Zealand. One swastika was painted on Wednesday on the Temple Sinai synagogue and several others were found nearby, a Wellington City Council spokesperson told Newshub. The word “Heil” was also painted nearby. “I’m upset by… Read more »

The Jewish History Museum is sponsoring “In Diaspora We Are Many,” a festival that explores the Sephardic and Mizrahi Jewish cultures. The festival will take place Friday, Jan. 31 through Sunday, Feb. 2.  This is the museum’s first Sephardic and Mizrahi festival.    “We are holding a Sephardic and… Read more »

The Tucson Jewish Community Center Gallery will present “Elements of Nature through the Artist’s Eye: The works of Lily Rosenberg and Lisa Mishler” Feb. 2–March 14. An artist reception will be held Sunday, Feb. 9, 1:30-3 p.m. Rosenberg uses acrylic paint in a contemporary impressionistic style to express her… Read more »

The Tucson Jewish Community Center launched its 2020 Women inPower Tucson leadership program with a brunch orientation session Jan. 12. The fellows chosen for the pilot program funded by the JCC Association are Elise Bajohr, Debbie Boggs, Gabby Erbst, Katie Filous, Katharine L. Gerst, Maya Horowitz, Robin Kelley, Shannon… Read more »

Thomas Sayler-Brown and John Linder at the Bahai Gardens in Haifa

Destination: Israel From Nov. 20-Dec. 5, Thomas Sayler-Brown and his husband, John Linder, traveled as first-timers to Israel. Sayler-Brown, chair of the University of Arizona Hillel Foundation board, planned their itinerary, and did research for a future JPride group trip. The pair are drawn to urban settings, with Thomas… Read more »

Bonnie Schock has been selected as the new executive director of the Fox Tucson Theatre, beginning March 9. Schock comes to Tucson from Red Wing, Minnesota, where she has been executive director of the Sheldon Theatre of Performing Arts since 2015. Along with a Bachelor of Arts from The… Read more »

A Dutch artist is installing a light display commemorating the Holocaust in 150 municipalities ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Daan Roosegaarde’s “Light of Life” project features dark spaces with stones that light up briefly. Roosegaarde chose the theme of stones because Jewish custom is to place them on… Read more »