Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon of Temple Emanu-El in front of the Knesset, where 30 American rabbis were briefed during a ‘Rabbis Engaging with Israel’ mission last month It’s not unusual for rabbis to frequently visit Israel, but last month Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon of Temple Emanu-El enjoyed the rare opportunity of traveling to the Holy Land as part of a select group from around the United States and Canada that included 10 Reform, 10 Conservative and… Read more »
For the first time in my life, I’ve got that Shabbat feeling. Well, to be more precise, I’m basking in the afterglow of that Shabbat feeling. This past Friday, my in-laws invited my three children to their home (which is on a moshav about 30 minutes drive from us)… Read more »
The fact of the matter is there are a few things that when said out of the mouth of a non-Jew sound racist but are perfectly reasonable exiting the mouth of a fellow Tribe member. This maybe be unfair. Un-PC. Un-liberal. Whatever. It’s fact. A perfect example of such a remark… Read more »
(StatePoint) — To make sure your home stays cool while your energy bills stay low this summer, check that your air conditioning system is operating properly. If you have a central air conditioning system, be sure to get it checked by a professional. Consumers may be unaware that the… Read more »
Natasha Winnik stocks water-based wood stains at Originate. (Deborah Mayaan) I used some green blue paint on my walls last week, and ordered some green green paint and green purple paint. These are not artsy descriptions of green tints, but rather a palette of environmentally friendly paints I got from Originate Natural Building Materials Showroom here in Tucson. Originate… Read more »
Ruth’s day is coming. Not the Ruth with all the home runs. The other Ruth, the biblical one who hit an eternal shot for Jews by Choice. We read her book and story on Shavuot. Her words of commitment spoken to her mother-in-law, Naomi, travel over time to us… Read more »
While U.S. officials are running a full-court diplomatic press against the Palestinian bid for U.N. recognition of statehood this September and officials at international Jewish organizations are trying to convince foreign leaders to oppose statehood, the Israeli government appears to be taking a different approach: acceptance. On Monday, Israeli… Read more »
Remember the tension a couple of weeks ago between Israel and the United States? That was all about avoiding tension between Israel and the rest of the world. That’s what Obama administration officials are telling Jewish officials looking ahead to September, when the Palestinians are expected to press for… Read more »
Israel is not the problem in the Middle East but breathtakingly President Barack Obama has come to the conclusion that the best path to peace in the region would be to do something that no U.S. president has done since The Six Day War and that is force Israel… Read more »
That Israel problem President Obama had with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? Old news. That Israel problem Obama has with Congress? And with his party? That’s just beginning. In two successive speeches — one to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on May 23 and another to a joint… Read more »
Rabbi Stephanie Aaron We were a gathering of 60 adults, drenched, freezing, each of us holding the image of roll-call, rows and rows of Jews standing in the pelting rain, weak from starvation, wearing cotton shifts, frozen human beings. We held onto our umbrellas with clenched fists and clenched hearts; walking, living… Read more »
Faina Dorfman, whose only child, Yevgenia, 15, was killed in a suicide bombing at Tel Aviv’s seaside Dolphinarium disco. (Dina Kraft) Tel Aviv — Faina Dorfman, who immigrated to Israel from Uzbekistan hoping that her only child would have a better life here, walks along a stretch of beach just south of a tattered seaside disco called the Dolphinarium. Ten years ago, a young Palestinian detonated a bomb packed with… Read more »
Response to Abbas editorial in The NY Times, May 17, 2011 May 18, 2011 | Eli E. Hertz “Repeat a lie often enough and people will begin to believe it.” Nazi propaganda master Joseph Goebbels ABBAS: In November 1947, the General Assembly made its recommendation and answered… Read more »
The Tucson Jewish Community Center summer camp (“Camp J”) and the Weintraub Israel Center are seeking host families for two Israeli counselors who will be working at Camp J this summer. Yael Weizner, 19, has a passion for dance and painting. She comes from a non-religious background and although… Read more »
As the summer begins, Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona campaign leaders are working to close the 2011 Campaign by contacting past donors who have not yet made a pledge for this year. “The budgeting process for next season begins this summer,” explains Campaign Chair Kathryn Unger. “And the 2011… Read more »
Rabbi Ben Herman Congregation Anshei Israel has hired Rabbi Ben Herman to serve as director of congregational learning, effective July 1. In this new position at CAI, Herman will be responsible for the synagogue’s religious school and adult education programs and will also be the liturgical coordinator, arranging for congregants to lead… Read more »
Dr. Gilat Raish (far, left), an Israeli post-trauma expert, guides Japanese teachers through a recovery course in Watari, Japan, sponsored by IsraAid. (Nofar Tagar for IsraAid) In northeastern Japan, the area hardest hit by the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami, a team of Israeli post-trauma experts guided local teachers and officials through their lingering pain. One kindergarten teacher broke down in tears as she related how another teacher saw the great wall of water… Read more »
Rabbi Gil Leeds, right, performs a brit milah in Palo Alto, Calif., in July 2010. The baby is being held by Mitchell Ackerson. [Alex Axelrod] In November, San Franciscans will vote on a ballot measure that would outlaw circumcision on boys under the age of 18. Although experts say it is highly unlikely the measure will pass — very few state ballot propositions pass in the state, much less one this controversial —… Read more »
ulian Barcelo plants an herb garden in March 2011 with students in his kindergarten class at the Davis Bilingual Magnet Elementary School. Merrill Eisenberg is a dynamo — a medical anthropologist and assistant professor at the University of Arizona’s Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health whose $16 million grant strikes at obesity from multiple fronts. “The bottom line is to make the healthy choice the easy choice,” says Eisenberg,… Read more »
Scene from inside the "Balint Haz" Jewish Community Center in Budapest. (Ruth Ellen Gruber) BUDAPEST, Hungary (JTA) — A generation after the fall of communism, Jews in Central Europe feel comfortable where they live but are concerned about anti-Semitism. They like to visit Israel but don’t want to move there. And they feel that they don’t have to be religious to be a… Read more »
