Posts By PHYLLIS BRAUN - AJP Executive Editor

The attack this week along the Israel-Egypt border poses dilemmas both for Israel and for the new Egyptian president. Should Israel accede to pressure to modify its 1979 peace treaty with Egypt and allow more Egyptian troops into the Sinai to quell the unrest there? For Egyptian President Mohamed… Read more »

Pride and chagrin: It’s rare that the two emotions are experienced simultaneously. But that is how we are feeling at Hadassah. We feel pride because women now hold three of our top professional positions: Janice Weinman is our new executive director and CEO; Osnat Levtzion-Korach is the new director-general… Read more »

We Jews have been victimized by persecution and hateful rhetoric throughout our history. We, of all people, need to stand up against the McCarthy-like attacks of Michelle Bachmann and her hate-filled cohorts against Muslim Americans. The hatemongers’ primary target has been Hillary Clinton’s top aide Huma Abedin. During her… Read more »

A troubling recent incident in the heart of Krakow’s old Jewish quarter, Kazimierz, has raised questions anew about the scope and impact of anti-Semitism in the age of instant response and interactive social media. The incident involved a waiter (or waiters) at a popular cafe, Moment, who rudely refused… Read more »

Rabbi Helen T. Cohn

Those who knew Ruth Protas would not be surprised to learn how much laughter there was at the shiva minyan held last month several days after her death. Every story about Ruth revealed her love of life, her laughter, her sense of humor and her spunk. Several pictures at… Read more »

Gavin Cohen with his cousin, Trinity Hungerford

Every year dozens of Tucson teens who turn 13 choose a cause to support — through deeds, funds or both — as they prepare for the ceremonies and celebrations that mark their coming of age as B’nai Mitzvah. These mitzvah projects, as they’ve come to be known, assist a… Read more »

Rebecca Light and Joshua Wertlieb

Rebecca Sara Light, daughter of Marcia and Ken Light of Tucson, and Joshua Michael Wertlieb, son of Dr. Donald Wert­lieb and Lorre Polinger of West Newton, Mass., were married May 20, 2012 at the Phoenix Art Museum. Rabbi Steven Foster of Denver, Colo., a family friend, officiated. The matron… Read more »

Following the early start of Tucson’s schools, Tucson Hebrew High will begin on Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012 at its host synagogue, Congregation Anshei Israel. The first session will include a welcome back pizza and last minute registration party, classes, a storytelling slam by Hebrew High faculty, and an ice… Read more »

  When the school year starts at Tucson Hebrew Academy on Aug. 16, every middle school student will have a laptop computer that they can take with them from class to class — and home with them at night. Lesson plans will be designed around this technology, which will… Read more »

The Women’s Academy for Jewish Studies at Congregation Chofetz Chayim will hold a free brunch and presentation next month, “What Does G-d Have in Mind for You?” with Esther Becker, based on the book “As Long as I Live: The Life Story of Aharon Margalit.” By age 7, Margalit’s… Read more »

Jewish youth ages 7-14 are invited to join the Tucson Jewish Youth Choir, which will kick off its 13th season on Aug. 22 at 3:45 p.m. with a rehearsal at Tucson Hebrew Academy. No prior musical experience is necessary. Under the direction of Cantor Janece Cohen, the TJYC performs… Read more »

The New York Post uses its Aug. 8, 2012 cover to shine a light on gymnast Aly Raisman after she told reporters that she would have taken part in a moment of silence in memory of the Israeli athletes and coaches killed at the Munich Olympics in 1972. (The New York Post)

U.S. gymnast Aly Raisman confirmed her status as one of the stars of the London Olympics Tuesday, winning an individual gold medal in the floor exercise as well as a bronze on the balance beam after helping the U.S. women’s team take the gold last week. Raisman’s bronze came… Read more »

Alexis Sokoloff holds the Torah at her Bat Mitzvah ceremony (Courtesy Gwen Sokolof)

Fourteen-year-old Alexis Sokoloff smiles as she recalls her Bat Mitzvah on June 9. “I wasn’t nervous at all,” she told the AJP. “I really love learning Hebrew.” Sokoloff was born with Down syndrome, but with the support of her parents, Gwen and Mitchell Sokoloff, and her younger sister, Rebecka,… Read more »

Participants on a Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona-sponsored Birthright Israel trip hike in Ein Avdat in the Negev. (Courtesy Nicole Walters)

The Tucsonans on the first Birthright Israel trip sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona had heard rave reviews from friends who’d been on one of Birthright’s free, 10-day trips to Israel — and they were at least a bit skeptical. But this group came back believers. “Everyone… Read more »

(L-R) Tucsonans Donna Moser, Audrey Brooks, Marlyne Freedman and Deanna Evenchik at the Birthright Israel Mega Event at Haifa Naval Base July 12

The faces of our grandparents are with me in early July as I leave for the Jewish Federations of North America Campaign Chairs and Directors Mission to Odessa and Israel with my sister, Donna Moser. Grandpa Nathan and Grandma Sadie came to the United States in 1899 from Odessa;… Read more »

Leslie Lyndon, former cantor of the Masorti New North London Synagogue, carrying the Olympic torch in London, July 25, 2012. (Ian Ellis)

LONDON (JTA) — For Leslie Lyndon and the London Jewish community, it was a minor miracle. When Lyndon carried the Olympic torch through a north London neighborhood last week, it was more than representative of how Jewish Londoners have embraced the Olympic spirit. This was five years since Lyndon,… Read more »

Danny Danon, chairman of World Likud and deputy speaker of the Knesset, owes his rapid political rise in part to his unapologetic Israeli nationalism. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90/JTA)

JERUSALEM (JTA) – If there’s one thing Danny Danon doesn’t do, it’s shy away from controversy. Danon, a deputy speaker of the Israeli Knesset and chairman of World Likud, has come under fire for describing African migrants in Israel as a “national plague,” for hosting controversial U.S. TV personality… Read more »

PHILADELPHIA (JTA) — “My son, the doctor.” Why does every Jewish mother have to have a doctor in the family? It might be because the immigrant mentality desperately desires a secure and well-paid profession, but in fact, there is a deeper reason why Jewish mothers want a doctor son.… Read more »

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, meets with Mitt Romney in Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem,July 29, 2012. (Marc Israel Sellem/GPO/FLASH90/JTA)

JERUSALEM (JTA) – Mitt Romney’s policy speech in Israel covered plenty of bases: The presumptive Republican presidential candidate spoke about the status of Jerusalem, the threat of a nuclear Iran, the “tumult” of the Arab Spring and the “enduring shared values” that bedrock the U.S.-Israel relationship. But there was… Read more »

My wife of 19 years, Janet, passed away on July 10 from cancer. I am a member of the Beth Shalom Temple Center in Green Valley Arizona. I am a member of the Social Justice Committee and am planning an event on Sept 8th as a memorial for my… Read more »