Posts By PHYLLIS BRAUN - AJP Executive Editor

A Jewish ‘Dreamer’ breathes a sigh of relief after US Supreme Court preserves DACA

Elias Rosenfeld with U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine in front of the U.S.Supreme Court, Nov. 12, 2019, the day oral arguments werepresented in the case on DACA arrivals. (Courtesy of Rosenfeld)

BOSTON (JTA) – Elias Rosenfeld’s phone rang on Thursday morning hours after the U.S. Supreme Court blocked President Donald Trump from moving to deport him and hundreds of thousands of other young immigrants like him. It was Rabbi Jonah Pesner, director of the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center, with… Read more »

‘I want to give other people the permission that Amy gave me’: Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s husband pens memoir about moving on

Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Jason B. Rosenthal are pictured on a trip to Florida in 2017. (Courtesy of Jason Rosenthal)

(JUF News via JTA) — When Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Jason B. Rosenthal first got married, they brainstormed long-term marriage goals. Some that made the list: “Get dressed up and go on dates,” “Record our kids’ voices every year” and “Whenever we sign something ‘Amy & Jason,’ we both… Read more »

Some believe ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ was staged somewhere in the world every day since the ’60s. COVID-19 ended that.

Zero Mostel and Maria Karnilova, center, in "Fiddler On The Roof" on Broadway in 1964, the year it debuted. (Stage Production/Getty Images)

(JTA) — The coronavirus pandemic has done something that no war, natural disaster or other calamity has been able to do for more than 50 years: It’s put a stop to stage performances of “Fiddler on the Roof.” The current North American tour of “Fiddler” was halted on March… Read more »

Orthodox lawmakers defy NYC mayor, cutting chains off a Brooklyn playground

From left, City Councilman Kalman Yeger, New York State Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein and State Sen. Simcha Felder open up Kolbert Playground in Brooklyn, June 16, 2020. (Benjamin Kanter)

(JTA) – In the space of just 48 hours, Orthodox lawmakers in New York have gone from calling on the city’s mayor to open playgrounds, to threatening to open the parks themselves, to actually cutting the chains off a Brooklyn playground. State Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein, City Councilman Kalman Yeger… Read more »

Alumni call on Jewish day schools to do more to fight racism

(JTA) – When Ilana Goldberg scrolled through Instagram last Tuesday, much of her feed consisted of black squares as part of an initiative called #BlackoutTuesday to honor the Black Lives Matter movement. Then she saw a photo of student artwork posted by the Jewish Community High School of the… Read more »

Calls to defund the police put Jewish institutions in a tough position

New York police officers stand guard at the door of the Union Temple of Brooklyn after it was vandalized with graffiti, Nov. 2, 2018. (Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images)

(JTA) — When Rabbi Capers Funnye attends a synagogue that’s not his own, he must brace himself for the reaction that he knows will follow after he walks through the door. Even though he comes in wearing a kippah and holding a prayer shawl, Funnye knows that if a… Read more »

A different kind of protest movement: Orthodox children rally to open New York summer camps

Orthodox children in New York City are rallying to have their camps open amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Screenshot from Twitter)

(JTA) – Protesters have been a daily sight in Brooklyn over the last few weeks. But the protesters blocking traffic Thursday on the streets of the New York City borough’s Orthodox neighborhoods were a little younger than usual. Their shouting — “We want camp!” — quickly made their aim… Read more »

Emanu-El gives Rabbi Appel car parade sendoff

Rabbi Batsheva Appel sits outside Temple Emanu-El May 31 as community members drive up to say goodbye. (Stephen Shawl)

Temple Emanu-El staged a car parade on Sunday morning, May 31, for community members to say goodbye and thank you to Rabbi Batsheva Appel, who is leaving Tucson after seven years with the synagogue. Stephen Shawl, an Emanu-El board member, took photos of hundreds of carloads of people who stopped… Read more »

Jewish community stands up for racial justice

Tony Zinman, co-founder of Tucson Jews for Justice, attends a candlelight vigil in Tucson June 1, one week after the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapoolis. (Courtesy Zinman)

The Southern Arizona Jewish community has joined communities across the globe in expressing outrage at the murder of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25. And it is grappling with how best to support the struggle for racial justice. On June… Read more »

New JCF chair advocate of impact investing

Anne Hameroff

Retired attorney Anne Hameroff, the new chair of the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona, wants to see the Foundation and the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona work together in ways that make them “more nimble and responsive” to meet the overall philanthropic desires of their donors. It’s a goal… Read more »

JHM and Paisanos Unidos offer legal advice and food to immigrant community

Groceries for distribution to the immigrant community are set outside the Jewish History Museum, June 7. (Courtesy Laurie Melrood)

Paisanos Unidos (Citizens United) is an immigrant self-defense organization that works to inform members of the immigrant community about their rights while living and working in the United States. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Jewish History Museum has partnered with the organization to provide an outdoor space in which… Read more »

From ‘Son of Sam’ to busting scams, TV reporter’s memoir is a wild ride

Matthew Schwartz of KVOA News 4 Tucson shares more than 40 behind-the-scenes stories from his 37-year career as a hard-hitting journalist in his newly published memoir, “Confessions of an Investigative Reporter” (Koehler Books). Hard hits come with the territory. He’s been swung at with a baseball bat, hit by a… Read more »

‘We’ve been milling our heads off’: For some small kosher food purveyors, the coronavirus era is boom time

Ian Yosef Hertzmark at his farm in Randallstown, Md., in February. His sales of flour have more than doubled during the pandemic. (Mike Tintner)

(JTA) — Like many small business owners, Ian Yosef Hertzmark’s small flour operation saw a precipitous drop when the coronavirus pandemic hit the Unites States in March. Almost overnight, Hertzmark’s Migrash Farm, which produces certified kosher flour from grain grown in the Chesapeake Bay region, lost virtually his entire… Read more »

People in the news 6.12.20

A new book by Bonnie J. Golden, M.Ed, E-RYT, “Yoga for Holistic Healing: Poses and Sequences for Pain and Stress Relief” (Callisto Media) is available for preorder on Amazon. Golden is the owner of Yoga in Balance, LLC, and www.yogawithbonnie.com.… Read more »